Top Law Schools

Just that...am I crazy to pick Loyola over Emory and UC Irvine? I got basically equal scholarships at each school, all around 100k. I am also waitlisted at UCLA, which I would choose over the other schools. I currently live in LA and want to practice in the area. I am a fairly accomplished musician, was signed and toured and all that, and want to go into entertainment law, specifically dealing with music. Is it dumb to take location and network over such a big difference in ranking? Irvine was tempting but they just don't have the strong LA network that Loyola does since they are so new. Emory has a transactional certificate which is also interesting, but also don't place in CA very well. Any advice/support for my decision is appreciated!

violinguy27 wrote:Just that...am I crazy to pick Loyola over Emory and UC Irvine? I got basically equal scholarships at each school, all around 100k. I am also waitlisted at UCLA, which I would choose over the other schools. I currently live in LA and want to practice in the area. I am a fairly accomplished musician, was signed and toured and all that, and want to go into entertainment law, specifically dealing with music. Is it dumb to take location and network over such a big difference in ranking? Irvine was tempting but they just don't have the strong LA network that Loyola does since they are so new. Emory has a transactional certificate which is also interesting, but also don't place in CA very well. Any advice/support for my decision is appreciated!

How much debt will you be in at each? Include tuition, room and board, accumulated interest, loan origination fees, tuition increases, summer cost of living, etc. Everything.

And what do you mean by entertainment law?

I'm not sure what a transactional certificate is but whatever it is it'll make a 0% difference in your job prospects.

violinguy27 wrote:Just that...am I crazy to pick Loyola over Emory and UC Irvine? I got basically equal scholarships at each school, all around 100k. I am also waitlisted at UCLA, which I would choose over the other schools. I currently live in LA and want to practice in the area. I am a fairly accomplished musician, was signed and toured and all that, and want to go into entertainment law, specifically dealing with music. Is it dumb to take location and network over such a big difference in ranking? Irvine was tempting but they just don't have the strong LA network that Loyola does since they are so new. Emory has a transactional certificate which is also interesting, but also don't place in CA very well. Any advice/support for my decision is appreciated!

If it doesnt cost too much to go to Loyola I think you're making a good call here. I know they have a really great alum network and if you are dead set on working in LA the networking ops will be great there compared to Emory/ UCI. Agree with above though, depends on your COA and other factors too? Do you have a scholarship of any sort to any of these places?

BigZuck wrote:

violinguy27 wrote:Just that...am I crazy to pick Loyola over Emory and UC Irvine? I got basically equal scholarships at each school, all around 100k. I am also waitlisted at UCLA, which I would choose over the other schools. I currently live in LA and want to practice in the area. I am a fairly accomplished musician, was signed and toured and all that, and want to go into entertainment law, specifically dealing with music. Is it dumb to take location and network over such a big difference in ranking? Irvine was tempting but they just don't have the strong LA network that Loyola does since they are so new. Emory has a transactional certificate which is also interesting, but also don't place in CA very well. Any advice/support for my decision is appreciated!

How much debt will you be in at each? Include tuition, room and board, accumulated interest, loan origination fees, tuition increases, summer cost of living, etc. Everything.

And what do you mean by entertainment law?

I'm not sure what a transactional certificate is but whatever it is it'll make a 0% difference in your job prospects.

Total debt will be around $120k at each before accrued interest, give or take $5k depending on the school (~$50k total tuition plus living). I'm not including a paid internship if I would be lucky enough to get one.

Entertainment law can mean a lot of things. In my case, it would mean an end goal of working in-house at a music label, publishing company, or something similar. I would need a few years at a firm, not necessarily big law, to get into that. I already have a pretty good network built up of contacts in the industry.

And it is a transactional law certificate, meaning a series of transactional law courses that you've specialized in. I wouldn't say that it means 0% as it actually has a pretty strong reputation. Given that I'm looking to do transactional work, it may help bolster my resume.

violinguy27 wrote: And it is a transactional law certificate, meaning a series of transactional law courses that you've specialized in. I wouldn't say that it means 0% as it actually has a pretty strong reputation. Given that I'm looking to do transactional work, it may help bolster my resume.

Where have you heard that a transactional law certificate has a "pretty strong reputation" outside of Emory's publicity materials?

But I agree with the other posters. If you don't want to retake for money at a school that places better in entertainment law, Loyola will at least keep you in LA.

I'm not sure why you are calculating COA before accrued interest - it's all money you have to pay back anyway.

It seems like you are leaving money on the table from Loyola here. 100K is not enough to justify it, IMO.

Emory doesn't make sense here simply because its an uphill battle to end up in LA to begin with. Loyola/UCI are better here, but you need to get more money from them. Kind of weird that they all have same scholarships for you.

should probably retake and go to ucla/usc with $$$$

Shootin wrote:Emory doesn't make sense here simply because its an uphill battle to end up in LA to begin with. Loyola/UCI are better here, but you need to get more money from them. Kind of weird that they all have same scholarships for you.

Right? I thought it was weird too. Unfortunately both are final offers. I'm probably going to end up attending Loyola although I may end up with buyers remorse not picking UCI.

violinguy27 wrote:

Shootin wrote:Emory doesn't make sense here simply because its an uphill battle to end up in LA to begin with. Loyola/UCI are better here, but you need to get more money from them. Kind of weird that they all have same scholarships for you.

Right? I thought it was weird too. Unfortunately both are final offers. I'm probably going to end up attending Loyola although I may end up with buyers remorse not picking UCI.

Yeah I hear a lot of good things about UCI. I might even lean slightly that way over Loyola, despite it being new and not in LA.

you were signed, right? talk to their legal dept and see what their hiring decision-making is like, and the caliber of students they hire.

also have a fall-back in case you don't go in-house music industry.

violinguy27 wrote:

BigZuck wrote:

violinguy27 wrote:Just that...am I crazy to pick Loyola over Emory and UC Irvine? I got basically equal scholarships at each school, all around 100k. I am also waitlisted at UCLA, which I would choose over the other schools. I currently live in LA and want to practice in the area. I am a fairly accomplished musician, was signed and toured and all that, and want to go into entertainment law, specifically dealing with music. Is it dumb to take location and network over such a big difference in ranking? Irvine was tempting but they just don't have the strong LA network that Loyola does since they are so new. Emory has a transactional certificate which is also interesting, but also don't place in CA very well. Any advice/support for my decision is appreciated!

How much debt will you be in at each? Include tuition, room and board, accumulated interest, loan origination fees, tuition increases, summer cost of living, etc. Everything.

And what do you mean by entertainment law?

I'm not sure what a transactional certificate is but whatever it is it'll make a 0% difference in your job prospects.

Total debt will be around $120k at each before accrued interest, give or take $5k depending on the school (~$50k total tuition plus living). I'm not including a paid internship if I would be lucky enough to get one.

Entertainment law can mean a lot of things. In my case, it would mean an end goal of working in-house at a music label, publishing company, or something similar. I would need a few years at a firm, not necessarily big law, to get into that. I already have a pretty good network built up of contacts in the industry.

And it is a transactional law certificate, meaning a series of transactional law courses that you've specialized in. I wouldn't say that it means 0% as it actually has a pretty strong reputation. Given that I'm looking to do transactional work, it may help bolster my resume.

I would say you are crazy to go to any of the three. Retake if you don't get into UCLA.