Syracuse Law or SUNY Buffalo Law? May 2014 Forum

[CaveCanem]

Hey guys,

I have been admitted to both Syracuse Law and SUNY Buffalo law. I essentially have to make a decision within the next couple of weeks. Costs aside, which one is best to go to? I know SUNY took a hit in the ranking this year but it is still ranked higher than Syracuse. My goal is to work at a respectable law firm in NYC. However my primary goal is to finish in the top 5 to 10 percent and then transfer to a T14. Please let me know which is a better to school to go to. Syracuse is a private university and I worry that down the road the ranking of Syracuse will be higher than SUNY. Anyways, again, costs aside (scholarships make the costs equal)... SYRACUSE OR BUFFALO?

Thanks,

RedGryphon

As far as transferring goes, I can't speak on that. Since you don't mention NYC, I'll assume you're not dead-set on big law. I do know that Cuse and SUNY Buffalo are very well-represented in the upstate firms. I worked in a large firm in undergrad, and of course its anectodal but my firm's summer associate from one of those schools was hired over a T14 grad. This isn't NYC big law we're talking about. Of course salaries are lower but so are living expenses. There are a couple 60-100 lawyer firms across Upstate NY whose starting salary is just shy of six figures and lots of associates/partners are from those two schools.

He did mention NYC. He said he wanted a "respectable law firm in NYC".

And an upstate firm hiring from a regional school over a T14 doesn't say much; they probably want someone with strong ties to the area who will stick around for a while.

My mistake.

[RedGryphon]

I xfer'd out of Buffalo. Most people xfer to the lower T14. You'll need top 5% to xfer to the lower T14 from Buffalo. I know people that xfer'd to GULC, Cornell, and UPenn. All of them were top 5%.

However, I echo everyone's sentiments that you should NEVER go into law school thinking you can transfer. I didn't even know transferring was a thing until a month into my second semester 1L.

Do you mind if I have your email address? I would love to discuss further... it seems quite likely that I will be attending Buffalo...

Also to everyone else - thanks for your help in this matter, really appreciate the feedback!

[03152016]

I xfer'd out of Buffalo. Most people xfer to the lower T14. You'll need top 5% to xfer to the lower T14 from Buffalo. I know people that xfer'd to GULC, Cornell, and UPenn. All of them were top 5%.

However, I echo everyone's sentiments that you should NEVER go into law school thinking you can transfer. I didn't even know transferring was a thing until a month into my second semester 1L.

Do you mind if I have your email address? I would love to discuss further... it seems quite likely that I will be attending Buffalo...

Also to everyone else - thanks for your help in this matter, really appreciate the feedback!

Please return to TLS in a year and let us know how it all worked out.