Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC?? Forum

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UnsolicitedJ

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Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by UnsolicitedJ » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:16 pm

I got accepted to all four and was wondering which one would be the best if I wanted to work in California. Ideally I would like the work in corporate law as well. I know that location favors Hastings and UCI, but was wondering if the prestige factor might boost BC and possibly W & M over these schools. Also I was wondering if the location was the most important factor Hastings vs. UCI. In looking into the best school for my situation, this is without the factor of cost and with the most important factor to me being job prospects post grad. I've been doing research for days but would love some insight from TLS!

Thanks for the help! :D

bk1

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by bk1 » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:19 pm

Definitely not W&M/BC since you want to work in CA.

What will UCI/UCH cost?

UnsolicitedJ

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by UnsolicitedJ » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:24 pm

Ahh i thought so. I heard location is super important. And UCH and UCI will be costing the same.

apollo2015

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by apollo2015 » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:41 am

Hastings is probably optimal in your situation.

UCI might work if you want to practice in Orange County, and can get them to give you a sizable scholarship.

FinallyGoing

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by FinallyGoing » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:56 am

Hastings for sure...great alumni network.

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Slevin Kelevra 2011

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by Slevin Kelevra 2011 » Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:42 pm

BC if you want biglaw generally. If you're focused on the west coast, UCI. Otherwise, BC.

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splitbrain

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by splitbrain » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:11 pm

Well, do you want to work in the Bay Area (Hastings) or in Southern CA (UCI)? There's your answer.

Just wondering: did you apply to USC/UCLA?

UnsolicitedJ

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by UnsolicitedJ » Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:49 am

UPDATE: Got into Davis so throwing that up in the mix.

Slevin Kelevra 2011- Hmm really UCI over UCH for big law? I do want to stay in the west coast ultimately so i am leaning towards westcoast schools. I have heard that uci has alot of support in the oc area but since they just recently had their first graduating class im unsure how much support they truly have. Is there any reason why you think UCI is better than UCH?

splitbrain- I am still unsure currently, the main thing is I want to stay in California. Im leaning more towards so cal but like i said its still up in the air. I really want to do big law, do you feel like for that it still just matters about location? And yes i applied to UCLA and USC. Got rejected from UCLA : (, still waiting on SC. SC for me now is my number one choice if I were to get accepted.

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by bk1 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 3:20 am

Don't pay sticker or even close to it for any of these schools. These are all peer schools. UCH/UCD are equals. UCI is more of an unknown but they don't have an alumni base and any employment statistics to go off of. However, I would class them as roughly equal to UCH/UCD since those two schools are known to be mediocre.

Look at UCH's employment stats for example: --LinkRemoved--

Total Grads: 421
Full Time, JD Required Jobs: 220

So roughly half of the class at Hastings can't get a full time job as a lawyer (it's the same at Davis). That is downright atrocious. This isn't even to touch whether one would be able to pay back the 230k debt at graduation that Hastings costs (and that doesn't factor in the highly likely tuition increases). If you can get a scholarship that would make your debt around 100-120k at graduation (at most) and want to work in CA, then I could recommend them. Otherwise I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

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ryemanhattan

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by ryemanhattan » Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:35 am

Irvine is compelling. Great faculty, super impressive clerkship placements (so far). They will be increasing class size from 90 to about 120 next year, but they've also had twice as many applicants this cycle, so their GPA/LSAT #'s should stay constant. I feel like the class of 2015 gets a bit of a raw deal though, since they aren't getting the nice discounts all previous classes have received (free, 1/2 price, 1/3 off, respectively), but they have all the uncertainty of a brand new, unranked school.

You'll have a certain amount of mobility within California from any of the UC schools; if they are the same cost for you I would lean Irvine. Smallest class size, most compelling faculty. It's a gamble, sure, but going to any law school is.

If you're not towards the top of your class at Hastings, you are in trouble. Hastings has the best alumni network in California, but it's been brutal times for their recent grads. All of these schools are rather respected in California, but the market for recent grads is still bad news.

Davis: Having Sac so close probably provides some interesting opportunities, but their recent grads have struggled along with Hastings'.

I wouldn't go near H or D at anything close to sticker. I Wouldn't pay sticker at Irvine, either, but I think it's the best bet. Good luck.

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thexfactor

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by thexfactor » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:43 am

any chance you could retake and aim for USC/UCLA next year?

apollo2015

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by apollo2015 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:19 pm

thexfactor wrote:any chance you could retake and aim for USC/UCLA next year ED UVA?
Fixed that for you.

UnsolicitedJ

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by UnsolicitedJ » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:32 pm

Wow thanks for all the feedback everyone I really appreciate it! :)

As it seems I have much to reconsider, I have a few more variables into the mix which I did not think mattered before, but after your posts believe they might have some worth. I did receive a minor amount of money at UCI (10k a year) and I have been accepted at Loyola (32k a year), no money at Davis or UCH. BC gave me 15k a year and the employment numbers look good at over 85%, but I feel as if I would be stuck in the east. Any thoughts on this and does anyone think I could use these as leverage for UCH or Loyola for more at UCI? Also any thoughts on transferring?

Bk187 – Those are very interesting and useful statistics you brought up as 60% FT employment is abysmal. I believe that I can compete though and be in the upper 50% of the class, however, it has led me to lean less heavily on my decision towards Hastings. Going strictly on employment numbers I have found another school I was accepted into to be far greater than all these schools, Loyola. I had failed to mention Loyola before because in my mind and the general consensus is that it is lower than a UC and its ranking supports that. The only thing that troubled me in the statistics however is the lack of reporting on Ft vs. Pt employment. Any thoughts on this?

Ryemanhattan-What you have said correlates with what I have heard from friends attending UCI. From what I have been told everyone enjoys their time there and loves the faculty. A few of my friends at Hastings on the other hand are not having as great of an experience. What worries me the most is job placement post graduation. I wouldn’t mind working in the OC, but I would be hoping that I would be making at least 6 figures. Do you feel as if UCI would be the best in terms of employment opportunities?

Apollo2015-I’v already taken a year and I am afraid I cannot wait any longer.

Thexfactor- Although it seems I fail to miss the meat of your banter, the funny thing is I actually did ED to UVA on a feewaiver this year, but was promptly rejected much earlier : (

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bk1

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by bk1 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:43 pm

UnsolicitedJ wrote:Bk187 – Those are very interesting and useful statistics you brought up as 60% FT employment is abysmal. I believe that I can compete though and be in the upper 50% of the class, however, it has led me to lean less heavily on my decision towards Hastings. Going strictly on employment numbers I have found another school I was accepted into to be far greater than all these schools, Loyola. I had failed to mention Loyola before because in my mind and the general consensus is that it is lower than a UC and its ranking supports that. The only thing that troubled me in the statistics however is the lack of reporting on Ft vs. Pt employment. Any thoughts on this?
I really commend UCH for posting the detail that they do given how bad their employment looks. It would be nice if other schools posted it but they don't. However there is data for 2009 from LST which is data that schools are reporting themselves (they report the data directly to USNWR and LST just pulls it from USNWR and publishes it in a comprehensible format) (source: --LinkRemoved--). LST has Loyola at 60% full time, JD required jobs which is similarly atrocious. I imagine their 2010 data is even worse than their 2009 data so I wouldn't classify Loyola as rosier than any of the schools you listed.

The fact is that CA's economy sucks right now and the CA law schools suffer accordingly. BC has better placement since Boston/NYC are doing much better than CA, but you are right in that you likely would be stuck in the east. That being said, 15k/year at BC still is a ton of debt and not enough to make it worth it. To make Loyola even worse is the fact that your scholarship probably has stipulations requiring you to be around top 1/3 (meaning that the majority of the time, 2/3, you will be paying sticker during years 2 and 3 at Loyola). You should at least try to leverage schollies even if it doesn't work. Finally you shouldn't even think about transferring as a 0L. It's going to require you be in the top 10% of your class and there's a 90% chance that that doesn't happen.

ryemanhattan

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by ryemanhattan » Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:51 pm

I'd rather take the gamble on UCI. I do think there will be better job prospects compared to Hastings and Davis, given the much smaller class size, among other things. this is conjecture.

I'm in a similar debate. UCI (12k scholly- I'm hoping to leverage it up a bit) vs Boulder ($?), Denver (63k scholly) and Northwestern. I love Northwestern, but I'd like to work in CA or CO and I'm terrified of a quarter million $ debt. Haven't heard from davis yet, or heard about $ from Hastings. Riding the waitlist at UVA.

Housing costs and crap public schools make California an intimidating place to consider starting out six figures in the hole, hence the consideration of retreating to CO. Trying to gauge how much of a bump NU would give me in CA and CO, over the local schools, and whether it is worth the cost.

If I go to UCI I'm planning on selling most of my worldly possessions and living out of an RV.

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by tlsfuntimes » Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:54 pm

UnsolicitedJ: Crazy we got into all the same schools! I also got into UWash and a few others, plus some full rides at lower ranked school. I'm SO torn.
Last edited by tlsfuntimes on Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ryemanhattan

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by ryemanhattan » Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:55 pm

sorry, 36k scholly at UCI, rather.

UnsolicitedJ

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Re: Hastings v. UCI v. W & M v. BC??

Post by UnsolicitedJ » Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:53 pm

bk187- Ah i see. Those are not great employment statistics as well : /. In regards to my loyola scholarship it is a little better than that stipulation where I have to get a 3.2 or top 40-50%. I'll probably try to leverage scholarships like you said, do you have any advice on that?

ryemanhattan-Wow congrats on Northwestern! That's huge. I definitely would have wanted to go there if I was you, but I guess there is the huge amount of debt with that choice. I think I'm with you with taking that gamble and I am leaning towards UCI right now as I have done more research and have found them to have a very high caliber of education, have a more collegial feeling (especially compared to Hastings), and a smaller class size. I think they are really trying to make sure their students do well, as they are so new and are trying to boost ratings.

aringer99-Haha that's crazy. I bet we have around the same scores. Is that UWash in Washington, or did you mean WashU in StLouis? Im curious because Im actually waiting on the later. I understand your feelings and hope things go well for you this cycle! Which schools are you leaning toward?

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