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if you had to choose between these 4 schools, which one would you go to, assuming the cost of attendance was roughly the same for all the schools?

please give reasons for your choice.

assume that you intend to practice in california.

noquestions wrote:assume that you intend to practice in california.

None of the above since they are all regional schools in notcalifornia.

bk187 wrote:

noquestions wrote:assume that you intend to practice in california.

None of the above since they are all regional schools in notcalifornia.

This.

Did you not apply to west coast schools at all? or just didn't get in? The schools listed above are midwest/eastcoast and seem to feed into their own markets within those regions.

If you can get past the probability of not ending up in California with this list of schools, we still need to know what your goals are.

i didn't apply to enough regional schools and got rejected from the few that i did apply to, but i still have to make a choice somehow among the places where i did get accepted.

Retaking/reapplying is out of the question? Reapplying is probably the best advice.

But, if you are dead-set on one of the aforementioned schools, what are your goals?

i will try to either clerk or work for a local firm, since biglaw is prolly out of reach unless i manage a transfer.

if i do try to do a lateral transfer after a year, which school is most easy to transfer from, if there's such a thing?

If you go to any of these schools, you'll be kicking yourself and regretting it later. One more year won't make or break you.

noquestions wrote:i will try to either clerk or work for a local firm, since biglaw is prolly out of reach unless i manage a transfer.

if i do try to do a lateral transfer after a year, which school is most easy to transfer from, if there's such a thing?

Assuming the money is at least $50K, any of these schools is okay. Out of these, BU is the better option (I go here, so I'm biased). I don't know why you say Biglaw not possible though, about 40% of people get big law from here (This is different from NLJ 250--thats about 20%). You won't have to transfer from BU to get BigLaw, and if you have grades good enough to transfer, chances are you will be able to get Biglaw (if you have the personality). California is also the 3rd region after New England and New York that BU alums go to.

elm84dr wrote: Assuming the money is at least $50K, any of these schools is okay. Out of these, BU is the better option (I go here, so I'm biased). I don't know why you say Biglaw not possible though, about 40% of people get big law from here (This is different from NLJ 250--thats about 20%). You won't have to transfer from BU to get BigLaw, and if you have grades good enough to transfer, chances are you will be able to get Biglaw (if you have the personality). California is also the 3rd region after New England and New York that BU alums go to.

I don't get this. NLJ250 seems to be a more inclusive definition of Biglaw. For example, some of the firms in the NLJ250 that are located in secondary markets have starting salaries at 100k. So when you say a biglaw placement of 40% what does that mean?

bk187 wrote:

noquestions wrote:assume that you intend to practice in california.

None of the above since they are all regional schools in notcalifornia.

The kids at GW who did get california 2L SAs had to do some major footwork to get there. Although possible to get back to california (anything is possible), it will not be easy from any of your options.

monkey85 wrote:

bk187 wrote:

noquestions wrote:assume that you intend to practice in california.

None of the above since they are all regional schools in notcalifornia.

The kids at GW who did get california 2L SAs had to do some major footwork to get there. Although possible to get back to california (anything is possible), it will not be easy from any of your options.

Also, the GW kids were probably going into IP, right? I've been reading around here that GW has a great IP program that may account for a fair amount of its placement in California. Unsure what kind of law OP wants to practice.

If I recall correctly, Minnesota runs a job placement fair in the San Francisco area for its law students. Beyond that note, it would be better if you reapplied next cycle to law schools in California if you want to live & work in California after law school.

How is USC or Davis not an option?

I have multiple BU friends who got CA. I think its the school's 3rd biggest market that they place into after Boston and NY. Lots of UC kids attend BU, and many of them want to go back home. Plus, BU is really focused on strengthening their west coast alumni network. Of these choices, I'd take BU, though it would obviously be a better choice to choose an actual CA school. I mean, if you got into BU, all of 2 more LSAT points would likely give you your choice of UCLA or USC, and that would be infinitely better for the west coast.

Wouldn't go to any if over 100k and trying to get back to California. Also if Cali is a priority for you, I wouldn't go to any.

CanadianWolf wrote:If I recall correctly, Minnesota runs a job placement fair in the San Francisco area for its law students. Beyond that note, it would be better if you reapplied next cycle to law schools in California if you want to live & work in California after law school.

Yes, but if I recall correctly, they had something like 5 firms show up to that.

GW is probably the most "national" school, but seriously, you shouldn't go to any of these if you want to practice in CA.