Top Law Schools

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So those cost of attendance numbers are just guesses? I think the thread is premature until you have all your ducks in a row

I also think you should acquire more geographic focus, I don't think law school is a great time to move to a random different part of the country. Ideally you'd lean towards places you already have a connection to IMO.

I think that would be too much to pay for W&M, BU, and BC. 60K cost of attendance at Illinois is solid but I wouldn't go there without a burning desire to work in Illinois. If that's you, enjoy! Keep in mind that "shitlaw" is a very real possibility from all of these.

pbk2015 wrote:-Your general career goals: Any J.D. requiring job that is not "shitlaw".

what does this mean exactly? it's an amorphous term. means different things to different people.

Brut wrote:

pbk2015 wrote:-Your general career goals: Any J.D. requiring job that is not "shitlaw".

what does this mean exactly? it's an amorphous term. means different things to different people.

Very true. Some people use it to mean anything that is not big law or other prestigious legal work, others basically just mean ambulance chasing. I assumed (and would hope) it was the latter because none of these schools are very good for big law, clerkships, etc. But yeah, need some clarity there.

Brut wrote:

pbk2015 wrote:-Your general career goals: Any J.D. requiring job that is not "shitlaw".

what does this mean exactly? it's an amorphous term. means different things to different people.

http://www.alexhanna.com

ambulance chasing, traffic court, and etc

pbk2015 wrote:

Brut wrote:

pbk2015 wrote:-Your general career goals: Any J.D. requiring job that is not "shitlaw".

what does this mean exactly? it's an amorphous term. means different things to different people.

http://www.alexhanna.com

ambulance chasing, traffic court, and etc

So it's prestige, bc I bet that dude is actually making pretty sick bank.

pancakes3 wrote:So it's prestige, bc I bet that dude is actually making pretty sick bank.

yeah he has a law library named after him and a key to the city

i get your point though op
shitlaw to you is about the type of work, not necessarily the pay or lifestyle
so working as a contract attorney or doing small firm work for modest pay would be an acceptable outcome?
if that is the case, then out of your options, i'd vote uiuc as long as you're willing to work out there
$64.5k is on the high side tho, work on getting that lower. it's good you'll graduate debt free, but that's a decent chunk of change out of pocket unless you're rich

Brut wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:So it's prestige, bc I bet that dude is actually making pretty sick bank.

yeah he has a law library named after him and a key to the city

I wouldn't mind being him, but working for him is another different story. Prestige would be great, but it's not my #1 criteria if it was I would have accepted an analyst position with an investment bank. Honestly, I would love to work in a DAs office.

Brut wrote:i get your point though op
shitlaw to you is about the type of work, not necessarily the pay or lifestyle
so working as a contract attorney or doing small firm work for modest pay would be an acceptable outcome?
if that is the case, then out of your options, i'd vote uiuc as long as you're willing to work out there
$64.5k is on the high side tho, work on getting that lower. it's good you'll graduate debt free, but that's a decent chunk of change out of pocket unless you're rich

Yes. The 64.5k is for the fee + books + living expense for 3 years.

Brut wrote:i get your point though op
shitlaw to you is about the type of work, not necessarily the pay or lifestyle
so working as a contract attorney or doing small firm work for modest pay would be an acceptable outcome?
if that is the case, then out of your options, i'd vote uiuc as long as you're willing to work out there
$64.5k is on the high side tho, work on getting that lower. it's good you'll graduate debt free, but that's a decent chunk of change out of pocket unless you're rich

The problem with UIUC is that he doesn't want to work "in the middle of nowhere". If he strikes out Chicago biglaw, that is likely where he ends up. The rest of Illinois is the worst middle of nowhere you can live

If I were you, I'd take that I-banking job, grind it out for a few years, get a T7 MBA (and have a fucking awesome time getting it), and then have all sorts of interesting options at your disposal.

There's so many insightful recommendations on this thread, I thought I might present a query of my own:

I am a bisexual Southern Congressman, and I would like to be president one day. Which prostitute should I have Doug murder first?

gotsnork2 wrote:There's so many insightful recommendations on this thread, I thought I might present a query of my own:

I am a bisexual Southern Congressman, and I would like to be president one day. Which prostitute should I have Doug murder first?

Dude, spoilers

nah he's just gay

As everyone else has said, Illinois is the only that has a worthwhile COA right now. I go to UIUC, but I wanted to end up in Chicago. I lived in the mid-Atlantic for several years, so you can get Chicago as long as you really want it. That means staying your 1L summer in Chicago and showing that you won't try and leave for Virginia/DC in a year.

If you aren't 100% sure you want to target Chicago and are ok with making more like 60k a year if you aren't in the top 1/4 of the class, then I would just not go to law school at this time.

Thank you all for the advice. What I am probably going to do is just accept the analyst position and in 3 years time if I still want to go to law school I will actually prepare for the lsat and retake it.