Davis, UIUC, Chicago-Kent, L&C, Boulder, Loyola LA, Oregon? Forum

[naw]

It's that time of year folks. Do your worst. I'll preface this by saying that retaking is definitely on the table, but that's not what what I'm paying you for. I'm just posting this to survey your thoughts on the schools.

About me:
- Intends to work in public interest environmental law or gov work as soon after graduation as possible. Not interested in biglaw.
- Prefers to stay in or eventually return to California, but this is less of a concern for me than it is for a lot of people
- 3.77/159/URM
- Waitlisted at WUSTL, Hastings, and Cornell (reserve)

Notes on the schools:
- Illinois: Would be doing the joint MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences if I can land a graduate teaching fellowship (I've talked to profs who say they'd be willing to give)
- Boulder: OOS for first year w/18k, in state 2L/3L w/6k
- UC Davis: school still hasn't released anybody's merit aid info, so that price is subject to change (but likely not by much)
- No stips on Kent, Ill, Oregon scholarships. Can't remember the stips on the others.
- UIUC and Davis seem to have the best LRAPs of these schools

[rad lulz]

,

[flem]

I found this picture of you picking your schools:



Where do you want to work brah?

Also 3.77/URM should retake, honestly. I'd kill for both of those advantages as an average white dude with a shitty GPA

[bk1]

Assuming you only have ties to CA.

Boulder - no ties, too expensive
L&C - no ties
Oregon - no ties
Davis - too expensive
Chicago-Kent - bad job prospects
Loyola LA - too expensive

That leaves UIUC as the only possible reasonable option. But the obvious credited response is retake/reapply. You could drop the cost of attendance at UIUC to a lot lower or at least pay similar cost for a peer school in the place you want to be (e.g. paying that amount for UCD/UCH) or going to a better school. I also wouldn't put too much stock in the LRAP's of low ranked schools considering a lot of them are pretty poor and they are often conditional.

The one thing I would consider is that your chosen field is very narrow and has especially suffered due to the economy (see rad lulz's post). What are you going to do if you can't find a job in enviro law?

[naw]

Where do you want to work brah?

Wherever, maaaan.

Assuming you only have ties to CA.

The one thing I would consider is that your chosen field is very narrow and has especially suffered due to the economy (see rad lulz's post). What are you going to do if you can't find a job in enviro law?

I don't have many ties in CA either. Ties are something I'm looking to forage as a 1L and in the summer. That's not all that unusual, from what I gather.

The way I see it, it's not the end of the world if I land a job after graduation doing enviro work that doesn't require a JD but pays me enough to stay alive and keep my head out of loan debt water (I've got no UG debt). It's also OK if I end up doing legal work that's not environmental for a while to pay off loans and get some experience under my belt. If my spirit needs some fulfillment, I can pro-bono/volunteer/whatever.

This board is so myopic about career trajectories sometimes. I plan on working my dick off to get my foot in the door somewhere in PIEL, but yeah, of course it sucks that I can't just waltz into a job defending what I care about. Should that be any reason to just ditch the idea altogether? I'm not convinced. Good things come to those who wait.

[rad lulz]

.

[bk1]

I don't have many ties in CA either. Ties are something I'm looking to forage as a 1L and in the summer. That's not all that unusual, from what I gather.

Lot's of people do it, but it's generally a poor idea since it puts you behind the ball compared to everyone else at the school that does have ties to the area. I'd avoid having to do that if at all possible

The way I see it, it's not the end of the world if I land a job after graduation doing enviro work that doesn't require a JD but pays me enough to stay alive and keep my head out of loan debt water (I've got no UG debt). It's also OK if I end up doing legal work that's not environmental for a while to pay off loans and get some experience under my belt. If my spirit needs some fulfillment, I can pro-bono/volunteer/whatever.

This board is so myopic about career trajectories sometimes. I plan on working my dick off to get my foot in the door somewhere in PIEL, but yeah, of course it sucks that I can't just waltz into a job defending what I care about. Should that be any reason to just ditch the idea altogether? I'm not convinced. Good things come to those who wait.

I think that's reasonable (it would be unreasonable if that was the only thing you wanted to do). However my point was more that because your desired job is so rare, it's not a meaningful way to compare between schools. If you had something as your primary backup goal that was within reach it would likely be a more meaningful way to differentiate between schools.

[romothesavior]

This board is so myopic about career trajectories sometimes. I plan on working my dick off to get my foot in the door somewhere in PIEL, but yeah, of course it sucks that I can't just waltz into a job defending what I care about. Should that be any reason to just ditch the idea altogether? I'm not convinced. Good things come to those who wait.

Yeah, but when there are so few jobs in the area you are interested in, it makes it virtually impossible to give you any sort of advice.

Generally though, I agree with bk. Illinois is the only one that makes any sense at all, and only just barely. Retake/reapply is TCR. The rest are too expensive or bad for your goals.

[Danteshek]

Happy to discuss Loyola-LA offline...

[Danteshek]

Well it's pretty hard to give someone advice when they have unrealistic goals in the first place.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

I think you have terrific career goals, and I know a lot of people at CU-Boulder that share those same goals. We have a PHD/JD in environmental studies you may be interested in. It is only five years, and the Masters/JD is only four.

If you successfully entered the field, going back to California would be doable from CU. The school has a terrific reputation in environmental studies and natural resources. The Law School has outstanding professors in these fields that are at the the forefront of the conversation in oil and gas, mining and energy, rare earths, etc. They would provide outstanding contacts if you took advantage-- in fact, Charles Wilkinson and Sarah Krakoff, two of our best professors in Natural Resources are both Cali people, Stanford and Boalt respectively.

I imagine you already know this, but with the money you'd spend to get these degrees and the salaries in the field you seem to want to enter, it is very likely you'd be in debt for the remainder of your life without IBR.

Actually.. maybe with IBR too.

[20160810]

UIUC for $10K/yr isn't bad, but you won't be working in CA.

[JoeFish]

UIUC for $10K/yr isn't bad, but you won't be working in CA.

[Doorkeeper]

Retake/Reapply.