Top Law Schools

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No full ride to WUSTL?

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poll results are awesome here

501cJD wrote:My ideal, semi-realistic job would be to work for a government agency of some sort or as general counsel for a college/university. I currently work in a compliance role for a non-profit organization, so I have a general idea of what to expect going in to a role like that. That said, if other opportunities come up I'm willing to explore many other options.

As for WUSTL, I was fortunate to receive a full tuition scholarship, but would still graduate with around 70k in loans. I enjoyed my visit to Northwestern significantly more than WUSTL and figured if I was going to take out loans I might as well shoot for the best possible school/outcomes. That said, does WUSTL, as a middle ground on both fronts, make that much more sense?

Do you have any desire for big law? If no, then I'd probably go WUSTL (although it would really depend on which T3 you're talking about and how strong your actual connections to the area are). If big law is a possibility, then I'd choose NU (assuming 150k is the overall debt including cost of living and not sticker price) or retake.

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WUSTL for only cost-of living is a fine deal partly because you have ties to KS/MO, where WUSTL is well-known and well-received. That "guaranteed internship" in no way means guaranteed job because it is a public agency and their budgets are notoriously unpredictable. WUSTL does not mean a guaranteed job (this is law school, after all), but it does mean a guaranteed manageable level of debt, with a decent amount of upside for a career.

Returning to say you have to retake. I used my 3rd retake (cancel, 166) and scored a 169 and got nearly $1 million in scholarship money from the T14. Before the third retake I had one scholarship of a whopping $45k at UVA.

501cJD wrote:Also, it seems most people are placing no emphasis on the internship with the county attorney. Is this because it effectively doesn't matter for post-grad employment or for some other reason?

It may matter it may not. The thing is, the people here don't know exactly what the hiring there is like. If working at that office is your absolute end goal and you can intern there for all 3 years and you know for sure it is likely they'll give you a job, then it could make sense to go local. If it is your absolute dream to work in that office or area in that line of work, it could make sense. Some anecdotal evidence: One of my friends went to a local TTT that had a 40% LST score. She knew she wanted to work in that city and she knew she wanted to be a public defender. All she did throughout her 3 years of law school and summers was work at that office. When she passed the bar, they hired her. I mean, if you want to be like that, it might make sense.

But overall, I think if you have no desire for big law, WUSTL would be the clear winner (assuming you've really maxed out on a retake).

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Is your T3 in KS/MO? Is that the region you want to practice in? I'm not sure if there's great disparity between different T3 schools' employment outcomes or not.

If your T3 school is free but a full scholarship at WUSTL would still cost you cost of living, am I correct in thinking you could live at home if you went to the T3?

I guess it's always good to have experience on your resume but I don't know how much interning for the county attorney will help you long-term if you don't want to work for the county attorney. 0L though so grain of salt.

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stasg wrote: If your T3 school is free but a full scholarship at WUSTL would still cost you cost of living, am I correct in thinking you could live at home if you went to the T3?

It seems like OP got a small scholarship from NU, got a full ride from both WUSTL and the T3 but he can live at home for the T3. None of the 3 choices are inherently bad. The "right" choice really depends on OPs goals and debt adverseness. If big law is something OP wants to do, then NU/retake is the right choice.

OP sounds like he/she really does not want to borrow money. OP, you can take this or leave it: I'm on a full ride and law school is still pretty damn stressful because I don't know if I will have a job in two years. I know that the stress would be monumentally worse if I had borrowed. If you're like me, you're probably better off not borrowing that much. Just imagine if you go to law school and end up median/below median and have debt hanging over your head. If your gut says take the money and run, I really wouldn't blame you for taking the money and running. But you do have to figure out what your long term goal is as both WUSTL and NU open up more doors (not to mention higher % chance of being employed) in the event that you change your mind.

Depends on the T3, but if you're looking at, say, UMKC free or WUSTL for 70k, I think WUSTL is absolutely worth the money. Last year's class at WUSTL did really well as far as getting jobs as lawyers. It's still not anywhere near a biglaw powerhouse, but there is very little risk of someone with MO ties ending up jobless from WUSTL. That almost certainly can't be said about your T3.

Although I agree none of the options are horrible, I think WUSTL or retake for more $ from NU is your best bet. The T3 is probably defensible, but schools like UMKC still only have LST scores around 60%.

It would help to know the Tier 3 law school in question.

What is the TTT law school and how did you calculate your debt for each school?

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Why would your COA be 0 at SLU but 70k at WUSTL when you have a full ride at both?

Jay2716 wrote:Why would your COA be 0 at SLU but 70k at WUSTL when you have a full ride at both?

Yeah, what?

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Is this guaranteed internship paid?

I think 70k is completely acceptable for WUSTL for you goals, but if the debt is important, WUSTL is only 15 minutes from SLU by public transportation. If it's an extra 15 minutes on the commute your talking about, WUSTL is worth and extra 15 minutes. If you really don't like that, but a car. A car would be far cheaper than rent.

I don't know, I just can't imagine a scenario where passing a full ride at WUSTL for a full ride at SLU makes sense. The internship would have to be an incredibly rare and valuable one to make it worth it.