Is Pitt Law Significantly Better than Duquesne??? Forum

[santiagom2]

Im aware that Duquesne is a third tier school, ranked about 118, while Pitt Law is ranked 78. I honestly plan on staying in Pennsylvania, but I am under the impression that Pitt has a much better national reputation than Duquesne.

As far as strictly education, reputation, and job prospects go, is Pitt Law considered to be vastly better than Duquesne?? Is Pitt a more enjoyable school or are they both relatively the same? I know some people here are going to bring up the importance of scholarship money, but I just dont have that information right now.

(and as a side question if anyone can answer it, how is living and working in Pittsburgh compared to Philly? Thanks)

[thatsnotmyname]

http://www.lstscorereports.com/compare/pitt/duquesne/

Neither school offers very good job prospects. Both schools offer job prospects that seem about equally as bad, with a very slight advantage to Pitt. What exactly do you want to do with your law degree and what are your salary expectations upon graduation?

ETA: I remember reading this link a few days ago and it might be helpful to you: http://abovethelaw.com/2015/03/who-shou ... -rankings/

Neither of these law schools have any real national reach and their reputations are only important within the region that they are located.

[santiagom2]

Hey, yea I might consider patent law but Im also leaning towards health care. From what I read, I believe Pitt Law is better for health care law.

Here is actually the problem Im in. I have an acceptance from Duquesne already. But they wont let me know scholarship info until mid April, and they want 500 bucks by April 1! I applied to Pitt just yesterday for priority decision, and if they accept me I have to go. Idk if I should definitely throw it all in for Pitt or if its better to negotiate with Duquesne while I wait for answers from my Philly schools. Thats why Im asking if Pitt is really that much of a step ahead from Duquesne

[Winston1984]

Hey, yea I might consider patent law but Im also leaning towards health care. From what I read, I believe Pitt Law is better for health care law.

Here is actually the problem Im in. I have an acceptance from Duquesne already. But they wont let me know scholarship info until mid April, and they want 500 bucks by April 1! I applied to Pitt just yesterday for priority decision, and if they accept me I have to go. Idk if I should definitely throw it all in for Pitt or if its better to negotiate with Duquesne while I wait for answers from my Philly schools. Thats why Im asking if Pitt is really that much of a step ahead from Duquesne

You should withdraw your priority decision app. Attending Pitt at sticker is a huge mistake. Also, what kind of school requires a deposit before they release scholarships? That's pretty TTT. Wouldn't attend either of these schools unless it was free. Even then, I probably wouldn't.
Don't worry about specialty programs either. And do you want to be in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia?

[santiagom2]

I think Duquesne wants the money first because of when I applied. I applied end of february, they accepted me in two weeks. They said they will send me scholarship info in three weeks, but the first deposit day will be before then. I might call them tomorrow tho and negotiate if thats a possibility

And to be honest I really like central Philly. Most of my friends actually go to Jefferson and Temple med school down there. But ive also never been to pittsburgh, ive heard its nice. I just wont know anybody there lol

[thatsnotmyname]

Hey, yea I might consider patent law but Im also leaning towards health care. From what I read, I believe Pitt Law is better for health care law.

Here is actually the problem Im in. I have an acceptance from Duquesne already. But they wont let me know scholarship info until mid April, and they want 500 bucks by April 1! I applied to Pitt just yesterday for priority decision, and if they accept me I have to go. Idk if I should definitely throw it all in for Pitt or if its better to negotiate with Duquesne while I wait for answers from my Philly schools. Thats why Im asking if Pitt is really that much of a step ahead from Duquesne

Do you get a full tuition scholarship if you are accepted at Pitt priority decision? If not, you should really contact their admissions department immediately and ask them to reclassify your app from priority decision to regular decision. As winston stated, neither of these schools is worth attending unless you receive a very, very large scholarship to do so. Unless you're independently wealthy and just don't care about cost, but if you're independently wealthy you could be doing much better things with your life than spending the next three years at Pitt Law.

To answer your questions, neither of these schools is better than the other. They are both equally bad and not worth taking out significant amounts of debt for in order to attend.

Also, it sounds like you want to work in Philly? So why is Temple not in this conversation?

ETA:

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.
-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

[santiagom2]

Temple is actually my number one school right now, im dying to go! It would be perfect. But I wont be hearing from them until probably mid April, and Im afraid I wont be accepted but im crossing my fingers

[TheSpanishMain]

Temple is actually my number one school right now, im dying to go! It would be perfect. But I wont be hearing from them until probably mid April, and Im afraid I wont be accepted but im crossing my fingers

Why do think Temple would be "perfect", especially if you would be paying full price? I'm guessing you're not anticipating scholarship money since you're unsure you'll even be admitted. Temple at anything less than a full ride is a nightmare scenario.

You probably need to retake the LSAT.

[santiagom2]

Its perfect because its a fantastic school, I love the city, all my friends are nearby to help me keep my sanity, but more importantly my family is only two hours away so I can make regular visits to see my little brothers. I know Ill be really happy in philly. But im open to trying Pittsburgh if its worth a shot, its a bit farther tho. Five hours away, but still in state

[TheSpanishMain]

Its perfect because its a fantastic school

You think it's worth 200k in debt? If so, you're insane. UPenn is a genuinely fantastic school and it's not worth 200k in debt. What's your LSAT/GPA?

[thatsnotmyname]

Also OP this is basically a duplicate thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=245000

It seems that this is like the third time that you've started this thread. It would be much better if you kept all of this discussion to one thread instead of starting it multiple times.

[santiagom2]

lol all i asked is a comparison between pitt law and duquesne, im not trying to talk about my personal credentials. But the only thing anybody cares about in this forum are friggin numbers and statistics, i was hoping people would give more human answers lol. But whatevs

[adil91]

Here's all you need to know about these two schools

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/pitt/

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/duquesne/2013/

[santiagom2]

sigh, more numbers, thank you. Okay goodbye lol

[adil91]

sigh, more numbers, thank you. Okay goodbye lol

This isn't undergrad admissions buddy, law schools are trade schools, the two greatest factors that should play into your decision to enter a school are 1) Employment statistics 2) Costs of Attendance, this should make up 95-99% of a school's profile.

[Mullens]

People here are trying to save you from making a decision that will literally ruin your life. That is not an exaggeration or hyperbole. Attending either of these schools at sticker will likely ruin your life. Don't do it. That is as much of a "human" answer as you're going to get.

[santiagom2]

Im seriously just curious, are people having these same conversation for applying to medical schools? Or is it strictly just law that ruins you for life?

[adil91]

Im seriously just curious, are people having these same conversation for applying to medical schools? Or is it strictly just law that ruins you for life?

Graduating med school pretty much guarantees you a six figure job, the same can't be said about law school

[Mullens]

Im seriously just curious, are people having these same conversation for applying to medical schools? Or is it strictly just law that ruins you for life?

No. The job prospects between law schools and medical schools are not even close to comparable. How many unemployed medical school graduates are there? Medical schools aren't turning out less than 50% doctors, like the schools you are considering are for lawyers.

[rinkrat19]

Im seriously just curious, are people having these same conversation for applying to medical schools? Or is it strictly just law that ruins you for life?

The AMA has limited the number of medical schools, so the schools are turning out roughly the right number of grads to fill the available jobs every year. Med school grads can be pretty assured of a decent job upon graduation. The ABA are greedy idiots and allowed roughly twice as many schools to open as there should be, producing twice as many grads as there are jobs every year.

[thatsnotmyname]

Im seriously just curious, are people having these same conversation for applying to medical schools? Or is it strictly just law that ruins you for life?

Going to med school is a 100% better option financially than going to law school for 99% of people. See discussion in link below. Even lawyers and law students don't deny the fact that people will be much better off financially by going to med school so that should tell you something. Going to law school fully debt-financed at Pitt, Duquesne, or Temple is a very poor financial decision. If you want me to give you the simplest advice on how you can improve your financial situation: 1) either look for a new job or 2) go and get a masters of accounting at a reasonably priced school. You'll have much better career options that way than you will from any of the law schools you are considering. There are a lot of Masters of Accounting programs that don't require or even prefer non-business undergrad students. If you're set on going to law school - do not do it this year. You need to retake the LSAT and get a much better score so you can get scholarship money to a school worth attending.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... med+school

[santiagom2]

ok thanks guys

[storpappa]

Its perfect because its a fantastic school, I love the city, all my friends are nearby to help me keep my sanity, but more importantly my family is only two hours away so I can make regular visits to see my little brothers. I know Ill be really happy in philly. But im open to trying Pittsburgh if its worth a shot, its a bit farther tho. Five hours away, but still in state

not good reasons to incur massive non dischargeable student loan debt and give up 3 years of your life Or is your goal just to "go" to law school, not get a job after law school?

[CM3809]

Pitt has a better reputation within the city and has slightly better job prospects than Duquesne. I would not consider attending either at sticker though.

[RZ5646]

If a full ride at Pitt or Duquesne is your best option, don't go.