Top Law Schools

I'm currently assessing my situation for the upcoming application cycle and need some advice. I live in Philadelphia and would prefer to continue to do so for law school. My family is here as well as my SO. The law schools in Philadelphia include Penn, Temple, Drexel, Villanova, and Rutgers Camden (right across the bridge). Since I have a slim chance at Penn which sits at #7, is settling for Temple (#56) or Rutgers a horrible decision? Would it be better to just move to DC or NYU for a chance at a T20 and then move back to Philadelphia to practice? Any information about the legal market in Philadelphia in regards to law schools would be greatly appreciated.

When you're looking at schools like Temple and Rutgers, the key questions are (1) what will your TOTAL cost of attendance be, and (2) what do you hope to get out of a law degree.

The fact that you can live at home will substantially cut down on COA, and I think Temple has in-state tuition, right? Throw in some scholarship and you're looking at relatively manageable debt. But that still leaves the question of what you hope to do. If you want to work for a Vault 100 firm, that's a real longshot. If you're interested in lower-paying work in govt, public interest or small firms, a school like Temple at low cost is not a terrible decision.

BTW, GPA and LSAT? How do you know you have a "slim" chance at Penn?

Whether or not it's worth leaving Philadelphia for a better school depends on the school and the total COA.

IMO Temple with a half scholarship is a good choice if you're really prepared to hustle for a job in/around Philly. The other options are all so expensive and I'm not sure what scholarship options they have, but going to any of these (besides Penn) with a total COA of >$70k is a bad option.

As the screen name indicates, I'm also from Philly. GPA is the only question that matters. The LSAT is improvable but if the GPA is below 3.0 you might have problems.

If you can live at home and get in-state tuition with a scholly, Temple is a decent option, you can easily get out of there without a ton of debt, and still have an ok chance at a legal job. Most of the jobs aren't great though, and if Temple is giving you a scholly you can land Upenn with a retake.

philly guy too here. If not penn, temple is a solid option if the costs are reasonable.

It all depends on what you want to do after graduation.

OP, Rutgers-Camden has better employment stats on LST than Temple, Drexel, and Villanova. I'm going to Drexel and I chose it over Temple, Nova, and Penn (yeah, fuck me right?) Many people have said that Temple and Nova are superior schools to Drexel and that may be true, but the employment data for all 3 schools is pretty similar..and by similar I mean you can forget big law.

Also OP, what you want to do with your JD is going to affect what kind of feedback you will receive.

ronanOgara wrote:I'm going to Drexel and I chose it over Penn

Fuck this guy

Seriously though, there's a story here and I would love to hear it. Might help the OP too.

Okay here is my "Choosing a Law School" thread:

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=213988

I'm only posting this to assist OP if he wishes to read it, please don't use this thread to give feedback on my decision.

You can PM me though if you'd like

ronanOgara wrote:Okay here is my "Choosing a Law School" thread:

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=213988

I'm only posting this to assist OP if he wishes to read it, please don't use this thread to give feedback on my decision.

You can PM me though if you'd like

I remember reading through your choosing thread. This guy is in the EXACT situation that merits going to a less prestigious local school instead of a t14 (including being very aware of what it means for your salary prospects). If you're not in his situation, the school with the better job prospects/cost ratio always wins out.

Please include the information requested here that you have not yet provided: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=206299.

You'll get much more helpful/accurate advice.