I am trying to choose my list of law schools. I ideally want to practice in NY or Florida. A school like UF seems to be considered a regional school with most students practicing in Florida, and even good schools that I could get into like Maryland seem to have students mostly staying in Maryland. Should I forget about schools like this? It seems like I can practice in NY or Florida if I go to Buffalo, but it's not the same if I went to UF. Same for UNC - good school, but not a school with many practicing in NY OR FL.
What do you think?
How much does location matter Forum
-
AsylumPB
- Posts: 113
- Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:30 pm
Re: How much does location matter
Practice in FL...NY is way over-saturated. Every market is actually, but at least with FL, there will be a surge of baby-boomers coming there in the next few years to retire, so there should be more clientele, which equals more money to pay back massive loans.
-
rinkrat19
- Posts: 13922
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 5:35 am
Re: How much does location matter
All schools except Harvard and Yale are regional, to varying degrees.
Below the T14 (and even in the lower T14), it is MUCH HARDER to get a job outside the market in which the school is located. Having local ties can help you get a job back home (e.g. you grew up and went to college in the Bay Area but went to law school in Chicago), but there are no guarantees. In general, if you're not attending a school with national reach, go to school in the region where you'd be happy living and working after graduation.
There are always exceptions, but don't bank on being one of them.
Below the T14 (and even in the lower T14), it is MUCH HARDER to get a job outside the market in which the school is located. Having local ties can help you get a job back home (e.g. you grew up and went to college in the Bay Area but went to law school in Chicago), but there are no guarantees. In general, if you're not attending a school with national reach, go to school in the region where you'd be happy living and working after graduation.
There are always exceptions, but don't bank on being one of them.
