Temple Law - employment prospects? 60k job after graduation?
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:42 am
Joined this forum just so I can ask this question. I'm especially interested in input from law students or people on "the other side". My question is basically, what are your feelings on entering a tier 2 law school (i.e.: Temple Law) in this economy if I want to make a minimum of 60k after law school? Is it worth the investment? Basically, I'm looking for opinions, anecdotes, or observations from similarly people in similarly positioned schools.
***Now I've gathered up some research here so that people don't bother looking.***
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Beasley Law School
----------------------------------------------
- TEMPLE is ranked 61st.
- Median LSAT and GPA are 160 and 3.4
- 2013 matriculating students were 295.
- Located in Philadelphia.
- Other law competition in the area include UPenn, Penn State, Villanova, St. Johns, Drexel, and perhaps Rutgers.
- LST gives TEMPLE a 59% employment score.
- Of 2013 class, 75% were employed full time, but only 59% in jobs requiring bar passage.
- Underemployment was 23%. Unemployment was 12.5%.
- 11% of last year's class made it to BigLaw.
- Temple NALP data and LST figures indicates that salary for 25%, 50%, and 75% to be 48k, 60k, and 80k, respectively. *This data is based on only 50% of student body who *actually* responded.
- LST further states that at least 25% of graduates are making 60k or more.
- The school's website says that the figures for those of the 2013 class working in *law firms* (37% of graduates), salary figures are 54k, 70k, and 126k for 25%, 50%, and 75%, respectively.
- Tuition for me would be about 80k total (roughtly 20k/yr, but I guess this is adjusted for accrued interest, and a few other expenses such as insurance, books, etc. using the CoA calculator on the site.) I do have my own home, so no rent / room & board fees. This number is rounded up and assumes a worst case scenario but, Temple does 53% of its students a 7.5k tuition discount.
These are the school's numbers. My numbers are 158 LSAT and 3.88 GPA from UPenn. Unfortunately LSAT score cannot be raised by much more. I am giving it another shot and based on scores I am getting under many practice tests in timed conditions, I am not doing much better. Before you ask, yes I have studied very hard and for very long. I am one of those people that just doesn't do well on it for various reasons. At 42% acceptance rate, I figure I have a decent chance of getting into Temple. Whether I should is another question. Why Temple, specifically? Life reasons: the fact that I have family, friends, a girlfriend, my own house here, and that I want to continue to work in the area after graduation.
But numbers are one thing, and I don't especially trust these numbers given that only 49.5% of the class responded. It makes me wonder why it was that the rest of the class didn't want to respond... Law schools, whose very survival depends on rankings, have also been known to cook their books. This is why I'm addressing this crowd hoping maybe for some relevant comments / personal anecdotes. I assume that at least some of you are already in law school and have graduated and can comment on the job market currently and can more accurately tell me how things are on the other side?
Given the above statistics, given the current job market, and given my necessity to obtain a job that pays at least 60k after law school (at least 25% of graduating law class, according to LST), is it worth going to Temple law and graduating in 2019? Is the job market ever bouncing back?
Also, on a related note, what are some "hot" legal fields right now?
Appreciate all input! Thanks for reading my post!
***Now I've gathered up some research here so that people don't bother looking.***
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Beasley Law School
----------------------------------------------
- TEMPLE is ranked 61st.
- Median LSAT and GPA are 160 and 3.4
- 2013 matriculating students were 295.
- Located in Philadelphia.
- Other law competition in the area include UPenn, Penn State, Villanova, St. Johns, Drexel, and perhaps Rutgers.
- LST gives TEMPLE a 59% employment score.
- Of 2013 class, 75% were employed full time, but only 59% in jobs requiring bar passage.
- Underemployment was 23%. Unemployment was 12.5%.
- 11% of last year's class made it to BigLaw.
- Temple NALP data and LST figures indicates that salary for 25%, 50%, and 75% to be 48k, 60k, and 80k, respectively. *This data is based on only 50% of student body who *actually* responded.
- LST further states that at least 25% of graduates are making 60k or more.
- The school's website says that the figures for those of the 2013 class working in *law firms* (37% of graduates), salary figures are 54k, 70k, and 126k for 25%, 50%, and 75%, respectively.
- Tuition for me would be about 80k total (roughtly 20k/yr, but I guess this is adjusted for accrued interest, and a few other expenses such as insurance, books, etc. using the CoA calculator on the site.) I do have my own home, so no rent / room & board fees. This number is rounded up and assumes a worst case scenario but, Temple does 53% of its students a 7.5k tuition discount.
These are the school's numbers. My numbers are 158 LSAT and 3.88 GPA from UPenn. Unfortunately LSAT score cannot be raised by much more. I am giving it another shot and based on scores I am getting under many practice tests in timed conditions, I am not doing much better. Before you ask, yes I have studied very hard and for very long. I am one of those people that just doesn't do well on it for various reasons. At 42% acceptance rate, I figure I have a decent chance of getting into Temple. Whether I should is another question. Why Temple, specifically? Life reasons: the fact that I have family, friends, a girlfriend, my own house here, and that I want to continue to work in the area after graduation.
But numbers are one thing, and I don't especially trust these numbers given that only 49.5% of the class responded. It makes me wonder why it was that the rest of the class didn't want to respond... Law schools, whose very survival depends on rankings, have also been known to cook their books. This is why I'm addressing this crowd hoping maybe for some relevant comments / personal anecdotes. I assume that at least some of you are already in law school and have graduated and can comment on the job market currently and can more accurately tell me how things are on the other side?
Given the above statistics, given the current job market, and given my necessity to obtain a job that pays at least 60k after law school (at least 25% of graduating law class, according to LST), is it worth going to Temple law and graduating in 2019? Is the job market ever bouncing back?
Also, on a related note, what are some "hot" legal fields right now?
Appreciate all input! Thanks for reading my post!
