Lower-tier FULL TUITION v. Upper-tier PARTIAL (~30%) TUITION Forum

[sandy.smith.010186]

I have several full-tuition scholarships to schools that are ranked somewhat at the lower-end of the rankings (think: Hofstra, Pace Law, McGeorge, etc.), per US News. And I have offers from more upper-ranked schools (think: Pepperdine, USC, etc.) with partial scholarship (appx. $10K/year on avg. for upper-ranked schools). I do not have much interest in BigLaw. I am interested in public service (not public interest necessarily). I would like to work as a prosecutor, such as in the DA's office or as US Attorney. I'm interested in work at organizations like the Department of Justice or the EEOC, SEC, and etc.

What would you recommend? Take the schools with a bit of cache or a full-ride at a lower-ranked school?

[QContinuum]

Schools outside the T13/T20 generally only place in their local market. That means that it almost never makes sense to apply to non-T13/T20 schools in different states, unless you truly have no preference re: which state you'll spend the next few decades living & working in. There's really no point comparing, say, Pepperdine and Pace, because their students never compete for the same jobs.

It's also odd to me why you applied to an eclectic mix of schools all the way from the T20 to unranked (sub-T4) law schools.

If you want to have a reasonable shot at BigFed (DoJ/SEC/AUSA/etc.), you will need to attend a T13. USC might be a reasonable option, but not at near sticker.

[cavalier1138]

Yeah, it seems like you're set on California (except for the trash schools you named that are outside CA), but without more specifics, you're not going to get very clear advice. In general, a school like McGeorge would only be worth it if they paid you $50k a year to attend, in order to make up for scamming you out of three years of your life.

What I will say is that there's a massive gulf between working for a DA and working in a competitive federal position. The latter almost all require biglaw experience, and the former can often be snagged from a lower-ranked school (unless you're talking about the SF/LA/SD offices, which are likely to be much more competitive). But without knowing which schools you're talking about, your actual COA, and your stats, no on can give you more than a generic opinion on hiring.

[QContinuum]

Yeah, it seems like you're set on California (except for the trash schools you named that are outside CA), but without more specifics, you're not going to get very clear advice. In general, a school like McGeorge would only be worth it if they paid you $50k a year to attend, in order to make up for scamming you out of three years of your life.

What I will say is that there's a massive gulf between working for a DA and working in a competitive federal position. The latter almost all require biglaw experience, and the former can often be snagged from a lower-ranked school (unless you're talking about the SF/LA/SD offices, which are likely to be much more competitive). But without knowing which schools you're talking about, your actual COA, and your stats, no on can give you more than a generic opinion on hiring.

Good point about DA offices. I didn't put too much weight on that because every other possibility mentioned by OP related to BigFed. But you're right to clarify that non-SF/LA/SD DA offices are realistic from a lower-ranked school (though I still wouldn't recommend attending a T3 or below).

I would like to work as a prosecutor, such as in the DA's office or as US Attorney. I'm interested in work at organizations like the Department of Justice or the EEOC, SEC, and etc.

[objctnyrhnr]

If you attend a tttt and get lucky, you can be an assistant district attorney. However, that’s going to be your career unless you decide you want to move to a tiny defense firm.

In other words, sure you could be an ada from a tttt if you hit some luck (in my market, many more tttt graduates want to be adas than actually get offers to be adas).

The problem is that these graduates severely limit their options due to that, frankly, crap credential and they generally have trouble getting out to something decent. If you did not know this, most adas eventually want out...even those who gunned very hard to get in.

My two cents.

[QContinuum]

If you attend a tttt and get lucky, you can be an assistant district attorney. However, that’s going to be your career unless you decide you want to move to a tiny defense firm.

In other words, sure you could be an ada from a tttt if you hit some luck (in my market, many more tttt graduates want to be adas than actually get offers to be adas).

The problem is that these graduates severely limit their options due to that, frankly, crap credential and they generally have trouble getting out to something decent. If you did not know this, most adas eventually want out...even those who gunned very hard to get in.

My two cents.

To be fair, I don't think an ADA is a "crap" outcome for a T3/T4/unranked law school graduate. The "crap credential" is really the T3/T4/sub-T4 J.D., not the ADA gig. Grads from those schools are often lucky to land any legal work at all, and being an ADA isn't bad at all - certainly beats doc review.

But you're right to note that there isn't much further career "upside" for the typical ADA. ADAs aren't going to break into BigLaw or even midlaw.

[objctnyrhnr]

If you attend a tttt and get lucky, you can be an assistant district attorney. However, that’s going to be your career unless you decide you want to move to a tiny defense firm.

In other words, sure you could be an ada from a tttt if you hit some luck (in my market, many more tttt graduates want to be adas than actually get offers to be adas).

The problem is that these graduates severely limit their options due to that, frankly, crap credential and they generally have trouble getting out to something decent. If you did not know this, most adas eventually want out...even those who gunned very hard to get in.

My two cents.

To be fair, I don't think an ADA is a "crap" outcome for a T3/T4/unranked law school graduate. The "crap credential" is really the T3/T4/sub-T4 J.D., not the ADA gig. Grads from those schools are often lucky to land any legal work at all, and being an ADA isn't bad at all - certainly beats doc review.

But you're right to note that there isn't much further career "upside" for the typical ADA. ADAs aren't going to break into BigLaw or even midlaw.

Sorry to quickly clarify, I certainly meant (as stated above) that the crap (ie limiting) credential was the school. Being an ada for a couple/few years can actually be a great credential if you can combine it with a t14 (or even t20ish) alma Mater, a ssc or fed clerkship, and/or a stint in Biglaw.

The problem, as explained above, is that this is fairly difficult to do even when your school is good. To push back a bit on that last statement from the prior post, I do know of the occasional ada who has found their way into biglaw or midlaw in my market, but it certainly is not common and takes a good amount of hustle, luck, and otherwise very solid creds. But anyway, it’s tough as is, even with those things. Accordingly, It’ll be nearly impossible if you also have a tttt holding you down, which is the point that my fellow mod and I are both making here, I think.

[QContinuum]

Sorry to quickly clarify, I certainly meant (as stated above) that the crap (ie limiting) credential was the school. Being an ada for a couple/few years can actually be a great credential if you can combine it with a t14 (or even t20ish) alma Mater, a ssc or fed clerkship, and/or a stint in Biglaw.

The problem, as explained above, is that this is fairly difficult to do even when your school is good. To push back a bit on that last statement from the prior post, I do know of the occasional ada who has found their way into biglaw or midlaw in my market, but it certainly is not common and takes a good amount of hustle, luck, and otherwise very solid creds. But anyway, it’s tough as is, even with those things. Accordingly, It’ll be nearly impossible if you also have a tttt holding you down, which is the point that my fellow mod and I are both making here, I think.

Yes! Agreed. And thanks for clarifying my statement about ADAs and BigLaw/midlaw.