Top Law Schools

Hello,

Been accepted and full tuition scholarship to both schools. . . I have looked at LST and employment numbers are roughly the same (U of A has a slightly better employment score), but ASU seems to be a rising school the past 3 or 4 years. I have lived in Arizona my whole life, and have no problem staying here, at least for the first 4, 5 or 6 years of my career.

Hoping to practice labor law in the future. . . I am aware neither school lends itself extremely well to Big Law except for the Top 10% of the class, but given the lack of student loans, a top-of-the-pay-scale job is not a necessity immediately after graduation.

As an Arizona resident, I am also aware that Tempe/Downtown Phoenix is probably preferable to Tucson in regards to things to do, bars, etc. On the other hand, U of A seems to have a more collegial atmosphere with focus placed on the university and its sports, not to mention a lower cost of living.

Any current or past students of either school able to offer an opinion or criticism that stands out about their school? I will be attending both school's Admitted Students events, but I'm just looking for a few different viewpoints. Social life? Quality of student organizations? Faculty opinions?

Thank you in advance.

LawDog14 wrote:Hello,

Been accepted and full tuition scholarship to both schools. . . I have looked at LST and employment numbers are roughly the same (U of A has a slightly better employment score), but ASU seems to be a rising school the past 3 or 4 years. I have lived in Arizona my whole life, and have no problem staying here, at least for the first 4, 5 or 6 years of my career.

Hoping to practice labor law in the future. . . I am aware neither school lends itself extremely well to Big Law except for the Top 10% of the class, but given the lack of student loans, a top-of-the-pay-scale job is not a necessity immediately after graduation.

As an Arizona resident, I am also aware that Tempe/Downtown Phoenix is probably preferable to Tucson in regards to things to do, bars, etc. On the other hand, U of A seems to have a more collegial atmosphere with focus placed on the university and its sports, not to mention a lower cost of living.

Any current or past students of either school able to offer an opinion or criticism that stands out about their school? I will be attending both school's Admitted Students events, but I'm just looking for a few different viewpoints. Social life? Quality of student organizations? Faculty opinions?

Thank you in advance.

Current UofA student (undergrad) accepted with full ride as well. PM me with any specific questions you have about Tucson!

Bump

I am in the same situation as OP. 0L with a lot of the same concerns.

Looking for some input!

Keep in mind that according to Law School Transparency, ASU has almost 10% of their employment score from school funded jobs. If you remove those, UA is about 15% higher. That's pretty significant.

Savage13 wrote:Keep in mind that according to Law School Transparency, ASU has almost 10% of their employment score from school funded jobs. If you remove those, UA is about 15% higher. That's pretty significant.

+1

Also, visit the school and talk to as many administrators as possible.

Pretty much same situation as OP, but out of state (CA). One thing that I have recently learned is that AZ State just invested like 100 mil into a new facility in downtown Phoenix which looks pretty ballerific. They plan to have a law firm inside the building that I presume will employ a bunch of recent grads. Downside is it's not supposed to open until 2016...

bobloblaw0227 wrote:Pretty much same situation as OP, but out of state (CA). One thing that I have recently learned is that AZ State just invested like 100 mil into a new facility in downtown Phoenix which looks pretty ballerific. They plan to have a law firm inside the building that I presume will employ a bunch of recent grads. Downside is it's not supposed to open until 2016...

I don't know how most people feel or if anybody knows more, but the "law firm inside the building plan" looks like a ridiculous plan to inflate low paying JD-required job numbers without having to claim them as school sponsored jobs.

Things UofA does better:
Biglaw: 12.1% to 8%
Federal Clerkships: 2.7% to 0.5%
JD required Employment: 65.8% to 61.3%

These numbers aren't great, but you should be able to get a good result if you do well. UofA also doesn't employ recent grads, while ASU funds 9.4% of their jobs (presumably not paid very well).

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=asu

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=arizona

Bump. Thanks for the responses thus far.

Current U of A 1L here. I was offered full-ride by Arizona and about 1/2 scholarship at ASU. The truth is, I would have chosen Arizona even if the ASU offer had been the same because I didn't want to live in Phoenix/Tempe. I'm really happy with my decision though. Arizona Law has a very supportive atmosphere and very small 1L class size that brings a sense of community. Arizona isn't ranked quite as highly, but I think they're close enough together for it not to make a difference.

Depending on how dedicated you are when it comes to school, the bar scene might not be a very important consideration. Tucson has a cool vibe though, very relaxed with lots of school spirit.

I'm glad you are going to both admitted student events, they are a good way to get a feel for the schools. I did both school's events although I had already pretty much eliminated ASU by that point (deciding between Arizona, UC Davis, or Texas at Austin). There is a mock class as part of the activities, but I showed up early on Friday morning to watch an actual class which was helpful (plus there is Friday morning Constitutional Law with Prof. Massaro who is a legend). I will be there for the Dean's dinner Friday and doing law school tours on Saturday so PM me if you would like to meet and talk further.

-C
http://www.ithinkthereforeimatter.com

FWIW . . .

Did not attend any law school in Arizona, but I practice in Phoenix. 90% + of the attorneys I know who went to school in the state went to ASU. That may be an inaccurate sample, but based on my experience if you want to practice in Phoenix, then ASU is probably better for connections, etc. Just an observation though.

bers?

horriblegb wrote:FWIW . . .

Did not attend any law school in Arizona, but I practice in Phoenix. 90% + of the attorneys I know who went to school in the state went to ASU. That may be an inaccurate sample, but based on my experience if you want to practice in Phoenix, then ASU is probably better for connections, etc. Just an observation though.

As long as we're using ridiculous sample sizes:
I met 3 attorneys yesterday who work in Phoenix and one went to Fordham, one went to Mich St, and one went to U of A. So, we can conclusively conclude that only 1/3 of all attorneys that practice in Phx went to school in-state and 100% of those that did went to U of A.

edited for typ0

keviiiiiiiiiiiin wrote:

horriblegb wrote:FWIW . . .

Did not attend any law school in Arizona, but I practice in Phoenix. 90% + of the attorneys I know who went to school in the state went to ASU. That may be an inaccurate sample, but based on my experience if you want to practice in Phoenix, then ASU is probably better for connections, etc. Just an observation though.

As long as we're using ridiculous sample sizes:
I met 3 attorneys yesterday who work in Phoenix and one went to Fordham, one went to Mich St, and one went to U of A. So, we can conclusively conclude that only 1/3 of all attorneys that practice in Phx went to school in-state and 100% of those that did went to U of A.

edited for typ0

Lol so my FWIW is, 2 cents?