Wake Forest vs Arizona Forum

[Amarillo]

I received full ride scholarships from Wake Forest (#47) and Arizona (#42). It seems that both schools are close when it comes to LSAT, employment statistics, and rankings (though in recent years more WF than UA students got into Big Law). I also heard and saw some stats showing that North Carolina job market is not good (lots of decent young lawyers coming from Duke and nearby Vandy, UVA, Georgetown etc.) and that Arizona job market is much better although it does not offer as many Big Law jobs as NC. I'm a nontraditional student with a MA degree and I prefer quiet learning environment (possibly Tucson offers too much nightlife). I love both campuses and wouldn't mind living in either Winston-Salem or Tucson.

Advice? Suggestions? Thoughts?

Any ideas how both school are to do in the next few years when it comes to rankings and job opportunities?

[lymenheimer]

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.
-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

[zot1]

Where do you want to work? Honestly that's way more important than rankings.

[Amarillo]

Where do you want to work? Honestly that's way more important than rankings.

I want to work in big (or medium ) law or as an in-house lawyer. I see myself working either in the Southwest (CA, NV, AZ) or on the East Coast (NC, VA, DC, NY)

[zot1]

Both of your choices are problematic. As a UofA grad, you will have trouble finding work outside of Arizona (and I'm sure in Arizona too...). As a Wake grad, you will have trouble finding work outside of NC and you will compete with UNC grads.

Do you have ties to either area?

[Amarillo]

Do you have ties to either area?

No ties, but my spouse has a chance to relocate to Phoenix or Charlotte.

Both of your choices are problematic. As a UofA grad, you will have trouble finding work outside of Arizona (and I'm sure in Arizona too...). As a Wake grad, you will have trouble finding work outside of NC and you will compete with UNC grads.

UA has pretty low underemployment rates in the past 4 yrs (12-22%) acc to LS Transparency but low BigLaw numbers (5-12%) (plus c. 20% for state and federal clerkship). WF has higher underemployment (12-33%) but better BigLaw stats (10-14%) Nationwide these are very decent numbers.

[zot1]

Then I guess you have your answer-go to UofA.