Deciding between 2 Law Schools Forum

[mbern123]

St Johns Full Ride (top 80% of the class so as long as i stay out of the bottom 20% I retain it)
-90% employment rate at 10 months
-#43 in the nation for putting graduates in the 100 biggest law firms
-Huge alumni network at 16,000 grads
-96% two year bar passage rate
-LSTReports has 18% going into large firms
-Only bankruptcy LLM in the nation
-More clinics and more firms offer OCI than Uconn

Uconn: I would pay 11k a year
-93.8% employment at 10 months
-97.8% bar passage
-Better ranking on US news
-Hartford>Queens In my opinion
-Beautiful campus
-CT is home state
-Negotiated for additional scholarship money
-COL would be lower
-Better career services

So I am 2 weeks away from submitting my deposit to one of the two schools above. I want to do as close to biglaw as I can for a few years before moving to a mid-small/ sized firm. I would also settle for some PI/government work but would rather do big law and make a name for myself as well as $$$. As great as St johns sounds on paper, I am not sure how I feel about spending 3 years in queens and competing with students from Fordham, Columbia, Dozo, Brooklyn, NYU, Etc. I am confident in my abilities being able to interview and working hard enough to have a reputable law GPA but not as much competition in CT even though there are less overall jobs. Uconn seems comforting to me because I grew up in CT and would love to work in a stamford, hartford, bridgeport, greenwich firm. Or really anywhere in CT for that matter. however, I feel like i would be selling myself short if i didn't go to St johns because of the full ride and their ties in NY. NY seems like the best place to be a young lawyer. I can't really go wrong with either school and I am confident I will work hard enough to make it at either school. However, if someone with REAL CT or NY experience can help me decide between these 2 schools I would be very appreciative. Could really use some help here.

[cavalier1138]

The only acceptable price for either of these schools is free, but for your goals, neither school is an acceptable option. There is no such thing as "close to biglaw." There's biglaw, and there are small firms. In some jurisdictions, there are a handful of "midlaw" positions, but those are extremely rare and more difficult to land than a position at a big firm. And given your emphasis on making money, you're looking for a big firm (I'd probably drop the "making a name for yourself" ambition from the equation, because that's not something that you can reasonably assure in any career track).

The main issue is this misconception:

As great as St johns sounds on paper, I am not sure how I feel about spending 3 years in queens and competing with students from Fordham, Columbia, Dozo, Brooklyn, NYU, Etc. I am confident in my abilities being able to interview and working hard enough to have a reputable law GPA but not as much competition in CT even though there are less overall jobs.

There are very few (if any) big firm jobs in Connecticut. The few UConn students who get biglaw are almost all going to be going to NYC or Boston, where you will be competing with all the students from the T13, not just the local schools you're worried about. You're correct to identify that both of these schools are regional, but you're missing the fact that big firms in NYC hire from Berkeley, Duke, etc. long before they consider someone from St. Johns or UConn.

More importantly--your interviewing skills aside--you cannot guarantee a decent law school GPA by "working hard." Law school grades are on a mandatory curve, and no one thinks they're going to be in the bottom half (or in the case of these schools, the bottom 80-90%) of the class until they are.

What are your current numbers? If you want biglaw, your best course of action is likely to retake the LSAT, but without knowing your current stats, it's hard to give precise details about how much money/opportunity you're leaving on the table.

[mbern123]

The only acceptable price for either of these schools is free, but for your goals, neither school is an acceptable option. There is no such thing as "close to biglaw." There's biglaw, and there are small firms. In some jurisdictions, there are a handful of "midlaw" positions, but those are extremely rare and more difficult to land than a position at a big firm. And given your emphasis on making money, you're looking for a big firm (I'd probably drop the "making a name for yourself" ambition from the equation, because that's not something that you can reasonably assure in any career track).

The main issue is this misconception:

As great as St johns sounds on paper, I am not sure how I feel about spending 3 years in queens and competing with students from Fordham, Columbia, Dozo, Brooklyn, NYU, Etc. I am confident in my abilities being able to interview and working hard enough to have a reputable law GPA but not as much competition in CT even though there are less overall jobs.

There are very few (if any) big firm jobs in Connecticut. The few UConn students who get biglaw are almost all going to be going to NYC or Boston, where you will be competing with all the students from the T13, not just the local schools you're worried about. You're correct to identify that both of these schools are regional, but you're missing the fact that big firms in NYC hire from Berkeley, Duke, etc. long before they consider someone from St. Johns or UConn.

More importantly--your interviewing skills aside--you cannot guarantee a decent law school GPA by "working hard." Law school grades are on a mandatory curve, and no one thinks they're going to be in the bottom half (or in the case of these schools, the bottom 80-90%) of the class until they are.

What are your current numbers? If you want biglaw, your best course of action is likely to retake the LSAT, but without knowing your current stats, it's hard to give precise details about how much money/opportunity you're leaving on the table.

Thanks for the response. For my own curiosity I have an additional question. You talk about the fact there are only big law and small firm positions. So just out of curiosity if my goal was say a small boutique firm in CT or NY. What is the better option?

[QContinuum]

Thanks for the response. For my own curiosity I have an additional question. You talk about the fact there are only big law and small firm positions. So just out of curiosity if my goal was say a small boutique firm in CT or NY. What is the better option?

But that's not what you want. Your OP was all about raking in $$$ and going to BigLaw. SmallLaw - whether in CT or NY - will pay in the mid-5 figures (or even less).

[Mullens]

Neither school gives you a reasonable chance of achieving your goals so you would be going very wrong by attending either school.

[LSATWiz.com]

The only acceptable price for either of these schools is free, but for your goals, neither school is an acceptable option. There is no such thing as "close to biglaw." There's biglaw, and there are small firms. In some jurisdictions, there are a handful of "midlaw" positions, but those are extremely rare and more difficult to land than a position at a big firm. And given your emphasis on making money, you're looking for a big firm (I'd probably drop the "making a name for yourself" ambition from the equation, because that's not something that you can reasonably assure in any career track).

The main issue is this misconception:

As great as St johns sounds on paper, I am not sure how I feel about spending 3 years in queens and competing with students from Fordham, Columbia, Dozo, Brooklyn, NYU, Etc. I am confident in my abilities being able to interview and working hard enough to have a reputable law GPA but not as much competition in CT even though there are less overall jobs.

There are very few (if any) big firm jobs in Connecticut. The few UConn students who get biglaw are almost all going to be going to NYC or Boston, where you will be competing with all the students from the T13, not just the local schools you're worried about. You're correct to identify that both of these schools are regional, but you're missing the fact that big firms in NYC hire from Berkeley, Duke, etc. long before they consider someone from St. Johns or UConn.

More importantly--your interviewing skills aside--you cannot guarantee a decent law school GPA by "working hard." Law school grades are on a mandatory curve, and no one thinks they're going to be in the bottom half (or in the case of these schools, the bottom 80-90%) of the class until they are.

What are your current numbers? If you want biglaw, your best course of action is likely to retake the LSAT, but without knowing your current stats, it's hard to give precise details about how much money/opportunity you're leaving on the table.

Thanks for the response. For my own curiosity I have an additional question. You talk about the fact there are only big law and small firm positions. So just out of curiosity if my goal was say a small boutique firm in CT or NY. What is the better option?

It's very difficult to get boutique law firms coming out of law school, because their business model rarely allows them to train young lawyers on the go. The reason it works in big law is that the business model allows them to get away with billing $400/hour for work that could probably be done by a secretary for a fraction of the cost. In smaller practices, this doesn't happen and boutique law firms tend to be very lightly staffed.

[beinghuman]

I agree with all of the above and would really caution you from attending these schools. A full ride or very high scholarship might be tempting and make you feel that you'd be able to work hard and do well but that's not necessarily the case. The stats you provide (90% employment, or # 34, etc) are irrelevant because the outcomes are generally bad from these schools. I have a friend who went to a similar school on a full ride, thought he'd d be on top of his class but ended being top 20% and that meant no big law for him and he deeply regrets his choice - everyone told him not to do it. So given your aspirations, those schools are very risky. Either retake or find another career path.

St Johns Full Ride (top 80% of the class so as long as i stay out of the bottom 20% I retain it)
-90% employment rate at 10 months
-#43 in the nation for putting graduates in the 100 biggest law firms
-Huge alumni network at 16,000 grads
-96% two year bar passage rate
-LSTReports has 18% going into large firms
-Only bankruptcy LLM in the nation
-More clinics and more firms offer OCI than Uconn

Uconn: I would pay 11k a year
-93.8% employment at 10 months
-97.8% bar passage
-Better ranking on US news
-Hartford>Queens In my opinion
-Beautiful campus
-CT is home state
-Negotiated for additional scholarship money
-COL would be lower
-Better career services

So I am 2 weeks away from submitting my deposit to one of the two schools above. I want to do as close to biglaw as I can for a few years before moving to a mid-small/ sized firm. I would also settle for some PI/government work but would rather do big law and make a name for myself as well as $$$. As great as St johns sounds on paper, I am not sure how I feel about spending 3 years in queens and competing with students from Fordham, Columbia, Dozo, Brooklyn, NYU, Etc. I am confident in my abilities being able to interview and working hard enough to have a reputable law GPA but not as much competition in CT even though there are less overall jobs. Uconn seems comforting to me because I grew up in CT and would love to work in a stamford, hartford, bridgeport, greenwich firm. Or really anywhere in CT for that matter. however, I feel like i would be selling myself short if i didn't go to St johns because of the full ride and their ties in NY. NY seems like the best place to be a young lawyer. I can't really go wrong with either school and I am confident I will work hard enough to make it at either school. However, if someone with REAL CT or NY experience can help me decide between these 2 schools I would be very appreciative. Could really use some help here.