Top Law Schools

sublime wrote:Do you want to work in Tampa/Orlando?

Are you from Tampa/Orlando?

Can you go for near free?

What are your goals?

sublime wrote:Do you want to work in Tampa/Orlando?

Are you from Tampa/Orlando?

Can you go for near free?

What are your goals?

FloridaLaw wrote:

sublime wrote:Do you want to work in Tampa/Orlando?

Are you from Tampa/Orlando?

Can you go for near free?

What are your goals?

I want to work in Tampa, and got good money from Stetson.

Ron Don Volante wrote:Not advisable under most circumstances
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/stetson/2013/

zatharus wrote:If you have to go Part-Time it's the best choice in Florida, probably the best choice in the Southeast.

(per the most recent USNWR Part Time Program Rankings it was #38 of 80 and I believe the only school in the Southeast ranked)

Otherwise, if you're looking for a Full Time Program UF or FSU are both probably better bets.

That said, I'm a current 1L in the Part Time Program at Stetson, so I may be somewhat biased.

zatharus wrote: USNWR isn't binding authority on anything, but one would be foolish not to recognize it as persuasive.

zatharus wrote:"Good" is relative.

38 out of 80 is good when the other options rank worse or aren't even on the list.

USNWR isn't binding authority on anything, but one would be foolish not to recognize it as persuasive.

zatharus wrote:If you have to go Part-Time it's the best choice in Florida, probably the best choice in the Southeast.

(per the most recent USNWR Part Time Program Rankings it was #38 of 80 and I believe the only school in the Southeast ranked)

Otherwise, if you're looking for a Full Time Program UF or FSU are both probably better bets.

That said, I'm a current 1L in the Part Time Program at Stetson, so I may be somewhat biased.

BigZuck wrote:Gotta answer all these questions if you want help in this forum:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206299

Lyndsc wrote:

BigZuck wrote:Gotta answer all these questions if you want help in this forum:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206299

In order to receive the best feedback in this forum, please provide as much of the following information in your original post as possible:

-The schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

I was excited to see this thread because I am considering Stetson. I applied mostly as a throw away/safety school, being first in trial advocacy had caught my attention, but I wasn't seriously considering it until I got my scholarship offer and did some more research on the area. I've been waiting for OP to answer these questions, but that doesn't seem to be happening so I will!

- I have applied binding early decision to Duke, I have also applied to Tulane, Emory, Richmond (accepted with the promise of significant scholarship money), and Northeastern.
- I'm not sure of total COA. Tuition is around $38,000 and I was offered a $36,000 per year with the stipulation of maintaining 2.25 GPA.
- I have managed to save some money while working through college (just shy of $10,000), but aside from that I will be financing law school entirely in loans.
- I'm from Maine, I have no family ties and no real desire to stay here. I don't particularly care where I live, I'm more of a make the best of it/go with the flow kind of girl as far as that is concerned. I'm excited to move to wherever that may be.
- I plan to go into prosecution.
- I have taken the LSAT once and (at the risk of incurring the wrath of TLS) I don't have the time or desire to take it again. My score was lowish 160's, my GPA is 3.84. I have alright softs, nothing spectacular, I've been working at my County's Distrist Attorney's office since I was 19, I started as an unpaid intern (while working two other jobs and being a full time student) and in just shy of two years I have worked my way up to Victim Witness Advocate, which here is pretty much as high as you can go without being an ADA, I was raised by my Dad (drug addict) and lived in and out of foster homes, and some boring honors. Non-URM.

I like Stetson, I like the area, I like the focus of the school. Thoughts?

zatharus wrote:The professors are good. They are well versed in the subjects they teach and seem to genuinely care about the students. They are accessible via office hours and will reply to emails- sometimes even on weekends. I can't exactly compare them to professors at other law schools as I've only attended Stetson, but I've nothing but good things to say about them.

The campus is beautiful. The main campus was originally built as a resort and thus is quite posh. There is a pool, gym, all kinds of nice stuff. There is also a satelite campus in Downtown Tampa that offers primarily evening classes and upper division electives. It has a separate law library and shares space with a working court that hears cases on the third floor.

Advocacy is stressed big time as you might expect- there's always a trial team or moot court team or something going on and more often than not they are winning competitions. I'm not really interested in that sorta thing so can't really elaborate on that aspect.

The reputation of Stetson seems to extend well throughout the state. Our alumni include the current Attorney General of Florida and several sitting judges and justices.

The company I work for frequently hires Stetson Grads as attorneys, so that's a plus for me.

It's really only if you go outside of Florida that Stetson's reputation doesn't seem to be so good. Even then, it isn't as if it has a negative reputation, it's just likely people will not have heard of it.

Within the state UF and FSU are certainly regarded more highly. Stetson is usually next on the list along with UM reputation-wise.

Keep in mind Florida is a large state and has LOTS of law schools.

(not sure if you are from Florida, or just planning on practicing here)