Top Law Schools

Hey TLS,

I have been reading through posts on this site for around 3 weeks, so hopefully my questions are at least somewhat unique. I already have undergraduate and graduate debt (I complete my Masters right before Fall 2012 semester begins) and understand that I may be digging myself into a long time of misery. I know it and accept it. I interview well and have enough connections that a job hopefully will not be an issue, though I understand that most are not as fortunate right now.
All of my practice tests were around 10 points higher than my test day. Don't know if it was the stress of the situation or what, but I didn't do as well as I usually did. To address the "retake" posts before they happen...it's not financially possible for me to take the time off again to study for the LSAT. I work, intern, and have school. Though life in law school will be one miserable S.O.B., life from now until then is close to the same for me as well.
To the situation...Whittier accepted me with $7500 offer (tuition becomes $32,500), Western State a third offer (tuition becomes roughly $23,000), TJSL accepted me (which I now understand would be a huge mistake as I read they were or are the national leader in students graduating with debt, as well as the other downsides of the school), I am waitlisted at Cal Western, on hold at Chapman, and declined from Loyola. I applied to and was accepted to several out of state schools, but due to family circumstances etc since applying, I will remain in southern California.
Anyone with knowledge of the area...how would you rank the schools? Aside from TJSL being a waste, the high attrition rate of Whittier and Western State, I am strongly considering Western State because of the offer and the stip is maintaining a 2.6. Would anyone choose to pay sticker at Chapman rather than 1/3 covered at Western State?
Does anyone know if scholarship students are all put together at Western State? I believe I read this in a TSL thread that some schools group together the scholarship students so that by the end of 1st year, some students within that group will inevitably lose scholarship money from falling to the bottom of the class full of students receiving money.
After reading through TLS posts, I understand that going into a school planning on transferring is not the best idea, and will not think about it until the time (hopefully) comes. Thank you to the helpful people on this forum and if you took the time to read my thread.

If these are your only options and you won't consider a retake, do not attend law school. Just stick with whatever you are currently doing. None of the schools you mentioned are viable options, especially in the current market.

ETA: NEVER attend a school hoping to transfer. Law school performance is simply too unpredictable.

You don't have to take time off to study for the LSAT. Just make the time. You will be making a huge mistake going to any of these schools. Unless the connections you have are something like family members working at law firms who will guarantee you a job after graduation, none of these schools are worth going to. The fact that you are even considering Western State shows that you haven't done enough research.

OP take a look at lawschooltransparency.com if you haven't checked it out already.

Ludovico Technique wrote:You don't have to take time off to study for the LSAT. Just make the time. You will be making a huge mistake going to any of these schools. Unless the connections you have are something like family members working at law firms who will guarantee you a job after graduation, none of these schools are worth going to. The fact that you are even considering Western State shows that you haven't done enough research.

Thank you for your reply. I do have family members in firms in a couple of states, but was hoping to do it on my own. I will reconsider a retake though. Thanks for your time.

If you must go to law school, go later. You've already dug yourself into a hole with 2 degrees, there's no point to do it for a 3rd. Work, pay off your student loans, save some money, and then go to law school if you must. At least at that point you could pay for law school with savings rather than having to take out even more loans.

chimp wrote:OP take a look at lawschooltransparency.com if you haven't checked it out already.

Yeah I have seen it, thanks. I have a question about LST actually since you mentioned it. I have tried browsing the site for how exactly their employment data is gathered. Is it based on responses they get from reaching out to graduates of each school? Many people also say that graduates with jobs are more likely to report than those without a job, and the people that report salary as well do so more often when their salary is significant or at least respectable. So..is it relatively accurate to say that although the LST data figures are incomplete, they are somewhat reliable to do those circumstances surrounding employment/salary reporting?

hooraydebt wrote:Yeah I have seen it, thanks. I have a question about LST actually since you mentioned it. I have tried browsing the site for how exactly their employment data is gathered. Is it based on responses they get from reaching out to graduates of each school? Many people also say that graduates with jobs are more likely to report than those without a job, and the people that report salary as well do so more often when their salary is significant or at least respectable. So..is it relatively accurate to say that although the LST data figures are incomplete, they are somewhat reliable to do those circumstances surrounding employment/salary reporting?

Schools gather the data through employment surveys of their grads. That data is then reported to USNWR. LST then gets the data from USNWR.

LST data is incomplete, but it's safe to assume that people who don't report are in the worst possible option for that category (unemployed if they don't report employment, part time if they don't report ft/pt, making 30k if they don't report salary, etc). That's the best way to evaluate schools since any other way paints too bright a picture.

CA market is terrible right now. Also, all the schools you mentioned are below Stanford, Boalt, UCLA, USC, UCI, Davis/Hastings, Loyola, Pepperdine, USD just within their own state. Not to mention the other T14 grads flocking to a desirable market. In the nicest way possible, this is a true retake or don't go thread.

For once I agree with the retake or don't go crowd but given the market in California as described here on TLS I don't know that the OP should go AT ALL unless s/he plans to move out-of-state or gets a guaranteed 100% free ride or close.

If the OP is just crazy desperate to be a California lawyer, any kind of lawyer at all, and can't get into Stanford (which is likely) maybe s/he should consider one of California's various alternative routes to the Bar exam and save about $120,000 over the sticker price of virtually any California ABA law school, public or private.

But I'd find something else to do with my life. Charter boat captain, maybe.

BeautifulSW wrote:For once I agree with the retake or don't go crowd but given the market in California as described here on TLS I don't know that the OP should go AT ALL unless s/he plans to move out-of-state or gets a guaranteed 100% free ride or close.

If the OP is just crazy desperate to be a California lawyer, any kind of lawyer at all, and can't get into Stanford (which is likely) maybe s/he should consider one of California's various alternative routes to the Bar exam and save about $120,000 over the sticker price of virtually any California ABA law school, public or private.

But I'd find something else to do with my life. Charter boat captain, maybe.

Wow you're an idiot