Top Law Schools

I am a Louisiana resident looking to practice maritime law in New Orleans, LA. Tulane is an enormously influential school for studying maritime law, and thus has remained one of my top choices for law school. However, after being accepted to both schools, LSU is the far cheaper option (full tuition), whereas Tulane has only offered me half tuition. My question would be this: is it worth paying the extra money to attend a school that specializes in maritime law, or should I take the cheaper road? Money isn't so much of an issue but I want to make sure it's worth it.
Thank you!

Specialties truly do not matter. Idk the max scholarship Tulane offers, but with that GPA I think you gotta retake the LSAT. Get more from them. Half tuition plus COL in NOLA isn't worth it with that GPA. You should be gunning as high as you can on the LSAT. Don't settle with that score, please.

Tulane easssssily. Never go to a law school that is strong in athletics because it is likely going to be severely lacking in terms of educational quality.

DaRascal wrote:Tulane easssssily. Never go to a law school that is strong in athletics because it is likely going to be severely lacking in terms of educational quality.

What a stupid comment. There are plenty of schools which are strong in athletics and educational quality. How about Stanford, Duke, and Vanderbilt which just won the NCAA Baseball Championship.

For someone trying to work in Louisiana, its probably a better opportunity to go to LSU for a full instead of Tulane with a half scholarship. In reality he will likely hear that he should retake to get into a top tier school.

DaRascal wrote:Tulane easssssily. Never go to a law school that is strong in athletics because it is likely going to be severely lacking in terms of educational quality.

OP, don't listen to this guy. He's gives the worst advice of any poster in the on-topic forums.

I don't know a ton about the Louisiana market, but based on the Law School Transparency data, LSU for free wins handily. Also, don't ever pick a school based on speciality rankings. Pick it based on job prospects and anticipated debt. And have you tried negotiating some extra dough from Tulane?

How many times have you taken the LSAT? What are your stats?

I agree with the advice in this thread. I spent a summer (in undergrad) at a firm in Louisiana and I asked the same question of the attorneys there, without any consideration for scholarships FWIW. The advice I got was to go to LSU because Tulane isn't worth the price difference.

The only reason I ask about specialties is because maritime law is such a big deal both in New Orleans and at Tulane Law. I understand that usually specialties don't matter, but I was wondering if anyone knew that they would matter in any way here. I haven't tried negotiating for more money yet; I'm really trying to see if it's worth it or if LSU is clearly the better pick.
Thanks for the replies so far!

Cva1992 wrote:The only reason I ask about specialties is because maritime law is such a big deal both in New Orleans and at Tulane Law. I understand that usually specialties don't matter, but I was wondering if anyone knew that they would matter in any way here. I haven't tried negotiating for more money yet; I'm really trying to see if it's worth it or if LSU is clearly the better pick.
Thanks for the replies so far!

An almost 15% swing in FTLT legal employment isn't to be taken lightly. If you can't get Tulane to bump you up to full, then take the money at LSU and go gangbusters doing internships and working in maritime law, doing research for professors in that area, etc. Any work experience you can get is going to be much more valuable then some specialty ranking (which is determined on the basis for scholarship and how good a school is at self-promoting its scholarship anyway).

Cva1992 wrote:The only reason I ask about specialties is because maritime law is such a big deal both in New Orleans and at Tulane Law. I understand that usually specialties don't matter, but I was wondering if anyone knew that they would matter in any way here. I haven't tried negotiating for more money yet; I'm really trying to see if it's worth it or if LSU is clearly the better pick.
Thanks for the replies so far!

Why don't you look up the websites for some New Orleans firms you'd potentially be interested in and check out the bios for the younger attorneys? That might give you a better sense for whether Tulane's program actually matters for hiring.

With your GPA I have a difficult time believe Tulane wouldn't offer more with a better LSAT score

CoffeeIsLife wrote:

DaRascal wrote:Tulane easssssily. Never go to a law school that is strong in athletics because it is likely going to be severely lacking in terms of educational quality.

What a stupid comment.

You only say that because you're a TLS jock.

Tulane is the one with the '90s website right?

I would pick lsu even if it was the same price as tulane. Plus, lsu girls > tulane.

DaRascal wrote:Tulane easssssily. Never go to a law school that is strong in athletics because it is likely going to be severely lacking in terms of educational quality.

A speciality ranking isn't worth that much debt.
Retake for a Tulane full ride (or at least negotiate with them now, leveraging your LSU fully).

Debt minimization should be your number one priority, so given these options, LSU seems like the most rational decision (barring retake).

Are you sure you want to stay in LA? I know their common law system is different from the rest of the states, and that the schools probably have some focus on it as opposed to the English common law. If so that could really make the bar exam harder for you having studied an entirely different system of law. If you wish to stay, go to LSU.

xmking07 wrote:Are you sure you want to stay in LA? I know their common law system is different from the rest of the states, and that the schools probably have some focus on it as opposed to the English common law. If so that could really make the bar exam harder for you having studied an entirely different system of law. If you wish to stay, go to LSU.

I have a friend who moved to Louisiana and is currently studying for their bar. She said the civil law system isn't that much different.

LSU