Top Law Schools

What's the best regional law school for someone who would like to work in New Orleans?

Tulane

Aeon wrote:Tulane

Or LSU, depending on price for each.

Don't go to either one without a substantial scholarship

Thank you and should I be warry of conditional scholarship?

Toure2016 wrote:Thank you and should I be warry of conditional scholarship?

Yeah, try to get them removed. You have no way of guaranteeing you'll be in the top x%

Wait, I can ask the school to remove the condition on the scholarship?
One of them requires I maintain a 2.5 gpa and the grading curve is around 3.0 ...should I be concerned about that?

Toure2016 wrote:Wait, I can ask the school to remove the condition on the scholarship?
One of them requires I maintain a 2.5 gpa and the grading curve is around 3.0 ...should I be concerned about that?

Yeah, request that they remove them. Have you tried to negotiate for a higher scholarship? 2.5 is pretty low, I don't know maybe someone else can comment. How much $$ are they offering though?

eagle2a wrote:

Toure2016 wrote:Wait, I can ask the school to remove the condition on the scholarship?
One of them requires I maintain a 2.5 gpa and the grading curve is around 3.0 ...should I be concerned about that?

Yeah, request that they remove them. Have you tried to negotiate for a higher scholarship? 2.5 is pretty low, I don't know maybe someone else can comment. How much $$ are they offering though?

never go with a GPA stip. Even if the curve is 3.3, I wouldn't have gone with a GPA stip. Negotiate to have it removed is TCR and most schools will be willing

I haven't tried to negotiate for more yet, and 27500 a year. I'm still waiting for financial aid packages.
What's TCR?
I'll email admissions next week to see if they'll remove it.

I personally wouldn't be worried about a 2.5GPA requirement. If you are below that after your first year you have more issues to worry about than just your scholarship.

As far as best schools for New Orleans, I honestly don't know. But this might help http://www.lstscorereports.com/state/LA/
Tulane sends more graduates to bigger firms, but only 30% of grads are employed in louisiana. LSU has substantially better employment %, and most grads are staying in state, but less are getting into 100+ attorney firms.

But my best advice for people looking for "best school for x market" would be to talk to as many practicing lawyers in the area and try to get their opinion. Its good practice to try to connect with lawyers, and you'll be surprised how often attorneys are willing to have a chat and give advice (at least that has been true for me.) Their advice is likely more valuable than the advice here (at least for smaller markets.) TLS has a ton of knowledge, but much of it is geared toward the biggest markets (NYC, Chicago, LA) Also, almost all law firm websites publish the schools their partners/ associates attended.

Thank you Loquitur Res ....I will look up firms in New Orleans to see where their graduates are coming from and try to contact their human resources for their opinions if possible or just check to see where their graduates came from based on their websites.

Toure2016 wrote:Thank you Loquitur Res ....I will look up firms in New Orleans to see where their graduates are coming from and try to contact their human resources for their opinions if possible or just check to see where their graduates came from based on their websites.

Do you know any lawyers in the area? Friends' parents, parents' friends, etc. Don't be shy about contacting an attorney directly. I turned any tenuous connection into an opportunity to chat. Or simply try emailing someone random that does what you want to do (websites usually have bios and emails.) Something along the lines of "I am a law student/ will be a law student and I am interested in practicing x type of law in New Orleans. I would love to get the perspective of someone doing this kind of work here. Would you be willing to chat over a coffee sometime?" Worst case scenario they ignore you and you don't hear back. Best case you get some really good insight and make a connection in the market you want to practice. Maybe its just my area (small city) but most attorneys are more than happy to chat and give advice.

Toure2016 wrote:I haven't tried to negotiate for more yet, and 27500 a year. I'm still waiting for financial aid packages.
What's TCR?
I'll email admissions next week to see if they'll remove it.

yeah you gotta try to get more, you're looking at a lot of debt at a school where nearly 40% of the class did not get actual jobs as lawyers. have you considered retaking the lsat? even if you're set on going this fall, i would spend the next two months studying and retake in june just to see if you can't do better and apply again for next cycle. even a few more points and you're looking at a lot more scholarship $$. you can take the extra year to work/do something else

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/tulane/

Thank you, and will do that. I took the test three times already so I'll have to wait for two more years if I want to retake it. I am waitlisted at UF, and in case I don't get in this cycle, I think I'll move to Florida and reapply to UF in two years or whenever I'm allowed to retake it.

LSU (Full Ride) or Tulane ($20k/year)?

col1 wrote:LSU (Full Ride) or Tulane ($20k/year)?

LSU is a no brainer in that situation