Curve- Elon Forum

[cmartin5970]

I just received a full ride scholarship option to Elon, I know elon is not T14 or anywhere near it, but my LSAT scores are not good enough and i have no desire to practice Big Law, but does anyone know the curve the Elon Law uses?

I looked on here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_la ... GPA_curves and it says their curve is a 3.3 which seems kind of high. However, for my full ride I need to maintain a 3.0 so that would be great for me if their curve really is a 3.3

Any thoughts or opinions?

[cinephile]

Isn't Elon like a brand new school in a region that has way too many law schools?

There are many options in between T14 and Elon. Even if you could keep your full scholarship, it wouldn't be worth it. Job opportunities wouldn't be strong and you'd still be paying for cost of living.

[cmartin5970]

I am not trying to argue but honestly asking a question, according to Elon Law 90% of graduates are employed after graduation...yet most people on here talk about how there are not jobs for non-Tier 1 schools like Elon and NCCU. Are there just no Big Law jobs for people from these schools and instead have to work as a prosecutor or in a small rural firm? Or do these law schools just lie about employment percentages. I believe that 90% may seem a little high, but it is hard to believe that Elon reports 90% if in actuality only 10-15% of graduates have any sort of legal employment.

[20130312]

according to Elon Law 90% of graduates are employed after graduation

The bolded is your first problem.

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Less than a third of graduates have a known salary, by Elon's data. Also, look at the job characteristics page.

[rinkrat19]

I am not trying to argue but honestly asking a question, according to Elon Law 90% of graduates are employed after graduation...yet most people on here talk about how there are not jobs for non-Tier 1 schools like Elon and NCCU. Are there just no Big Law jobs for people from these schools and instead have to work as a prosecutor or in a small rural firm? Or do these law schools just lie about employment percentages. I believe that 90% may seem a little high, but it is hard to believe that Elon reports 90% if in actuality only 10-15% of graduates have any sort of legal employment.

That 90% includes "fellowships" that the school gives out--they hire unemployed students back for a brief period to do "research" or other semi-useless work, so they can report those students as employed at 9 months after graduation, even if the position only lasts 6 months. It also includes students who have taken a job at Starbucks or a gas station to buy groceries while they search desperately for non-existant legal jobs.

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[jkpolk]

Of course people with debt take jobs after law school- the question is whether they are full time jobs requiring a J.D. You can request that information from Elon, might help you (and dont be surprised if the number is <25%)

[cmartin5970]

You all know way more about this than me, but would you all agree that with a law degree from Elon it would be difficult to get a job as a public defender back in my home county or another small county in NC?

my aspirations may be low but that is truly what i want to do when i graduate

[20130312]

with a law degree from Elon it would be difficult to get a job as a public defender back in my home county or another small county in NC?

Might I direct you back to your other thread?

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 5&t=173436

[Brassica7]

We do not say bad things about these schools to be elitist jerks (I definitely do not go to a T14), but because we believe that most of their graduates never work as attorneys. It is really competitive to get any legal job these days. Becoming a prosecutor is something that a lot of people want; it's not generally a fallback option.

When schools say that 90% are employed, that counts people going solo (not easy to do ever, even harder right out of law school), people working at Starbucks for 15 hours/week, people doing doc review, people temporarily hired by the school in February so that they are "employed" when the stats are collected in March (I am not sure if Elon does this last one, but some schools do).

Look into the number of legal job openings in the US each year (I believe around 25,000) and the number of law graduates each year (around 45,000). The 45% or so that do not get legal work are not evenly distributed across all schools. Almost everyone at Harvard can get a legal job. Schools like Elon have a bad reputation, and because Elon is new, it lacks a substantial alumni network. Yes, it really could be as bad as only 10-15% of their graduates ever finding substantive legal work (meaning not temporary doc review, not working as a secretary at a law firm).

[TurgidWorm]

I am a current Elon Law 3L. I would recommend you take the full ride, like I did. Take your work seriously, make good grades, and you should be in good shape. Most of the people I know who graduated within the past couple years are employed as attorneys. Many, however, did have to do doc review for a few weeks/months. Eventually, they've all found work. Elon is considered a good school by many practitioners in the area. I think taking the full ride and borrowing only the amount you absolutely need to live off of is a smart strategy to keeping your debt burden low.