University of Arizona Forum

[thisislife49]

I just was accepted into Univ of Arizonas law program. I was born and raised in Tucson and have been wanting to get out of the area. With that in mind though, as of right now it's the best school I have gotten into. Is it difficult to find a job after law school out of state from a top 35 school? Would I be able to get summer internships out of state? The school is great, I just don't want to necessarily lock myself into Tucson forever. Thoughts?

[IgosduIkana]

If you don't want to lock yourself into Tucson, don't go to U of A.

[bound]

I just was accepted into Univ of Arizonas law program, but I'm skeptical. I was born and raised in Tucson and have been wanting to get out of the area. With that in mind though, as of right now it's the best school I have gotten into. Is it difficult to find a job after law school out of state from a top 35 school? Would I be able to get summer externships out of state? The school is great, I just don't want to lock myself into Tucson forever. Thoughts?

Currently having the same problem. I went here for undergrad and have been working at a law firm this last year after I graduated. I thought that my decision was going to be easy and had basically narrowed it down to two schools.Then last week UofA gave me a full ride. I've been so ready to get out of Tucson, so this really threw a wrench into my whole plan. While I can't really give you any advice without knowing where else you've gotten in, everyone has been telling me that you have to go where you are the most happy. Law school is an extremely stressful three years, and if you're doing it somewhere you just aren't happy, chances are the experience will be that much more miserable. I am planning to call career services this week to get some more information on where their grads end up because, like you I have zero desire to work in Arizona. I really want to work in Texas. If they can't provide some sort of stats/alumni in the area I want to work in, then it's a no-go for me for sure.

Anyway, I know that I probably didn't answer your question, but I just wanted you to know that I'm also in the same situation. Feel free to PM me. Good luck to you!

[koalacity]

I just was accepted into Univ of Arizonas law program, but I'm skeptical. I was born and raised in Tucson and have been wanting to get out of the area. With that in mind though, as of right now it's the best school I have gotten into. Is it difficult to find a job after law school out of state from a top 35 school? Would I be able to get summer externships out of state? The school is great, I just don't want to lock myself into Tucson forever. Thoughts?

Currently having the same problem. I went here for undergrad and have been working at a law firm this last year after I graduated. I thought that my decision was going to be easy and had basically narrowed it down to two schools.Then last week UofA gave me a full ride. I've been so ready to get out of Tucson, so this really threw a wrench into my whole plan. While I can't really give you any advice without knowing where else you've gotten in, everyone has been telling me that you have to go where you are the most happy. Law school is an extremely stressful three years, and if you're doing it somewhere you just aren't happy, chances are the experience will be that much more miserable. I am planning to call career services this week to get some more information on where their grads end up because, like you I have zero desire to work in Arizona. I really want to work in Texas. If they can't provide some sort of stats/alumni in the area I want to work in, then it's a no-go for me for sure.

Anyway, I know that I probably didn't answer your question, but I just wanted you to know that I'm also in the same situation. Feel free to PM me. Good luck to you!

If you want to work in Texas, don't go to UofA-0% of their c/o 2012 went to Texas. There may be some self-selection at play here, but I'm sure they had at least a few people in the class trying for Texas.

UofA, like ASU, is a regional school-it doesn't matter that they're "top 30" or "top 35." The only non-regional schools are the T14. If you don't want to work in AZ (Phoenix or Tucson-UofA grads can come to Phoenix pretty easily), go elsewhere. You'll have a very small shot at CA (I would imagine these are probably people with ties to CA), and it looks like UofA put someone in NY and ASU puts a few people (like 1 or 2-I would guess they're LDS or have ties to the area) in Utah, but basically, you're going to be in Arizona.

Source: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location

[bound]

I just was accepted into Univ of Arizonas law program, but I'm skeptical. I was born and raised in Tucson and have been wanting to get out of the area. With that in mind though, as of right now it's the best school I have gotten into. Is it difficult to find a job after law school out of state from a top 35 school? Would I be able to get summer externships out of state? The school is great, I just don't want to lock myself into Tucson forever. Thoughts?

Currently having the same problem. I went here for undergrad and have been working at a law firm this last year after I graduated. I thought that my decision was going to be easy and had basically narrowed it down to two schools.Then last week UofA gave me a full ride. I've been so ready to get out of Tucson, so this really threw a wrench into my whole plan. While I can't really give you any advice without knowing where else you've gotten in, everyone has been telling me that you have to go where you are the most happy. Law school is an extremely stressful three years, and if you're doing it somewhere you just aren't happy, chances are the experience will be that much more miserable. I am planning to call career services this week to get some more information on where their grads end up because, like you I have zero desire to work in Arizona. I really want to work in Texas. If they can't provide some sort of stats/alumni in the area I want to work in, then it's a no-go for me for sure.

Anyway, I know that I probably didn't answer your question, but I just wanted you to know that I'm also in the same situation. Feel free to PM me. Good luck to you!

If you want to work in Texas, don't go to UofA-0% of their c/o 2012 went to Texas. There may be some self-selection at play here, but I'm sure they had at least a few people in the class trying for Texas.

UofA, like ASU, is a regional school-it doesn't matter that they're "top 30" or "top 35." The only non-regional schools are the T14. If you don't want to work in AZ (Phoenix or Tucson-UofA grads can come to Phoenix pretty easily), go elsewhere. You'll have a very small shot at CA (I would imagine these are probably people with ties to CA), and it looks like UofA put someone in NY and ASU puts a few people (like 1 or 2-I would guess they're LDS or have ties to the area) in Utah, but basically, you're going to be in Arizona.

Source: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location

Thanks for the info koala! that's all basically what I was assuming the case was. Just wasn't sure if the full ride would negate some of that since I wouldn't have the pressure to accept a job in Arizona and could branch out.

[thisislife49]

Thanks for the responses! Austinbound, let me know what the career center tells you. I have also looked up the information that koala provided and it seems accurate. I do know many say that "where you go to school is where you are going to practice," but part of me feels that cannot be completely true. I go back and forth. Like koala said, only tl14 schools aren't regional.... so after looking at those, that does not leave many options. Therefore, it seems as if almost any school is "regional," so that is what makes me doubt completely that people don't venture outside of their school state. Yes, I agree that connections will help more in obtaining a position out of site. So, does one obtain those by doing internships out of state during summers? Anyone have thoughts on that?

A full-ride is definitely hard to pass up. For me, I do want to get away from Tucson as mentioned, but it's definitely harder with all my family, husband and a home I own all here. So, U of A seems like the best option based on their numbers, tuition and emotionally for me. I just know that I can't stay here forever!

Anyone have advice or pointers on how to obtain a position out of state?

[gaud]

If you don't want to lock yourself into Arizona, don't go to U of A.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I went to a regional school very similar to U of A (though not U of A). Based on my experience, it is possible to go out of state from such a school, but you have to be super-proactive about getting the experience and connections to do so. Overwhelmingly the people who succeeded in doing so were people who were not from my LS's state, and were going back to their home town/state after graduation. Those home states were also overwhelmingly in the general region of the country where my LS was located, and mostly did not have a lot of great law schools in state. The exceptions to the latter are people who went to California and one random soul who ended up in Boston. Many of the California people struggled (those who didn't had connections). We also had a few people go to DC, although 3 who did had to do LLMs first.

I think that if you've grown up in Tucson and spent your whole life there, going to U of A with the intent of working in another state will be very difficult. If you were from somewhere else in the southwest/west you might have a shot at going to U of A and then going back home (depending on what kind of work you wanted). But if you want to move away from Tucson because you never have, you don't have ties anywhere else, and that will make it extremely hard. Getting a job somewhere you don't have ties is much easier if you go to law school there to start to establish ties.

[Stormageddon]

*I don't have any numbers to back this up, just anecdotal evidence
As a U of A 1L who hopes to leave AZ eventually I've talked to 2Ls and 3Ls who are trying to do the same and it seems like most of them are fairly successful.*

I think it depends on how dedicated you are to making that a reality. The successful people strive for high grades and apply to summer internships in their intended future location, then do a whole lot of networking while they're there. You will also have to be more flexible on the opportunities you are willing to take. But I think this is the story at lots of schools. Below a certain ranking, schools are just going to be more-or-less regional.

I'd be interested in a survey that showed the number of students at U of A who actually want to leave the state and whether they are successful. I personally know about 15 1Ls in the class of about 130 that want to leave and they all seem to want to go to Oregon or Colorado. The vast majority of the class seems happy with AZ (I guess if we are constantly told we'll be stuck, we self-select a place we'll stick with ).

Feel free to PM me with any questions you have about the school.

- C
http://www.ithinkthereforeimatter.com

[thisislife49]

*I don't have any numbers to back this up, just anecdotal evidence
As a U of A 1L who hopes to leave AZ eventually I've talked to 2Ls and 3Ls who are trying to do the same and it seems like most of them are fairly successful.*

I think it depends on how dedicated you are to making that a reality. The successful people strive for high grades and apply to summer internships in their intended future location, then do a whole lot of networking while they're there. You will also have to be more flexible on the opportunities you are willing to take. But I think this is the story at lots of schools. Below a certain ranking, schools are just going to be more-or-less regional.

I'd be interested in a survey that showed the number of students at U of A who actually want to leave the state and whether they are successful. I personally know about 15 1Ls in the class of about 130 that want to leave and they all seem to want to go to Oregon or Colorado. The vast majority of the class seems happy with AZ (I guess if we are constantly told we'll be stuck, we self-select a place we'll stick with ).

Feel free to PM me with any questions you have about the school.

- C
http://www.ithinkthereforeimatter.com

It was great to hear this from an actual U of A student! I have committed to U of A and am staying positive about a potential move after school. Is the career center very helpful? I imagine that has a lot to do with it too. How do you like U of A as a school so far though? You like the professors? Are the students as competitive and aggressive like many other schools?

I appreciate you reaching out to me. I'm sure I'll reach out to you more along the way. Thanks!