Top Law Schools

UNH or Houston

I have ties and families in both regions and fully expect to stay in the respective region after graduation (New England or Texas). I have a science PhD and am looking to do IP, mid to big law. UNH for free and UH for 14000/yr in tuition. COL would be fairly similar in both places.

Basically I know that Houston is in a large legal market and UNH is located close to some flooded legal markets, but its risk seems low with free tuition.

Think of it like this would you rather have a pair of shoes for free or pay 500 bucks for a car? I would definitely go with Houston. That's not terrible for tuition a lot of people pay a lot more than that lolz. I think it's a better investment when you look at placement. Also, Houston is the best school in Houston which will a lot better than unh when your competing with all the other New England schools for jobs. Just my 2 cents.

That's like 100K debt for Houston. That's too much, IMO.

If you want big law you shouldn't be considering either of these schools. That's what the T14 is for.

Houston. Assuming you won't retake.

Even as IP you will want to be top 10% at UNH, 20% at lowest, to snag the kind of job that can even arguably be worth investing 3 years of your life and lost other wages into. Houston will leave you with a lot of debt and probably a 1/3 shot at best, probably closer to 1/4, at getting that kind of job.

I can't imagine either of these situations is acceptable to a Ph.D scientist.

Retake is probably the best course of action, however, with those two, I'd pick Houston any day of the week, unless we're talking about opposite day.

I have a feeling OP looked at the rankings for IP law and based things off of that.

But the best answer is neither, you should retake if you want biglaw.

UNH. They are both second tier schools. Paying $100,000 is a huge factor that most incoming students do not properly consider. UNH has good job placement numbers -- they have better placement numbers than BU and BC, and every other New England school outside of Yale and Harvard. If you finish in the top 15% you have a great shot at big law.

barkingbug wrote:UNH. They are both second tier schools. Paying $100,000 is a huge factor that most incoming students do not properly consider. UNH has good job placement numbers -- they have better placement numbers than BU and BC, and every other New England school outside of Yale and Harvard. If you finish in the top 15% you have a great shot at big law.

WTF is this?

BigZuck wrote:

barkingbug wrote:UNH. They are both second tier schools. Paying $100,000 is a huge factor that most incoming students do not properly consider. UNH has good job placement numbers -- they have better placement numbers than BU and BC, and every other New England school outside of Yale and Harvard. If you finish in the top 15% you have a great shot at big law.

WTF is this?

It's true that their overall score is better, but I would think the job quality isn't good relative to some other schools in the region, considering the superior biglaw placement that BU has, for example. And it's tough to call UNH a legitimate strong regional, since if you're not from New Hampshire, and want to practice in another New England state, I'm not sure how well that carries. Their class sizes are small, and they seem to be doing well for a low-ranked school, but their numbers are bound to fluctuate significantly since they're in a small market.

BigZuck wrote:

barkingbug wrote:UNH. They are both second tier schools. Paying $100,000 is a huge factor that most incoming students do not properly consider. UNH has good job placement numbers -- they have better placement numbers than BU and BC, and every other New England school outside of Yale and Harvard. If you finish in the top 15% you have a great shot at big law.

WTF is this?

To be fair, I think he's looking at LST score, in which UNH actually has a higher FTLT legal job percentage than either Boston school. He didn't dig far into the numbers though..

UNH has an honors program or something along those lines where you can practice in NH without taking the bar exam. If you're from the region, want to practice there, aren't biglaw or bust, and have a full scholarship offer, then UNH is justifiable. But know that they don't make unconditional full scholarship offers, and that you essentially need top half grades to maintain them.

Otunga wrote:UNH has an honors program or something along those lines where you can practice in NH without taking the bar exam. If you're from the region, want to practice there, aren't biglaw or bust, and have a full scholarship offer, then UNH is justifiable. But know that they don't make unconditional full scholarship offers, and that you essentially need top half grades to maintain them.

thing is, if you aren't in the top half for grades at UNH, you should probably drop anyways. In some ways I think stipulations can be a good thing, because it adds more pressure to make the right decision for yourself if you find yourself in that situation

BigZuck wrote:

barkingbug wrote:UNH. They are both second tier schools. Paying $100,000 is a huge factor that most incoming students do not properly consider. UNH has good job placement numbers -- they have better placement numbers than BU and BC, and every other New England school outside of Yale and Harvard. If you finish in the top 15% you have a great shot at big law.

WTF is this?

A collection of facts.