Arizona State University vs University of Arizona Forum

[johnrich1080]

Looking for advice on which school to go to. I currently live in Tucson but want to practice in Phoenix and I'm interested in transactional law. ASU offered me a scholarship which when combined with my GI bill benefits (I only rate 60%) will reduce the cost of attendance to about $4,000 a year. However, UofA has offered me a full ride. I already own a house in Tucson so staying in Tucson would be easier since I wouldn't have to worry about selling it or renting it. My wife works (gov attorney) so the CoL expenses will be covered either way (her office has already said they SHOULD be able to transfer her to the phoenix office). I went to ASW at both schools. I really liked the ASU campus and the 0L students but I know the campus is mostly flash and there weren't enough 0L students there to gauge what the student body might be like (they had a previous ASW). The 0L students I talked to were intelligent and had clearly put some thought into law school plus a lot of them were non-traditional and many had interesting backgrounds. The campus at UofA is nice, nothing to write home about but somewhere I would probably enjoy studying at. The 0L students were horrible, literally every stereotype of 0Ls you can think of. They're all straight out of undergrad and want to study environmental law, gender equality law (seriously some guy said that), one kid asked the "current students panel" about political activity on campus because there wasn't any at his old school and he's really looking forward to participating in protests. It was disgusting but obviously I can't determine the make up of the student body from a few interactions. Any thoughts?

[jeremydc]

[A. Nony Mouse]

They're all straight out of undergrad and want to study environmental law, gender equality law (seriously some guy said that), one kid asked the "current students panel" about political activity on campus because there wasn't any at his old school and he's really looking forward to participating in protests. It was disgusting

Why is it surprising to you that someone would seriously say that, or disgusting that people would say any of these things?

I think ASWs can be helpful to get a sense of a school's atmosphere, but you meet only a very small slice of the class, and I wouldn't let that outweigh the other factors you need to consider in evaluating the school. (I visited three schools and while I didn't attend the one I had disliked most at ASW, it was because it didn't fit my other needs, not because of the atmosphere. And I didn't attend the school whose atmosphere I liked best for the same reasons - ended up at the school in the middle, and it was fine.)

Being in Phoenix can be a bit of an advantage for working in Phoenix ultimately, since you can work/intern/network during the school year as well as during the summers, but in your case I would imagine it will depend on how much that outweighs not having to dispose of your house and making sure your wife can transfer. If your COA at ASU really will be limited to $4k a year I think that's close enough to the full ride that if you really prefer ASU, it's not unreasonable to take it - $16k in debt is really not a burden in the grand scheme of things. (Though make sure that takes into account interest and tuition increases.)

[johnrich1080]

Why is it surprising to you that someone would seriously say that, or disgusting that people would say any of these things?

I think ASWs can be helpful to get a sense of a school's atmosphere, but you meet only a very small slice of the class, and I wouldn't let that outweigh the other factors you need to consider in evaluating the school. (I visited three schools and while I didn't attend the one I had disliked most at ASW, it was because it didn't fit my other needs, not because of the atmosphere. And I didn't attend the school whose atmosphere I liked best for the same reasons - ended up at the school in the middle, and it was fine.)

Being in Phoenix can be a bit of an advantage for working in Phoenix ultimately, since you can work/intern/network during the school year as well as during the summers, but in your case I would imagine it will depend on how much that outweighs not having to dispose of your house and making sure your wife can transfer. If your COA at ASU really will be limited to $4k a year I think that's close enough to the full ride that if you really prefer ASU, it's not unreasonable to take it - $16k in debt is really not a burden in the grand scheme of things. (Though make sure that takes into account interest and tuition increases.)

Surprising because if you're going to go to law school you should do a level a research to know that one of those doesn't exist (as a stand alone practice, employment law obviously would incorporate it) and the other one is going to be near impossible to get into from a school ranked 40 by US and news (at least in a way most people are expecting). Disgusting was too strong a word, obnoxious would've been more accurate but really it's not important. I don't know why I went off on that rant, It must have been later than I thought. Generally what other people want to do doesn't bother me, I guess I was just impressed with the potential student body at ASU but not as much the UofA.

Thanks for the advice. UofA is a sure thing so I guess it comes down to is ASU that much better to justify the risk?

[Good Guy Gaud]

The student body at ASU is very lax, or at least it was while I attended. Sure, there were gunners but the overwhelming majority of students were laid back and willing to help each other out. No ripping pages from books in the library or anything crazy like that.

As A. Nony suggested, being in Phoenix will definitely help you out with networking. In your case, though, I'm not sure that's significant enough (in and of itself) for you to choose ASU over UofA. I'd echo A. Nony's concerns re your house and wife being able to transfer. In any event, UofA still does a pretty damn good job of placing in Phoenix (probably 1 for 1 with ASU).

[A. Nony Mouse]

Why is it surprising to you that someone would seriously say that, or disgusting that people would say any of these things?

I think ASWs can be helpful to get a sense of a school's atmosphere, but you meet only a very small slice of the class, and I wouldn't let that outweigh the other factors you need to consider in evaluating the school. (I visited three schools and while I didn't attend the one I had disliked most at ASW, it was because it didn't fit my other needs, not because of the atmosphere. And I didn't attend the school whose atmosphere I liked best for the same reasons - ended up at the school in the middle, and it was fine.)

Being in Phoenix can be a bit of an advantage for working in Phoenix ultimately, since you can work/intern/network during the school year as well as during the summers, but in your case I would imagine it will depend on how much that outweighs not having to dispose of your house and making sure your wife can transfer. If your COA at ASU really will be limited to $4k a year I think that's close enough to the full ride that if you really prefer ASU, it's not unreasonable to take it - $16k in debt is really not a burden in the grand scheme of things. (Though make sure that takes into account interest and tuition increases.)

Surprising because if you're going to go to law school you should do a level a research to know that one of those doesn't exist (as a stand alone practice, employment law obviously would incorporate it) and the other one is going to be near impossible to get into from a school ranked 40 by US and news (at least in a way most people are expecting). Disgusting was too strong a word, obnoxious would've been more accurate but really it's not important. I don't know why I went off on that rant, It must have been later than I thought. Generally what other people want to do doesn't bother me, I guess I was just impressed with the potential student body at ASU but not as much the UofA.

Thanks for the advice. UofA is a sure thing so I guess it comes down to is ASU that much better to justify the risk?

Oh, I misunderstood you - I get what you mean now.

It's funny because I applied to U of A and at my ASW it was all cool, thoughtful, nontrads. But that was a long time ago now, and different classes vary a lot (the year below mine at the school I ended up at turned out to be very K-JD and super neurotic - like even profs commented on this). But even so, you can find people you click with, and given that you have a wife and a house I'm assuming you're not going to be relying on the law school for your social life.

[ponderingmeerkat]

Someone asked this question a month or two ago and got a response from an attorney practicing in Tucson. For that perspective:

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... e#p9196839

[johnrich1080]

Thanks for everyone's input!