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I've narrowed down my choices to Washington & Lee and Florida State. Obviously, W&L is the better school out of the two and when I visited, I fell in love with the school and the collegial environment. All things equal, I would choose W&L hands down. However, financial considerations are a thing.

Florida State has offered me a full tuition scholarship + $5k/yr stipend. W&L has offered me $40k/yr -- bringing tuition down to about $7k/yr.

In addition, there are obvious benefits that FSU Law has (being in the capital of Florida), and they have clinics that interest me. However, if I had to choose.. Virginia would be the state I'd rather end up in. I certainly won't want to be in the Deep South (which, by my standard, are the areas that don't get a fair winter). I imagine that COL is a bit lower in Lexington, VA than in Tallahassee. However, not enough to offset the difference in scholarship award.

Also, I'm feeling public interest but don't want to bind myself to that just yet... In case I decide I want to make good money sometime in law school.

So...... opinions? Please let me know if there's any additional info I can provide. Thanks for any help or insight!

Do you have any interests that are more specific than a vague tendency to PI work?

Short answer: if you don't want to end up in Florida, don't go to FSU. And things like clinics and climate should only be considered when you have two choices that are genuinely equal in all important aspects.

You prefer VA, and W&L won't be catastrophically expensive (albeit still pretty expensive when factoring COL), so it's the subjectively better option. Any specific ideas within PI?

I'm not sure of any specific field of PI I am interested in, if at all. I sense that I will have a better feel for what I'd like to do once I'm in law school.

More background info:

I am from GA, and just tired of the South. However, I think I could deal with working in FL/GA for a few years post-graduation and then attempting to move further north... My only fear is that I'll get stuck here, though.

lk7999 wrote:I'm not sure of any specific field of PI I am interested in, if at all. I sense that I will have a better feel for what I'd like to do once I'm in law school.

More background info:

I am from GA, and just tired of the South. However, I think I could deal with working in FL/GA for a few years post-graduation and then attempting to move further north... My only fear is that I'll get stuck here, though.

Listen OP, this should be really simple to understand. If you want to work in FL, FSU is a defensible choice. If you want to work in VA, W&L can be a defensible choice.

But if you think about "moving north" with either degree, you are going to be sorely mistaken when you struggle to find a job. These schools place in their respective states and pretty much nowhere else. If thats not cool with you, then I suggest you retake and reapply.

You said you'd rather live in VA, but does that mean you WANT to live there? It's a whole lot better than Florida panhandle Deep South, but it's still pretty southern outside of NOVA. Idk how tough it is to get a PI job in DC but that seems to be your best bet for moving "north."

The FSU offer sounds great for someone who wants to live in FL long term. Not so for you.

AT9 wrote:You said you'd rather live in VA, but does that mean you WANT to live there? It's a whole lot better than Florida panhandle Deep South, but it's still pretty southern outside of NOVA. Idk how tough it is to get a PI job in DC but that seems to be your best bet for moving "north."

The FSU offer sounds great for someone who wants to live in FL long term. Not so for you.

Virginia seems to be a fair compromise between the North and South for me. Perhaps I'm just not so sold on the idea that I'll be doomed to Florida/Georgia for the rest of my life if I choose FSU. Ahh the difficulties of being an indecisive person.

lk7999 wrote:

AT9 wrote:You said you'd rather live in VA, but does that mean you WANT to live there? It's a whole lot better than Florida panhandle Deep South, but it's still pretty southern outside of NOVA. Idk how tough it is to get a PI job in DC but that seems to be your best bet for moving "north."

The FSU offer sounds great for someone who wants to live in FL long term. Not so for you.

Virginia seems to be a fair compromise between the North and South for me. Perhaps I'm just not so sold on the idea that I'll be doomed to Florida/Georgia for the rest of my life if I choose FSU. Ahh the difficulties of being an indecisive person.

Just to be clear, you will be married to Virginia if you go to W&L. So make sure you are comfortable in Florida or Virginia for your career.

Why is it that you're not sold on that idea?

It seems reasonable that one would be in the respective state for a few years after graduating law school, if it is not among the T14 or so. However, it doesn't seem entirely reasonable that one would be unable to find a career outside of the state after a few years experience. Perhaps I'm ill-educated or maybe just not pessimistic enough but it's hard to sell me on that idea. Sorry if it seems like I'm combatting y'all's advice.. I certainly appreciate the advice I'm receiving.. Just trying to sort it out

lk7999 wrote:It seems reasonable that one would be in the respective state for a few years after graduating law school, if it is not among the T14 or so. However, it doesn't seem entirely reasonable that one would be unable to find a career outside of the state after a few years experience. Perhaps I'm ill-educated or maybe just not pessimistic enough but it's hard to sell me on that idea. Sorry if it seems like I'm combatting y'all's advice.. I certainly appreciate the advice I'm receiving.. Just trying to sort it out

It's not impossible but it's extremely hard, especially when the degree is from a regional school. Just be wary that if you think working in a small law firm in Virginia for a few years is gonna open doors elsewhere, because it's not and you be limited in what you can practice. Think local da office, personal injury work, etc.

lk7999 wrote:

AT9 wrote:You said you'd rather live in VA, but does that mean you WANT to live there? It's a whole lot better than Florida panhandle Deep South, but it's still pretty southern outside of NOVA. Idk how tough it is to get a PI job in DC but that seems to be your best bet for moving "north."

The FSU offer sounds great for someone who wants to live in FL long term. Not so for you.

Virginia seems to be a fair compromise between the North and South for me. Perhaps I'm just not so sold on the idea that I'll be doomed to Florida/Georgia for the rest of my life if I choose FSU. Ahh the difficulties of being an indecisive person.

You may not be so sold, but I assure you that the people who will be potentially hiring you are very much sold on this idea.

Thanks, y'all! I have decided on W&L .. Somehow, I finally feel comfortable with the choice, and I'm not going back and forth.

lk7999 wrote:Thanks, y'all! I have decided on W&L .. Somehow, I finally feel comfortable with the choice, and I'm not going back and forth.

Good luck! I just hope you are comfortable working in small firm/local da type stuff in VA for your career!

You do know that all of Florida isn't part of the "south" right? I mean south Florida is about as far away from the south culturally as you can get

grades?? wrote:

lk7999 wrote:Thanks, y'all! I have decided on W&L .. Somehow, I finally feel comfortable with the choice, and I'm not going back and forth.

Good luck! I just hope you are comfortable working in small firm/local da type stuff in VA for your career!

Only 27% of employed W&L grads were in VA in 2015. OP isn't going to walk into a biglaw job wherever s/he wants, but OP is hardly stuck in VA forever. Odds are that OP ends up somewhere other than VA.

https://www.lstreports.com/schools/wl/jobs/location/

RParadela wrote:You do know that all of Florida isn't part of the "south" right? I mean south Florida is about as far away from the south culturally as you can get

Yeah but FSU is in Tallahassee. OP could target south FL but still get stuck working in the half of the state that is southern as hell. Not that small-town VA is necessarily better.

AT9 wrote:
Yeah but FSU is in Tallahassee. OP could target south FL but still get stuck working in the half of the state that is southern as hell. Not that small-town VA is necessarily better.

Yeah, North Florida is redneck as hell. Lived pretty close to Tallahassee growing up - north of Gainesville, Florida is pretty much an extension of South Georgia. Tallahassee is a fine place to live, imo, but it's known to residents of other parts of Florida as "Tallanasty."

RParadela wrote:You do know that all of Florida isn't part of the "south" right? I mean south Florida is about as far away from the south culturally as you can get

Yeah but FSU is in Tallahassee. OP could target south FL but still get stuck working in the half of the state that is southern as hell. Not that small-town VA is necessarily better.[/quote]

I find it very unlikely OP would have trouble getting a job in south Florida at fsu. It's the largest legal market in Florida

Just to clarify... My qualm with the South is the climate at this point. I've learned to deal with rednecks by living in GA my whole life. The cultural thing is an issue... but the heat/lack of a winter season is worse to me.