Top Law Schools

Thanks!

Go to Minnesota-- it is the cheapest school with decent employment stats. Don't plan on having it bring you back to Philly though, and don't plan on getting mid-law out of school because consensus is that it is nearly impossible. If you are interested in a large firm, none of the above is a good option. BU has the best biglaw, but is too expensive at that price.

empyreanrrv wrote:Go to Minnesota-- it is the cheapest school with decent employment stats. Don't plan on having it bring you back to Philly though, and don't plan on getting mid-law out of school because consensus is that it is nearly impossible. If you are interested in a large firm, none of the above is a good option. BU has the best biglaw, but is too expensive at that price.

Thanks for your advice. That is one of my main concerns about Minnesota - it's a great school, but I worry about returning to Philly. I do have a growing network in Philly, which could potentially help in my job search. If I was mostly concerned about returning to Philadelphia after graduation, do you think W&M or BU would be better? (Temple might be best, but just curious between these two)

If you want Philly/Mid Atlantic, then you need Temple/Villanova/Penn....

That COA for Temple is way too high.... retake and reapply.

If you really desire Philly, Retake is your best option. It would be unfortunate to pay that much for Temple when you have better offers.

If you are ok with living in the other feeder markets, UMN is your best bet considering COA + prospects.

Im unsure how the proximity of the T30s to your home market will affect the views of employers in Philly.

Minn is the only school with an acceptable COA. I'd retake. If you won't, go to minn, but it's a distant second.

dissonance1848 wrote:If you want Philly/Mid Atlantic, then you need Temple/Villanova/Penn....

That COA for Temple is way too high.... retake and reapply.

Thanks for the advice, but definitely not in a position to retake and reapply. Starting law school this upcoming fall, no matter what. The COA for Temple is what it projects my living expenses will be (but I'm good at living frugally). I calculated each 3 year COA off of what each school offered me through scholarships and loans. Because of a scholarship, Temple's tuition & fees would only be about 5-6K per year.

Why are you not in a position to retake? Its the best option by far. Minnesota is second but you will have an uphill battle to return to Philly. For <50k its a great deal, but I would rather do Temple with a full ride or Penn.

romothesavior wrote:Why are you not in a position to retake? Its the best option by far. Minnesota is second but you will have an uphill battle to return to Philly. For <50k its a great deal, but I would rather do Temple with a full ride or Penn.

I agree that it's not the best scenario for returning to Philly, but I'm at a place in my life where I'm lacking employment opportunities and literally can't afford to put off law school for any longer and reapply. I'm also stir crazy - already put law school on the table for a couple of years, and I strongly prefer to not put it off any further. Maybe not the most strategic decision, but I don't want to spend any more of my life waiting for this. I didn't have the greatest cycle, but I'm happy with my application and all of my options. They're just all over the place. (Also accepted to Cornell, but unless I recieve more merit aid I won't be able to stomach the huge debt - especially since I'm not totally committed to biglaw.)

While I eventually see myself settling down in the greater Phila area, I wouldn't mind working in the midwest for a few years, building my resume and contacts, before returning to the east coast. I also have a small but growing professional/legal network in Philly.

If you definitely won't retake, then UMN, but be open to ending up somewhere other than Philly. I'm sure Minny can get you back there, but it'll take more legwork and will be harder.

I don't think the total COA are that high considering you have to factor in Cost of Living. Even on a full ride anywhere you're looking at minimum ~$20k a year in cost of living. I think many of the people responding to this thread are forgetting that.

If you really, only want Philly, I guess Temple. You have almost a full scholarship? If you're open to different markets I would probably do BU because it has the best placement of all the schools...but still is in a very saturated market, so it's risky.

Good point... is COL included?

,

romothesavior wrote:Good point... is COL included?

Yes - all these figures include tuition, fees, transportation and living costs for all three years. Sorry for not being clearer. And they are rounded up - I'm not going to lower my standard of living to natty ice and ramen noodles, but I can definitely live below the living costs estimated.

rad lulz wrote:Can't afford to not go to law school?

As in you'd starve and be homeless w out law skool?

Ok brah

This is silly. Can't afford not to go to law school, as in if I postponed, I would be faced with a year of rent, living, law school application costs (again), etc. before another three years of law school expenses. I don't have enough savings or viable income to do that, and I also don't want to. I want to get out of the field I'm in now and, like I said, I'm ready for law school and happy about my options. Just not sure which one to choose. But thanks for your input, broseph.

kdb wrote:

romothesavior wrote:Why are you not in a position to retake? Its the best option by far. Minnesota is second but you will have an uphill battle to return to Philly. For <50k its a great deal, but I would rather do Temple with a full ride or Penn.

I agree that it's not the best scenario for returning to Philly, but I'm at a place in my life where I'm lacking employment opportunities and literally can't afford to put off law school for any longer and reapply. I'm also stir crazy - already put law school on the table for a couple of years, and I strongly prefer to not put it off any further. Maybe not the most strategic decision, but I don't want to spend any more of my life waiting for this. I didn't have the greatest cycle, but I'm happy with my application and all of my options. They're just all over the place. (Also accepted to Cornell, but unless I recieve more merit aid I won't be able to stomach the huge debt - especially since I'm not totally committed to biglaw.)

While I eventually see myself settling down in the greater Phila area, I wouldn't mind working in the midwest for a few years, building my resume and contacts, before returning to the east coast. I also have a small but growing professional/legal network in Philly.

Did you get any money at Cornell?

ImNoScar wrote:

kdb wrote:

romothesavior wrote:Why are you not in a position to retake? Its the best option by far. Minnesota is second but you will have an uphill battle to return to Philly. For <50k its a great deal, but I would rather do Temple with a full ride or Penn.

I agree that it's not the best scenario for returning to Philly, but I'm at a place in my life where I'm lacking employment opportunities and literally can't afford to put off law school for any longer and reapply. I'm also stir crazy - already put law school on the table for a couple of years, and I strongly prefer to not put it off any further. Maybe not the most strategic decision, but I don't want to spend any more of my life waiting for this. I didn't have the greatest cycle, but I'm happy with my application and all of my options. They're just all over the place. (Also accepted to Cornell, but unless I recieve more merit aid I won't be able to stomach the huge debt - especially since I'm not totally committed to biglaw.)

While I eventually see myself settling down in the greater Phila area, I wouldn't mind working in the midwest for a few years, building my resume and contacts, before returning to the east coast. I also have a small but growing professional/legal network in Philly.

Did you get any money at Cornell?

Nothing that would even put a dent in my debt. Though I am in the process of negotiating, and also might be receiving a (small) outside scholarship to use at any school. Cornell would be my obvious first choice, but it'll depend on what additional funds come in.

kdb wrote:

romothesavior wrote:Good point... is COL included?

Yes - all these figures include tuition, fees, transportation and living costs for all three years. Sorry for not being clearer. And they are rounded up - I'm not going to lower my standard of living to natty ice and ramen noodles, but I can definitely live below the living costs estimated.

Oh, I just assumed they didn't include COL since most people put "COA" and yet don't include COL...Anyways, you're choices aren't that bad. 116k TOTAL COA for BU is pretty good IMO. You say you want to work in philly though, so I voted Temple, although it's definitely a tough decision. If it was me I'd go BU to keep my options open. It's a more versatile degree IMO.

edit- mixed up the UMN and Temple COA numbers. This is easy...I'd go UMN. I would never pay more to go to Temple...

Retake is definitely the best option here. That said, I actually don't think 80k TOTAL COA for Temple is that awful. It's on the expensive side, but Temple does well in Philly, and is the only school on this list that has a reasonable shot at placing there. Plan to drop out if you end up below median though. Otherwise, UMN is the best deal here overall as long as OP is cool with the fairly high likelihood that he will be stuck in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.

Temple gets my vote, unless Cornell comes with some $$$.

Have you exhausted negotiations yet? If Temple matches Minn, go to Temple. If not, think hard about retaking. 80K is on the high end.

You said you are in a field. What does that mean? Are you unemployed and just don't want to find a job?