Schools for Health Law Forum

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justlookingaround

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Schools for Health Law

Post by justlookingaround » Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:01 pm

I am interested in health law, and was accepted to both UW ($45k scholly) and UMN ($105k scholly). I am from, and love, the PNW, and hope to stay there in the future, but the sheer difference in cost is a bit off-putting. So, does anyone know how the health law markets in Seattle and Minneapolis are doing? I'd be willing to pay more to attend UW if there are reasonable chances of employment after graduation, especially since Seattle is my dream location. And, if I went to UMN, I'd probably be looking at a few extra years in the Midwest for experience before trying to lateral back to the PNW. Would that be a realistic thing to try?

What's making me a bit wary is that UW has been steadily dropping in the US News rankings (I know, the rankings aren't everything, but bar pass rates are also dropping and the scholarships aren't giving a good impression of its financial situation).

Anyone have any information about any of the above?

crazywafflez

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by crazywafflez » Sun Apr 18, 2021 8:20 pm

UW and Minn are peer schools. As are Iowa, Arizona, Tennessee, Indiana, IL, etc- they are just the flagship schools for their states and place mostly in their states.
I'm not sure what you mean by health law- are you planning on trying to do med mal or do you dream of being a bioethics person for hospitals (these are more unicorn positions and much rarer), or do you plan on doing contract work for them etc?
I'd look at a firm like Waller out in Nashville and see if this kind of stuff interests you (they are the only ones I know of that really specialize in "health law", I'm sure there are others though in their respective markets).
Also, telling us scholarships help but we would need to see the costs in total (so adding Cost of living, tuition etc) for us to help.
But, you should take the school in the state/region you want to be in (at a reasonable cost).
I personally wouldn't want to go like 100k in debt for either of these schools and I think getting back to your home market isn't nearly as hard as jumping to a new one. But if you are from like Boise, and choose to go to Minn, I don't think that would work well for getting a gig in Seattle.

justlookingaround

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by justlookingaround » Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:29 pm

I was thinking compliance and regulatory stuff for healthcare providers or medical companies. More transactional things, but not necessarily in house. I'd be open to try med mal, but it's not a particular interest. COL is a bit up in the air right now, but would be safe to assume UW would be higher by a few thousand in the end. Tuition at UMN would be $17k a year, and UW would be $35k a year, give or take a few hundred each. Family is willing to provide some support either way, which is nice.

I'm from Oregon, which is some connection to the PNW at least, if not to Seattle in particular. Not sure if that would be close enough.

Thank you for replying!

crazywafflez

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by crazywafflez » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:07 am

Alright, well since I can't get it out of you, hah, I will try and guesstimate:
U of Wash- 35k tuition a year, not sure if you can change to instate or something, and gonna assume COL will be about 16-18k a year. That puts you at 156k for 3 years. I have no idea how you're financing though- if you are using loans to cover all of this you'll probs be paying back around 185-200k.
I would not go to UW at that kind of price, however, since you aren't from Seattle, let alone WA, I don't think you'll have a good time trying to get there by going to any school that isn't a T14 or UW/Puget Sound or something in the area.
I think going to a T1 school with like 80k debt is totally fine- but breaching that 100k debt mark is really intense, and you're looking way north of that for a chance at a small firm gig that pays markedly less than your debt will service- even if you get a good gig that is hefty debt.
At UMN, you're looking at around 90-100k debt, if by loans around 120k. While this is high, if it isn't serviced entirely by loans, I think that this is a decent option if your goals were to work in the Midwest doing the kind of work you want to.
If you are comfortable nixing Seattle goal, than I think taking UMN is a defensible option, but it doesn't get you your desired location.
For your goals you need to retake and either secure a better scholarship from UW or ship-out to a T14. If you must go to law school now, which I'd implore you to wait a year and reapply at the least, take UMN and hope you can network into Seattle but with the expectations that you'll need to work in the Midwest (and probs MN) for a good chunk of time.

justlookingaround

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by justlookingaround » Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:28 pm

Yeah, UW is a bit... pricy. And apparently really stingy with scholarships. It's just taking me a while to let go of the idea of staying in the PNW. I love Washington, but have pretty much resigned myself to the Midwest. Somehow, going to a lower-ranked school with poorer job prospects, and at a higher cost, seems a bit backward. So really, this is just me being sad and dragging the process out.

Thank you for the help!

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crazywafflez

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by crazywafflez » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:22 pm

No! I mean, you should retake and get your goals.
If place of living is important for you, you really ought to retake or reapply at least to some different schools.
You could go to U of Seattle (or u puget sound idk what it is now) for free - which, in my opinion, is a much better outcome than paying 180k for U of Washington. Or if you want to be in Oregon, going to U of O or lewis and clark or something for free is a great option and will get you those gigs (however, you'll be able to get back to Oregon from MN since you're from the state).
Plus, if you retake and get like a 168 or 169 next cycle, you could maybe get into some other schools and get fullrides or admissions to a T14.
For me, place of living is important. I wouldn't want to leave the South unless it was for a T14 school since I wanted to practice here. So I really only applied to T14, Vandy, and then a couple of T1s and homestate U. It wouldn't have made any sense for me to go to Boston U or Minnesota over UNC or Wake if I wanted to be in North Carolina, even though they are ranked higher.
You can always get back to your home city and debatably state (I'm sure for some states that are big this isn't really a thing- hard to get home field advantage in Houston if you're from El Paso or something). But your school will be strongest by far in the state/city it is located in, followed by the region (but most schools do not have a strong claim over a region outside Vandy/UT/UCLA etc).
I'd urge you to sit out the cycle and then retake and reapply- or at least reapply- and if you really must go, I guess I'd take UMN, but would urge you to wait it out.

justlookingaround

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by justlookingaround » Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:32 am

I did get a 168 (3.66 GPA- relatively low, and apparently bio major only goes so far for that), though given everything going on, I probably didn't apply to enough schools. Still waiting on one admission decision, which is probably going to turn into a waitlist, and was waitlisted or rejected at everything above rank 20 that I applied to so far. This cycle was wild. Not sure how trying again the next would turn out.

I have about 11 days to make up my mind before the UW seat deposit deadline, and half-a-dozen attorney calls scheduled to ask about prospects from either school before that, so I guess I'll see what they have to say too.

crazywafflez

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by crazywafflez » Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:15 am

In years past you would've been in at the lower T14 with those stats. I have no clue if this cycle is the new norm or just a crazy bump from flex LSAT and Covid apps. I personally think next cycle will be less competitive but it is impossible for me to really say. When did you apply this cycle? Was it in November or January? I still think with those stats you should be looking at something like sticker at Cornell, scholarship at WashU, and fullride (or really close to it) to Illinois or Iowa or something.
I will say, breaking into 170 territory on the LSAT opens up a whole new ballgame for you (heck, even 1 more point and you'd probs get a really good offer from WashU). You have a really good LSAT though and a decent GPA, I know in previous cycles you would've been getting better offers- just not sure if things will calm down next cycle or remain the same, but even if they remain the same and you apply early and only get 1 more point on the LSAT, you'll see a bigger difference and more successful cycle.

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justlookingaround

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by justlookingaround » Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:42 pm

I completed apps Nov-Dec for all the schools, since I retook the LSAT once, and did all the additional essays and applications I could realistically complete. The next cycle might be less competitive, yes, though I'm not sure if I'm willing to bet on that given everything going on. At this point, I'm thinking I would have had to have applied the moment that applications opened to have a decent shot.

Thank you for the LLM suggestion! I have looked into the LLM program at UW, both as on option for later lateralling and as a basic supplement. My hesitation once again comes down to cost efficiency, especially since I come from a more medical background already.

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cavalier1138

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Re: Schools for Health Law

Post by cavalier1138 » Sat Apr 24, 2021 6:06 am

justlookingaround wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:42 pm
Thank you for the LLM suggestion! I have looked into the LLM program at UW, both as on option for later lateralling and as a basic supplement. My hesitation once again comes down to cost efficiency, especially since I come from a more medical background already.
Do not do an LLM unless it's for tax law. They have zero utility for non-foreign lawyers.

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