Top Law Schools

i need input deciding which law school to attend! please help!

fsu tuition/year: $5,000 (large scholarship)
uga tuition/year: sticker price in-state $13,000

factors to consider:
- i would prefer ending up in atlanta, but am not completely against ending up in some large florida city like orlando, tampa, etc.
- i don't know which type of law i want to practice yet (so i would like options)
- the cost of law school debt is important to me, but even more important is which would give me the best career prospects
- i dislike uga's campus more than i dislike fsu's campus, but i am more familiar with the uga campus
- all the fsu students i talked to were incredibly happy with their decision to attend fsu law. i can't say the same for all the uga students i talked to.
- i heard the rankings after ~ top 25 are more regional anyway, so i am thinking it is not a big deal that uga is ranked 32 and fsu is 55. both are about the second best school in the state (emory wins over uga, and uf wins over fsu). but feel free to dispute that in terms of job placement

edit: to include the terms of the scholarship are maintaining an 82 out of 100 average, which would be around top 50% of class i think.

uga still gives you access to market salary in atlanta while fsu doesn't even give you that in its home state.

wait, you have a 3.9/162 and you didn't apply to Emory? You've got a good shot.

f0b - good point, any other points like that are more than welcome
mis - like i said, $$$ is important, and while i'm flattered that you think i would've had a good shot, i definitely wouldn't have gotten any from emory

I'd say go to UGA. I sorta think FSU sucks and the rankings do matter to a certain extent. Also, there's a ton of law schools in FL, you'll still be competing with UMiami kids and Stetson kids on top of the UF kids, and then there's a ton of crappy 3rd/4th tier schools as well.

13k/year at UGA seams reasonable to me, even if it's paid entirely through loans.

misbuble wrote:I'd say go to UGA. I sorta think FSU sucks and the rankings do matter to a certain extent. Also, there's a ton of law schools in FL, you'll still be competing with UMiami kids and Stetson kids on top of the UF kids, and then there's a ton of crappy 3rd/4th tier schools as well.

13k/year at UGA seams reasonable to me, even if it's paid entirely through loans.

Well said. I go to undergrad in Florida. Most of my professors have steered me away from law school in Florida. Oversaturated!!!!(I know this sounds trite because it is used with such frequency on this board). When you think about it, once Ave Maria is in South Florida-although Naples is on the West coast- there will be four law schools in South Florida. Still leaving competition from North/Central school...FSU, UF, Stetson, Barry, FAMU. Even though the population is similar to New York, the market is completely different.

misbuble wrote:I'd say go to UGA. I sorta think FSU sucks and the rankings do matter to a certain extent. Also, there's a ton of law schools in FL, you'll still be competing with UMiami kids and Stetson kids on top of the UF kids, and then there's a ton of crappy 3rd/4th tier schools as well.

13k/year at UGA seams reasonable to me, even if it's paid entirely through loans.

+1

imo, the scholarship shouldn't even be taken into consideration. 21K difference over 3 years is nothing considering the potential amount you could make back if you score a gig in atlanta.

from what i've read on these boards, uga is roughly on par with emory in atlanta as far as job prospects go. fsu is basically playing 3rd, 4th or 5th fiddle to other local schools and emory.

I completely agree--there's much less competition in Georgia than in Florida. And although you will have more than twice as much debt from UGA than Florida, it's still not such a huge amount (compared to say, Emory where you would be looking at $120,000). I'm not sure what kinds of salaries you can expect in FL, but when comparing the debt you should consider those vs. Georgia salaries as well as the cost of living in Tallahassee vs. Athens.

Just out of curiosity, what didn't you like about the UGA campus? And what negative things did UGA students have to say about their school?

i really appreciate all the responses so far. it seems the overwhelming preference is uga.

the things i don't like about the uga campus are based on my personality more than any fault the uga campus actually has. i prefer a smaller campus with a different atmosphere. while i know both uga and fsu are huge football schools, i don't like football and i don't like drinking (i am weird, i know). athens' main attraction is the bars downtown, and not much else. tallahassee is the capitol and at least has all the government buildings right across the street from campus.

the negative things i heard from the uga law students were lack of unity/clique problems/narrow-minded students. in other words, socially the class is lacking. also, people had major qualms with the career center. the person who was most pleased with the career center (and had a positive impression of uga) even said that they won't help you unless you are top 10%, and even then don't expect them to do more than go over your resume and cover letters (she had a job lined up for her 2L but got it completely on her own through luck). everyone said the professors were really good, but no one seemed excited about going to class (this might sound weird, but the fsu students were excited about this...after all, law school should be a place of learning). i asked the people who were displeased if it was law school in general, or just uga, and everyone said specifically uga was their problem. quite disheartening, and i am not sure how to take all of it.

atlantalaw wrote: i asked the people who were displeased if it was law school in general, or just uga, and everyone said specifically uga was their problem. quite disheartening, and i am not sure how to take all of it.

how would they really know though? they've probably never gone to law school anywhere else.

waker57 wrote:

atlantalaw wrote: i asked the people who were displeased if it was law school in general, or just uga, and everyone said specifically uga was their problem. quite disheartening, and i am not sure how to take all of it.

how would they really know though? they've probably never gone to law school anywhere else.

waker, if you can't judge the quality of your institution objectively, for instance your UG experience should have left you with opinions good/bad, then don't go to law school, what a rediculous thing to say

misbuble wrote:

waker57 wrote:

atlantalaw wrote: i asked the people who were displeased if it was law school in general, or just uga, and everyone said specifically uga was their problem. quite disheartening, and i am not sure how to take all of it.

how would they really know though? they've probably never gone to law school anywhere else.

waker, if you can't judge the quality of your institution objectively, for instance your UG experience should have left you with opinions good/bad, then don't go to law school, what a rediculous thing to say

i don't think it was that ridiculous (see now i can judge your undergrad, jk), i'm just saying that it's gotta be hard to separate the law school experience and the UGA experience when you go to UGA law and have never gone to another law school. either way, i still plan on going to law school, and am trying to influence you to come to the same one as me, UGA.

waker57 wrote:

misbuble wrote:

waker57 wrote:

atlantalaw wrote: i asked the people who were displeased if it was law school in general, or just uga, and everyone said specifically uga was their problem. quite disheartening, and i am not sure how to take all of it.

how would they really know though? they've probably never gone to law school anywhere else.

waker, if you can't judge the quality of your institution objectively, for instance your UG experience should have left you with opinions good/bad, then don't go to law school, what a rediculous thing to say

i don't think it was that ridiculous (see now i can judge your undergrad, jk), i'm just saying that it's gotta be hard to separate the law school experience and the UGA experience when you go to UGA law and have never gone to another law school. either way, i still plan on going to law school, and am trying to influence you to come to the same one as me, UGA.

aw that is sweet waker! i understand the inherent bias in the opinion. after all, it is opinion...which is why i said i am not sure how to take it, instead of just getting a number of negative reviews and saying no way to uga. i do not want to insinuate that i have gotten negative reviews from everyone either; some are very happy with their decision to attend uga law. however, none of these people were just ranting on how much they hate law school and were unhappy with the world, so i take what they say with a tad smaller grain of salt. like misbuble said, they were pretty objective about it and told me specifically things they dislike about uga.

i wonder if anyone is going to argue devil's advocate and say fsu is the way to go?

oh yeah, and the oversaturation of the fl market is scary.

bump

atlantalaw wrote:i need input deciding which law school to attend! please help!

fsu tuition/year: $5,000 (large scholarship)
uga tuition/year: sticker price in-state $13,000

factors to consider:
- i would prefer ending up in atlanta, but am not completely against ending up in some large florida city like orlando, tampa, etc.
- i don't know which type of law i want to practice yet (so i would like options)
- the cost of law school debt is important to me, but even more important is which would give me the best career prospects
- i dislike uga's campus more than i dislike fsu's campus, but i am more familiar with the uga campus
- all the fsu students i talked to were incredibly happy with their decision to attend fsu law. i can't say the same for all the uga students i talked to.
- i heard the rankings after ~ top 25 are more regional anyway, so i am thinking it is not a big deal that uga is ranked 32 and fsu is 55. both are about the second best school in the state (emory wins over uga, and uf wins over fsu). but feel free to dispute that in terms of job placement

edit: to include the terms of the scholarship are maintaining an 82 out of 100 average, which would be around top 50% of class i think.

Yes, FSU students are very happy. The professors are great, the students are collaborative (and not stabby), and their new building will be the courthouse. Pretty awesome. Personally, I LOVE fsu.

On the other hand, UGA has a much better ranking. They have respectable firm placement on that nlj250 graph floating around (fsu isn't even on it), which goes hand-in-hand with the fact that 50% of emory grads leave the state. So basically, uga is cheaper, rated higher, and has significantly less competition. Also, you're kidding yourself if you think that fsu's entertainment extends far beyond old, dirty bars.

In your situation, UGA all the way.

edit: uga is cheap, not cheaper.

My vote is for FSU!
I may be a little biased because I'm a 1L here, but I love it.
The professors are excellent and the students are cooperative instead of competitive.
There are a lot of opportunities throughout Florida. Think about all of the large cities: Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale...As well as all of the opportunities because FSU is located in the Capital.
In-state tuition at FSU is very inexpensive compared to most other law schools.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best -

UGA.