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Hey guys,

I am trying to make the decision between University of Arizona law and Pepperdine.

I have never gone to school in Arizona, but since my family is from here, I am qualified for Arizona residency (so in-state tuition). I know I would love life by the beach at Pepperdine, but I don't know whether the costs of living and the high tuition costs are worth it.

Was wondering what your thoughts on this are? I am still not sure where I would like to practice, but I am open to anywhere including both Arizona and California.

Thanks for the help!

Is either school offering you money?

What would your total COA be at each?

Right now, I'd lean towards UofA if I were you.. Pepperdine is expensive.

U of A is the slightly better school, so all other things equal I would choose it. Since other things are not equal (your COA is much lower at U of A it sounds like), I would def choose it. Only reason to choose Pepperdine IMO would be if they gave you substantial scholly and/or you were dead set on practicing law in CA.

Well if you do con law in Arizona I am sure you will have lots of work. Are you from Arizona? I would hate my life if I lived there. Debt is a major concern but make sure you go somewhere that you can stand to live.

Arizona means more in Arizona than Pepperdine means in California. That fact, in addition to the fact that Arizona would be a lot cheaper, makes me vote for Arizona.

Once the total COA for each law school is calculated, your only realistic option will be Arizona since you qualify for in-state (resident) tuition rates. Next, you need to decide whether or not you would like to live & work in Arizona after law school. If yes, then Arizona; if no, then retake the LSAT & reapply next cycle.

I vote arizona. arizona really just has it and asu to contend with in the state. Pepperdine has to compete with stanford, berkeley, ucla, usc, uc davis, uc irvine, etc.

emkay625 wrote:I vote arizona. arizona really just has it and asu to contend with in the state. Pepperdine has to compete with stanford, berkeley, ucla, usc, uc davis, uc irvine, etc.

bro you forgot about Phoenix school of law

gaud wrote:Is either school offering you money?

What would your total COA be at each?

Right now, I'd lean towards UofA if I were you.. Pepperdine is expensive.

Arizona is offering me their admission scholarship, which i will get every year as long as I stay within the top 90%... which definitely is doable

And pepperdine has offered me nothing

What is the scholarship amount from Arizona ? What is the estimated COA for each year at Arizona ? Do you want to live & work in Arizona after law school ?

CanadianWolf wrote:What is the scholarship amount from Arizona ? What is the estimated COA for each year at Arizona ? Do you want to live & work in Arizona after law school ?

From Arizona its $10,000 per year.

Tuition is around 28,000... on their website the "estimated" COL is $50,295.00, but would be around 40,000 for me.

I really have no preference at the moment as to whether I would want to be in Arizona or Cali, since I have never really lived in either, but being by the ocean just seems more appealing. However, the higher costs of Pepperdine seem daunting and so I am not sure it its worth the price.

Pepperdine isn't worth the price at all. Arizona isn't really worth 120k either but it sure as hell has better employment prospects.

Are you dead set on going this fall? I would retake, living in Arizona is unimaginable hell during the summer. I would take a bad winter anywhere over a normal summer in Arizona. What are your numbers?

Also I don't know where Pepperdine grads end up working, but in a regional school sense Loyola LA > Pepperdine.

boredatwork wrote:Are you dead set on going this fall? I would retake, living in Arizona is unimaginable hell during the summer. I would take a bad winter anywhere over a normal summer in Arizona. What are your numbers?

3.6 gpa and 161... but i am pretty set on going in the fall. im not sure if i would end up going if i took a year off

aellio26 wrote:

boredatwork wrote:Are you dead set on going this fall? I would retake, living in Arizona is unimaginable hell during the summer. I would take a bad winter anywhere over a normal summer in Arizona. What are your numbers?

3.6 gpa and 161... but i am pretty set on going in the fall. im not sure if i would end up going if i took a year off

Then you should definitely take a year off.

I have been in your position before. I took 2 years off and retook and am very glad I did. You WILL still go if it is right for you and if you put your mind to it. Taking that year off and retaking could mean top-14 if you study hard enough. I ended up getting into 4 or 5 schools after my retake that I thought were IMPOSSIBLE for me.

emkay625 wrote:I have been in your position before. I took 2 years off and retook and am very glad I did. You WILL still go if it is right for you and if you put your mind to it. Taking that year off and retaking could mean top-14 if you study hard enough. I ended up getting into 4 or 5 schools after my retake that I thought were IMPOSSIBLE for me.

OP, this is correct. Same story for me. I took a year off and now my total COA is ~30k vs the +100k it could have been. Easily one of the better decisions I've ever made.