Top Law Schools

Hi everyone,

I know it's still early in the cycle and I have some schools decision still pending, but I sorta have that gut feeling I will attend one of these schools that have already accepted me.

I am still waiting on Texas A&M, SMU, UH and OU and got waitlisted at Texas Tech, but the two choices I'm really debating right now is U of Denver with a decent scholarship that puts COA at a little over 30k/year and Oklahoma City Law, which I understand is unranked but has given me the best scholarship offer and will put COA at only $15k/year.

I am drawn to U of Denver's better ranking and am fascinated at the idea of moving and working in Colorado, but the debt scares me. Fortunately, I have never had student debt. I am not too excited about possibly attending OCU Law considering that it is not a great school anywhere outside Oklahoma or OKC, but financially I think that will be my best offer and I wouldn't mind working in OKC for a couple years. I wish I knew where I wanted to work after 3 years, so I guess i'm also drawn to Denver because of the relative flexibility and mobility of a Denver Law degree?

Everyone on here has been completely honest and supportive with me, so I have no issue being transparent about my financial situation in order to help me with a decision. After my last year of work this year, I will have close to $55k in savings which I plan to use for law school, but obviously try and keep as much as I can. My parents have said they will help me with some of my expenses, but I am not willing to ask for help with tuition money.

Between Denver Law and OCU Law, what do you guys think would be better given my situation? I have close to or less than a 50% chance at the other schools I mentioned, which is why I'm not too hopeful that I will be accepted at this point. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

I know nothing about either school but at least Denver is ranked.

If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

What are your current numbers? What are your career goals?

OCU is a hard no, but it's impossible to give better guidance without knowing your answers to those questions.

DU with money isn’t a terrible option for Colorado but it’s not really going to give you more flexibility/mobility.

acr wrote:If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

Why? I don't know the market, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between Colorado and Denver. I agree that schollys are needed

Eggs wrote:

acr wrote:If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

Why? I don't know the market, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between Colorado and Denver. I agree that schollys are needed

There isn’t much. I think you might need to be a bit higher up in your class at Denver for the good outcomes than at CU and DU’s bar passage rate has historically been lower than CU’s (sometimes quite a bit lower, though I think it’s gone up in recent years). But they both have strong networks in Colorado, and at each a small group will get biglaw/clerkships while most people will be looking at local jobs, smaller firms or local government, where connections, experience, and hustling will be key.

Let me be the first to encourage you to retake the LSAT and apply again next year. A few more points on the LSAT could be worth tends of thousands.
But if you must, Denver is a much better option than an unranked law school.

"The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price."