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Debating between Indiana-Bloomington w/ $15k or Washington and Lee. Wanted to hear what other people thought.

They're not fungible because they're both highly regional. Which region would you like to practice in, that you have sufficient ties to?

IAFG wrote:They're not fungible because they're both highly regional. Which region would you like to practice in, that you have sufficient ties to?

Not really sure where I want to be. Guess that's part of what makes the decision tough. I'm from PA but doubt I'll end up there.

jiveturkey15 wrote:

IAFG wrote:They're not fungible because they're both highly regional. Which region would you like to practice in, that you have sufficient ties to?

Not really sure where I want to be. Guess that's part of what makes the decision tough. I'm from PA but doubt I'll end up there.

If you only have ties to PA then that's probably exactly where you'll end up.

jiveturkey15 wrote:Debating between Indiana-Bloomington w/ $15k or Washington and Lee. Wanted to hear what other people thought.

First, they're both terrible options at those prices. Second, they're even more terribler because you lack ties to their markets. You should be trying to go to law school where you want to practice for cheap (which ideally should be the market where you are from or have strong ties), or you should be going to a T14. Going to a regional school at that cost is just financial suicide.

Words of advice: I felt the same way you did. Lived in PA my whole life. Looked at both of those schools, never seriously at GW but I considered IUB (ended up being my 3rd choice), didn't think I really cared where I ended up. Ended up at a school 11 hours from home, in a market I was comfortable working in...

And now I am trying very, very hard to get back home, for this summer and for the future. Being in Lawl school helped me realize what I want to do, and where I want to do it, and it's been much harder to be this far from my family than I thought it would be. For me, the "I don't care where I end up geographically" sentiment was sort of immature. I'm definitely going to have opportunities to get back to the Mid-Atlantic, but how many, and how hard I'll have to work for them, depend on whether I can end up on the good end of the lucky stick re grades for a second semester. I don't think I can really quantify what I would have done differently, but just make sure you realize exactly how important ties are both ways. If you go far away from PA, and want to work in the area of your law school, you'll have to explain why you're not just going to go back home the second you get the chance. If you go far away from PA and decide you want to come back, you'll have to work your butt off to do so.

FWIW, though, IUB offered me a much larger scholarship, and I probably wouldn't have even considered it for 15k/year.

And just to elaborate: NO ONE from PA, especially Central PA, where I'm from, thinks they're ever going to come back.

They all do.

JoeFish wrote:And just to elaborate: NO ONE from PA, especially Central PA, where I'm from, thinks they're ever going to come back.

They all do.

Yeah I appreciate the honest response. I'm from central PA as well but I'm really not impressed at all with Penn State Law and don't really want to live for three years in a big city. W&L is just three hours away and so I guess even though it doesn't send a lot of grads to PA I feel like I could come back home from there if I wanted to. But again, I appreciate the honest response.

JoeFish wrote:And just to elaborate: NO ONE from PA, especially Central PA, where I'm from, thinks they're ever going to come back.

They all do.

I've left this state five different times and I've always ended up back here. It's not such a bad place.

romothesavior wrote:

jiveturkey15 wrote:Debating between Indiana-Bloomington w/ $15k or Washington and Lee. Wanted to hear what other people thought.

First, they're both terrible options at those prices. Second, they're even more terribler because you lack ties to their markets. You should be trying to go to law school where you want to practice for cheap (which ideally should be the market where you are from or have strong ties), or you should be going to a T14. Going to a regional school at that cost is just financial suicide.

Credited; retake or don't go.