Top Law Schools

These are my options so far, not sure they will get any better.

Don't know why schools hate accepting me or giving me money.

Cupidity wrote:These are my options so far, not sure they will get any better.

Don't know why schools hate accepting me or giving me money.

I'm saying BU because it is the best of the three and to me Boston is better than DC, with lower COL. But it might be GW if you have DC specific goals. Where do you want to work (geography and field)?

Similar problem as you... Florida's tuition is very tempting, but I know I would enjoy BU so much more. If you don't mind practicing in Florida then stay.

the reason i put BU is that i feel (this may not be accurate) that BU and BC kind of own boston whereas GW does not own DC, so i'm think BU=better career prospects and boston is sweet

BU is top dog in Boston, because Harvard's class is so desireable and so small (compared to the boston legal market as a whole), it gets spread out all over the country.

it seems like you already made a choice and you just used this post to clarify.

The avatar had to change once I got my cornell WL, BU was the first logo I found.

I have never been to DC or Northern Florida so I can't judge those two schools.

BU, however, I went for undergrad. Honestly, I can say I didnt want to be anywhere else. BU is ranked higher, has better employment prospects, and I truly believe it is the better school. UF is great for practicing in Florida, but BU places well in Boston, NYC, and California (or so I have read) so you are a lot more mobile. (I don't know how GW does, but again Im biased so I really dont care). BU's faculty is also quite reputable.

Outside of the academic realm of top-law-schools.com, I am almost positive you will love BU. I didn't meet anyone who wanted to leave BU because they didn't like BU or Boston, and I know a lot of people. Granted, you wont enjoy the social scene as much as an undergrad, but law school students in general don't (or so I'm told). The law school building is cool-looking and the campus is amazing. It has a city-feel, but not a dirty, crowded city feel like NYC. Its a city with green all over and a river behind campus. Its clean, the people are really cool and down to earth, and the Fitness and Recreation Center is the best fitness facility I have ever seen (and I'm into that stuff, not sure if you are).

BU is also realy generous with financial aid. Throughout undergrad, I got at least 40K a year in grants+subsidized loans. I hear the law school is also generous. Don't worry so much about cost here. Even at sticker, its worth it.


I hope to be on that same boat. I retook for a 168 and according to LSN, nobody with that LSAT above a 3.3 has been rejected, so I hope to be a lock. If so, and my ED to Virginia doesn't work out, I'm almost definitely going to BU. Its a happy place dude.

You should go.


hth

Go to BU. GW is a great school, but IMO it is over-priced. I live in the DC area and if you want to practice here you can go to George Mason for way cheaper (even out of state) and get similar, if not better, job prospects. If you don't want to practice in DC, BU is the more portable degree, and costs less to boot.

Cupidity wrote:BU is top dog in Boston, because Harvard's class is so desireable and so small (compared to the boston legal market as a whole), it gets spread out all over the country.

Wrong. BU and BC place exactly the same in Boston. NLJ250 confirms this. BU has only been top dog (strictly according to rank) in Boston since 2004, surpassing BC. The funny thing is that BC has been a top 30 and top 20 law school since 1987 while BU wasn't even ranked until 1994 and at that time was a top 40 school (if we are using the U.S. News ranking.) I will say that the rankings are almost worthless, focusing way too much on entering class #'s v. employment statistics. BC doesn't do the number whoring that BU is recognized for-- check LSN-- and still pulls equivalent, if not at times better, employment ststistics. I won't deny that BU is more national than BC though.

I even did you guys a favor and counted the # of BC v. BU grads eomployed at the biggest firms in Boston, listed here: http://www.ilrg.com/nlj250/office/desc/5

Here is the spreadsheet image : --LinkRemoved--
Its crude obviously. I got lazy with the partner count at the end. Partner number is in () and is included in the total to its left.

Seem pretty comparable

Point acknowledged. BC and BU place very similarly in the Boston market.

Differences other than employment prospects vary greatly, IMO tipping the scale in BUs favor. But, that is irrelevant.

BU>GW.