University of Arizona-- Pros vs. Cons Forum

[thisislife49]

What are others insight on the University of Arizona law program? They are ranked really high, but taking all aspects into consideration (school, city, lifestyle etc.) what are your overall thoughts on it? Any current or past students that have gone there... if so, how did the job search go?

[BigZuck]

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com

That matters first and foremost. After that, you have to decide if you want to live in Tucson, which is a personal decision. Also, don't attend if you're not from Arizona.

[TheSpanishMain]

It's really hard to give an answer in a vacuum. You need to elaborate on your goals, the costs you'd incur, your background, etc.

U of A for free/deep discount? Pretty good. U of A at sticker? Shitty. U of A if you're only looking for a big law job? Shitty. U of A if you're cool with smaller firms or state/local government work? Pretty good.

[twenty]

They are ranked really high

(obligatory DROVES post)

That aside, UofA often gives a lot of scholarship money to people with decent numbers, so if they're not giving you a full ride, don't go/retake until they do.

[thisislife49]

Good to know on all parts-- I actually went to U of A for ungrad and have lived in Tucson my whole life. So, I am used to the lifestyle here (a boring one at that) and the heat (which I long to get away from). Obviously though, it is an appealing choice when one thinks about the cost of law school and the fact that I own a house here.

It was interesting to hear about big law, etc. in terms of U of A. I'm having trouble weighing the pro's and con's with this decision.

I am interested in criminal law right now, but I realize that could quickly change once in school. I am not overly worried about being in a BIG law firm as I also have plans to be a mother eventually too and realize that would be tougher in big law.

What have you all heard about "where you go to school is where you practice?" Is that really true in your experience or what you have heard?

[TheSpanishMain]

Check out Law School Transparency. It'll show you what percentage of the class from each school ends up in which state.

[bound]

Take this with a grain of salt since I am just an alum of UofA Undergrad, but I really think that at the right price and right goals, UofA could work for a number of people.

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap. And depending on your numbers if you can get $$ on top of in state, then....well there's probably no better deal. COL, as you know, is cheap as hell. Although I might get scrutinized on TLS for saying this, I would TOTALLY attend uofa again if I could get in and out for under 30K even though I have T14 numbers. And it actually seems like an attainable goal.

2) If you do decide on UofA, you have to have reasonable goals. Big Law? Probably not gonna happen unless you are in the top 5-10% and are okay with doing that in Phoenix. But big law goals aside, I think that if you want small or mid in Tucson or Phoenix, and you start your networking early, it could certainly happen for you. I work at a firm in Tucson right now and I've noticed that the Tucson market is extremely insulated. They love their UofA grads. If you want gov, don't expect a Fed Clerkship under a popular judge. Aim your eyes to Arizona State Court or Pima County or Maricopa County court.


As I said, it id all about what you want out of law school. For me, I really want big law or in-house. I know that UofA probably won't get me there, but it's a great back up plan as you just can't beat the costs. Hope this helps. Maybe a UofA law grad can chime in for us and point us in the right direction.

[Tiago Splitter]

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap.

In-state is over $27,000 per year. Far from dirt cheap. Wasn't long ago that top private schools charged that.

[bound]

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap.

In-state is over $27,000 per year. Far from dirt cheap. Wasn't long ago that top private schools charged that.

In state is not over $27,000. It's ~24 including fees. As I said, with a scholarship on top of in-state, it could be worth it.

[Tiago Splitter]

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap.

In-state is over $27,000 per year. Far from dirt cheap. Wasn't long ago that top private schools charged that.

In state is not over $27,000. It's ~24 including fees. As I said, with a scholarship on top of in-state, it could be worth it.

That makes no difference. It's still nowhere near dirt cheap. Ten years ago, when UofA was charging 5k to residents, it was dirt cheap.

[bound]

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap.

In-state is over $27,000 per year. Far from dirt cheap. Wasn't long ago that top private schools charged that.

In state is not over $27,000. It's ~24 including fees. As I said, with a scholarship on top of in-state, it could be worth it.

That makes no difference. It's still nowhere near dirt cheap. Ten years ago, when UofA was charging 5k to residents, it was dirt cheap.

I apologize for my complete misuse of adjective. It is a relatively cheap law school in comparison to other in-state tuitions, and is a good option for someone with a scholarship who want's to live and work in Arizona. Apologies for any confusion, OP.

[rwhyAn]

Cons: You'll be stuck in Tucson. Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix is much nicer.

Pros: It's better than Arizona Summit Law.

Although, as a former Sun Devil, I may be biased.

[A. Nony Mouse]

What have you all heard about "where you go to school is where you practice?" Is that really true in your experience or what you have heard?

Generally, yes, especially when you're looking at the U of A (which is a very decent regional). There's a lot of debate about how finely to parse things, but in many respects HYS are the only really national schools. Even the rest of the t14, although way more national than the rest, have regional strengths (barring that they'll probably all place well in NYC biglaw). Berkeley is awesome but if you know you want to work in Chicago, well, you won't have a bad shot (possibly a very good one with ties), but you'd have a better one attending Chicago or Northwestern. When you're looking at the rest of the tier 1 schools, it just gets more and more regional.

Now, I went to a regional school, and am now working a couple of states away in a region to which I had no ties at all. But it's a part of the world with relatively few law schools, no T14s, and in the same large region broadly defined as my law school (say, it's the Midwest, I went to MN, and now I work in Illinois or Missouri). I also have some specific job-related reasons for being here (dat BIGCORN law). So, you can be mobile, but you have to be very realistic about how mobile. So, when you say you'd like to get out of Tucson/AZ, what do you mean by that, and what do you want to do?

[BigZuck]

Take this with a grain of salt since I am just an alum of UofA Undergrad, but I really think that at the right price and right goals, UofA could work for a number of people.

1) In-state tuition is dirt cheap. And depending on your numbers if you can get $$ on top of in state, then....well there's probably no better deal. COL, as you know, is cheap as hell. Although I might get scrutinized on TLS for saying this, I would TOTALLY attend uofa again if I could get in and out for under 30K even though I have T14 numbers. And it actually seems like an attainable goal.

2) If you do decide on UofA, you have to have reasonable goals. Big Law? Probably not gonna happen unless you are in the top 5-10% and are okay with doing that in Phoenix. But big law goals aside, I think that if you want small or mid in Tucson or Phoenix, and you start your networking early, it could certainly happen for you. I work at a firm in Tucson right now and I've noticed that the Tucson market is extremely insulated. They love their UofA grads. If you want gov, don't expect a Fed Clerkship under a popular judge. Aim your eyes to Arizona State Court or Pima County or Maricopa County court.


As I said, it id all about what you want out of law school. For me, I really want big law or in-house. I know that UofA probably won't get me there, but it's a great back up plan as you just can't beat the costs. Hope this helps. Maybe a UofA law grad can chime in for us and point us in the right direction.

I think this is all totally fair, the only thing I would quibble with has already been quibbled by Tiago. I'm a fan of regional schools (obv) as long as the employment goals are reasonable, the price is relatively low (I'm thinking like 50Kish debt total), and you want to live and work in that region long term. Change any part of that equation, and I start to turn into Mr. T14 or Bust real quick.

[thisislife49]

You all brought up some good points-- I guess now I just really need to decide if Tucson is where I want to be at the end of the law school journey.

Thanks all!

[Jwood]

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[thisislife49]

Good to know about the Phoenix market place. Phoenix definitely has so much more to offer than Tucson, so that is appealing. It is just EXTREMELY hot... not sure if I want to live in that climate forever. We will see though.

Thanks for letting me know about the library and competitiveness. As those are two items that I do look into as well as all the other factors.

[gaud]

Cons: You'll be stuck in Tucson. Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix is much nicer.

Pros: It's better than Arizona Summit Law.

Although, as a former Sun Devil, I may be biased.

+1 from a current Sun Devil

[yeslekkkk]

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[gaud]

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What are your California options? If you want California > rest of Southwest, you should probably try to attend somewhere in CA.

[yeslekkkk]

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[gaud]

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What are your California options? If you want California > rest of Southwest, you should probably try to attend somewhere in CA.

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I think it's gotta come down to your personal feelings on the risk. I agree with you that having near-0 debt is desirable, and it would probably make not having a job at graduation less stressful (assuming you couldn't get one from UofA) but you just have to be aware of that possibility; AZ schools are quite insular.

[bound]

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[yeslekkkk]

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