So, ummmm all things being equal... Forum

[tarp]

Did you read his posts? He is from a small town 50 minutes south of Pittsburgh. Are you suggesting he commute 50 minutes to attend Pitt? What about thunderstorms, ice and snow? How good are his 1L grades going to be with a commute like that?

[ThreeRivers]

Yea... I don't think I'd live at home

Estimated COL at Pitt with my scholly would be 40 k a year
Estimated COL at Minn with my scholly would be 41 k a year

So they are kind of even from that perspective

As far as my goals... IDK, I'm not 100% opposed to big law, but the hours / lifestyle scare me. My extremely ideal / most unrealistic would be "firm with most amount of hours / highest pay." A balance between those 2, so some type of "mid-law" would be ideal (although I know that might be asking too much), so basically I'm just looking for generic "best chance of getting a decent job" since I'm kind of unsure on that

[ThreeRivers]

I posted something about my situation / MN vs. Pitt on a Pittsburgh Penguins fan msg board "Non-hockey related section." I post there and I know from previous discussions there were several Pittsburgh lawyers on there.

Here's the response I got from a Pgh lawyer / Pitt alum

Congrats on your acceptance to a couple quality schools.

I don't think Pitt has a particularly strong or special notoriety in Pittsburgh. Career Services was poor to average when I was a student. Hopefully that has changed some since I graduated, but there was no really strong network of Pitt grads a few years ago. I had a couple decent rapport building conversations in interviews about Pitt law, but, with most of the Pitt grads that I interviewed with, the conversations about the law school didn't amount to much.

I have to wonder whether your chances of getting hired in Pittsburgh are hampered all that much by coming back after graduating from UM. Your chances of getting a job in MN or anywhere else in the country should undoubtedly be better if you attend UM. Plus, you'll get to see some great hockey.

I'd try to get some feedback from recent Pitt grads on the job market in Pittsburgh. I'd also ask yourself how much you think you want to work in Pittsburgh or anywhere else in the country. If there are no family, relationship, other personal issues making Pitt more appealing and if the cost of both schools is equal or very similar, my personal opinion is that you take the top 25 offer and go to UM. If working in Pittsburgh is very important to you, or if you have other reasons motivating you to stay in Pittsburgh, then Pitt probably ends up being an equal or perhaps marginally better choice.

[Aberzombie1892]

OP, if you are like most prospective law school students (you must go to law school this fall or your life will end), you should go to Minn.

However, reasonable minds (2Ls/3Ls/recent grads) will tell you that Minn is not worth ~$41,000 a year. I would have to agree with those reasonable minds.

[ThreeRivers]

OP, if you are like most prospective law school students (you must go to law school this fall or your life will end), you should go to Minn.

However, reasonable minds (2Ls/3Ls/recent grads) will tell you that Minn is not worth ~$41,000 a year. I would have to agree with those reasonable minds.

That's total coa... honestly I bet it'll be lower for me (I don't spend much $ / will look for cheap housing), but yea I'm definitely trying to weigh all my options right now (including trying to negotiate scholly offers... although I'm not sure how negotiable these schools are)

edit: Are you happy with your choice of Tulane?

[MrAnon]

Did you read his posts? He is from a small town 50 minutes south of Pittsburgh. Are you suggesting he commute 50 minutes to attend Pitt? What about thunderstorms, ice and snow? How good are his 1L grades going to be with a commute like that?

zOMG thunderstorms! Anyone who needs to spend every waking moment of their day studying and can't deal with commuting 4 days a week, even if that's what he wants to do, is destined to finish bottom of their class. Much of law school is whether you "get it" or not and no amount of additional studying will help those who do not.

[ThreeRivers]

Did you read his posts? He is from a small town 50 minutes south of Pittsburgh. Are you suggesting he commute 50 minutes to attend Pitt? What about thunderstorms, ice and snow? How good are his 1L grades going to be with a commute like that?

zOMG thunderstorms! Anyone who needs to spend every waking moment of their day studying and can't deal with commuting 4 days a week, even if that's what he wants to do, is destined to finish bottom of their class. Much of law school is whether you "get it" or not and no amount of additional studying will help those who do not.

Meh.. I'm not trying to live at home with parents until I'm 27. So while financially that might make sense, I'd likely get an apt in Pgh if I attended Pitt

[Nelson]

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't implying that you should live at home necessarily, just that keeping COL low is essential. If you really think UMN and Pitt are comparable in cost, go to UMN I suppose. Paying 120k for UMN sounds like a bad deal to me though. Maybe if you have the fortitude to drop out if you end up at median or below it's OK?

I still think that for almost anyone in your position the right move is to wait a year, work, and retake.

[ThreeRivers]

Yea, I'm going to try to negotiate my 23 k a year scholly, and take a look at apts and such and make an honest estimate of what my col would be in the twin cities (I honestly feel I can live there for <20 k they're estimating)

I'll then make my decision on what to do.... One negative is I have a history degree from a horrible university, so "taking a year off" would mean waiting at Red Robin for me lol

[Nelson]

Yea, I'm going to try to negotiate my 23 k a year scholly, and take a look at apts and such and make an honest estimate of what my col would be in the twin cities (I honestly feel I can live there for <20 k they're estimating)

I'll then make my decision on what to do.... One negative is I have a history degree from a horrible university, so "taking a year off" would mean waiting at Red Robin for me lol

I would also hang in there for the possibility of a T30 in a better market like BU or BC. Either of those would be a better option (if they would match the UMN scholarship).

[ThreeRivers]

Yea, I'm still waiting on bu, but at this point im expecting a wl or little to no scholly $... time will tell I guess

[tarp]

I am guessing MrAnon is not from Pittsburgh which is known for famously bad weather. A 50 minute commute is an unpredictable commute in that part of the country. It's not a matter of missing out on two hours of study time, it's a matter of "will I make it to class today, or will I slide on some ice, hydroplane during a thunderstorm, or hit a deer in the dark since I have to leave before dawn to get there on time?" We are talking icy, hilly terrain and some pretty bad roads. Unless he happens to live right off a major highway like 76 or 79, he is likely taking backroads.

[soitgoes9]

I would try to either get the 170+ or try to negotiate more money at Pitt or Temple. Pitt's placement is bad but western PA may be the market you have the best chance at. Temple has better placement (not great but better) if they gave you more money that could be an option too.

edit: I missed the second page. I think you could really keep your col down at either I know you can in Pittsburgh. I think that with local ties you could take the Min. back to pgh if you work in pgh both summers. But that may mean that you can't get instate tuition.

Other idea: What about deferring for a year moving to MN working making some connections and then going with instate tuition and something to talk about in interviews?

[romothesavior]

Go to a school in a market where you have connections. "I don't think I'd mind working in x place" is really stupid.

Credited. Welcome to ITE, bro.

This.

If you aren't from one of these regions, you would be a fool to go to either.

[ThreeRivers]

I would try to either get the 170+ or try to negotiate more money at Pitt or Temple. Pitt's placement is bad but western PA may be the market you have the best chance at. Temple has better placement (not great but better) if they gave you more money that could be an option too.

edit: I missed the second page. I think you could really keep your col down at either I know you can in Pittsburgh. I think that with local ties you could take the Min. back to pgh if you work in pgh both summers. But that may mean that you can't get instate tuition.

Other idea: What about deferring for a year moving to MN working making some connections and then going with instate tuition and something to talk about in interviews?

Maybe a possibility... just weighing my options right now (cycles not even done yet), but starting to think my best offers have already come lol

[romothesavior]

The problem is that your best offers place in regions you apparently have no ties to. Which means they're not that great of offers.

[YourCaptain]

i chose Minnesota its primary market (Minny/St Paul) is largely dominated by UMN as opposed to W&L which has stiff competition and if you do extremely well UMN might get you to Chicago

fixed

umn is virtually unrepresented in chicago this year. not saying at some of the smaller firms, but among the ones that take over 5 SAs, umn has almost no presence.

if you think mn can handle umn's graduating class, then good luck to you

[cinephile]

Sure you may be able to get back to Pittsburgh after going to law school elsewhere, but you'd be missing out on a number of opportunities. For example, with regional schools, OCI is only going to have local employers -- so you'd have to rely on mailings to get interviews in Pittsburgh. Also, you miss out on going to the various networking receptions at school that would have local employers. Also, if you do any volunteering or externships, you'd be building a network in your new city and that wouldn't help much for going back to Pittsburgh. Same with student bar associations. Your best bet is to stay local, but if you'd really rather be elsewhere, maybe you can convince employers that you'd rather be in Minnesota.