BC vs UF Forum

[thriller1122]

So I got accepted to both BC and UF. I have tuition covered for both. However, I also have a family and will need considerable money for living expenses as I will not be working. I received $11.5k/yr from UF that I can use for bills, rent, etc. and recieved nothing from BC. Additionally, I will be getting a couple thousand dollars a month from an outside source and my wife will be able to work.

I am interested in Big Law and understand that the percentages say go with BC. The only issue with that is I absolutely HATE Boston and want to live and work in Florida. Not to mention the COL in Gainseville is much better.

Question: Do I choose UF with lower COL and more money in the state I want to live/work in or choose BC because the odds are better that I will land a big law gig? I did see that Florida placed third for BC jobs this past year (it was only 12 though...). Please dont be a douche when answering (unless you wanna give me crap for being a Browns fan... then I am forced to accept your douchery)

[lymenheimer]

You should post your responses in this format. It's easier to follow. I know you answered some of the questions in your post, but you missed others:
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. Here is a helpful calculator.
-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

[thriller1122]

-Boston College, Florida
-BC COA: 36k in loans, UF COA: Nothing
-GI Bill, Scholarships, Savings, and my wife will be working full time
-I grew up in New England about an hour north of Boston. However, I am active military and have been a resident of Florida for the last 8 years. No real ties to anywhere.
-Would like to do big law but its not mandatory. Just as long as I at least equal the $60k I make now. Would MUCH prefer to end up in Florida.
-163/3.52
-1

[Tiago Splitter]

It's unlikely that you'll get Florida biglaw from either given how few biglaw jobs exist down there and whatever biglaw advantage BC has it doesn't extend to the Florida market. If you really want biglaw you need to retake the LSAT and go to a school that places better into that field, with the understanding that you probably won't start out in Florida after graduation. If you really want Florida you need to get comfortable with the fact that you likely won't get a biglaw job, and there's a very real chance you'll start off making less than $60k. I don't see BC making sense in any scenario given that you don't want to end up in Boston.

[Madmen321]

My 2 cents after having interviewed in both markets...

Both are regional schools. If you want to work in Florida go to UF. It is hard to break into Florida big law even from the T14. While your chances of getting big law in FL are definitely not great at UF, I imagine they are still better than getting big law in FL out of BC.

BC has a great network in Boston and its strength is largely in placing graduates in that area. Boston, although still a small legal market in comparison to New York, trumps FL by a large margin in terms of the number of SA spots which probably correlates to BC's better placement. That said, if you hate Boston I would not go to BC.

Do you have ties to either market? Both are insular, in my experience FL more so.

[Clemenceau]

If you've been living in fl and want to stay there, then uf seems like right move, even more so because it will be more affordable.

That said, you should probably come to terms with the fact that biglaw is unlikely to happen. Think about whether there are other non-biglaw lawyer jobs you could see yourself doing, and whether those are attainable from uf.

[JCougar]

You might, for the sake of your family, want to retake and get into a better school. I made the mistake of going to a trap school ranked significantly higher than either of the schools you list, but luckily, I don't have a family to support. Even if you have living expenses covered during school, it may take you years to find a real long-term legal job as a graduate from either of those schools. Both the Florida and Boston legal markets are heavily over-saturated with law schools and lawyers. And although a lot of the FL schools are sad TTTs, you probably need some ties to the state to give you a good shot at getting a small firm job there even from UF. Active military for the last 8 years in FL is a pretty significant soft, though. Probably enough to justify attending UF for free, as long as you're not Biglaw or bust. But my advice to you if you chose this is to start networking even before law school starts. Small firms don't hire from a school's OCI. They hire people they already know for one reason or another. I think your military experience would play up to a lot of local Florida firms, but they have to know you in person. Otherwise, you're just one resume in a pile of 300 resumes they have sitting on their desk of lawyers desperate to make $50K per year.

[TheRealSantaClaus]

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[law_dawg18]

The only issue with that is I absolutely HATE Boston and want to live and work in Florida. Not to mention the COL in Gainseville is much better.

Question: Do I choose UF with lower COL and more money in the state I want to live/work in or choose BC because the odds are better that I will land a big law gig?

Go to Florida. If you know for sure you want to work and live in Florida, there is no reason to go to Boston. There are big law jobs in Florida, UF is probably the best school for FL private sector and I think the effort it will take at either to graduate high enough to qualify for those jobs will be the same. Plus they're paying you. Plus it's cheaper. Plus you HATE Boston.

[BrazilBandit]

Don't wanna sound like a douche, but you should be deciding between UF and not going at all... If you're going just because there's a slim chance you'd make more money, I wouldn't take that bet.

[Longsx3]

UF's admissions scholarships are tuition only, so if that is the 11K from UF it will not be refunded to you but will offset the Gi Bill payment. In order to be refunded a scholarship it has to include wording that says it can be used for expenses other than tuition. UF has stated their scholarships are tuition only due to state law.