Lowest Ranked School You Would Attend at Sticker? Forum

[androstan]

Any ABA accreditted school, because law school is always a good investment, and I know I'll be #1 in my class and I have this great idea for a brilliant law review paper that will dazzle bigfirm partners.

[moonman157]

I have never understood what makes NYU so special. They seem overrated. It almost seems like a circular argument: We are a special and awesome school, because we say we are a special and awesome school. If they were not located in NYC, I bet they wouldn't be as highly ranked.

Well this is true of most of the top law schools

[dingbat]

Any ABA accreditted school, because law school is always a good investment, and I know I'll be #1 in my class and I have this great idea for a brilliant law review paper that will dazzle bigfirm partners.

And you can always transfer

[CanadianWolf]

Any state flagship at resident tuition rates if you plan to stay & practice in that state.

[Rahviveh]

Any state flagship at resident tuition rates if you plan to stay & practice in that state.

Sounds too broad. Hastings is a flagship in the bay area and I wouldnt pay sticker for it even with resident tuition.

[TheThriller]

Any state flagship at resident tuition rates if you plan to stay & practice in that state.

Sounds too broad. Hastings is a flagship in the bay area and I wouldnt pay sticker for it even with resident tuition.

I think he means as it applies to the state as a whole. Which would be UC-B in Cali's case.

[dingbat]

Any state flagship at resident tuition rates if you plan to stay & practice in that state.

Sounds too broad. Hastings is a flagship in the bay area and I wouldnt pay sticker for it even with resident tuition.

I think he means as it applies to the state as a whole. Which would be UC-B in Cali's case.

No, in the region. SoCal is a separate region fron NoCal. Even then, in-state is so high it doesn't count. For SoCal only consider UCLA/USC and for NoCal only Stanford or Berkeley. Whether any of those is worth sticker are separate conversations (Stanford is absolutely worth sticker)

[androstan]

Any ABA accreditted school, because law school is always a good investment, and I know I'll be #1 in my class and I have this great idea for a brilliant law review paper that will dazzle bigfirm partners.

And you can always transfer

Of course. 0L's should always keep in mind that transferring is a backup plan.

[romothesavior]

CCN, but I would be very uncomfortable about it.

Fordham at sticker is asinine. Its a quarter mil to go there at sticker. There is no "argument to be made." Its an objectively terrible financial decision.

And the "state flagship" in-state stuff sounds okay in theory, but what state flagships are okay at sticker? I mean, basically Texas in-state? No way I'm touching UIUC, IUB, tOSU, etc. at sticker. Maybe there are some decent cheaper ones?

[kapital98]

It depends on how much you want to be a lawyer. It's all a cost-benefit analysis and your qualitative preferences are a "benefit". This is regardless of most employment statistics. So, any ABA school is TCR for some.

Personally, I would pay sticker for most T1 schools and maybe a T2 if it was cheap (ex: Buffalo). This is because I derive considerable utility from being a lawyer. For most people this would probably be lower (ex: T14).

[Rahviveh]

Any state flagship at resident tuition rates if you plan to stay & practice in that state.

Sounds too broad. Hastings is a flagship in the bay area and I wouldnt pay sticker for it even with resident tuition.

I think he means as it applies to the state as a whole. Which would be UC-B in Cali's case.

Well its semantics.. But by state flagship I usually think of them as regionally prestigious non-T14 schools, which would be hastings in norcal or UCLA/USC in socal.

I agree how badly you want to be a lawyer plays a big factor in answering this question. Financially though, seems like only T14 is justifiable if you're a liberal arts major.

With a science or finance background and a decent job lined up I probably wouldn't go unless HYS

[Rahviveh]

It depends on how much you want to be a lawyer. It's all a cost-benefit analysis and your qualitative preferences are a "benefit". This is regardless of most employment statistics. So, any ABA school is TCR for some.

Personally, I would pay sticker for most T1 schools and maybe a T2 if it was cheap (ex: Buffalo). This is because I derive considerable utility from being a lawyer. For most people this would probably be lower (ex: T14).

Problem is the vast majority of people have a preconception of what they want to do as lawyers or what they think lawyering entails. The vast majority of 0L's I know either want to make the big corporate bucks or they want to do PI. I think if you asked them if they'd be happy doing insurance defense or personal injury you'd Get a different opinion .

[romothesavior]

Well its semantics.. But by state flagship I usually think of them as regionally prestigious non-T14 schools, which would be hastings in norcal or UCLA/USC in socal.

In general when I hear the word "flagship," I think of the most prominent public school in that state (generally a "University of State" or "State University"). So yes, I would think of Berkeley, and no, I would not pay sticker to go there.

[bk1]

If you're a liberal arts major I'd take any t14 at sticker.

It hurts because of the truth in it. Still think most schools at sticker are a bad bet, though.

I don't think it's a bad bet (in reference to T14). An incredibly risky bet? Undoubtedly. Bad? I don't think so.

As always I think most responses in this thread (mine included) are colored by the actual options people have.

[bk1]

Well its semantics.. But by state flagship I usually think of them as regionally prestigious non-T14 schools, which would be hastings in norcal or UCLA/USC in socal.

In general when I hear the word "flagship," I think of the most prominent public school in that state (generally a "University of State" or "State University"). So yes, I would think of Berkeley, and no, I would not pay sticker to go there.

Generally yes, but in the context of law school admissions on TLS I generally think people mean strong regionals that have at least a decent in-state tuition price (e.g. UNC, CU-B, Iowa, Wisconsin), though increasingly even in-state tuition is becoming absurd. I tend to screen out the top public schools from this defenition (Cal, UM, UVA, UCLA, UT) and the really expensive regional ones (UMN, UCD, UCH, UCI).

[hume85]

Well its semantics.. But by state flagship I usually think of them as regionally prestigious non-T14 schools, which would be hastings in norcal or UCLA/USC in socal.

In general when I hear the word "flagship," I think of the most prominent public school in that state (generally a "University of State" or "State University"). So yes, I would think of Berkeley, and no, I would not pay sticker to go there.

Generally yes, but in the context of law school admissions on TLS I generally think people mean strong regionals that have at least a decent in-state tuition price (e.g. UNC, CU-B, Iowa, Wisconsin), though increasingly even in-state tuition is becoming absurd. I tend to screen out the top public schools from this defenition (Cal, UM, UVA, UCLA, UT) and the really expensive regional ones (UMN, UCD, UCH, UCI).

I think Alabama and Georgia are also good examples.

[JCougar]

It depends on how much you want to be a lawyer. It's all a cost-benefit analysis and your qualitative preferences are a "benefit". This is regardless of most employment statistics. So, any ABA school is TCR for some.

Personally, I would pay sticker for most T1 schools and maybe a T2 if it was cheap (ex: Buffalo). This is because I derive considerable utility from being a lawyer. For most people this would probably be lower (ex: T14).

I'm really not sure what to say about this, except a lot of T1 schools don't even offer a very good chance of becoming a lawyer. To say nothing about T2 schools.

I mean, American University placed, what, about 40% of its graduates into full-time, permanent lawyer jobs? Not only is that place expensive, but the COL in DC is outrageous. Couldn't imagine living there as a student and paying sticker at the same time.

[kapital98]

It depends on how much you want to be a lawyer. It's all a cost-benefit analysis and your qualitative preferences are a "benefit". This is regardless of most employment statistics. So, any ABA school is TCR for some.

Personally, I would pay sticker for most T1 schools and maybe a T2 if it was cheap (ex: Buffalo). This is because I derive considerable utility from being a lawyer. For most people this would probably be lower (ex: T14).

I'm really not sure what to say about this, except a lot of T1 schools don't even offer a very good chance of becoming a lawyer. To say nothing about T2 schools.

I mean, American University placed, what, about 40% of its graduates into full-time, permanent lawyer jobs? Not only is that place expensive, but the COL in DC is outrageous. Couldn't imagine living there as a student and paying sticker at the same time.

Some people are willing to pay for that risk. Looking solely at employment is only looking at one side of the equation. Just like looking solely at salary is only one side of the equation.

There is an implicit value to being a lawyer for each individual. Assuming skills are equal, this will mean your preference will change depending on how much you want to be an attorney. To look at the converse argument, people who don't want to be lawyers shouldn't even attend Yale with a full scholarship (even though this is by most standards an excellent financial decision).

Once you take away the assumption of equal skills then it just becomes a more complicated cost-benefit analysis but with the same underlying fundamentals.

[06102016]

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[Nova]

UT in-state sticker.

[Paul Campos]

Having a law degree doesn't make you a lawyer. Not trying to be snarky -- just making a distinction that a lot of 0Ls overlook.

[06102016]

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[Paul Campos]

My point is that just because you get a law degree that doesn't mean you get to become a lawyer in any meaningful sense of the word. A large percentage of current grads will never actually be part of the profession. A poster in this thread said that for somebody who puts a high enough value on being a lawyer any ABA law school is worth sticker. This would only be true if graduating from law school ensured that you would be a lawyer, in the same way that graduating from medical school does in fact pretty much guarantee that you'll be a doctor.

[IAFG]

Just cop dat shingle, bros

[justonemoregame]

I'd pay sticker for any school that gave me at least a 15% chance of hitting the Biglaw 3-pointer at the buzzer. That's all the room I need to justify gambling with other people's money. My elected representatives feel that my professional education-related financial obligations should be shared by the general public, and hell, I agree. I mean, it's too much for one person to pay, amirite?

Even if I don't become an attorney, general society will be blessed with an inquisitive and thoughtful, creative problem-solving dishwasher. Think about how efficient and charming things will be when a Starbucks manager can ask their barista whether or not his side hobby might qualify as a 501(c)(3). Wal-Mart employees in the future can give you odds on your claim after they tell you which aisle your shit is on.

Despite all the doom and gloom, some people still believe in America.