Urban vs. Small Town Law School Experience Forum

[schoolisfun]

Hey all,

I tried searching for an urban law campus vs rural/small town law campus thread but came up empty handed.

I think it might be fun to hear from those who attend(ed) law school in an urban environment or in a small town and what they liked or disliked about it.

My fear in attending school in a small town is the utter lack of people my age to socialize with outside of my law school class. Equally, living on a rural campus is typically cheaper and I wouldn't want to pass up a great offer because the school isn't in a decent sized metro area. Will I be studying so much that I never have much time to see the city anyways?

I am interested in public interest/DA/PD.

Let me know about your experience!

Thanks!

[cavalier1138]

The reason you aren't finding much information on this topic is that it's utterly meaningless. Law school is not undergrad. You aren't going for the vibrant campus or the athletic community. You're going to law school to get a job.

So if you want to do local-level PI, then go to a good school in the area of the country you want to practice in. If that's Iowa, then go to Iowa. If it's Chicago, then go to DePaul/Loyola. And sweeten the deal by getting a decent LSAT and not paying for it.

But the only thing less important than whether the campus is urban/small-towny is whether or not the athletic facilities include a lazy river.

[joeyc328]

But the only thing less important than whether the campus is urban/small-towny is whether or not the athletic facilities include a lazy river.

Attractiveness of undergraduates also comes into play here

[schoolisfun]

The reason you aren't finding much information on this topic is that it's utterly meaningless. Law school is not undergrad. You aren't going for the vibrant campus or the athletic community. You're going to law school to get a job.

So if you want to do local-level PI, then go to a good school in the area of the country you want to practice in. If that's Iowa, then go to Iowa. If it's Chicago, then go to DePaul/Loyola. And sweeten the deal by getting a decent LSAT and not paying for it.

But the only thing less important than whether the campus is urban/small-towny is whether or not the athletic facilities include a lazy river.

I disagree that location is completely meaningless. Three years is a long time to spend in an area, even if most of one's time is spent in an academic setting. However, I appreciate the feedback.

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

[cavalier1138]

The reason you aren't finding much information on this topic is that it's utterly meaningless. Law school is not undergrad. You aren't going for the vibrant campus or the athletic community. You're going to law school to get a job.

So if you want to do local-level PI, then go to a good school in the area of the country you want to practice in. If that's Iowa, then go to Iowa. If it's Chicago, then go to DePaul/Loyola. And sweeten the deal by getting a decent LSAT and not paying for it.

But the only thing less important than whether the campus is urban/small-towny is whether or not the athletic facilities include a lazy river.

I disagree that location is completely meaningless. Three years is a long time to spend in an area, even if most of one's time is spent in an academic setting. However, I appreciate the feedback.

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

I didn't say that location was meaningless. Location is very important, especially when you get out of the T14. Location is absolutely crucial.

But whether or not a school is in a small town or a big city is absolutely, 100%, unbelievably irrelevant in choosing a law school. You might as well place weight on whether or not the admissions officer you talk to on the phone has a friendly voice.

[unsweetened]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

[schoolisfun]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

Many law students say the workload is highly over exaggerated.

[ronanOgara]

The reason you aren't finding much information on this topic is that it's utterly meaningless. Law school is not undergrad. You aren't going for the vibrant campus or the athletic community. You're going to law school to get a job.

So if you want to do local-level PI, then go to a good school in the area of the country you want to practice in. If that's Iowa, then go to Iowa. If it's Chicago, then go to DePaul/Loyola. And sweeten the deal by getting a decent LSAT and not paying for it.

But the only thing less important than whether the campus is urban/small-towny is whether or not the athletic facilities include a lazy river.

I disagree that location is completely meaningless. Three years is a long time to spend in an area, even if most of one's time is spent in an academic setting. However, I appreciate the feedback.

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

I didn't say that location was meaningless. Location is very important, especially when you get out of the T14. Location is absolutely crucial.

But whether or not a school is in a small town or a big city is absolutely, 100%, unbelievably irrelevant in choosing a law school. You might as well place weight on whether or not the admissions officer you talk to on the phone has a friendly voice.

Only way it has any relevance is if you've lived in one setting your entire life and the transition would be too much for you. I've seen some people--law students and friends finding jobs--who lived in the country their whole life, go to the city and break down (and vice versa). If that's the case, law school may be too much for you anyway.

[champloo]

I've lived in a rural area for my 1L year and transferred to a school in a large city and just finished my 2L year. Biggest difference = it's much easier to catch dragonites, snorlaxes, and gyaradoses in a large city. Don't want to get stuck with only pidgeys and rattatas. Don't be a loser, go to school in a large city.

[w00kash]

Your biggest worry is deciding PD vs DA. If it's truly a toss-up, I highly recommend doing PD first since many PD offices won't hire someone with DA experience, but the reverse is not as common. Secondly, DA/PD jobs vary wildly between urban offices and rural offices. It's like a completely different world from office to office in some cases. So in that sense, urban vs rural could sometInes matter. As for law school, all things being equal it's nice to be in a city-ish type of place. However, it should be way down on your priority list unless you have other significant factors like a spouse that needs to be closer to the city for their job.

[landshoes]

Have you taken the LSAT yet?

[hipcatdaddio]

I think there's minimal, but some value to this. If you're happier in one location, you'll likely be inclined to work a little harder. Ultimately, you should go to a school that places in your geographical preference, but if there's two schools with similar placement in your target locale, and the only difference is urban v. rural, I personally prefer a more small town location because it suits my pace better. I'm not much for noise, or public transportation. I prefer to be alone, in my car, when I'm getting to/from places (not sitting in traffic). I knew that I'd be unhappy in a more urban location. It's bad enough that you're not going to be in the best of moods going to the law school each morning, but you shouldn't be in a bad mood going home as well.

That being said, there's usually more opportunities for networking in an urban environment, and of course, typically more to do. I also think that there's plenty of time to do things around city/town/campus if you want. Getting good grades doesn't require spending forever in the library. Just have discipline and don't procrastinate. Just my $0.02.

[cavalier1138]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

Many law students say the workload is highly over exaggerated.

Where are they, and how well did they place in their class?

[unsweetened]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

Many law students say the workload is highly over exaggerated.

Many law students exaggerate how little work they do.

I guess if the goal is just get by taking easy classes with minimal effort, that's completely possible. Throw in stuff like journal, moot, student leadership, and working, then time dries up pretty quick. I get that you're probably saying that workload is pretty subjective, but LS is a lot more work than UG.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

Many law students say the workload is highly over exaggerated.

Many law students exaggerate how little work they do.

I think this is probably true, especially on TLS, especially for 2L and 3L years. But lots of people do exaggerate the workload. You do not have to live in the library or give up normal human interactions and activities. You just need to be organized and have some discipline.

[BigZuck]

Law school isn't that much work (especially 2L and 3L years) unless you want to make it that much work for yourself. It can be all the work that you want it to be. That's totally on you. Grinders gonna grind, etc.

OP- This really doesn't matter. I mean, it can be a tie breaker if you want it to be once you find 2 schools that offer the exact same career outcomes for the exact same cost. I can almost guarantee that you're not going to find two schools that are exactly equal in those regards though.

[DrSpaceman]

You guys are all high. I go to GULC, and living in a big city for law school is great. You will do stuff other than law school-- hell, you've got to if you want to retain your sanity. And having access to the things you like to do is crucial.

That goes both ways, of course; some people love small town life.

Obviously, if you're looking at some skewed value proposition with the cost or job placement between two schools, that's more important. But OP is not fucking up by taking quality of life into account.

[landshoes]

He is if he doesn't already have a strong, strong preference and hasn't even applied anywhere yet.

If he were the type of person who is OBSESSED, OBSESSED, OBSESSED with big city life he'd already know it. And he'd still be silly not to apply to Michigan, because getting into Michigan might end up helping him get a decent scholarship at GULC.

[DrSpaceman]

And he'd still be silly not to apply to Michigan, because getting into Michigan might end up helping him get a decent scholarship at GULC.

This is also a very good point.

[HonestAdvice]

The reality is if you are an extrovert then your performance is going to be altered by the people around you so it matters. If you're an introvert then it won't. Being in a shit town with none of your friends will force you to befriend law students, which makes it impossible not to think about law school all the time. This is good if you're easily distracted, but bad if you're high strung.

[Glasseyes]

Does anyone else have some perspective on this?

Doesn't matter. LOL @ having time to interact with people outside of LS.

Many law students say the workload is highly over exaggerated.

Many of those same students are also (a) much smarter than you (not singling you out; they're also much smarter than me), (b) highly efficient students with insanely effective study habits (tons of kids with 4.0 UGPAs in law school), or, conversely, lazy and destined for the bottom half of the curve.

Look, you'll have time to go out at night and time to do shit on the weekends, especially once you get better at law school. The reason this question isn't particularly helpful is because it's pretty damn obvious what the differences are, and only you know if that difference matters to you. Sounds like you'd prefer an urban setting. Wonderful. Choose GULC or NU over Cornell; problem solved.