Baylor Law vs. St. Marys Law Forum

[jarv1989]

Hello,

A month ago I paid my deposit to St. Marys University School of Law.

Recently I found out that I have been accepted to Baylor School of Law for the Fall and I need to make my decision soon.

I've read that Baylor is a better law school, is better ranked and has a better bar passage rate.

Should I lose my deposit and go instead to Baylor ? is it worth to change my decision?

Keep in mind that Baylor is a bit more expensive than St. Marys and I have pretty much no scholarships from either school so I will be borrowing a lot of $$$ from loans.

Thanks!

J.

[emkay625]

Baylor is a much better school.

simultaneously, it is very expensive for the job prospects. What is your total cost of attendance going to be at St. Mary's?

[jarv1989]

Baylor is a much better school.

simultaneously, it is very expensive for the job prospects. What is your total cost of attendance going to be at St. Mary's?

St. Marys is $48,626 per year according to their site http://www.stmarytx.edu/law/index.php?s ... uitionFees

While Baylor is $63,429 per 3 quarters http://www.baylor.edu/sfs/index.php?id=87868

Thanks!

[rad lulz]

lol don't go to either. It would be monumentally stupid to go to either at those prices.

[jdhonest]

Don't pay sticker for either. Just don't...

[chadwick218]

OP, as far as job prospects are concerned, have you considered U of H? Much better job prospects at half the cost. I would be hesitant to go to either St. Mary's or Baylor absent a sizable scholarship. Is waiting another year and reapplying an option?

[togepi]

Baylor will give you better job prospects, but as others will tell you, without any decent scholarship offers, both are horrible decisions right now.

Is there any way you can retake? You could try to at least get into Houston or SMU and be far better off next cycle.

[emkay625]

Baylor is a much better school.

simultaneously, it is very expensive for the job prospects. What is your total cost of attendance going to be at St. Mary's?

St. Marys is $48,626 per year according to their site http://www.stmarytx.edu/law/index.php?s ... uitionFees

While Baylor is $63,429 per 3 quarters http://www.baylor.edu/sfs/index.php?id=87868

Thanks!

I meant did you have a scholarship at St. Mary's. Do you?

[rickgrimes69]

lol don't go to either. It would be monumentally stupid to go to either at those prices.

[Stringer Bell]

Honestly, St. Mary's is a somewhat underrated school in terms of placing their grads into small firms and PI in San Antonio. It's not worth sticker, but you could say that about most schools.

[Teflon_Jeff]

Do not attend.

[jared6180]

There seems to be a bit more room for negotiation of scholarships this cycle. Have you considered asking for $ from Baylor? Out of the two that would be your better choice.
TLS will generally discourage you from attending outside the T14 or T25. This is a rational response from posters that have studied the employment rankings on many schools outside these two classifications of schools. Nobody wants to see you graduate from Baylor with six figures worth of debt.
You have not provided your numbers in this thread, but I am sure taking a year off to study for an LSAT retake would be very beneficial for you. You could bump your score 10 points, and probably get 50-75% or more from Baylor. It is something to really consider.
I will not tell you not to attend, but certainly attend at your own risk. I wouldn't be comfortable with either of these options as they stand now.

[DerekTokaz]

The schools are pretty close in terms of employment outcomes, but St. Mary's is considerably less insanely expensive.

That said, I'll echo the other advice you're getting: don't pay sticker, wait, retake the LSAT, and go somewhere that gives you a ton of money. I wouldn't pick either of these schools if it meant more than $50,000 in debt.

Law schools are desperate right now, and upping your LSAT by just a few points could be the difference between no money and a full ride. If you insist on not waiting, at least tell Baylor that they need to come down to St. Mary's prices, then tell St. Mary's that Baylor is offering you some nice money.

[Nova]

Neither option is worth close to sticker

150k+ for SM or 190k+ for B is just crazy

You should probably retake.

[CanadianWolf]

OP: Are you willing to share your LSAT score & GPA ?

Regardless, do not attend either law school without significant scholarship aid if you need to borrow to attend.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

OP, as far as job prospects are concerned, have you considered U of H? Much better job prospects at half the cost. I would be hesitant to go to either St. Mary's or Baylor absent a sizable scholarship. Is waiting another year and reapplying an option?

If by much better you mean slightly or not at all, then yes, UH has much better employment prospects than Baylor.

[CanadianWolf]

Houston's location offers much greater internship & externship opportunities as well.

[abc12345675]

Houston's location offers much greater internship & externship opportunities as well.

These don't lead to jobs

[CanadianWolf]

@abc1234: Job prospects are better in Houston than in Denver. Nevertheless, while many, or even most, internships/externships don't result in job offers, they do build resumes for legal work experience. DU is a big law school in a small market, but Houston is in a fairly large legal market.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Houston's location offers much greater internship & externship opportunities as well.

These don't lead to jobs

Yes they do. Externing during the school year is a huge advantage.

Just saying UH >>> Baylor for location but Baylor >>> UH for alumni network. Baylor and UH are peers. If you want DA in Mid-land go to Baylor, if you want Houston or a shot at big law go to UH.

OP do not go to St. Mary's or Baylor at those prices. No one will marry you.

[BuckinghamB]

Don't pay sticker for either. Just don't...

[Easy-E]

Baylor is a much better school.

simultaneously, it is very expensive for the job prospects. What is your total cost of attendance going to be at St. Mary's?

St. Marys is $48,626 per year according to their site http://www.stmarytx.edu/law/index.php?s ... uitionFees

While Baylor is $63,429 per 3 quarters http://www.baylor.edu/sfs/index.php?id=87868

Thanks!

Don't go to either.