Top Law Schools

-COA (roughly, after scholarships, etc)
Tulane: ~$12,000
SMU: ~$24,000
It is worth mentioning I am still waiting to hear back from Vanderbilt. I have already ruled out U Houston, OU, and Tulsa for various reasons.
-Will graduate debt-free (financed by family and savings)
- From Tulsa, OK. Went to Tulane for undergraduate and master's degree.
- My undergraduate and graduate degrees are both in Environmental Biology, and I intend to utilize this background by studying Environmental, Energy, and Water law. I have a serious girlfriend who is settled in Houston for the long haul, and accordingly there is a very good chance I will want to enter the Texas/Houston legal market, if not in LA or OK. Although I am environmentally conscious, I am not particularly "green" and would be more than happy to work in the industry or energy sectors. All things equal, I would probably take Tulane over SMU because of my connections in NOLA.

With my background and goals in mind, which school would you recommend, and on what basis?
edit: Another thought: How much should the reputation of the Environmental/Energy program at either school weigh into my decision, and which one do you think is better?

Thank you

If you want to practice in Texas, I think SMU (that's a good price). I think some will point out that Tulane will inevitably gear focus more on LA law, which is different than any other state in the country. However, I'm not a student there, so I could be mistaken. Also, Tulane, while being a very beautiful school, is across the street from a horrible area of NOLA. SMU, on the other hand, is in one of the nicest parts of Dallas. Either way, living near campus will mean a high CoA.

Unsolicited opinion: New Orleans > Houston > Dallas (as a city)
Houston > Dallas > New orleans (as a legal market)

Edit: Didn't see you already went to Tulane for UG. That only strengthens my opinion that you should go to SMU. Diversify!

SMU's employment stats are way better than Tulane's. Plus Dallas is a highly desirable legal location. I would pay the extra 12k gladly.

You can use your connections in nola even if you graduate from SMU... basically you will have two markets open to you instead of one.

I also have connections in nola, and i am attending SMU for basically free and had a similar offer from tulane.

Have you applied to Houston?

Why did you rule out UH? What about UT?

Winston1984 wrote:Why did you rule out UH? What about UT?

Didn't get into UT. Say what you will, but a tour of UH was all I needed to decide it wasn't for me. I am very committed to my relationship with my girlfriend, but marriage is a long way in the future. I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket and go to UH just to improve my chances of getting into the Houston market, if that makes sense.

nuttyinferno wrote:

Winston1984 wrote:Why did you rule out UH? What about UT?

Didn't get into UT. Say what you will, but a tour of UH was all I needed to decide it wasn't for me. I am very committed to my relationship with my girlfriend, but marriage is a long way in the future. I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket and go to UH just to improve my chances of getting into the Houston market, if that makes sense.

Your chances of getting a job in Houston coming from Houston are better than coming from SMU, which tends to dominate the Dallas-ft worth area.

But it sounds like the SO factor isn't going to play too much into your decision? I would go to SMU and deal with the fact that i might not get a job in Houston.

I don't understand the cost of attendance numbers.

You're saying that on the day you graduate, you will be in debt 24K at SMU or 12K at Tulane? How did you get a scholarship that covered not only tuition but also the vast majority of your cost of living?

Houston from SMU without being from Houston is going to be tough. Specialty / sub-programs don't matter.

What do you envision doing in environmental or water law?

If you wanna work in LA, prob Tulane. Dallas and surrounding areas? SMU. It doesn't look like either place that well outside of their respective areas relative to a school like UT. But if you wanna work in the school specific areas, those options along with how little that debt is are perfectly acceptable