Top Law Schools

mmbt123 wrote:Hi all,

Where should I go in the T10-14? I'm waitlisted at a the T7s.

I will probably have to pay close to sticker at all these T10-14 (though my parents will cover 50-100% of living costs). I may be able to get a little more money at UCLA or USC but I am not liking their employment stats...

My thinking right now is that I'll go gain some biglaw experience for a handful of years then try to move into a government position.

I have a liberal arts degree and know that my chances for meaningful employment are slim with what I have. I'll basically be doing admin type stuff forever if I don't move onto law school.

mmbt123 wrote:3.6 / 169

This is my third score (but I took 2 of them several years ago so I could retake). I suppose I could retake in the summer since my worst section was games and conventional wisdom is that it's the easiest to improve upon. But, I am a few years out of college, weary of the position I'm in, and eager to get on w/ life knowing that I am definitely interested in law.

I want do biglaw b/c I've heard it offers very good training which other employers, like the us gov, recognize. But at the same time, I've been reading some other TLS threads and people seem to be saying that T10-14 at sticker is not a great idea and that biglaw positions are soul-sucking gigs without much stability.

That said, I think I'll be able to pay off my debts in at least half the time as it would take another biglaw associate given that I'll have spousal support by then.

I would want to work in a major metropolitan area but I'm flexible b/c my fiance hasn't decided where she'll be submitting residency applications to yet and has indicated she'd be willing to work w/ me on that.

Thanks for your help; appreciate it!

mmbt123 wrote:I've been working in NYC for going on three years. It's okay here, don't love it though.

I'm originally from California and went to school there but my fiance is much more interested in NYC, Chicago, or Boston than CA. But if I went to either USC or UCLA, I could just live at home so cost of living would be virtually nil.

If I got $35000 from UMinn, is there a chance I can negotiate something from USC or UCLA?

My reservation about T20 or fordham is that their employment stats suck. From browsing through TLS, it seems like you'd have to be in top 5-10% of your class to get a job and certain biglaw employers have more demanding standards for T20...for example, at UCLA you'd have to be at top 5% to get a look where as at Michigan, you'd have to be at top 10%. While I'm confident I can do reasonably well, I think it's really naive and premature for me to predict that I could be top 5-10% at schools that attract pretty bright ppl.

mmbt123 wrote:I've been working in NYC for going on three years. It's okay here, don't love it though.

I'm originally from California and went to school there but my fiance is much more interested in NYC, Chicago, or Boston than CA. But if I went to either USC or UCLA, I could just live at home so cost of living would be virtually nil.

If I got $35000 from UMinn, is there a chance I can negotiate something from USC or UCLA?

My reservation about T20 or fordham is that their employment stats suck. From browsing through TLS, it seems like you'd have to be in top 5-10% of your class to get a job and certain biglaw employers have more demanding standards for T20...for example, at UCLA you'd have to be at top 5% to get a look where as at Michigan, you'd have to be at top 10%. While I'm confident I can do reasonably well, I think it's really naive and premature for me to predict that I could be top 5-10% at schools that attract pretty bright ppl.

matthewsean85 wrote:
You know, because all of the 25% of those who get BIGLAW at USC/UCLA place in the top 5% of their class. Fact.

mmbt123 wrote:

matthewsean85 wrote:
You know, because all of the 25% of those who get BIGLAW at USC/UCLA place in the top 5% of their class. Fact.

Ugh not saying that it's FACT. This is simply some of the arguments I've found on TLS and am looking for clarification.

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:Fordham wildly outperforms their ranking when it comes to big law. They have a lot of connections in the city.

mmbt123 wrote:

matthewsean85 wrote:
You know, because all of the 25% of those who get BIGLAW at USC/UCLA place in the top 5% of their class. Fact.

Ugh not saying that it's FACT. This is simply some of the arguments I've found on TLS and am looking for clarification.

megagnarley wrote:
This will help clarify biglaw placement data for you: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=181415

In regards to your situation, it's actually similar to mine. CA native two years out of undergad sitting on a 169/3.65 split and retook December to bump it to a 170. Incidentally, games was my worst section, and I spent all of Nov. drilling to get down to -0/-1 before misdiagramming the last game on Dec and going -6 on the section.

That being said, what once would have been sticker at the lower half of t-14 now looks like $$ at the lower half and at least a shot at schools like NYU off the wait-list.

I would retake 100%. I am even retaking June again after this cycle shakes out due to underperforming, and might even wait a year for more $$ if I break 174.

If you can stomach another year of your job, it's worth it if you think you can score 170+ and submit early.

dixiecupdrinking wrote:Pretty rough advice in here. Duke, Northwestern, et al at sticker is way the hell better than Fordham with whatever money you're likely to get there. The admissions standards are just not that much lower at the T25-30 schools that you'll get a lot of money. It had better be free or close for you to consider that. In this economy the schools outside the T14 have suffered disproportionately.

mmbt123 wrote:

megagnarley wrote:
This will help clarify biglaw placement data for you: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=181415

In regards to your situation, it's actually similar to mine. CA native two years out of undergad sitting on a 169/3.65 split and retook December to bump it to a 170. Incidentally, games was my worst section, and I spent all of Nov. drilling to get down to -0/-1 before misdiagramming the last game on Dec and going -6 on the section.

That being said, what once would have been sticker at the lower half of t-14 now looks like $$ at the lower half and at least a shot at schools like NYU off the wait-list.

I would retake 100%. I am even retaking June again after this cycle shakes out due to underperforming, and might even wait a year for more $$ if I break 174.

If you can stomach another year of your job, it's worth it if you think you can score 170+ and submit early.

Thanks, this is very helpful. I may take up your advice; it wouldn't hurt to retake in June to see if that'll help w/ the waitlists. Good luck to you. Having misdiagrammed a game before, I know how frustrating that must've been.

dixiecupdrinking wrote:Pretty rough advice in here. Duke, Northwestern, et al at sticker is way the hell better than Fordham with whatever money you're likely to get there. The admissions standards are just not that much lower at the T25-30 schools that you'll get a lot of money. It had better be free or close for you to consider that. In this economy the schools outside the T14 have suffered disproportionately.

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:Fordham wildly outperforms their ranking when it comes to big law. They have a lot of connections in the city.

Jose Reyes wrote:

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:Fordham wildly outperforms their ranking when it comes to big law. They have a lot of connections in the city.

Retake if you don't want to go 200K in the hole with T10-14.

Otherwise look at Fordham and negotiate your scholly!! You can probably get them up to 30K a year if you dangle your other acceptances/scholly info with them. 30K a year from them will bring your debt to only around 100K over 3 years (factoring in your parents cost of living help), which is much less scary then full tuition at T10-14.

You'll probably get a load of money from the Cali schools too.