Top Law Schools

As I am going through my acceptances I have boiled down my choices to four law schools. ($=scholarship)

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities $ (top 20)

University of Tennessee $

University of Miami

University of Cincinnati $

I really see myself practicing in the corporate/business law field in the south east. With that being said Minnesota has the best job placement statistics in that particular area of law, but they are in the north west. Where I am confused is when does the ranking outweigh the location?

Miami is over $40,000 a year and ranked 80, but they are in the south east with the opportunity to network with many great law firms in the area. Additionally, they are considered the third best law school in the state of Florida. Financially, I really don't see this as the best bang for my buck. Tennessee is my cheapest option because of the scholarship they gave me plus they are in a good location. Any advice or thoughts will be much appreciated.

You should retake if you want biglaw, but either way, you should retake for full rides from such schools. But what's your GPA? Where are you from and what are your ties?

It's also more helpful if you list approximate (or even exact if you use a Cost of Attendance calculator) Cost of Attendance to each school rather than the dollar signs for scholarship amounts.

What I'll say is that if you are committed to going to any of these schools, you should be going on a full ride or extremely close. None of them give primetime opportunities for biglaw.

Retake or don't go.

All of those schools are regional and have no reach outside they're home market and offer either a minimal chance of biglaw (for Minnesota) and virtually no chance of biglaw (the others). That can be okay if (1) total COA is less than $75k, (2) you want to practice in the relevant home market and (3) you are okay with a starting salary around $40-50k.

In your case (1) all three have a COA of much great than $75 and (2) you don't seem to have an interest in the sort of jobs you could expect to get from any of these schools (small law or local PI).

What would you actually be paying at these schools?

Top 10 and Top 20 are nice round cutoffs but for law school purposes it's Top 14 and not - Top 14. If you want a decent shot at snagging a corporate law (biglaw) job, you should retake the LSAT to get into a top 14. The schools listed aren't worth the debt and should only be attended under narrow circumstances (want to practice in the state and have a big scholarship)

Not to be mean but you don't even know what region of the country Minnesota is located in. Definitely don't go to a school if you can't even pick out the state it is located in on a map (well, unless maybe it's a T14)

You want big law so you need to retake. None of these schools give you a meaningful chance at big law.

Thank you for all of the posts! Sorry for some of you (well just 1) that get hung up on the minor details. My mistake Minnesota is North Mid-West. Excuse my error. My COA at Minnesota would be 30 a year, Tennessee would be 22 a year, and miami would be 45. My GPA is a 3.9. I understand that big law may be a very slim to no chance at all, but what would give me the best chance?

OP--what's your LSAT?? Retake and get more $$$

coach22 wrote:Thank you for all of the posts! Sorry for some of you (well just 1) that get hung up on the minor details. My mistake Minnesota is North Mid-West. Excuse my error. My COA at Minnesota would be 30 a year, Tennessee would be 22 a year, and miami would be 45. My GPA is a 3.9. I understand that big law may be a very slim to no chance at all, but what would give me the best chance?

I am from KY and went to school in FL. Most of my connections are in the state of KY and in Cincinnati, OH, but I was able to connect with some firms in the South Florida area.

Honestly, your best option is to retake. With a 3.9, your chances of going to any of the top schools in the nation (with money) increase immensely. Take the year off, add some points to your lsat, and enjoy the T14. If you jump the gun and enroll now, you are literally screwing yourself out of tens of thousands of dollars -- both in the tuition you'll be needlessly spending and in the salary that you'd be missing out on.

I sucked it up on the LSAT with a 154, but due to circumstances I was not able to retake the LSAT.

coach22 wrote:I sucked it up on the LSAT with a 154, but due to circumstances I was not able to retake the LSAT.

Retake please!! With that GPA you can go anywhere. Study your ass off and retake.

coach22 wrote:I sucked it up on the LSAT with a 154, but due to circumstances I was not able to retake the LSAT.

If you are unable to retake then you shouldn't go to law school given your goals.

Eta: I know someone who copped penn with a 3.9 and a low 160s score. Thats like two months of studying. Sit a cycle and get 170+ and go wherever you want or go for free. This is a decision that will affect the rest of your life.

coach22 wrote:I sucked it up on the LSAT with a 154, but due to circumstances I was not able to retake the LSAT.

Tons of people don't do well their first take (myself included) but there is no reason not to hunker down, live with the material, and take it again. It is really short-sighted to jump in now when having a GPA that awesome is essentially leaving tons of cash on the table. The LSAT study threads on this site are invaluable and it would really do some good to look through those guides and get a good strategy going into a retake.

You need to seriously think this through. You walk into a casino. You place a bet at a table that gives you a 20% chance at winning. You lose the bet, and this is a game you can only play once, and the bet was financed with non-dischargeable debt. What's your next move?

You get one shot to get a biglaw job, that's after your first year of law school. If you don't have the grades for it at that time, you have to figure out whether you want to be a real lawyer, and whether you'd be happy being a real lawyer and making 40-60K a year. Do you want to be a real lawyer? Do you know what that even means? Do you think that you'll make more than 40-60K a year? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then retake or rethink.

MSP has one of the best economies in the nation, but the problem is you have to live there to work there.