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I'm a Louisiana resident, and I don't know whether I want to go to Tulane or LSU.

I love both New Orleans and Baton Rouge, although I'm more familiar with Baton Rouge. My friends live in Br, which is a huge plus! Plus tuition is better at LSU. Tulane, however, (according to attorneys I've spoken with) will give me a better chance of practicing out of state if I wish to do so...LSU involves more leg work (which I am willing to do). I'm really stuck between the two and I need opinions. I love Louisiana but I would like the option of one day, if I decide to do so, to practice out of state. I love California (I know, it's a huge jump from LA). I just need opinions, please. I can't afford the out of state tuition to go a school in California, and I honestly have no problem with staying in LA for a while. Retaking the LSAT is not doable at this point. Also, I have no clue what type of law I exactly want to go in to...although several law students and professors have told me that this is not a problem because many students come in thinking they want to do this, and end up taking some class which results in them changing their mind to that. If that makes sense. So...opinions?

Go to the law school that has the lowest overall cost-of-attendance and the best employment prospects. Personally, I would go to LSU. LSU has much better career outcomes than Tulane. Also, you should not go to a law school based on a slightly less distant possibility of working in another state. Short of the t-14, where you geographically want to work after law school should definitely be a factor in choosing which law school to go to.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?r=la

That website was actually really helpful, so thank you. I see on Tulane's that most people end up out of state, and with LSU most stay in state. It's a tough choice but the tuition at LSU is hard to pass up...Tough choice.

Retake. Both schools are too expensive and offer next to no geographical flexibility in terms of where you can get a job.

If you want to work in CA, move to CA for at least a year, establish residency/ties, gear up for a solid retake, and don't go to a school that's not Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, or USC.

If you can get both the schools you mentioned for cheapsies and you're cool working as lawyer in LA basically forever then take your pick. All else being equal, I would probably choose LSU.

Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

If you won't retake, you should go to LSU. It's half the cost and has better employment stats generally. Less of a shot at Biglaw compared to Tulane, but then again that's comparing 5% to 10%. A negligible difference.

Tulane will not get you to California unless you have ties to that state. (And neither will LSU.)

objection_your_honor wrote:If you won't retake, you should go to LSU. It's half the cost and has better employment stats generally. Less of a shot at Biglaw compared to Tulane, but then again that's comparing 5% to 10%. A negligible difference.

Tulane will not get you to California unless you have ties to that state.

Thank you.

leigha1991 wrote:Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

I'm curious, how are you not in a position to retake a standardized test that is administered four times a year? If you were born in 1991, you have plenty of time. Just think about this: The Simpsons is older than you. A freaking cartoon show that should have been cancelled 15 years ago is older than you are. As someone who is younger than the Simpsons, why would you want to rush off to law school? Especially one that is too expensive and won't get you where you want to be?

Also, ignore big law chances. That's almost certainly not happening from either of these schools. Neither is getting a job in CA. If you want CA, move there first and then go to a worthwhile school there. If you're fine with living in LA, go to one of these schools. But anything less than a full ride or a rich benefactor paying your way and you're paying too much to attend.

You should forget working out of state from either school.

Tulane used to place well out of state, but those days are mostly gone. You have a very small shot at getting an out of state job from Tulane, and it would probably be in Texas - definitely not California. Their employment stats in general are pretty dismal.

I would just go to the cheaper school and be comfortable with working in LA.

You have to be top 10% from either of these schools to work next door in Texas. I work in a good firm in Texas, and am just speaking from the heart.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I appreciate it!

I realize you can take the LSAT 4 times a year, and I also know after 3 times you have to sit out 2 years before retaking it...as I stated in my first post "I'm not retaking the LSAT again" so that was something I didn't want to bring up...so I'm not sure why it is being brought up. I just don't want to sit around waiting to take the LSAT again, and although the idea of living in California and establishing myself would be nice...it's extremely expensive, and to me a poor plan. I'd just be sitting around in California, working and waiting to take the LSAT, just seems a bit silly. I'd be two years in to getting my JD. Regardless though, some good points are made! Thanks again.

leigha1991 wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice! I appreciate it!

I realize you can take the LSAT 4 times a year, and I also know after 3 times you have to sit out 2 years before retaking it...as I stated in my first post "I'm not retaking the LSAT again" so that was something I didn't want to bring up...so I'm not sure why it is being brought up. I just don't want to sit around waiting to take the LSAT again, and although the idea of living in California and establishing myself would be nice...it's extremely expensive, and to me a poor plan. I'd just be sitting around in California, working and waiting to take the LSAT, just seems a bit silly. I'd be two years in to getting my JD. Regardless though, some good points are made! Thanks again.

The grim reality is that you have a high percentage chance of spending 3 years of your life and tens of thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of dollars and having nothing to show for it if you attend either of these schools. That's especially true if you're the type who can't find the motivation to adequately prepare for tests. And it's also especially true if you try to take a degree from a LA law school and get a job in CA. It just doesn't work that way.

Also, it may sound like a waste of time to you, but working some whatever job, enjoying your early 20s in a place you want to be/end up, and earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of both scholarship money and increased job prospects sounds like a sweet ass life to me.

I don't know why you think as a 22 year old that you would know more about this process than people who are in law school already, or at least people who are acquainted with this whole law school thing. Plenty of people live and work in a place to establish ties and devote their time to maximizing their LSAT score. A person who posted in this thread did just that in fact.

Please do poke around this site some more and read some different threads on what law school is all about and what the lay of the land looks like for people graduating from law school these days. It will be a lot more helpful than talking to lawyers (especially if those lawyers have been out of law school more than a couple years) and it will definitely be a lot better than just operating on your own assumptions as to how this all should or does work.

Best of luck.

leigha1991 wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice! I appreciate it!

I realize you can take the LSAT 4 times a year, and I also know after 3 times you have to sit out 2 years before retaking it...as I stated in my first post "I'm not retaking the LSAT again" so that was something I didn't want to bring up...so I'm not sure why it is being brought up. I just don't want to sit around waiting to take the LSAT again, and although the idea of living in California and establishing myself would be nice...it's extremely expensive, and to me a poor plan. I'd just be sitting around in California, working and waiting to take the LSAT, just seems a bit silly. I'd be two years in to getting my JD. Regardless though, some good points are made! Thanks again.

Why not retake in February? Look at it this way: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Let's say you don't score any higher. Fine. You're no worse off than you are now. Let's say you score a few points higher. Use that to try to shake some extra money out of LSU/Tulane. Let's say you really improve and jump into the high 160s or break 170. Now you're looking at a T14 next cycle, or a strong regional for free.

Again, it's no risk and all potential gain, and doesn't necessarily delay you starting law school.

That you say you would be sitting around waiting to take the LSAT suggests to me that you didn't study properly the first time. How many hours a week did you put in, and how early did you start? The LSAT is learnable, but it takes time.

leigha1991 wrote:Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

The California bar is without a doubt the hardest in the nation, and Louisiana schools will prepare you for Louisiana's weird civil law system, not the common law tested on other exams. I'm not saying that any law school is particularly helpful for bar prep (hence why most everyone has to pay $3K for bar prep classes), but a CA school may offer at least some relevant classes.

If you want to talk expensive, it's going to be expensive to try and do interviews or relocate to California to get summer jobs and try to make connections in that oversaturated market. If you have no track record of working in California it is going to be hard to get jobs there.

EDIT: If you are someone who doesn't like to study for tests or is afraid of them (especially one like the LSAT that you can take 4 times a year), then the three-day monstrosity that is the CA bar exam is going to eat you alive.

timbs4339 wrote:

leigha1991 wrote:Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

The California bar is without a doubt the hardest in the nation, and Louisiana schools will prepare you for Louisiana's weird civil law system, not the common law tested on other exams. I'm not saying that any law school is particularly helpful for bar prep (hence why most everyone has to pay $3K for bar prep classes), but a CA school may offer at least some relevant classes.

If you want to talk expensive, it's going to be expensive to try and do interviews or relocate to California to get summer jobs and try to make connections in that oversaturated market. If you have no track record of working in California it is going to be hard to get jobs there.

EDIT: If you are someone who doesn't like to study for tests or is afraid of them (especially one like the LSAT that you can take 4 times a year), then the three-day monstrosity that is the CA bar exam is going to eat you alive.

You do know that you can't actually take the LSAT 4 times a year, right?

midwest17 wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:

leigha1991 wrote:Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

The California bar is without a doubt the hardest in the nation, and Louisiana schools will prepare you for Louisiana's weird civil law system, not the common law tested on other exams. I'm not saying that any law school is particularly helpful for bar prep (hence why most everyone has to pay $3K for bar prep classes), but a CA school may offer at least some relevant classes.

If you want to talk expensive, it's going to be expensive to try and do interviews or relocate to California to get summer jobs and try to make connections in that oversaturated market. If you have no track record of working in California it is going to be hard to get jobs there.

EDIT: If you are someone who doesn't like to study for tests or is afraid of them (especially one like the LSAT that you can take 4 times a year), then the three-day monstrosity that is the CA bar exam is going to eat you alive.

You do know that you can't actually take the LSAT 4 times a year, right?

I think s/he means you have the option of taking it at 4 different times throughout the year. But yeah, you can only take the LSAT 3 times within any given 2 year period, for the record.

She hasn't said it outright, but since she brought up the "three times in two years" rule, it's possible that she took the June, October and December 2013 administrations, which would mean that she will legitimately have to sit out until the June 2015 administration before taking it again. That *would* delay her starting her JD for two years.

All that being said, I still agree that prepping like hell and re-taking in 2015 would be better than hoping to parlay LSU or Tulane into a career in California. Like Bigzuck said, 22 is young - really young. Working for two years isn't going to derail her life plans.

midwest17 wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:

leigha1991 wrote:Appreciate the advice, but I'm just not in the position to take the LSAT again. Tulane, I hear, prepares you well for out of state prospects...LSU involves a little more leg work, but it's not impossible. Although small, there have been some students who went to LSU and ended up in California. I'm just wondering if Tulane is where I need to go to have a better shot. They say if you can pass the Louisiana bar you can pass any bar.

The California bar is without a doubt the hardest in the nation, and Louisiana schools will prepare you for Louisiana's weird civil law system, not the common law tested on other exams. I'm not saying that any law school is particularly helpful for bar prep (hence why most everyone has to pay $3K for bar prep classes), but a CA school may offer at least some relevant classes.

If you want to talk expensive, it's going to be expensive to try and do interviews or relocate to California to get summer jobs and try to make connections in that oversaturated market. If you have no track record of working in California it is going to be hard to get jobs there.

EDIT: If you are someone who doesn't like to study for tests or is afraid of them (especially one like the LSAT that you can take 4 times a year), then the three-day monstrosity that is the CA bar exam is going to eat you alive.

You do know that you can't actually take the LSAT 4 times a year, right?

Yes, I was unclear. I just meant sitting around doing something while waiting three months for the next LSAT administration is cheaper than sitting around and waiting 6 months to retake a state bar you failed. Especially when the loans start coming due.

OP, I was in your shoes wrt the 3 takes in 2 years rule a few cycles ago. I never dreamed I'd take time off before law school but listened to TLS, waited 2 years, and increased my score by 7 points. I'm looking at full rides at schools I was previously waitlisted at and also had the chance to get work experience, learn a new language, and travel. It was the best decision I ever made, and it will give you the best shot at CA.

Go to Loyola NO and hope employers in SoCal think it's the school in LA.

shifty_eyed wrote:Go to Loyola NO and hope employers in SoCal think it's the school in LA.

(don't) DO IT!

shifty_eyed wrote:Go to Loyola NO and hope employers in SoCal think it's the school in LA.

What if they think its the Chicago school? WHAT THEN!?!

BigZuck wrote:

shifty_eyed wrote:Go to Loyola NO and hope employers in SoCal think it's the school in LA.

What if they think its the Chicago school? WHAT THEN!?!

Or the Maryland one! That one doesn't even have a law school..