Public Interest Goal; help me decide! Forum

[Scutrules]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

PSU - Dickinson
25k/yr merit scholarship plus 10k/yr Public Interest Scholarship (total cost would be 15k/yr)
U Cincinnati
15k/yr scholarship, eligible for instate tuition (total cost would be 9k/yr)
Temple
25k/yr scholarship, may be able to apply for instate tuition after 12 months (taking tuition from ~40k to ~27k a year)

Got an email from Dickinson a few days ago with an offer to be a Public Interest Scholar. As mentioned above, it comes with a 10k/yr scholarship as long as I meet the requirements (10 hours of in-school volunteering/mentoring, representing the school at conferences, etc - all stuff I'd love to be a part of anyways). It also comes with a guaranteed offer for the Summer IOLTA Fellows Program (which also comes with a decent stipend). Basically, it guarantees I'd get to do all of the public interest stuff I'd love to do at any of these schools, and I'd get 10k a year for it!

I'm okay with the small town world and don't see that being a problem. I also like how close Dickinson is to Harrisburg. Temple is in an amazing location and the school itself has some incredible opportunities (and, if you take stock in US News, is ranked a fair bit higher) but they didn't seem as strong in public interest. I liked UCincy and they too have wonderful public interest programs but they are not guaranteed for me. A bird in the hand...

I'm leaning towards Dickinson, largely (but not solely) because of the guaranteed involvement and opportunities in Public Interest. This is what I want to do in the legal world and I find it difficult to consider passing up the opportunity even if it is to attend a higher ranked school at a lower cost. I can afford Dickinson without having to take out any loans so I will not have debt in any situation.

Does anyone here have experience or involvement in public interest while attending law school? Am I putting too much value in the public interest scholars program? Anything I'm not thinking of right now? All thoughts are appreciated! Thank you!

[beinghuman]

what kind of public interest do you want to do?

[Scutrules]

what kind of public interest do you want to do?

Children or DV based, ideally. But anything in that realm would be amazing.

[Scutrules]

I did just get a little turned off by the 509 report I just skimmed through (don't know how I missed this before..). Says that 45% were awarded more than full tuition. And that the 25th percentile scholarship award was 40k. With a GPA above the 50th percentile and an LSAT at 50th, I don't know how comfortable I feel seeing my measly 35K below the 25th percentile in scholarships... Anyone know how accurate this tends to be? I'd think extremely since it's ABA based but Drexel's 2017 tuition is listed at 0 dollars across the board so maybe it's not always super accurate.

Link for reference: https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/sites/defa ... on_Law.pdf

[beinghuman]

What's "children or DV" public interest?

what kind of public interest do you want to do?

Children or DV based, ideally. But anything in that realm would be amazing.

[beinghuman]

I'll be candid, I would not recommend anyone go to these schools. Outcomes are generally pretty bad from any one of them. 509 reports are official reports.

I did just get a little turned off by the 509 report I just skimmed through (don't know how I missed this before..). Says that 45% were awarded more than full tuition. And that the 25th percentile scholarship award was 40k. With a GPA above the 50th percentile and an LSAT at 50th, I don't know how comfortable I feel seeing my measly 35K below the 25th percentile in scholarships... Anyone know how accurate this tends to be? I'd think extremely since it's ABA based but Drexel's 2017 tuition is listed at 0 dollars across the board so maybe it's not always super accurate.

Link for reference: https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/sites/defa ... on_Law.pdf

[Scutrules]

I509 reports are official reports.

Official and accurate aren't the same thing though. I've definitely seen some inaccuracies in other reports that I know are factually incorrect.

[cavalier1138]

I509 reports are official reports.

Official and accurate aren't the same thing though. I've definitely seen some inaccuracies in other reports that I know are factually incorrect.

But why do you think any inaccuracies would be resolved in favor of the schools? (Also, any room for questioning the data would be in the employment section, because some students don't respond to the survey after graduation. The scholarship data is 100% accurate.)

I think if you want to work with local groups for DV victims or with a children's advocacy group (I'm assuming custody, because the local defenders will get the juvenile crimes), you can probably do it from any of these schools. And if Dickinson will leave you debt-free, go for it. But don't kid yourself into thinking that you're guaranteed a job as a full-time lawyer after graduation from any of these options.

[albanach]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

I'm curious. You appear to be regionally focused - so why would you remove OSU, the highest ranked school in Ohio?

[Wubbles]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

I'm curious. You appear to be regionally focused - so why would you remove OSU, the highest ranked school in Ohio?

There's a 99.99% chance that with OP's presumed stats OSU is significantly more expensive than the other options listed

[Scutrules]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

I'm curious. You appear to be regionally focused - so why would you remove OSU, the highest ranked school in Ohio?

The school just wasn't a good fit. I knew during my visit that I would be crossing the school off my list. Sometimes the stats can be great but the school just isn't the right fit.

[albanach]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

I'm curious. You appear to be regionally focused - so why would you remove OSU, the highest ranked school in Ohio?

There's a 99.99% chance that with OP's presumed stats OSU is significantly more expensive than the other options listed

Presuming, since they're in state for Cinci, that they're also in-state for OSU.I think tuition is only $30k/year which, for a school ranked #32, is pretty decent.

[albanach]

I've finally narrowed down my list to three schools! Yay! Took some decent contenders off my list (e.g. OSU and Baylor) and I'm happy with where I'm at. Now I'd like to see if my thoughts make sense. First off, my options:

I'm curious. You appear to be regionally focused - so why would you remove OSU, the highest ranked school in Ohio?

The school just wasn't a good fit. I knew during my visit that I would be crossing the school off my list. Sometimes the stats can be great but the school just isn't the right fit.

That's a fair point - I'd never encourage someone to attend a school that isn't a good fit. Equally, you need to attend a school that has a good chance of delivering your future employment goals.

Public Interest law is very competitive. School rank may matter less than for BigLaw (when we're talking about small-town indigent representation as opposed to national issue stuff like ACLU or high profile locations like SPLC or the Bronx Defenders) but it still matters, particularly if you can't find an opening at one of the locations you intern in through school.

That said, geography is also important and should be a big factor in choosing schools outside the T-14

[QContinuum]

That's a fair point - I'd never encourage someone to attend a school that isn't a good fit. Equally, you need to attend a school that has a good chance of delivering your future employment goals.

I certainly agree fit is important, but 1) at some point, placement strength differs to such an extent that it's worth sucking up a "bad fit," and 2) moreover, admissions visits/weekends/etc. don't necessarily provide a realistic view of what it'd be like at a law school day-to-day. There are certain personality types - both students and faculty - that are disproportionately drawn to volunteer at admissions events. Those personality types are almost certainly not a majority of the class, and possibly not even a plurality. And there's no requirement that a student like all of his or her classmates. The typical law school has classes that are more than large enough for every student to find "their people."