Wisconsin Madison/Indiana Bloomington/UC Irvine/UC Davis Forum

[boblawblog]

assuming cost being equal, no preference for future market, where should I go? i know it matters where i want to practice after, but since i am not sure, just measure em by their regional reputation or whatever "national recognition" they may have

[romothesavior]

Would not go to any of them without essentially a full ride.

If I had to pick one, I'd pick the one that is:

1) Where I grew up/have ties to
2) Has the highest NLJ placement

But they are all pretty similar. Average regionals, all of them.

[Bronck]

Would not go to any of them without essentially a full ride.

[boblawblog]

cast some votes guys...

[Doorkeeper]

None of these schools have any national reach. They are all "regional". I agree with Romo though, you would need a big scholarship or parental contributions to go to any of these schools at a fair price to you.

All other things being equal, this question is answered solely on geography.
Wisconsin-Madison = Wisconsin
Indiana-Bloomington = Indiana
UC-Davis = Northern California/Bay Area
UC-Irvine = Southern California/LA

Personally, I would choose Irvine because of the awesome faculty, closeness to a major legal market (LA) with the ability do internship and externships there (aka hustle), and the administrative support they're putting behind their graduates to make a name for themselves. But that is completely subjective and speculative.

If you want to go by job outcomes, per Law School Transparency :
Wisconsin: 63% (1% school funded)
Indiana: 63% (4% school funded)
Davis: 56% (9% school funded)
Irvine has no data yet.

[boblawblog]

None of these schools have any national reach. They are all "regional". I agree with Romo though, you would need a big scholarship or parental contributions to go to any of these schools at a fair price to you.

All other things being equal, this question is answered solely on geography.
Wisconsin-Madison = Wisconsin
Indiana-Bloomington = Indiana
UC-Davis = Northern California/Bay Area
UC-Irvine = Southern California/LA

Personally, I would choose Irvine because of the awesome faculty, closeness to a major legal market (LA) with the ability do internship and externships there (aka hustle), and the administrative support they're putting behind their graduates to make a name for themselves. But that is completely subjective and speculative.

If you want to go by job outcomes, per Law School Transparency :
Wisconsin: 63% (1% school funded)
Indiana: 63% (4% school funded)
Davis: 56% (9% school funded)
Irvine has no data yet.

irvine has a class out already, how did they do? and wow davis is loaded, funding 9% of their graduates

[Teflon_Jeff]

I voted Irvine, but for no reason other than it seems to be a very solid school that will rank well and continue to support its student, and is in the largest market of the four.

Geography and Dolla Bills should be the prime decision maker here.

[minnbills]

Madison is fantastically cheap for residents.

But yeah, you should have a sense of what kind of job you're aiming for. None of these schools has much biglaw placement.

[bhan87]

Disclaimer: I went to UCI for undergrad.

Voted Irvine for a number of reasons:

1. School has a lot of buzz and excitement (rarity among new law schools)
2. Top-notch faculty.
3. Administration committed to helping with job placement (after all, if the first wave of students can't get jobs, the school will be relegated to perpetual mediocrity in the future).
4. There are actually quite a number of firms in the OC market (Gibson Dunn, Bryan Cave, Crowell, Dechert, Irell, Morgan Lewis to name just a few). This is matched by the fact that the OC does not have any high-quality law schools, and thus these firms mainly hire out of LA schools. UCI may be a welcome addition.
5. UCI is reasonably close to LA, a major legal market and one that is certainly a lot less crowded than SF.
6. Weather

[PDaddy]

Would not go to any of them without essentially a full ride.

If I had to pick one, I'd pick the one that is:

1) Where I grew up/have ties to
2) Has the highest NLJ placement

But they are all pretty similar. Average regionals, all of them.

UCI or Wisco. Although they are all ostensibly regional schools, UCI is brand new, and has undertaken an very interesting marketing concept: it seeks and admits students who want to work outside of Cali, because it wants to develop a national profile. In this, UCI is unique among Cali schools, even those from Stanford and Berkeley, because most students from the Big-4 in Cali don't want to leave, and students from the Second-4 usually can't even if they want to.

UCI could be a top-30 or even top-25 school, so it would match the prestige of the other schools as well. They are all really good universities with highly respectable law schools, but UCI has unique education and business models. For example, students are paired with mentors right out of the gate. That's huge!

Secondly, students are treated like Ivy League students in that they are free to make proposals about adding programs to the school, and the faculty and administration will listen to them. And I have already mentioned that UCI is seeking and attracting students and employers from outside of Cali.

UCI is probably a mix of UCLA (rigor, location, prestige), Cornell (faculty), UC-Davis (size, prestige), Penn (student-centered approach to education and programs), Tulane (prestige, national profile that belies its location, etc.), and Cardozo (youth, creativity and buzz).

I do love U-Wisconsin, though. Great school with a well-established, well-deserved reputation.

[rickgrimes69]

Would not go to any of them without essentially a full ride.

If I had to pick one, I'd pick the one that is:

1) Where I grew up/have ties to
2) Has the highest NLJ placement

But they are all pretty similar. Average regionals, all of them.

UCI or Wisco. Although they are all ostensibly regional schools, UCI is brand new, and has undertaken an very interesting marketing concept: it seeks and admits students who want to work outside of Cali, because it wants to develop a national profile. In this, UCI is unique among Cali schools, even those from Stanford and Berkeley, because most students from the Big-4 in Cali don't want to leave, and students from the Second-4 usually can't even if they want to.

UCI could be a top-30 or even top-25 school, so it would match the prestige of the other schools as well. They are all really good universities with highly respectable law schools, but UCI has unique education and business models. For example, students are paired with mentors right out of the gate. That's huge!

Secondly, students are treated like Ivy League students in that they are free to make proposals about adding programs to the school, and the faculty and administration will listen to them. And I have already mentioned that UCI is seeking and attracting students and employers from outside of Cali.

UCI is probably a mix of UCLA (rigor, location, prestige), Cornell (faculty), UC-Davis (size, prestige), Penn (student-centered approach to education and programs), Tulane (prestige, national profile that belies its location, etc.), and Cardozo (youth, creativity and buzz).

I do love U-Wisconsin, though. Great school with a well-established, well-deserved reputation.

Lol @ the idea that UCI has a national rep and will send its students nationally / treats its students like ivy leagues / comparisons to Cornell, Penn and Tulane in the same sentence.

[Jah'rakal]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

[Mick Haller]

Madison, best job placement, low cost, and no bar exam.

you'll get murdered by the Calif job market out of either of those UC's; no way this job market justifies UC prices.

4. There are actually quite a number of firms in the OC market (Gibson Dunn, Bryan Cave, Crowell, Dechert, Irell, Morgan Lewis to name just a few). This is matched by the fact that the OC does not have any high-quality law schools, and thus these firms mainly hire out of LA schools. UCI may be a welcome addition.
5. UCI is reasonably close to LA, a major legal market and one that is certainly a lot less crowded than SF.

Are these firms hiring UCI students? You know, a lot of those big firms have offices in SF too, doesn't mean they are hiring Hastings students.

[top30man]

What is the actual cost? They cannot all be so close to equal. But what romo said.

[Ludo!]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

Your shtick is terrible. The trolling by telling people to go to shitty law schools can be done well (see BearsGrl) but you're not funny. And now you're talking shit on UCI because they don't yet have the accreditation that they will definitely get? Seriously, go back to the drawing board with your gimmick

[Jah'rakal]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

Your shtick is terrible. The trolling by telling people to go to shitty law schools can be done well (see BearsGrl) but you're not funny. And now you're talking shit on UCI because they don't yet have the accreditation that they will definitely get? Seriously, go back to the drawing board with your gimmick

you'll get murdered by the Calif job market out of either of those UC's; no way this job market justifies UC prices.

[JamesChapman23]

Would not go to any of them without essentially a full ride.

+1. The UCs are going to be 65k a year by the time OP graduates, so I won't count on all of them being the same cost.

[Ludo!]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

Your shtick is terrible. The trolling by telling people to go to shitty law schools can be done well (see BearsGrl) but you're not funny. And now you're talking shit on UCI because they don't yet have the accreditation that they will definitely get? Seriously, go back to the drawing board with your gimmick

you'll get murdered by the Calif job market out of either of those UC's; no way this job market justifies UC prices.

both are legit law schools, not good but ok, and if u have a job lined up, go wherever it costs the least, you can practice law with a JD from any accredited schools

well said, don't listen to the haters, take whittier and the money, plus it's in the orange county and located in a very nice area, attend and study hard, don't let others tell you that you will fail before you even start

typical tls mentality, go save the world gay boi!

Your trolling is really terrible

[bhan87]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

Your shtick is terrible. The trolling by telling people to go to shitty law schools can be done well (see BearsGrl) but you're not funny. And now you're talking shit on UCI because they don't yet have the accreditation that they will definitely get? Seriously, go back to the drawing board with your gimmick

you'll get murdered by the Calif job market out of either of those UC's; no way this job market justifies UC prices.

Weren't you planning to go to Whittier at sticker?

[Jah'rakal]

UCI is not even accredited, basically like Irvine University Law School or People's College of Law

Your shtick is terrible. The trolling by telling people to go to shitty law schools can be done well (see BearsGrl) but you're not funny. And now you're talking shit on UCI because they don't yet have the accreditation that they will definitely get? Seriously, go back to the drawing board with your gimmick

you'll get murdered by the Calif job market out of either of those UC's; no way this job market justifies UC prices.

Weren't you planning to go to Whittier at sticker?

no, i decided to retake and aim for rutgers

[Teflon_Jeff]

Weren't you planning to go to Whittier at sticker?

no, i decided to retake and aim for rutgers

lol. Terrible trolling, 1/10, would not recommend.