Baylor vs. Denver, ranking and money. Forum

[SummerMonster]

Less muddled Version:

Does the added expense of Baylor pay off in job opportunities (both in the long and short run)?
Numbers: To pay off my Baylor law school debt in 10 years with an average interest rate I would need to make a monthly payment of around 2,000. To pay off the debt from Denver in 10 years with an average interest rate I would need to make a monthly payment of around 1,000. (cost of living as calculated by the universities is about the same in each city)
Other factors: Denver does not have the specific program that I am interested (intellectual property kind of the litigation side of things) but they do have corporate law which does have business litigation and environmental law which I also could find intriguing. My family is in Texas and my undergrad is from UT. Not a huge fan of Texas. Know one person in Denver. Lived in Colorado before like the climate

More muddled Version:

I have been reading and the stats (employment rate, average salary, etc) vary widely between publishings, so I am very hesitant to make a decision off of these but the "name recognition" that Baylor has in Texas is something I am considering as helpful in getting that first job. But I am very concerned about how a degree from Baylor will compete with UT in my job search. Same with Denver and the competing higher ranked college in Boulder. I am also seriously concerned about the number of opportunities in the legal field for me while in school in Waco vs. Denver. I have heard and read a thousand times over that ranking really matters in getting a job. I have even looked at job postings and some require a degree from a top tier university so this is something I would really like advice on. Also if anyone has experience I would like your thoughts on how important ranking is compared to networking. Is it possible to compensate a lower ranked school via networking? or compensate poor networking with a higher ranked school?

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Reputation of your school matters but I've never seen ads for a top tier school before. Don't worry about that anyway though-- you will get your job because you hustled and networked, especially from these two schools.

I go to CU and have lived in Texas... I'd say go to DU because it is so much cheaper. DU has zero name recognition in Texas though, so you'll have to stay in Colorado when you finish school.

[flem]

Pick where you want to live and go there. $2000 a month loan payments would suck if you don't land BigLaw (which, let's be honest, you probably won't coming out of these two schools) so in that regard, DU.

Tried negotiating with Baylor?

[JasonR]

Baylor is not worth anything close to that kind of money for the job prospects it provides. DU isn't either, but at least it's cheaper. Baylor is one of the most hellish law school experiences around, from what I hear. Neither degree is portable, and neither is going to get you BigLaw. Decide if that's OK with you. If it is, then decide whether you want to live in CO or TX after law school.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

I don't know anyone who currently goes to Baylor, but I know a few alums that are very happy with their alma mater. I know several current DU students and they don't work very hard and seem to have plenty of time for skiing. I'm actually jealous of them...