Page 1 of 1
Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:35 pm
by airplay355
Sorry if this has been covered before...
I was browsing law school transparency and noticed some lower ranked schools had similar (almost identical) employment prospects as higher ones. Cardozo and BU for example.
How does one choose between schools like that? Does ranking mean so much anymore or does the choice come down to scholly money, where you ultimately want to end up and COL.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:45 pm
by dingbat
airplay355 wrote:Sorry if this has been covered before...
I was browsing law school transparency and noticed some lower ranked schools had similar (almost identical) employment prospects as higher ones. Cardozo and BU for example.
How does one choose between schools like that? Does ranking mean so much anymore or does the choice come down to scholly money, where you ultimately want to end up and COL.
Rankings aren't perfect. Also, it's better to think of schools in bands rather than by ranking.
HYS - anyone should be able to land a job anywhere
T14 - Most people should be able to get a good job, in most any location
T1 - this is a regional school. Don't go if you don't want to work in that region
TTT - A) the only school in a small market (e.g. Wyoming), which may be worth attending if you want to work in that market; or B) a bottom-feeder in a saturated market. Don't attend under any circumstances
Note that a lot of markets have several schools that feed into them. Typically, there's a well-established ranking within that market, which is worth keeping in mind at all times.
Comparing schools in different markets is pointless - who cares if the second best school in Tennessee outperforms the second best school in Wisconsin? they don't compete with each other.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:24 am
by Nova
Choose based on location, cost, and prospects. Rank does not matter.
For instance, I would have rather attended SMU/UHLC over many T1s.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:47 pm
by TLSwag
airplay355 wrote:Sorry if this has been covered before...
I was browsing law school transparency and noticed some lower ranked schools had similar (almost identical) employment prospects as higher ones. Cardozo and BU for example.
How does one choose between schools like that? Does ranking mean so much anymore or does the choice come down to scholly money, where you ultimately want to end up and COL.
ummmmm where are you getting these "identical" employment prospects?
BU - 19.8% (Large Firm) + 1.8% (Fed. Clerkship)
Dozo - 11.8% (Large Firm) + 2.9% (Fed. Clerkship)
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:52 pm
by BruceWayne
dingbat wrote:Rankings aren't perfect. Also, it's better to think of schools in bands rather than by ranking.HYS - anyone should be able to land a job anywhere T14 - Most people should be able to get a good job, in most any location[/size]T1 - this is a regional school. Don't go if you don't want to work in that regionTTT - A) the only school in a small market (e.g. Wyoming), which may be worth attending if you want to work in that market; or B) a bottom-feeder in a saturated market. Don't attend under any circumstances
Lol
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:54 pm
by 20130312
Also, make sure you aren't just comparing one year of data to draw the conclusion that "employment prospects are identical."
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:11 pm
by locthebloke
dingbat wrote:
T14 - Most people should be able to get a good job, in most any location
Pfffft. Tell that to my friend who who graduated from Northwestern. She was firmly middle of her class. 8 months to find a job. Job is in Bumfucksville, IL for 45k/yr... Northwestern!
It is even worse out there than many folks here on TLS like or want to believe it is. Open your eyes, people.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:13 pm
by flem
locthebloke wrote:dingbat wrote:
T14 - Most people should be able to get a good job, in most any location
Pfffft. Tell that to my friend who who graduated from Northwestern. She was firmly middle of her class. 8 months to find a job. Job is in Bumfucksville, IL for 45k/yr... Northwestern!
It is even worse out there than many folks here on TLS like or want to believe it is. Open your eyes, people.
Oh cool this guy again
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:27 pm
by bk1
airplay355 wrote:Sorry if this has been covered before...
I was browsing law school transparency and noticed some lower ranked schools had similar (almost identical) employment prospects as higher ones. Cardozo and BU for example.
How does one choose between schools like that? Does ranking mean so much anymore or does the choice come down to scholly money, where you ultimately want to end up and COL.
There is one drastic difference between BU and Cardozo... the amount of people going into big firms (it's essentially double at BU). The percentage of grads that get set into highly desirable employment (which is mostly big firms) is something that is important to consider between schools. That being said, BU's predicament (and that of many of its peer schools) shows how rough it is finding desirable work at schools below the T14 or so. The things you mentioned, total CoA (which is essentially tuition plus CoL minus scholarship money) and location are important, but job prospects are as well. There is a definite difference between BU and Cardozo but there are also even larger differences between say Cornell and Fordham. You shouldn't necessarily consider USNWR rankings but you should consider employment stats (all of the various ones such as underemployment, unemployment, NLJ250 percentage, etc) and those things do vary.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:31 pm
by BruceWayne
tfleming09 wrote:Oh cool this guy again
Yeah personally I'm sick of hearing what happens to people at top 14 who end up below median. It's just not that relevant. Not many people end up below median in the top 14 anyway so what's the point in talking about it?
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:58 pm
by flem
BruceWayne wrote:tfleming09 wrote:Oh cool this guy again
Yeah personally I'm sick of hearing what happens to people at top 14 who end up below median. It's just not that relevant. Not many people end up below median in the top 14 anyway so what's the point in talking about it?
Or anecdotal evidence is fucking anecdotal?
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:54 pm
by BruceWayne
tfleming09 wrote:BruceWayne wrote:tfleming09 wrote:Oh cool this guy again
Yeah personally I'm sick of hearing what happens to people at top 14 who end up below median. It's just not that relevant. Not many people end up below median in the top 14 anyway so what's the point in talking about it?
Or anecdotal evidence is fucking anecdotal?
LOL yeah keep telling yourself that ending up unemployed or working a terrible job is merely an "anecdote" for those who end up below median at a top 14.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:08 pm
by Aberzombie1892
I'm sure by now that everyone knows that T14s don't guarantee good employment outcomes.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:10 pm
by bk1
BruceWayne wrote:LOL yeah keep telling yourself that ending up unemployed or working a terrible job is merely an "anecdote" for those who end up below median at a top 14.
I feel like you have completely gone off the deep end with trying to formulate cogent arguments.
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:21 am
by flem
BruceWayne wrote:Instead of actually formulating a cogent argument, who wants to see me mow down a fucking straw man?
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:19 am
by bigvinny
tfleming09 wrote:Instead of actually formulating a straw man, who wants to see me get mowed down by fucking cogent argument?
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:38 am
by flem
bigvinny wrote:tfleming09 wrote:Instead of actually formulating a straw man, who wants to see me get mowed down by fucking cogent argument?
132
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:15 pm
by rglifberg
BruceWayne wrote:
Yeah personally I'm sick of hearing what happens to people at top 14 who end up below median. It's just not that relevant. Not many people end up below median in the top 14 anyway so what's the point in talking about it?
You clearly don't understand what a median is?
Re: Attending a lower ranked school vs. higher
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:32 pm
by Ruxin1
rglifberg wrote:BruceWayne wrote:
Yeah personally I'm sick of hearing what happens to people at top 14 who end up below median. It's just not that relevant. Not many people end up below median in the top 14 anyway so what's the point in talking about it?
You clearly don't understand what a median is?
(clearly doesn't understand what sarcasm is)