Top Law Schools

Hi!
I am in the process of making my law school decision and have narrowed it down to USC and Pepperdine.
USC has offered me 35K (no strings attached) per year and Pepperdine has offered me full tuition with 7k stipend (no strings attached).
I think I want to do something in public interest, but I am not sure yet. I know USC alumni have better job prospects, but is it worth the massive amount of debt I will acquire over the next three years? Or, would it be worth going to Pepperdine with a full ride?

Can you be more specific about what you mean by "something in the public interest?" Are you talking about public defense, advocacy with local organizations, impact lit with the ACLU?

Looks like total COA at Pepperdine will be ~$60k and at USC will be $170k. You're not likely to get top-tier PI (e.g. ACLU, SPLC, FedGov) out of either of those schools. So let's go forward assuming that you'll be looking at legal aid, state/local government, or DA/PD. If you're not good with these options, then we need to talk about what stats are necessary to get you to a school that would offer you better outcomes. With these schollys, you probably had pretty good stats. What are they? Any other options? And I assume you want to stay in SoCal? This USC/PU decision may be impetuous if a few more points would get you into Berkeley or $$$ at UCLA.

Pepperdine does not have great placement in any field. 40% of graduates do not have a full time legal job within 9 months of graduation. https://www.lstreports.com/schools/pepperdine/. If you're adamant about attending this year, I suppose your stats reasonably indicate you'll end up in the top 60% of your class. PI rewards hustle, so you'll need to focus on networking and pro bono during your time there. The answer is probably sit out a year and retake, but USC is definitely not worth $110k more for your goals, so I guess enjoy Malibu.