Location vs. T14? Forum

[omom1415]

Hi,
I DID NOT GET IN EARLY DECISION AT GEORGETOWN, I just applied early and got in and then wrote it wrong on my post. Too much coffee, too little thought, sorry

Just wanted to seek an opinion on this, since I applied to law schools now and have gotten some decisions back. I scored a 166 on the LSAT this October and I have a 3,74GPA, currently a senior attending university in Washington DC. I would like to practice in Miami.

I got a full ride to both Washington College of Law in DC and University of Miami, and was accepted to Georgetown Law. With that being said, I'm not sure how important location is to practicing law. I'm fairly interested in commercial litigation and would like to work in a legal capacity with Latin American corporations in the United States. Miami seems like the perfect location for working with Latin American corporations, however I'm not sure whether or not it would be wise to pass up a T-14 just to study where my preferred market is.

All of that being said, money is really not an object in this decision. It'd be nice to be able to set aside some funds and take one of the full scholarship offers rather than pay full tuition at Georgetown. Regardless, I'm treating the money as an opportunity cost, so it'll be minimally factored into this decision.

I guess I'm just looking for insight on my issue. These are really all the schools that I wanted to seriously consider attending, so I'm really happy with just considering these three schools. So I guess I'd like an opinion on whether or not it is worth it to attend law school in Washington, D.C. knowing that I want to practice/live in Miami. Thoughts?

Please don't give any spiels about the power of the T-14 law degree and why or negative comments about American or UMiami. I'd like to make this decision off of a coherent, strong thought process rather than a rant about someone's unemployed cousin (not trying to be a dick).

[grades??]

Hi,

Just wanted to seek an opinion on this, since I applied to law schools now and have gotten some decisions back. I scored a 166 on the LSAT this October and I have a 3,74GPA, currently a senior attending university in Washington DC. I would like to practice in Miami.

I got a full ride to both Washington College of Law in DC and University of Miami, and was accepted early decision to Georgetown Law. With that being said, I'm not sure how important location is to practicing law. I'm fairly interested in commercial litigation and would like to work in a legal capacity with Latin American corporations in the United States. Miami seems like the perfect location for working with Latin American corporations, however I'm not sure whether or not it would be wise to pass up a T-14 just to study where my preferred market is.

All of that being said, money is really not an object in this decision. It'd be nice to be able to set aside some funds and take one of the full scholarship offers rather than pay full tuition at Georgetown. Regardless, I'm treating the money as an opportunity cost, so it'll be minimally factored into this decision.

I guess I'm just looking for insight on my issue. These are really all the schools that I wanted to seriously consider attending, so I'm really happy with just considering these three schools. So I guess I'd like an opinion on whether or not it is worth it to attend law school in Washington, D.C. knowing that I want to practice/live in Miami. Thoughts?

Please don't give any spiels about the power of the T-14 law degree and why or negative comments about American or UMiami. I'd like to make this decision off of a coherent, strong thought process rather than a rant about someone's unemployed cousin (not trying to be a dick).

Well you applied ED so there is no decision. You either are going to GT or not to law school. Good job signing that contract.

[Alive97]

Yup...you signed a contract saying if admitted to Georgetown, you would withdraw all other applications and commit to attending Georgetown.

[mynameismyname]

There is no decision other than Georgetown. The moment you were accepted ED you were locked in. Unless you forego law attending law school this cycle, you're only going to Georgetown.

[omom1415]

Hey! Thanks for the answers everyone. Sorry I'm a dumb ass!

I didn't get in Early Decision, what I meant was that I applied fairly early and got accepted....

Sorry for the miscommunication, I obviously suck at everything!

[xael]

Please don't give any spiels about the power of the T-14 law degree and why or negative comments about American or UMiami. I'd like to make this decision off of a coherent, strong thought process rather than a rant about someone's unemployed cousin (not trying to be a dick).

...so what would you like from us to help you make this decision?

[yenisey]

Hey! Thanks for the answers everyone. Sorry I'm a dumb ass!

I didn't get in Early Decision, what I meant was that I applied fairly early and got accepted....

Sorry for the miscommunication, I obviously suck at everything!

It's not your fault. You clearify it by capitalizing the entire first sentence. Pity they are blind to this conspicuous sign.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Hey! Thanks for the answers everyone. Sorry I'm a dumb ass!

I didn't get in Early Decision, what I meant was that I applied fairly early and got accepted....

Sorry for the miscommunication, I obviously suck at everything!

It's not your fault. You clearify it by capitalizing the entire first sentence. Pity they are blind to this conspicuous sign.

Right. That's an edit after everyone was confused.

OP, having a full ride at American mitigates most of what people consider so awful about it, which is that it's way too expensive for its place in the DC hierarchy. But if you want to work in Miami, going to school in Florida for free is probably a better deal.

[yenisey]

Hey! Thanks for the answers everyone. Sorry I'm a dumb ass!

I didn't get in Early Decision, what I meant was that I applied fairly early and got accepted....

Sorry for the miscommunication, I obviously suck at everything!

It's not your fault. You clearify it by capitalizing the entire first sentence. Pity they are blind to this conspicuous sign.

Right. That's an edit after everyone was confused.

OP, having a full ride at American mitigates most of what people consider so awful about it, which is that it's way too expensive for its place in the DC hierarchy. But if you want to work in Miami, going to school in Florida for free is probably a better deal.

If he typed it as "I did NOT get in ED at Georgetown", I believe few could have been got dizzled

[envisciguy]

Are you originally from Miami or have you ever lived there for an extended period of time? If not, it's going to be tough to get to Miami from either DC school. But that said, I'm guessing you need biglaw for the kind of work you want to do and Miami and American are both awful choices for that.

I'd say Georgetown if you're actually committed to the type of practice, but I guess Miami for free is alright if you're just dead set on living in Miami and don't mind doing small/midlaw.

[BigZuck]

I can't tell what thread we are doing this in so I'll drop this here as well:

None of these are very good choices for wanting to do work with international corporations. Miami would be fine if you had modest career aspirations- small firm, local gov in Miami, things like that. But what you want is big law. Georgetown is an ok to weak-ish option for big law but it's not worth it at full freight and there are better options for big law. American is a total non-starter, it is one of the very worst law schools in all of existence and should be shut down. If you take a look at http://www.lawschooltransparency.com you'll see that many people's cousins have been laid to waste by American.

If you want large firm work I would aim a little higher than Georgetown. Luckily you're at the point where every point on the LSAT makes a difference so I would retake in June (I assume it's too late to sign up for Feb but check on that) and try to squeeze out a few more points so that you can get a good scholarship at a school like Duke or Cornell at the very least.

I'm not really sure that Miami is a place you want to be if you want to work with Latin American companies, my gut says there would be more of that kind of work in New York but presumably you've done a lot more research on Miami firms' practice areas so I'll take your word there. I think if corporate law in Miami is the long term goal you might be best served putting in a few years in New York and then laterally back (assuming you can't get a job at a big firm there at OCI I guess)

edit: Just saw "commercial litigation" too but I still think a big firm is most likely how you're going to break into international work

(Nony maybe locking one would help?)

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, I locked the other one. Thanks.

[Alive97]

If you speak Spanish and are from/have ties to Miami, personally I would go there. If not, then you should certainly make sure Miami is a place you want to live and work first. Of course you should wait to see if you get a scholarship from Georgetown first. But full ride at Miami if that's where you want to work is not a bad idea. But yeah, you may need to expand your goals beyond international corporations.

The campus at Miami is absolutely beautiful...but don't necessarily let that and the pretty females suck you in if you visit .

[omom1415]

Thanks for the insight! I'm from Panama and I have a lot of connections in Miami through family and whatnot so that's really driving my desire to practice in Miami.

I'm going to wait and see what comes from Georgetown in terms of scholarship money and decide from there I guess. Thanks a bunch!

[BigZuck]

Thanks for the insight! I'm from Panama and I have a lot of connections in Miami through family and whatnot so that's really driving my desire to practice in Miami.

I'm going to wait and see what comes from Georgetown in terms of scholarship money and decide from there I guess. Thanks a bunch!

I've posted in about a billion of these posts so I kind of know how this will go. You're definitely not going to listen to me and I get that.

But...at the very least, please do more research on the job you want and how you can get it. At the very least, make sure that the job actually exists and is actually attainable. Lots of people come on TLS and say things like "I want to do corporate law in Bismark, North Dakota. Not interested in big law at all, I just want to work in a small firm. Should I go to Gonzaga or Saint Johns? I'm choosing between one of those two so kindly STFU if you don't have anything productive to say." Like, the whole thing is wrong, it's a false dichotomy, the job the OP wants doesn't exist and even if it did literally no choice presented can get the OP what they want.

Make sure that's not you.

[Clearly]

The boost of gulc in biglaw isn't worth price, and its too far to have much alumni presence. Many use T13 instead of 14 specifically to note the drop off before gulc.

How'd you feel about the lsat? You have a solid gpa, a few more points opens up schools that give you way better odds. Between your current options I'd take in Miami for free over gulc.

[fliptrip]

FWIW, I would never bet on GULC getting me anywhere in Miami, free or not. I don't know or understand why this choice is so restricted for you, but if you want to live in Florida, U. Florida Law is probably something else you should consider.

If you disentangle wanting to work for BigLaw from wanting to live in Miami, you should 100% definitely have applied/should apply ASAP to Cornell. You 'd have a shot (not a great shot, but not zero shot) of getting in, and provided you would be willing to do BigLaw in New York, they pretty much can get you there. The drop-off from Cornell to GULC is real...Cornell has a 75% BigLaw+Fed Clerkship placement rate. Georgetown's is 50%...

If you really have closed your options to just these three schools, I'd take the full ride to Miami and network like hell from day 1.

[CTT]

Someday those of you who think an ED application means the applicant has to go to that school and no where else are going to actually take a 1L class called Contracts. What you'll discover is that, practically speaking, if you wanted to bail on a place you applied ED, you could. What're they going to do about it? What're their damages? Are they going to risk being on the wrong side of an antitrust lawsuit by trying to get other law schools not to take you?

And yes, I see this was just a miscommunication, but come on. Be smarter.

[Clearly]

Someday those of you who think an ED application means the applicant has to go to that school and no where else are going to actually take a 1L class called Contracts. What you'll discover is that, practically speaking, if you wanted to bail on a place you applied ED, you could. What're they going to do about it? What're their damages? Are they going to risk being on the wrong side of an antitrust lawsuit by trying to get other law schools not to take you?

And yes, I see this was just a miscommunication, but come on. Be smarter.

Someday you'll take a class called ethics, and further out you'll look at a character and fitness application. Not to mention, you'd be surprised just how many schools DO cooperate with each other. I've seen people accepted ed and 5 of their status checkers say withdrawn just hours later!

[personofinterest]

The boost of gulc in biglaw isn't worth price, and its too far to have much alumni presence. Many use T13 instead of 14 specifically to note the drop off before gulc.

How'd you feel about the lsat? You have a solid gpa, a few more points opens up schools that give you way better odds. Between your current options I'd take in Miami for free over gulc.

I can't speak to choosing between your current options, but I do highly recommend finishing off undergrad strong GPA-wise and taking a gap year. There are many benefits to a gap year, and I think there could be a huge benefit to you app-wise. Your GPA is near median at many T14's, and I think schools may be hesitant to admit you/offer you $ before they know for sure you will be median+. Finishing undergrad with a median+ GPA will likely give you multiple T14/13 options. Also, your LSAT is strong, but still below most T14 medians. If you have extra attempts available, you could get a lot of $$$ by improving just a couple points.

W/r/t Florida, you will have a great opportunity to get biglaw there if you go to a respected T14, especially if you do your 1L summer down there. Regional schools CAN get you the job, but have much worse backup options.

Good luck!

[A. Nony Mouse]

Someday those of you who think an ED application means the applicant has to go to that school and no where else are going to actually take a 1L class called Contracts. What you'll discover is that, practically speaking, if you wanted to bail on a place you applied ED, you could. What're they going to do about it? What're their damages? Are they going to risk being on the wrong side of an antitrust lawsuit by trying to get other law schools not to take you?

And yes, I see this was just a miscommunication, but come on. Be smarter.

You don't actually have to attend, but other schools who find out you applied ED elsewhere will reject you.

[CTT]

Someday those of you who think an ED application means the applicant has to go to that school and no where else are going to actually take a 1L class called Contracts. What you'll discover is that, practically speaking, if you wanted to bail on a place you applied ED, you could. What're they going to do about it? What're their damages? Are they going to risk being on the wrong side of an antitrust lawsuit by trying to get other law schools not to take you?

And yes, I see this was just a miscommunication, but come on. Be smarter.

Someday you'll take a class called ethics, and further out you'll look at a character and fitness application. Not to mention, you'd be surprised just how many schools DO cooperate with each other. I've seen people accepted ed and 5 of their status checkers say withdrawn just hours later!

I took ethics. You'll kindly point me to the ABA model rule that prohibits breaking a contract, I suppose? Furthermore, there is no question in C&F that would require disclosing the fact that you were admitted ED at one law school and ultimately went somewhere else.

[BigZuck]

Someday those of you who think an ED application means the applicant has to go to that school and no where else are going to actually take a 1L class called Contracts. What you'll discover is that, practically speaking, if you wanted to bail on a place you applied ED, you could. What're they going to do about it? What're their damages? Are they going to risk being on the wrong side of an antitrust lawsuit by trying to get other law schools not to take you?

And yes, I see this was just a miscommunication, but come on. Be smarter.

Lol

[BigZuck]

The boost of gulc in biglaw isn't worth price, and its too far to have much alumni presence. Many use T13 instead of 14 specifically to note the drop off before gulc.

How'd you feel about the lsat? You have a solid gpa, a few more points opens up schools that give you way better odds. Between your current options I'd take in Miami for free over gulc.

I can't speak to choosing between your current options, but I do highly recommend finishing off undergrad strong GPA-wise and taking a gap year. There are many benefits to a gap year, and I think there could be a huge benefit to you app-wise. Your GPA is near median at many T14's, and I think schools may be hesitant to admit you/offer you $ before they know for sure you will be median+. Finishing undergrad with a median+ GPA will likely give you multiple T14/13 options. Also, your LSAT is strong, but still below most T14 medians. If you have extra attempts available, you could get a lot of $$$ by improving just a couple points.

W/r/t Florida, you will have a great opportunity to get biglaw there if you go to a respected T14, especially if you do your 1L summer down there. Regional schools CAN get you the job, but have much worse backup options.

Good luck!

I don't know. Based on what I have seen on this site, it seems like there is no great opportunity to get big law in Florida if you go to a T14.