Notre Dame vs University of Wisconsin Forum

[trimm]

Tough choice to make in the next week.
I am prior Navy, so both schools are free, I scored a 164, with a 2.7 bio/Chem degree.
My immediate post law school goal is a clerkship or working in the state or federal government for a representative. Long term I would like to work in public policy/interest at the state or federal governemnt.
I visited ND and they have a specific program that I would be interested in.
I feel if I went to Wisconsin I would eventually just stay there after and work at the state capitol which wouldn't be a bad thing, but does ND have a better shot at getting me a job where I could have some positive influence on the community at the state or federal level.

One major draw to Wisconsin is that my wife just graduated with a DNP, nurse practitioner doctoral degree, and Madison has several jobs all around six figures while in south bend the picture is a little more grim. She says it would only be temporary and she likes that we are only three hours from home in Michigan.

Kind of torn between the two and looking for a little advice, maybe from anyone who knows the area of had a similar decision to make.

Thank you

[Rigo]

Notre Dame.

[ndirish2010]

There are two major advantages for Wisconsin here:

1. If you intend to work in Wisconsin, you won't have to pass the Wisconsin bar
2. Madison offers quite a few government opportunities, whereas South Bend does not.

[mogwli]

ND on the whole will give you more employment opportunities than Wisconsin, just from comparing their employment stats. ND has much better clerkship #s, but UW did send 21% of their class to gov positions last year vs. ND's 13.4%. The difference might be self-selection though, with more N.D. kids able to get biglaw jobs so they took those instead.

Where would you like to end up long term? Wisconsin will get you Madison/Milwaukee most likely, ND will get you Chicago/Indiana.

[trimm]

I could see myself in Madison or Indianapolis working in the state government. I like that Madison does not require you to take the bar. But I love that ND, and later down the road Indianapolis, are only a couple hours for home for both my wife and I.

[Rigo]

I could see myself in Madison or Indianapolis working in the state government. I like that Madison does not require you to take the bar. But I love that ND, and later down the road Indianapolis, are only a couple hours for home for both my wife and I.

You could also just go to Lansing or Detroit if you wanted to with a ND degree. It has more mobility than a UW degree.

I just think there's a real value added with ND, and since they're both the same price, you should take advantage of that. The wife's job situation is a personal decision, but it's not like she has a job lined up in Madison so hopefully she can hustle and get something in Indiana or closeby in Michigan.

[Rigo]

You not having ties to Wisconsin is also a bit worrisome, but someone else can speak to that. Not sure if public sector is less insular than private sector or not.

[annet]

Dusting off my TLS account for this since I was passing through looking for numbers to help a 0L friend Current WI 3L with a job. Above replies are correct about ND. WI only has mobility if you're in the top 10-15%. Madison is flooded with more lawyers than it knows what to do with because so many people are here for a spouses' job and can't/won't leave. You'll be competing with a lot of people (like me) with strong WI ties. OTOH I can confirm you will have a great opportunity to work in state/local gov't to get your foot in the door if you come here, particularly during-semester internships.