Miami/FIU/Drexel/St.John's/Chicago-Kent/USanFrancisco Forum

[SoJerz13]

I'd like to hear everyone's take on where I should go. I know the overwhelming response will likely be retake, but that isn't happening.

Miami w/no scholly
FIU w/$62k 2.9 stip
Drexel w/$75k 2.9 stip
St. John's w/$60k top 40% stip
Chicago-Kent w/$36k no stip
San Francisco w/ no scholly

I have an MBA and want to work in private equity/venture capital/with small businesses

[snapdragon25]

Why do you want to go to law school if you want to go into VC/finance?

[SoJerz13]

Sorry, I meant I want to work in the legal areas of those fields. In house counsel at a VC firm or something similar.

[SoJerz13]

Basically I wanted to get the point across that I'm not big law or bust

[empyreanrrv]

Where do you want to work? You've got quite an array of different schools there. What would be the total cost of attendance for each?

[hephaestus]

Sorry, I meant I want to work in the legal areas of those fields. In house counsel at a VC firm or something similar.

In house counsel is going to be far harder to get than big law. You almost always need big law first.

[20130312]

Where are you from? Guessing South Jersey. But where do you plan on working? Also,

overwhelming response will likely be retake, but that isn't happening.

Why not? There's a very good reason that retake will be the overwhelming response.

[rad lulz]

For your career goals, none.

[SoJerz13]

Where are you from? Guessing South Jersey. But where do you plan on working? Also,

overwhelming response will likely be retake, but that isn't happening.

Why not? There's a very good reason that retake will be the overwhelming response.

Yes South Jersey, waiting on Rutgers Camden and Newark as well so those are potential options.

Edit: I'm fairly sure I'd want to stay in the Philly market, but I'm not tied down here so I'm willing to relocate

[timbs4339]

Sorry, I meant I want to work in the legal areas of those fields. In house counsel at a VC firm or something similar.

Basically I wanted to get the point across that I'm not big law or bust

Then you are biglaw or bust. That's like saying I want to do M+A at a F500 company but it's cool because I don't want biglaw I just want to jump ahead of all the biglaw folks who are more qualified for the in-house jobs.

[SoJerz13]

Sorry for my misinformation then. I'm not big law or bust because I'm not trying to go to law school with expectations of making $160k as a first year associate. I know those jobs are taken by the people in top schools and for me it's not about the money. I want to work in business law preferably with entrepreneurs as I've been one myself. I don't care if I end up in a small firm to start or work in house at a small company. Eventually I'd like to end up in the field of VC in some respect. Not saying that is where I'll go right from graduation.

[timbs4339]

Sorry for my misinformation then. I'm not big law or bust because I'm not trying to go to law school with expectations of making $160k as a first year associate. I know those jobs are taken by the people in top schools and for me it's not about the money. I want to work in business law preferably with entrepreneurs as I've been one myself. I don't care if I end up in a small firm to start or work in house at a small company. Eventually I'd like to end up in the field of VC in some respect. Not saying that is where I'll go right from graduation.

We understand, but what you don't understand is that the jobs you want to get are the jobs you get after biglaw. Biglaw is a requirement. I know it's hard to understand intuitively so you have to trust us because a lot of people on this forum are more familiar with the legal hiring market.

[usfvictor]

Sorry for my misinformation then. I'm not big law or bust because I'm not trying to go to law school with expectations of making $160k as a first year associate. I know those jobs are taken by the people in top schools and for me it's not about the money. I want to work in business law preferably with entrepreneurs as I've been one myself. I don't care if I end up in a small firm to start or work in house at a small company. Eventually I'd like to end up in the field of VC in some respect. Not saying that is where I'll go right from graduation.

We understand, but what you don't understand is that the jobs you want to get are the jobs you get after biglaw. Biglaw is a requirement prefererred . I know it's hard to understand intuitively so you have to trust us because a lot of people on this forum are more familiar with the legal hiring market.

[SoJerz13]

I realize people on this forum know more about the legal market than me, that's why I asked. I appreciate the input.

[snapdragon25]

FIU is probably the best choice out of these, but it's still a $100,000 degree a that puts you at a 1 in 3 chance of getting a JD-required job. I don't want to be one of those retake trolls, but you clearly have a lot of things going for you if you don't pursue law, so think long and hard about the investment you're making. $100,000 and the 3 years you could have spent working in finance/business don't seem worth it for a 1 in 3 chance at a good job.

My GPA is .01 off from yours, so I want to be honest with you. Have you taken the LSAT the max # of times? I went from a 153 to a 167 in a couple months of studying, and I might retake and reapply next cycle. What do you have to lose by starting law school in 2014?

I used to hate the retake trolls, but there are amazing resources on this site to get your LSAT score up so that law school is the best possible investment in your career.

[usfvictor]

have you thought about part-time programs? I'm in a similar situation as you in terms of end goals and i will be doing a part-time program.

[SoJerz13]

have you thought about part-time programs? I'm in a similar situation as you in terms of end goals and i will be doing a part-time program.

If I attend Rutgers I will be enrolling in the part-time program.

[Shmoopy]

Unless you want to work at your own VC firm or have amazing connections, none of those schools seem like a good idea.

[romothesavior]

I don't mean this sarcastically, but this list makes your application strategy was to just take the shittiest, most expensive schools in each region of the country and apply to them. Your list lacks any regional coherence, and all of these schools are terrible options at the price tags you have them listed at. I would lop off an appendage before attending any of these schools at those prices. Full ride or don't go to any of them.

Where are you from? Where do you want to practice? What are your numbers? You need to retake and do the cycle right, because your approach to it was terrible and you have no good options on the table. Your odds of working in private equity with a degree from any of these schools are almost non-existent.

[SoJerz13]

I don't mean this sarcastically, but this list makes your application strategy was to just take the shittiest, most expensive schools in each region of the country and apply to them. Your list lacks any regional coherence, and all of these schools are terrible options at the price tags you have them listed at. I would lop off an appendage before attending any of these schools at those prices. Full ride or don't go to any of them.

Where are you from? Where do you want to practice? What are your numbers? You need to retake and do the cycle right, because your approach to it was terrible and you have no good options on the table. Your odds of working in private equity with a degree from any of these schools are almost non-existent.

I only included in the list the schools that I was accepted to thus far. My strategy was the Philly market with some in other sections of the country where I have ties to and wouldn't mind relocating to for school/the beginning of my career (Miami, NYC, Chicago and San Francisco). I am on the waitlists for Temple and Villanova and am waiting to hear from other schools as well.

I have connections where I could work in private equity now, but on the finance side.

[timbs4339]

I don't mean this sarcastically, but this list makes your application strategy was to just take the shittiest, most expensive schools in each region of the country and apply to them. Your list lacks any regional coherence, and all of these schools are terrible options at the price tags you have them listed at. I would lop off an appendage before attending any of these schools at those prices. Full ride or don't go to any of them.

Where are you from? Where do you want to practice? What are your numbers? You need to retake and do the cycle right, because your approach to it was terrible and you have no good options on the table. Your odds of working in private equity with a degree from any of these schools are almost non-existent.

I only included in the list the schools that I was accepted to thus far. My strategy was the Philly market with some in other sections of the country where I have ties to and wouldn't mind relocating to for school/the beginning of my career (Miami, NYC, Chicago and San Francisco). I am on the waitlists for Temple and Villanova and am waiting to hear from other schools as well.

I have connections where I could work in private equity now, but on the finance side.

It sounds like you should take time off and do that, then regroup and attend law school in a few years when you have better/cheaper school options and more connections in the industry. Biglaw isn't for everyone, but a lot of people do it because it is essentially (not always but most of the time) a necessary predicate for in-house or government jobs. Unfortunately these firms do not have the time or resources to train people coming directly out of law school with no basic skills, so they rely on the biglaw firms as a second law school to train their employees for them. This is especially true in VC/PE which is highly specialized legal work. Because of that, there are very few employers who do that kind of work, and even fewer (none that I can think of) that hire out of law school.

[romothesavior]

I have connections where I could work in private equity now, but on the finance side.

Then you should do that now and run far, far away from all of these schools. Going to any of these schools would be very imprudent.

[thisiswater]

I'd like to hear everyone's take on where I should go. I know the overwhelming response will likely be retake, but that isn't happening.

Miami w/no scholly
FIU w/$62k 2.9 stip
Drexel w/$75k 2.9 stip
St. John's w/$60k top 40% stip
Chicago-Kent w/$36k no stip
San Francisco w/ no scholly

I have an MBA and want to work in private equity/venture capital/with small businesses

I'm in house PE as a paralegal and I can tell you we are as prestige conscious as any big law firm. Plus we only hire with significant big law and other big-corp in house experience

[JCougar]

I'd like to hear everyone's take on where I should go. I know the overwhelming response will likely be retake, but that isn't happening.

Miami w/no scholly
FIU w/$62k 2.9 stip
Drexel w/$75k 2.9 stip
St. John's w/$60k top 40% stip
Chicago-Kent w/$36k no stip
San Francisco w/ no scholly

I have an MBA and want to work in private equity/venture capital/with small businesses

I'm in house PE as a paralegal and I can tell you we are as prestige conscious as any big law firm. Plus we only hire with significant big law and other big-corp in house experience

Listen to this, SoJerz.

The schools you list will be like a stain on your resume, and make it harder to work in VC rather than easier.

You just cannot get these kinds of jobs unless you go to a prestigious school. You are better off just getting more work experience in your field.

[somewhatwayward]

What are you doing with your MBA now? How many years of experience do you have in PE/VC and how strong are your connections? If you are already in PE or VC (or could already get into it with your MBA), why do you want to get a JD?

Do you still have debt from your MBA? Like someone else said, I have to say I would rather amputate a limb (well everything except my right arm LOL) than add another 100K+ in debt to attend any of these schools. I'm sorry. They are just objectively bad options at these prices. If you can get Rutgers part-time and have a job simultaneously that pays for COL and tuition such that you take basically no debt, then maybe it is okay. I wouldn't do it, but at least it is not financial suicide if your debt is near 0.