Top Law Schools

Hello everyone, I'm trying to decide between FSU vs. Stetson. Definitely leaning towards FSU. I got half scholarship for FSU(10.5k) and 33k out of 45k for Stetson. I will cover tuition with loans and my family will cover my cost of living(food, housing etc.). I'm from Tampa and would prefer to end up in Tampa but to be honest I could see myself in northern Florida as well. I have a connection with one of the major firms in Tampa, Hill Ward Henderson. I know the head of the Trust and Estates group and she has given me a lot of advice so far. Obviously this could change during law school but so far I'm interested in Trusts and Estates.
My stats are LSAT 161 and 3.7 GPA from University of Central Florida.
I know retake, retake, but I've taken the LSAT twice now and my family support only holds if I go to law school now. So if I retook, my loans would have to cover CoL and any CoA not covered by scholarship.

How much in loans are you going to be taking out for FSU?

Around 10.5k a year for tuition, everything else covered by my family. So about 31.5k total.
Also, if anyone asks, I have no interest in leaving Florida.

J98 wrote:Around 10.5k a year for tuition, everything else covered by my family. So about 31.5k total.
Also, if anyone asks, I have no interest in leaving Florida.

FSU is good for that price and have no desire to leave Florida.

Actually just got an email from Stetson upping my scholarship to 38k a year so it'd be 7k a year in tuition for Stetson.

I am not that familiar with the Florida market, but I assume FSU has a better reputation and seems to have better employment scores so just go back to them with Stetson's offer and see if you can get a little more from them.

From my limited knowledge, I’d say FSU for the brand name.

I live in Florida, in Tampa to be exact. From what it seems to me, I think Stetson is the move if you are looking to work in the greater Tampa area. It's also a good play if you know you want to do litigation, since they have a good trial advocacy program. Personally, I would probably do FSU for the ranking, as it would also be a much more fun three years. FSU is a great party school with something for you to do every night.

J98 wrote:Actually just got an email from Stetson upping my scholarship to 38k a year so it'd be 7k a year in tuition for Stetson.

Have you tried negotiating with FSU? They might be willing to up their offer. I'd take FSU either ways. If Stetson were offering a full ride, that would change the calculus. But the COA will be fairly similar, and FSU has a better reputation statewide (even if Stetson is probably its equal if we're talking only Tampa).