Wisconite Struggling with Law School Decisions Forum

[theilberger]

Hello All,

To start this journey I took the September LSAT 2014. I was scoring 165 for a month or two before the actual lsat. Turn around couple months later I messed something up badly on the actual LSAT and got a 156.

Devastated me decided to not apply for law school and find a job. Fast forward to today I am working for Epic Systems restudying for the LSAT.

I'm scoring in the 160s right off the bat and am preparing to take the December LSAT. I just started studying for it again and hitting it pretty hard.

I was getting 0-2 wrong on lg, 2-4 on lr, like 7 on rc so I'm hitting that the hardest.

I KNOW I WANT TO STAY IN WISCONSIN. I am not interested in moving away and my current plans are to work in the Sheboygan/Milwaukee area.

I went to UW-Madison graduated in 3 years with a BA in Legal Studies and a certificate in Criminal Justice. GPA 3.5. I also worked as a supervisor at a restaurant during school and did an internship at a DAs office for a summer.

Since my plans are to stay in WI and work in a smaller/Milwaukee market does it matter if I go to Marquette with a nice scholarship or pay for UW Madison? It might also help to add that I am 21 years old.

How bad will it hurt me in the long run to take a potential scholarship instead of going to a higher tiered school.

My parents support me but in no way will I receive any financial help. I don't have a lot of debt from college ~8k that I could pay off now if need be.

I am not interested in Criminal Law anymore, idk if it was due to the unpaid internship, or not. I do love xrime and working with it. Just got a bad taste in my mouth. I am interested in business/corporations and could see myself enjoying that!

My dreams have always been to go to the best law school possible, but not having any real savings right now and personal attachments to WI I see it as something that would destroy me personally.

Also, is it the February LSAT too late or is that an option for more studying time!

Thank you guys so much for caring!

[bugsy33]

This sounds really simple. Take the December LSAT. Get a 160+ and go to Wisky. Marquette is kind of a trash law school. Scholarships would be nice, but UW is only going to cost you 20k a year anyway with instate tuition. If you don't get a 160+ or don't get in, take a year off to work, and then retake in June and go next year.

[jbagelboy]

Go to Michigan. Yea, you want to stay in Wisconsin, but you already have Madison on your resume and Mich law will go a long way for whatever you choose to do in your home state - private or public sector. Retake the LSAT till you hit 170, you're young so you'll have plenty of opportunities (don't go to law school before 24 - huge mistake). Then take a large scholarship at Michigan.

[Traynor Brah]

While I generally would defer to jbagel, I would advise uw over michigan, if you are certain you want to stay in wisconsin. It's such a small legal market that being a part of the club is arguably more advantageous than a fancy degree. Also it's cheap as hell. If you can get michigan or northwestern at a huge discount, then yeah do that, but that's probably not in the cards. Mich debt and wisconsin small law is a bad combo.

I would go to marquette under no circumstances.

I would also consider not going to law school so quickly. Epic may certainly burn people out, but you're still very young, and a few years away from school is generally advisable, especially when you have a good job.

[jbagelboy]

While I generally would defer to jbagel, I would advise uw over michigan, if you are certain you want to stay in wisconsin. It's such a small legal market that being a part of the club is arguably more advantageous than a fancy degree. Also it's cheap as hell. If you can get michigan or northwestern at a huge discount, then yeah do that, but that's probably not in the cards. Mich debt and wisconsin small law is a bad combo.

I would go to marquette under no circumstances.

I would also consider not going to law school so quickly. Epic may certainly burn people out, but you're still very young, and a few years away from school is generally advisable, especially when you have a good job.

Yea I agree no/low debt is important. Wrt "the club", though, OP is already in it: he has a degree from madison. He doesn't need additional badgers street cred to be hirable in state. If the only low-debr proposition is UW, though, then yes that's the best choice.

[Traynor Brah]

But for three or four (still relatively small) firms, client development is going to be a huge part of life. Having a built-in 200-person friend group for referrals is a really big deal when you're all going to be practicing together in the same tiny (tiny) market for 45 years.

And all else equal, too, I would believe a lot of wi firms would prefer to hire a uw law grad over u mich or nu. It's a seriously insular market. But yeah if the price is right I would head to NU or mich instead, as op's goals are likely to change/more flexibility is desireable here.

[A. Nony Mouse]

If the OP is absolutely set on staying in Wisconsin I don't think there's a huge benefit to going to Michigan. Being able to do local internships during the school year (and having local classmates as Traynor Brah says) is much more likely to help him get a job in such a small market than having a T14 on his resume, especially since biglaw there is so tiny, so he's realistically looking at more local firms. Plus if he goes to UW he doesn't have to take the bar exam, and he's going to the best law school in the state.

I'm also saying this because UW is likely to be much cheaper and easier to get money from. If they do score well enough on the LSAT that they're looking at money from the T14, maybe. I don't think it's necessary for the OP though (especially since they don't yet have a T14 $$ LSAT score).

The risk is, as noted, that the OP changes their mind about where they want to practice. But there's only so much covering your bases you can do.

[TheSpanishMain]

If you hit the mid-160s, I would think UW Madison would give you a hefty scholarship. I'm not sure why Marquette is even on your mind. Also, doesn't Wisconsin waive the bar if you graduate from a Wisconsin law school? That's a nice little bonus.

[BigZuck]

Traynor's/Nony's understanding of how insular markets/non-big law hiring works seems on point here based on my super-limited understanding

If you really want to live in state X long term and don't really have big law dreams I would almost always roll with the state flagship over a T14 (unless the T14 happens to be the state flagship)

Anyway I think the OP should take 4-5 years off to work and figure out what they want to do with their life before going to law school.

[theilberger]

Hey all, I want to start by saying thanks to everyone so far!

I know t14 is a big deal but I am 95% certain I will remain in WI for the rest of my life.

This makes me want to limit myself to WI schools because I agree with many of you that networking and not having to take the BAR are huge bonuses.

Marquette's on my mind because I know I can get money thwre, and WI being a small market, I do think it carries a strong name across the State.

Ideally I do believe Madison will be the better decision.

I am now curious about this age thing with Law School. The only thing I can perceive would be a problem is that I'm young. However, I have internship and a year of professional work experience more than anyone my age because I graduated year early. Ideally people in my situation are ~23.

Will this really make an impact on my career/law school?

[stego]

If you hit the mid-160s, I would think UW Madison would give you a hefty scholarship. I'm not sure why Marquette is even on your mind. Also, doesn't Wisconsin waive the bar if you graduate from a Wisconsin law school? That's a nice little bonus.

I mean, Wisconsin only has two law schools, so if you want to stay in state you have two options. "Graduate from a Wisconsin law school" means "graduate from UW-Madison or Marquette."

I agree that a mid-160s LSAT score would likely bring a decent scholarship from the UW, assuming the GPA is somewhat decent.

[theilberger]

I agree that a mid-160s LSAT score would likely bring a decent scholarship from the UW, assuming the GPA is somewhat decent.

3.5 GPA in legal studies with a certificate in Criminal Justice. Graduated 3 years while having job as supervisor at restaurant

[CanadianWolf]

Wisconsin & Marquette are your obvious choices since you plan to stay in Wisconsin after law school. Marquette, however, offers little in the way of job prospects. If targeting "small law" & attending Marquette on scholarship, try to get as much practical legal experience through clinics, intern/externships & part-time employment as possible so that you're ready to practice immediately upon graduation.

[Traynor Brah]

You have absolutely no excuse to attend marquette. If you can't get a high enough lsat to get into UW, then don't go to law school. Retake and save money until you get a good enough score to get in. It doesn't matter that you might get a scholarship at MU; attending with a full ride is a very questionable proposition. See, e.g., http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/marquette/2014/.

[star fox]

Milwaukee/Madison firms are dominated by Wisconsin alums. You're no better off going to a T14 if you are only gonna stay in Wisconsin no matter what. Plus you can take the bar for free no matter what.

[RamTitan]

Why do you want to stay in Wisconsin the rest of your life? Just curious

[foregetaboutdre]

Why do you want to stay in Wisconsin the rest of your life? Just curious

I've lived in about every midwestern state and can say WI ranks right up there with any of them....or any part of the country.

"Going up north" - cabin on either one of the 1000s of inland lakes, Lake MI by Door County, or Lake MI in the UP of MI. All accessible in a few hours/less than an hour if you live in Green Bay.

The outdoors in general - tons of trees/forest. Awesome hiking, fly fishing in rivers, awesome hunting etc....

Beer/Nightlife - Most bars per capita in America

The weather - sure not always warm, but snowmobiling/ice fishing is pretty fun.

This is from someone who doesn't live in WI anymore. It's a fun place to be honestly, but you do lack the big city dynamics of a NYC/other major metro area.