IU-Indy w/full ride or Temple-Beasley at sticker price? Forum

[pawsandlaws]

I was recently accepted to both Temple Beasley Law and IU-Indianapolis. I received a full merit scholarship from IU-Indy but no money from Temple. I would be in-state at Temple, so I could probably swing paying for it with only the 20k Direct Fed loan. My total loans at Temple would be about 60k, while at Indy I would more than likely graduate debt-free. Is it worth it to go to a T2 school over a T1 school for the money? What are my chances at a decent job post-grad? I'm not necessarily interested in big law, but I would like to keep my options open as much as possible. Help!

(**As a side note, I also got into Rutgers with close to a full merit scholarship - is this the better choice over both of these schools listed above?)

[AJordan]

At that level of school, debt management should be the first consideration. Both schools place in their local areas, but the salaries are certainly not guaranteed. Temple would give you a better shot at biglaw but it's by no means a good shot. Their BL+FC rate is hovering around 20%. You're also in a major metropolitan area that is dealing with grads from a T13 and a ~peer T2 in Villanova. There is more work but there is significantly more competition.

In Indianapolis you're mainly competing with Maurer students and others who transplanted elsewhere. You have a leg up in one way because McKinney is literally in the middle of Indy and Maurer is a 90 minute drive away. Still, the IU alumni base is stronger throughout the state and you will compete for jobs there as well. McKinney's BL+FC rate is negligible but folks I know who went there say that there is regular lawyer work placement ability for students who do well. That's obviously no guarantee. One thing I was always curious about re: McKinney (it was my safety) was how they are placing 20%+ consistently in JD-preferred positions. I would've asked them for a list of those positions and a few contacts before I went there. Only slightly more than half of their grads are working as bar-required lawyers and that scared me.

With all of that said, IU McKinney is, imo, a better option of the two because it's free. Indy COL is low and there are jobs to be had and lower levels of competition. You will want to be located in Indy for a good period of time, though, and if that's not in the cards I would try some other things. Have you applied to Villanova? Do Temple and Nova compete for students? Is there some middle ground you could use to grab money from Temple? Could you retake the LSAT?

[Npret]

Where do you want to live?
Why did you chose these schools?
For what it’s wirth, Rutgers is the only one of those three I’ve ever heard of - but I don’t think it’s reputation is that good.

You said you don’t want big law, but do you have any idea what you want?

[Npret]

Sorry for the typo, I answer these mostly from my phone.

I think if you don’t want to live in Indiana and you don’t have ties there, you should that school off the list.

[pawsandlaws]

At that level of school, debt management should be the first consideration. Both schools place in their local areas, but the salaries are certainly not guaranteed. Temple would give you a better shot at biglaw but it's by no means a good shot. Their BL+FC rate is hovering around 20%. You're also in a major metropolitan area that is dealing with grads from a T13 and a ~peer T2 in Villanova. There is more work but there is significantly more competition.

In Indianapolis you're mainly competing with Maurer students and others who transplanted elsewhere. You have a leg up in one way because McKinney is literally in the middle of Indy and Maurer is a 90 minute drive away. Still, the IU alumni base is stronger throughout the state and you will compete for jobs there as well. McKinney's BL+FC rate is negligible but folks I know who went there say that there is regular lawyer work placement ability for students who do well. That's obviously no guarantee. One thing I was always curious about re: McKinney (it was my safety) was how they are placing 20%+ consistently in JD-preferred positions. I would've asked them for a list of those positions and a few contacts before I went there. Only slightly more than half of their grads are working as bar-required lawyers and that scared me.

With all of that said, IU McKinney is, imo, a better option of the two because it's free. Indy COL is low and there are jobs to be had and lower levels of competition. You will want to be located in Indy for a good period of time, though, and if that's not in the cards I would try some other things. Have you applied to Villanova? Do Temple and Nova compete for students? Is there some middle ground you could use to grab money from Temple? Could you retake the LSAT?

To answer your question, I applied to Nova but they also didn't offer me much money. My costs would be higher there than Temple because of its higher sticker price as a private institution. I have talked to Temple about increasing my aid and inquired about any need-based grants I could receive. They are very helpful in financial aid and seem to be willing to help me acquire some institution funded need-based grants. My concern with this is that my need may change as time goes on and I can't predict my costs after 1L. The things I like about Indiana are the low COL, "calmer" city feeling as a midwestern city, and my husband is trained in the race-mechanic industry, so that was a big selling point on Indy. I'm interested in working for a smaller firm in IP law or health law. My bachelor's degree is in math, so I'd like to do something that merges my technical background with my love of writing and analysis. Another selling point for Indy is the legal writing program that they have, as well as the highly ranked health program. I don't know how true these selling points are, but they caught my attention in the search process for a decent school that would align with my interests. My fears with Indy are that the school is lower-ranked and if I wanted to go somewhere else in the future it might be difficult to find a job. I would be willing to stay in Indy to get a few years of experience as an associate attorney before going somewhere else. Do you think after acquiring some good experience and performing well with a firm in Indy, my J.D. could become more "mobile"?

[rwhyAn]

OP, where do you live? If you live in PA, can you commute to either Temple or Rutgers? I'd rank the schools as follows: Temple > Rutgers > IU-Indy. None of these degrees are really portable. Plus, NJ is the only UBE state of the three, so if you want to move around from Indiana or PA, you'd likely have to take another bar exam. If you want to be in Indiana, go to IU-Indy, and go to Rutgers if you want to be in the PA/NJ area. I really don't see Temple as an option at the price they're asking. While Temple is a better school than Rutgers, it's definitely not worth $60K more. Your goal from any of these schools should be to go for as cheap as possible because the job options aren't great from any of them.