WVU law or Duquesne Law Forum

[bigoc50]

Okay so right now I have some applications pending in the pipeline with schools, however April 1st I have to decide on two schools. Duquesne or WVU. Both schools offered me merit scholarships for 3 years that are NOT conditional. WVU awarded me a $69,331 over 3 years. Duquesne offered me $75,000 over three years. Both tuitions come down to about the same price of about $15,000 a year. I live and am from the eastern part of PA. I want to eventually practice in PA, because I want to run for political office and want to create that hometown kid base.

However, I am having the toughest decision of what school to pay the deposit to hold a seat for just in case my other prospects fall through. April 1st is Duquesne deadline and WVU is April 3rd. They both hold their admitted students day on March 25. They are both relatively in the PIttsburgh area. Duquesne, seems to be better for PA jobs, as WVU seems to be vocally geared for practicing in West Virginia.

WVU school of law has a top 100 ranking, where Duquesne recently fell to 126. This is pretty scary to me, because does that mean a Duquesne law degree holds less weight than it did. Does WVU law degree even go further than the West Virginia border though despite a top 100 ranking. I know geography and region play an important role.

I just really need help deciding what school is better for paying a seat deposit as a safety school, because Duquesne deposit is $500 and WVU school of law is $150.

[DKM]

Have you applied to any PA schools in the eastern part of the state (Philly)? I'm from Pittsburgh and am pretty sure nobody hires from there except local firms. What are your stats?


Edited because of my dumb phone

[Rigo]

What do you want to do with your law degree? If you want to just get involved in politics, go do that and skip law school.

Rankings are meaningless at that level. Don't go to WVU if you want Pennsylvania. I'd argue that Duquesne doesn't make sense either though if you want Eastern PA and a school like that would likely be hyper-regional to Western PA. I don't know the local market well enough though to say definitively.

But where do you envision these schools leading you in your career?
Without knowing your score, you should retake too. Anything short of a full ride at these schools makes them a no-go honestly.

[bigoc50]

I applied to Temple, and Drexel. I am also waiting on Pitt and Penn State. Like I said, just waiting for applications in the pipeline. Hence why I may have to pay a seat deposit for one of these schools. Also, I am perfectly fine working local in the Pittsburgh area.

[bigoc50]

I want to practice law, hence why I want to go to law school I want to work in federal government, become a DA, and also be able to provide help to my church with immigration law.

Also, I did not ask for E. I can answer questions pertinent to choosing either Duquesne or WVU, but there is no option E on this, j/s.

[Johann]

duquesne. people likely view duquesne locally as the same or better than wvu. thats how it works most places.

[cavalier1138]

I want to practice law, hence why I want to go to law school I want to work in federal government, become a DA, and also be able to provide help to my church with immigration law.

Also, I did not ask for E. I can answer questions pertinent to choosing either Duquesne or WVU, but there is no option E on this, j/s.

So... guess what things an ADA doesn't do. Hint: the answer rhymes with "shmimmigration shlaw". Additionally, district attorneys work for the state government, not the federal government. And you first mentioned running for office, which has apparently dropped out of your plan in the space of a few hours.

So overall, it seems like you want to go to law school to be a superhero and/or do something that is completely impossible to do with a JD.

Also, no one proposed option E. You gave two options. People proposed option C. C comes after A and B. Both of these schools will give you a solid chance at not being a practicing lawyer after graduating, and neither of them set you up for a political career. My suggestion would be to actually research the career you want, because you clearly haven't looked into it in any level of detail. Once you actually understand your career options, people will be able to provide you with better guidance about picking schools.

[mjb447]

Don't ask law students/attorneys for help and expect them not to issue-spot, j/s.

[bmathers]

This is pretty scary to me, because does that mean a Duquesne law degree holds less weight than it did.

No. No. and No. Rankings are irrelevant to employers, especially those familiar with the school, outside of maybe the Top 14 schools. Don't allow the rankings to sway your decision one bit between these two schools, just don't do it. A drop by Duquesne means absolutely nothing.

[bmathers]

Btw, Duquesne has produced many fine attorneys. Anecdotally, the namesake of Drexel's law school (Thomas Kline) is a Duquesne grad. There are Duquesne grads all over the state and it is a respected school by employers. Is it going to be as easy to get inside of Philly as a Philly school? Of coarse not. However, Duquesne is fine to generally work in PA -- someone's not going to get fired for taking a chance with a new attorney from Duquesne.

Now,, the questions becomes, how much are you comfortable with paying? I would retake and try to get a full tuition waiver before depositing with them.