Top Law Schools

Hey guys,

so I need some help deciding. I want to go into environmental/agricultural law (probably public interest/small scale consulting). Money is a big factor in my decision. I am deciding between Maryland, Penn state (up campus) and u pitt, all out of state. I got 14k/yr to pitt, 15k/yr to penn state and so far nothing (and not really expecting anything) from maryland. I like pittsburgh a lot, but don't know if I should go to maryland since they are a bit higher ranked even though it is full price.

I don't know if I want to end up in the pittsburgh area after (though not off the table) and I like the idea of DC (currently gaining WE there for a year).

Thoughts???

What is the total cost-of-attendance for each law school ? Without more info., Pitt seems to be the best choice.

maryland is like 37k tuition, pitt is 34k tuition, and penn state is 37k tuition. (Tuition numbers are without my scholarships deducted). Cost of living is cheapest in pitt and penn state I think.

If you would be happy living in the Pittsburgh area after law school, then Pitt seems to be the best option in my opinion due to increased internship/externship opportunities while in law school. Try to keep debt as low as possible to preserve options after law school.

Pitt is the best, but that's only if you can decide for sure that you want to live in Pittsburgh for the long-term. It really has no portability

It'd be really hard to get a decent job in DC with your numbers. T14 students all go there.

Pittsburgh you're competing with duquesne .... DC you're competing with Harvard lol

is maryland's portability better than pitt's?

mmv23 wrote:is maryland's portability better than pitt's?

Idk much about Maryland so take what I say with a gran of salt, but my guess is (as with other schools in these ranges) it isn't

If you'd rather end up in Baltimore I'd say Maryland

As I said all I really know about is Pittsburgh here, so maybe someone else who knows more can comment but most likely

Pitt - If want to work in Pittsburgh
Maryland - If want to work in Baltimore
PSU - Gives option of either Burgh / Philly, but doesn't have stranglehold on either (this is probably off-set by fact you have 2 markets so probably abotu same chances of jobs)... So PSU if unsure of Pittsburgh / Philly

I mean, you mean get lucky do great and be able to go to DC... but chances are you won't for any of them

ThreeRivers wrote:As I said all I really know about is Pittsburgh here, so maybe someone else who knows more can comment but most likely

Pitt - If want to work in Pittsburgh
Maryland - If want to work in Baltimore
PSU - Gives option of either Burgh / Philly, but doesn't have stranglehold on either (this is probably off-set by fact you have 2 markets so probably abotu same chances of jobs)... So PSU if unsure of Pittsburgh / Philly

I mean, you mean get lucky do great and be able to go to DC... but chances are you won't for any of them

While PSU has fleeting reach in Philly and the 'Burgh, it's much more of a Harrisburg/York/Lancaster school. It does have a marked advantage over Pitt and Temple for state government jobs, however, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Have you looked into the in-state requirements for Penn State and MD? If you could get residency then you would be saving a pretty significant chunk of money.

For what its worth, I went to the MD open house a couple nights ago and it was fairly impressive. They also seem to have a real focus on environmental law, if that is enough to sway you. Not sure if it's posted online but they gave out a fairly detailed breakdown of the class of 2010's employment info. If you emailed them they could probably send you a PDF.

TheColonel wrote:Have you looked into the in-state requirements for Penn State and MD? If you could get residency then you would be saving a pretty significant chunk of money.

For what its worth, I went to the MD open house a couple nights ago and it was fairly impressive. They also seem to have a real focus on environmental law, if that is enough to sway you. Not sure if it's posted online but they gave out a fairly detailed breakdown of the class of 2010's employment info. If you emailed them they could probably send you a PDF.

Penn State gives no in-state tuition discount.

HeavenWood wrote:

ThreeRivers wrote:As I said all I really know about is Pittsburgh here, so maybe someone else who knows more can comment but most likely

Pitt - If want to work in Pittsburgh
Maryland - If want to work in Baltimore
PSU - Gives option of either Burgh / Philly, but doesn't have stranglehold on either (this is probably off-set by fact you have 2 markets so probably abotu same chances of jobs)... So PSU if unsure of Pittsburgh / Philly

I mean, you mean get lucky do great and be able to go to DC... but chances are you won't for any of them

While PSU has fleeting reach in Philly and the 'Burgh, it's much more of a Harrisburg/York/Lancaster school. It does have a marked advantage over Pitt and Temple for state government jobs, however, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Both of these are accurate. Pitt has the 'burgh almost on lock. PSU has a better rep state-wide, however, and has a ridiculous alumni network in the state.

Don't go to any of these schools. Retake or don't go.

smelltheglove wrote:Don't go to any of these schools. Retake or don't go.

You should get a timeout for this stupid shit.

Pitt gives instate tuition, and my understanding is its pretty easy to get. I believe it reduced tuition to about 26k or 27k. Pitts your cheapest option in a city you wouldnt mind being in, and for good reason, its dope. Maryland is a better ranked school, but it doesnt really matter.

I go to Pitt though, so idk, there could be some bias in there.

bport hopeful wrote:Pitts your cheapest option in a city you wouldnt mind being in, and for good reason, its dope.

I need a timeout?

smelltheglove wrote:

bport hopeful wrote:Pitts your cheapest option in a city you wouldnt mind being in, and for good reason, its dope.

I need a timeout?

You should do more productive things with your time, like killing yourself.

As far as I know, Maryland does have a good environmental law program.

Jaeger wrote:As far as I know, Maryland does have a good environmental law program.

This also doesnt matter.

bport hopeful wrote:

Jaeger wrote:As far as I know, Maryland does have a good environmental law program.

This also doesnt matter.

ya i'm leaning towards pitt. I've visited a lot and really like it. In terms of a city, I'm a fan. i'm from Ithaca NY so i like places that have some character to them haha. But I know how nice a city is not the only reason to choose a law school. Bport-why do you say maryland's environmental ranking doesn't matter? That is really the only reason I'm considering it since I would be paying sticker. Also, I didn't realize penn state was better for gov't stuff, I was a little worried about its isolated location, can anyone speak to this?

Basically, I like pitt, it's the cheapest, and I like their vibe a lot and the fact that their public interest org is huge is also a bonus (I applied to the public interest scholarship, keepin' the fingers crossed for that), but I just wanna make sure I'm not making a bad decision by not going to the slightly higher ranked schools I got into.

mmv23 wrote:

bport hopeful wrote:

Jaeger wrote:As far as I know, Maryland does have a good environmental law program.

This also doesnt matter.

ya i'm leaning towards pitt. I've visited a lot and really like it. In terms of a city, I'm a fan. i'm from Ithaca NY so i like places that have some character to them haha. But I know how nice a city is not the only reason to choose a law school. Bport-why do you say maryland's environmental ranking doesn't matter? That is really the only reason I'm considering it since I would be paying sticker. Also, I didn't realize penn state was better for gov't stuff, I was a little worried about its isolated location, can anyone speak to this?

Basically, I like pitt, it's the cheapest, and I like their vibe a lot and the fact that their public interest org is huge is also a bonus (I applied to the public interest scholarship, keepin' the fingers crossed for that), but I just wanna make sure I'm not making a bad decision by not going to the slightly higher ranked schools I got into.

You're not. All these schools as very strictly regional. As long as you want to work in Pittsburgh, you're making a good decision.