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[I've decided not to aim for higher tier schools for the following reasons: I am not interested in working "big law" or going into academia. The thought of a federal clerkship is nice, but not a dealbreaker. I, as will be explained below, plan on working in Nevada no matter what.]

I'd like to get opinions for me going to UNLV Law School (Boyd).

I'm a born-and-raised Nevadan (from Reno), and would be happy practicing anywhere in the state. I figure I'd end up coming back to NV regardless of what law school I end up attending. My ideal scenario is to do some sort of state-level judicial clerkship after graduation. Especially with the Nevada Supreme Court, any of our appellate courts, or one of our state district courts. That said, I would also be willing to clerk in a county or municipal level court. After clerking, I'd want to work as a government lawyer in any capacity (including as a public defender, counsel, or staff attorney), for a court, or for a small-sized law firm in Nevada.

One of the reasons why Boyd Law interests me is the networking opportunities with in-state employers. For my summer experiences/semester externships, I've heard about opportunities that the Nevada AG's office and Clark County District Attorney's office offer. Washoe County also offers internships with the Public Defenders' office, and I actually know some of the folks there so getting a position wouldn't be that hard. I would try to network with as many lawyers and judges as possible during my time at law school and keep up with existing connections for employment prospects down the road.

My current UGPA is 3.973. Even if I get straight B's this semester, the worst it will end up being is 3.804. I am taking the LSAT in January, and have been preparing for a while. UNLV's 75th percentile LSAT is 160, so my aim is to get at a 161+ to maximize scholarship money. I'm not taking that for granted though and and prepared to retake in March or June if need be.

Be as honest as possible. I don't want to make a decision I'll end up regretting down the road, so any feedback is welcome. Critique my thought process, goals, and anything else! Thanks so much.

First, let me say that it's true that many of your desired outcomes - Nevada state court clerkship, Nevada small law, Nevada public defender - are achievable from UNLV. That said, I still don't think attending UNLV is the best choice for you. Consider:

• While UNLV will afford you opportunities to network with local employers - in some cases (e.g., Nevada small law), even more opportunities than you'd get by attending a higher-ranked school out of state - attending UNLV is still risky, because 25% of its 2017 graduates (the most recent year for which data are available) struck out of practicing law. I don't mean BigLaw or federal clerkships. I mean a full quarter of the class ended up not finding full-time, long-term, bar passage-required jobs. That's a sobering figure.
• You have a terrific GPA. If you also do well on the LSAT, you will likely receive a full-tuition scholarship at UNLV, which will help mitigate your risk somewhat. But consider: You'll still be investing 3 years of your life (including the opportunity costs and lost earnings that entails). And once you have a J.D., you're locked in - you won't get to "redo" law school. If you end up in the 25% of graduates who aren't able to secure legal work, your hoped-for legal career will be toast.
• Given your terrific GPA, the only limit on your law school admissions performance is your LSAT score. If you buckle down and do well on the LSAT, with a 3.9+ you'd be in a position to land huge scholarships, potentially up to full-tuition, at the T13. This isn't about attending UNLV vs. a T1, or even a T20. If you're able to attend a T13 for free or very little money, why would you preemptively limit your opportunities by attending a T2 instead?
• Back to networking: If you attend a T13 out of state, it's true that you'll have less opportunity to network with local attorneys in NV during school. BUT you'll still be able to network with them during breaks (law school's really only in session about half the calendar year). And given your Nevada roots, there's no way you won't be able to secure a great NV job if you attend a T13. In fact, attending a T13 will maximize your likelihood not only of securing a federal clerkship, but a NV state clerkship as well. You won't be clerking on the NV Supreme Court as a median UNLV grad, but could very likely obtain such a clerkship as a median T13 grad.
• Attending a T13 will also preserve your flexibility to practice in other states should you change your mind about staying in NV. As a UNLV grad, you'd pretty much be locked in (for practical purposes) to practicing in NV.

I want to be clear. I don't think attending UNLV at low or no cost is a bad choice for someone wanting to practice locally in NV. I just think that, in your case, attending a T13 at low or no cost is a much better choice for you. There are cases where my advice might be different: Say, if someone was an older applicant, with family reasons making it impracticable to attend school out of state. Or if someone were choosing between full rides at UNLV or an out-of-state T20-T50 (in which case UNLV's local connections would almost certainly outweigh the higher ranking of the out-of-state T1).

My advice, at this point: Get the best LSAT you can. Don't limit yourself with a goal in the low 160s. If you're able to achieve almost a 4.0, you can do better than a 161. Shoot for 170! You can do it.

QContinuum wrote:First, let me say that it's true that many of your desired outcomes - Nevada state court clerkship, Nevada small law, Nevada public defender - are achievable from UNLV. That said, I still don't think attending UNLV is the best choice for you. Consider:

• While UNLV will afford you opportunities to network with local employers - in some cases (e.g., Nevada small law), even more opportunities than you'd get by attending a higher-ranked school out of state - attending UNLV is still risky, because 25% of its 2017 graduates (the most recent year for which data are available) struck out of practicing law. I don't mean BigLaw or federal clerkships. I mean a full quarter of the class ended up not finding full-time, long-term, bar passage-required jobs. That's a sobering figure.
• You have a terrific GPA. If you also do well on the LSAT, you will likely receive a full-tuition scholarship at UNLV, which will help mitigate your risk somewhat. But consider: You'll still be investing 3 years of your life (including the opportunity costs and lost earnings that entails). And once you have a J.D., you're locked in - you won't get to "redo" law school. If you end up in the 25% of graduates who aren't able to secure legal work, your hoped-for legal career will be toast.
• Given your terrific GPA, the only limit on your law school admissions performance is your LSAT score. If you buckle down and do well on the LSAT, with a 3.9+ you'd be in a position to land huge scholarships, potentially up to full-tuition, at the T13. This isn't about attending UNLV vs. a T1, or even a T20. If you're able to attend a T13 for free or very little money, why would you preemptively limit your opportunities by attending a T2 instead?
• Back to networking: If you attend a T13 out of state, it's true that you'll have less opportunity to network with local attorneys in NV during school. BUT you'll still be able to network with them during breaks (law school's really only in session about half the calendar year). And given your Nevada roots, there's no way you won't be able to secure a great NV job if you attend a T13. In fact, attending a T13 will maximize your likelihood not only of securing a federal clerkship, but a NV state clerkship as well. You won't be clerking on the NV Supreme Court as a median UNLV grad, but could very likely obtain such a clerkship as a median T13 grad.
• Attending a T13 will also preserve your flexibility to practice in other states should you change your mind about staying in NV. As a UNLV grad, you'd pretty much be locked in (for practical purposes) to practicing in NV.

I want to be clear. I don't think attending UNLV at low or no cost is a bad choice for someone wanting to practice locally in NV. I just think that, in your case, attending a T13 at low or no cost is a much better choice for you. There are cases where my advice might be different: Say, if someone was an older applicant, with family reasons making it impracticable to attend school out of state. Or if someone were choosing between full rides at UNLV or an out-of-state T20-T50 (in which case UNLV's local connections would almost certainly outweigh the higher ranking of the out-of-state T1).

My advice, at this point: Get the best LSAT you can. Don't limit yourself with a goal in the low 160s. If you're able to achieve almost a 4.0, you can do better than a 161. Shoot for 170! You can do it.

Thanks so much! I hadn't considered some of these points. I guess we'll see what happens with the LSAT in January then.