Law School Choice - Price doesn't matter (too much) Forum

[ArmyJAG101]

So the basic info first -

o Active Duty Army Officer
o Picked up for FLEP (Funded Legal Education Program)
o Will come back to work for the Army for next 12-15 years
o 161 LSAT
o Undergrad and masters in civil engineering
o 3.8 and 3.7 respectfully


Looking for the best tier one school to also have a LIFE. I will be getting paid full time ~65k a year give or take. I'm not too concerned about where I will practice after the Army or the type of law.

Currently accepted to -

SMU
Alabama
FSU
Baylor

EDIT: Tuition and fees are limited to 43k a year. Most schools will sign an agreement to limit cost to that. SMU and Baylor have already.

[jbagelboy]

To have a life - not Baylor.

If I had your credentials and financial circumstances, I'd aim for UVA. Among the schools you said, probably SMU if you want to settle down long term in texas/west, and Alabama for cotton country (deep south).

[thetravelinglawyer]

Dallas is a pretty good place to have a life (biased since I am from there, but I love that city). Baylor is technically a T2. Also, Waco. Also, Baylor.

[LuxTheMuppet]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

[ArmyJAG101]

From what I've seen, Baylor is a definite no. William and Mary and UNC have been calling and emailing pretty hard. Any suggestions on East Coast schools?

[BigZuck]

Doesn't sound like you care about job placement or cost (which is basically all that TLS cares about) or geographic placement. Why not just choose whichever one you like the best?

Or are you asking TLS to tell you which one you like the best? I guess I'm not sure what you're looking for here.

Most law schools teach the same stuff in the same way (although Baylor Law sounds like its own special version of law school). If you're trying to figure out which city you like the best I'm not sure TLS can help you with that more than you can help yourself with that.

[ArmyJAG101]

I'm not worried about placement or cost due to the fact I'll be an Army JAG for the foreseeable future and my expenses during school will be paid for.

I'm only worried about quality of life during law school.

That's what I wanted peoples 10 cents on. What schools/cities can I enjoy myself in during the 3 years of suck of law school.

[lymenheimer]

Miami

eta: video was removed from the youtube account.

[BigZuck]

I'm not worried about placement or cost due to the fact I'll be an Army JAG for the foreseeable future and my expenses during school will be paid for.

I'm only worried about quality of life during law school.

That's what I wanted peoples 10 cents on. What schools/cities can I enjoy myself in during the 3 years of suck of law school.

Just pretend each school is the same because they basically are. Throw out Baylor. But all the other schools are exactly identical.

Now, you just have to consider cities. Someone can sit here and tell you that X city is great because the hiking and sking is amazing. But you couldn't care less about hiking and sking, you want to live by the beach.

See what I mean? I think you can help yourself a lot more here than TLS can. One poster said Miami. I have no desire to live in Miami. People have different preferences. Just choose whichever school you prefer.

I guess we can really get into the weeds of how many Chipotles or Chik-fil-as there are in each city if that's what you're going for. I don't know if anyone here can really tell you whether you'll have more fun at SMU than at FSU but maybe if you share a bit more information about your preferences they could.

Also just FYI law school is a lot closer to extended vacation/retirement than it is to "suck" (especially after the first year)

[Instinctive]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

[LuxTheMuppet]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

Give me a better overall program kid

[Instinctive]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

Give me a better overall program kid

Stanford's the easiest one if you care about all the sports, and they've got a better football team anyway.


Edit: also lol @ "kid" smh

Oklahoma made the CFP and is the #1 basketball team in the nation. Those are "arguably" the only two sports that matter.

I'm sure there are others if someone deigned to waste more time dispelling you of this notion.

[LuxTheMuppet]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

Give me a better overall program kid

Stanford's the easiest one if you care about all the sports, and they've got a better football team anyway.


Edit: also lol @ "kid" smh

Oklahoma made the CFP and is the #1 basketball team in the nation. Those are "arguably" the only two sports that matter.

I'm sure there are others if someone deigned to waste more time dispelling you of this notion.

Deigned? Big word for someone who went to OU

[downinDtown]

Baylor undergrad - had to step in here. I will not defend Baylor as a law school in this conversation, as they offer generally weak job prospects at a very high price. However, if you want to work in central Texas or be a litigator, Baylor isn't that bad. Also, the social life isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. If you care about undergrad sports, Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now. Also, food options are expanding rapidly, bars are opening everywhere, the local economy is growing quickly, and the student body has become much more open-minded over the past few years.


All in all, you probably shouldn't go to Baylor, and I certainly wouldn't with your options. However, don't be falsely convinced you'd be going to hell in a handbasket by choosing Baylor.

No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

Give me a better overall program kid

Stanford's the easiest one if you care about all the sports, and they've got a better football team anyway.


Edit: also lol @ "kid" smh

Oklahoma made the CFP and is the #1 basketball team in the nation. Those are "arguably" the only two sports that matter.

I'm sure there are others if someone deigned to waste more time dispelling you of this notion.

So just to confirm Lux is a Muppet and Instinctive was instinctively correct (picking Stanford), I thought I'd throw this out there: http://www.capitalonecup.com/ - they track all sports and assign points based on performance. Sadly, Baylor's not even on the list, getting squeaked out by athletic titans Jacksonville State, North Dakota State, Akron, and Richmond. So I think it's definitely arguable that they're definitely NOT the best overall program. I'd go with any of the ones I bolded in the top 10.

Full rankings here: http://www.capitalonecup.com/docs/compl ... ndings.pdf

MEN's D-1 SCHOOL POINTS
1. Stanford 106
2. Clemson 72
3. Alabama 60
3. North Dakota State 60
5. Syracuse 44
6. Jacksonville State 36
7. Akron 30
7. Richmond 30
9. Ohio State 24
9. Sam Houston State 24
11. UCLA 20

WOMEN'S CUP STANDINGS
SCHOOL POINTS
1. Penn State 66
2. Nebraska 60
3. Duke 44
4. Texas 36
5. Florida State 30
5. Minnesota 30
7. Virginia 28
8. Kansas 24
8. Rutgers 24
10. New Mexico 20
10. Syracuse 20

[lymenheimer]

etc... Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now...etc

words

words

words

Statistics

This information is all moot because y'all can't read. Looking at the rankings of other schools in McLennan County, University High still has a better program than Baylor.

[bugsy33]

etc... Baylor has (arguably) the best overall athletic program in the county right now...etc

words

words

words

Statistics

It's not even the best in the region, that would be OU currently, and Michigan State went to the final four in bball and football last year. I would bet that OSU, UMich, Texas, and Stanford will all have better athletic programs over the next 3-4 years than Baylor.

Not to say that Baylor isn't a fine law school. It's incredibly rigorous and produces some ridiculously well trained litigators...but it's also a hellish place to spend 3 years. No, Waco isn't the worst city in the world, but it's the epitome of 'meh,' and the law school is designed to be far more difficult than it needs to be (ie. "stand and deliver").

Go to SMU and enjoy Dallas OP. Lots of pretty girls there.