Top Law Schools

Just submitted my application to UNC Law.
166 LSAT/3.92 GPA/NC resident
decent extracurriculars (editor for campus paper, good internships)

Also applying to: Wake Forest, Campbell University (safety), and maybe Duke for a long shot. I'd like to stay in NC after graduating. Anyone have suggestions on where else to look?

Dude, unless your PS was about how much you love Coach K, you are in at UNC.

You will crush in NC with an Emory degree

c3pO4 wrote:You will crush in NC with an Emory degree

What is this opinion based on?

I'm hopeful about my UNC application (Although I've heard of people with similar numbers applying late in the cycle getting rejected). Unless I can get a pretty substantial scholarship at Wake Forest, I don't know how I could justify spending over 10k a year in extra tuition costs to go there. It's hard to beat the value of UNC's in-state tuition and relatively good ranking, but I'm open to any suggestions.

The Valkyrie wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:You will crush in NC with an Emory degree

What is this opinion based on?

fact that emory is the best school in the southeast?

should be fine...but what about virginia?http://uva.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

FightingCamel wrote:I'm hopefuly about my UNC application (Although I've heard of people with similar numbers applying late in the cycle getting rejected). Unless I can get a pretty substantial scholarship at Wake Forest, I don't know how I could justify spending over 10k a year in extra tuition costs to go there. It's hard to beat the value of UNC's in-state tuition and relatively good ranking, but I'm open to any suggestions.

What kind of job are you hoping to land post-graduation? And where? Charlotte? Triad? Raleigh? Other/indifferent?

My understanding is that Wake actually places better in biglaw than UNC. I agree that UNC's tuition is hard to pass up but if your goal is to work for a large firm (in the state or elsewhere) UNC might not be your best option. The USNews rankings of UNC and Wake do not accurately reflect the employment prospects of the schools - Wake's is probably better than the rank lets on, while UNC is probably not as good as its rank suggests.

This is also incredibly anecdotal but the only people I know of who landed Raleigh "biglaw" ITE were from Duke. Maybe some UNC students can come rep their school here.

ETA: Also, agree that Virginia is a good choice. ED UVA seems like a good bet if you're willing to relocate up 1 state.

c3pO4 wrote:

The Valkyrie wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:You will crush in NC with an Emory degree

What is this opinion based on?

fact that emory is the best school in the southeast?

I've never met or heard of an attorney here having attended Emory. I bet most Emory grads go to Atlanta, NY or DC

I'm not usually a 'retake' guy, but if you're up for it and are willing to wait a cycle, with a couple more LSAT points, you have a great chance at Duke and if you can hit 170, you're pretty much a lock. Duke would definitely open doors that UNC/Wake don't, even in NC.


ETA: UVA ED isn't a bad option either if you don't want to re-take.

c3pO4 wrote:

The Valkyrie wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:You will crush in NC with an Emory degree

What is this opinion based on?

fact that emory is the best school in the southeast?

This board doesn't get too much pro-emory trolling, so this is at least fresh. However:

Southeastern schools unarguably better than Emory in any market:

UVA
Duke
Vanderbilt

Southeastern schools that are arguably on par / better than Emory in their home markets:

UNC
Bama
UGA
Florida (depending on if hiring attorney was a Gator)

I had a recent Duke grad tell me they thought they hard time making people believe they wanted to live/work there. If you're from there, I think you'd be fine, tho. Send Duke an app and see what happens.

BTW, Emory is certainly not the best school in the SE. I also haven't seen any indication it would be better than UNC for NC big law. In the SE it's Duke/UVA, Vandy, then Emory/The best school in the market you want to practice in. In this case, I think UNC beats Emory.

ETA: Scooped!

uva and duke are south, not southeast. plus they are t14 so it does't matter. any t14 is obviously better. vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Thanks for all the help. I'm definitely going to give a stronger look at Wake Forest now.

I do have a job offer in the ugly world of North Carolina politics. The pay isn't very good, but they also wouldn't be offended if I left after a year for law school. Would a shot at a UVA ED slot (or Duke if I could boost my LSAT) be worth delaying things for a year vs. a presumed spot at UNC or Wake? Remember that I'd like to stay in NC after graduation.

I would probably take the extra year of work experience (which seem to be substantive and can only help strengthen your applications), retake, and then ED UVA/Duke given your circumstances. That would give you the best chance at landing top positions in NC, though obviously you're far from screwed if you opt to just apply now and go to UNC/Wake.

c3pO4 wrote:uva and duke are south, not southeast. plus they are t14 so it does't matter. any t14 is obviously better. vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

lol

c3pO4 wrote:uva and duke are south, not southeast. plus they are t14 so it does't matter. any t14 is obviously better. vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Atlanta is west of both Durham and Charlottesville. You sir, are an idiot.

c3pO4 wrote:vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

There are so many things wrong with both those statements.

c3pO4 wrote:uva and duke are south, not southeast. plus they are t14 so it does't matter. any t14 is obviously better. vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

JusticeHarlan wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:uva and duke are south, not southeast. plus they are t14 so it does't matter. any t14 is obviously better. vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

right back at cha!

c3pO4 wrote:vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Uhhhh...by what metric?

SilverE2 wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Uhhhh...by what metric?

literally have never met 1 vandy grad in SE region biglaw. show me a single firm profile

c3pO4 wrote:

SilverE2 wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Uhhhh...by what metric?

literally have never met 1 vandy grad in SE region biglaw. show me a single firm profile

I could be the fool here as you probably are just a flame but... King & Spalding (Atlanta BigLaw) has over 20 people from Vandy.

Hjones33 wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:

SilverE2 wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:vandy is not better than emory for biglaw placement. emory can get you biglaw in NC no problem if you are top 30-40%.

Uhhhh...by what metric?

literally have never met 1 vandy grad in SE region biglaw. show me a single firm profile

I could be the fool here as you probably are just a flame but... King & Spalding (Atlanta BigLaw) has over 20 people from Vandy.

ok but we are talking about NC....

This is the derpiest on topic thread ever.
Don't go to Emory. It's not that Emory is a bad school. Look, however, at what career services can offer you at each school. First, not many employers from NC are going to travel to OCI at Emory. If they do, they probably aren't interviewing for the NC offices. Second, traveling to North Carolina to do interviews you set up yourself or for networking will be more time consuming (so much I-85 hell). Third, Emory is not going to have the depth in job listings or connections to prospective employers you want on your side.
It is not easy to go to a school outside your (non major) market and go back. You need to go to school in North Carolina or at Virginia (maybe Vandy) where you'll have the resources you need to get back to NC.

Guy pushing Emory sounds like a 0L who has not tried to go back to the Carolinas from a Georgia school. I have. It's difficult.