Top Law Schools

I am a non-traditional student with a wife who works and does well enough for me to take off work for the next three years as long as we budget accordingly. I really want to practice criminal law or PI or government work in some capacity. But, if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity for big law from any of these options I would certainly look very hard at it if for no other reason than the financial gain. We have a two-year old, if that influences your choice. Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

-The schools you are considering – Arizona, ASU, Georgia, FSU, Wake

-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. My wife works and makes decent money and we think that we can make it work on her salary only with very little if any COL loans. COA for each will be tuition only but I have included 10k in loans for any loans we need to cover what her pay and our saving will not. I have included a poll with the total COA for each with this 10k factored in.

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings – mostly income from my wife, small amount of loans to cover unforeseen expenses. Arizona is free, ASU scholarship is 30k/20k/10k, FSU scholarship is 36k and I am in state, Wake is 81k, and Georgia is in state equalizer plus 15k. Those totals are for all three years and the only stipulation is good standing.

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any) – currently living in Florida and finishing undergrad, but I have lived in all of the states we are considering. I liked them all enough to be happy living in any of them. "Significant" ties would probably be Florida only, though I think my wife working and my daughter going to school wherever I attend would alleviate some of the flight risk concerns from employers.

-Your general career goals - I would like something along the lines of PD/Prosecutor, PI, Govt., etc. though I am not opposed to mid/big law if the unlikely opportunity presents itself.

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers – 163/3.28
-How many times you have taken the LSAT – 3 timer

Thanks!
tl:dr - I'm old, lived all over, and I am going to be a kept man for 3 years. COA in poll.

These are all very different locations. Where does your wife work? If you want to work in Arizona, that's not a bad choice. ASU is too expensive for what they gave you.

If you dont mind moving it has to be AZ. All these schools are fairly equal rank, even though ASU is higher then U of A. Rankings in my opinion are overrated out of the top 15 or so. For the lowest debt you should take U of A

goldeneye wrote:These are all very different locations. Where does your wife work? If you want to work in Arizona, that's not a bad choice. ASU is too expensive for what they gave you.

She can work from home/anywhere with internet with her current job.

FSU has better job prospects, though I don't know if they are 30k worth. It's definitely down to FSU and Arizona though.

Arizona

I'd personally go with Arizona. But if you'd rather stay put in Florida, FSU is good.

Paying to attend any of these law schools is a big mistake, even if you have the money to do so. Why not save the money and be in much better financial shape than if you were to buy a degree that has a rate of return far below what you're paying for it? Just to get a job that requires a JD from one of these schools would be a big win. Even so, it would not justify paying any tuition at these places.

AT9 wrote:I'd personally go with Arizona. But if you'd rather stay put in Florida, FSU is good.

I agree with this. Arizona for free if you don't mind that market, but FSU isn't totally unreasonable if you're only looking at about $30k debt.

bkraut1 wrote:Paying to attend any of these law schools is a big mistake, even if you have the money to do so. Why not save the money and be in much better financial shape than if you were to buy a degree that has a rate of return far below what you're paying for it? Just to get a job that requires a JD from one of these schools would be a big win. Even so, it would not justify paying any tuition at these places.

So Arizona then? Its the only free ride.

Can someone explain why FSU is bad? It has 69% employment, with only 0.4% being school funded, and also has a public service score of 28%, which is good for his goals. 42,000 doesn't seem terrible in the slightest if he's ok staying in Florida

The Dark Shepard wrote:FSU has better job prospects, though I don't know if they are 30k worth. It's definitely down to FSU and Arizona though.

The Dark Shepard wrote:Can someone explain why FSU is bad? It has 69% employment, with only 0.4% being school funded, and also has a public service score of 28%, which is good for his goals. 42,000 doesn't seem terrible in the slightest if he's ok staying in Florida

Thanks for the replies and votes. These quotes really sum up what I am asking. Is the tradeoff in better employment outcome worth the additional investment? I feel like it seems easier to take ASU off the list because it is similar to Arizona but more expensive. The same with Wake being a bit below UGA for employment outcomes and more expensive on top of that. I was surprised to see no votes for UGA considering the employment outcomes.

If you want PI, there is precisely no difference in prestige among these schools. If the geography literally doesn't matter, then you should pick the cheapest option. Yes, FSU has better %s than UA, but most of a school's job numbers aren't driven by DA/PD outcomes. $42k is going to be more than $42k. These differences are not worth $70k or whatever you'd pay back over the lifetime of the loan.

I find it hard to believe that you don't care about the geography, though. Huh? There are big differences b/t these states ...

Are you sure you want to go to law school? You likely wont make as much as you may think, will incur debt at a 6.8% APR, and it wont be easy on your marriage.

Please think this through.

cron1834 wrote:If you want PI, there is precisely no difference in prestige among these schools. If the geography literally doesn't matter, then you should pick the cheapest option. Yes, FSU has better %s than UA, but most of a school's job numbers aren't driven by DA/PD outcomes. $42k is going to be more than $42k. These differences are not worth $70k or whatever you'd pay back over the lifetime of the loan.

I find it hard to believe that you don't care about the geography, though. Huh? There are big differences b/t these states ...

Yeah I know it seems odd to most. I created a chances thread and included a lot of schools across the country and had to explain it a few different times via PM and in-thread. I have been able to live in or spend a considerable amount of time in a lot of different places over the last 15 years for work, including all of these places. I currently live in Florida and have for more than half my life, but I lived in Georgia for over a year and Arizona for a time as well. I liked all of them enough to consider moving back. Even though FSU is in-state we would still have to move so we have already accepted the fact that relocation is happening for any choice we make. I have relocated probably 10 times and you might be surprised how similar most places really are aside from the weather, excluding the biggest of metros like NY, Chicago, Boston. Those are a different type of deal altogether.

hous wrote:Are you sure you want to go to law school? You likely wont make as much as you may think, will incur debt at a 6.8% APR, and it wont be easy on your marriage.

Please think this through.

Positive. I expect to make 35-45 to start and move to the 50-60 range at some point, which is about typical for this type of law, do you think this amount is unrealistic? I know it varies from state to state but these don't seem completely out of whack for any of these places.

The cost is just as concerning to me as the ability to get a law job. The 10 year repayment for these amounts range from $143 for Arizona to $705 for Georgia per month. Even in the worst case scenario paying back $705 every month while I slink back to my current non-law job would suck, but it would not be life altering in any major way for us. I would be more upset about going back to work that I cannot stand than paying back the money. We would still own our home, still have our retirement (though it would be less) and the baby would still go to college. I would have far less bottles and nearly no models but such is life.

A far as the marriage goes, I am fully expecting to have more time at home than I do now. I work 50 hours a week, I am finishing undergrad to the tune of about 15 hours in class and 15 hours out of class and driving all over Central Florida to both in addition to dealing with being the administrator of two estates. This has been the case for the last 2 years. If I can't median in law school in less than 100 hours a week, I will certainly drop out after first semester. I am not going to comment on the possibility that more time at home may make for a harder marriage in case wifey is reading this

Free with no stipulation sounds like a no brainer among these options.

However, it will not only be difficult to find any job from one of these schools (based on LST numbers), but it will also be difficult to find any job outside of these schools' respective markets.

In other words, where you go to school will likely dictate where you are able to work.

klondike5 wrote:

hous wrote:Are you sure you want to go to law school? You likely wont make as much as you may think, will incur debt at a 6.8% APR, and it wont be easy on your marriage.

Please think this through.

Positive. I expect to make 35-45 to start and move to the 50-60 range at some point, which is about typical for this type of law, do you think this amount is unrealistic? I know it varies from state to state but these don't seem completely out of whack for any of these places.

The cost is just as concerning to me as the ability to get a law job. The 10 year repayment for these amounts range from $143 for Arizona to $705 for Georgia per month. Even in the worst case scenario paying back $705 every month while I slink back to my current non-law job would suck, but it would not be life altering in any major way for us. I would be more upset about going back to work that I cannot stand than paying back the money. We would still own our home, still have our retirement (though it would be less) and the baby would still go to college. I would have far less bottles and nearly no models but such is life.

A far as the marriage goes, I am fully expecting to have more time at home than I do now. I work 50 hours a week, I am finishing undergrad to the tune of about 15 hours in class and 15 hours out of class and driving all over Central Florida to both in addition to dealing with being the administrator of two estates. This has been the case for the last 2 years. If I can't median in law school in less than 100 hours a week, I will certainly drop out after first semester. I am not going to comment on the possibility that more time at home may make for a harder marriage in case wifey is reading this

If there are no stipulations at Arizona, you should go with that.