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I would deeply appreciate any help. I reside in CA but have just recently been admitted to ULBSL. So far I was not fortunate to be accepted to any decent CA state schools. My question is this. Would you guys rather go to T4 for a sticker price or go to out of state with a lot cheaper tuition and much better ranking.

Would you mind staying in Louisville or maybe Nashville?

merichard87 wrote:Would you mind staying in Louisville or maybe Nashville?

I am not familiar with the area but so far I have heard only good things about Louisville so I don't see why not. Since I want to practice in CA I am not quite sure what to do. Any other inputs?

Louisville is a good choice if you want to practice in Kentucky. If you want to practice in California, retake the LSAT and apply to CA schools again next year.

nrj1084 wrote:Louisville is a good choice if you want to practice in Kentucky. If you want to practice in California, retake the LSAT and apply to CA schools again next year.

That's not an option for me. I have firmly decided to start this fall, so should I settle for 4th tier with sticker price or go to Louisville?

lawchampion wrote:

nrj1084 wrote:Louisville is a good choice if you want to practice in Kentucky. If you want to practice in California, retake the LSAT and apply to CA schools again next year.

That's not an option for me. I have firmly decided to start this fall, so should I settle for 4th tier with sticker price or go to Louisville?

1) Why is that not an option? What's the incredibly compelling reason that you have to start this fall?

2) The general consensus is, unless you have connections and you're guaranteed a nice job after graduation regardless of where you got your degree, never pay sticker at a crap school. It's just not a sensible investment. You have a near-zero chance of landing a job paying over 50k, or even a job at all.

3) I'm from Kentucky, and while any respectable Lexingtonian will tell you that Lexington is a hundred times better than Louisville, I still say if you ever get the opportunity to live, work or study in Kentucky, if just for a bit, you should take it. It's one of the most beautiful states in the union, the people are incredibly nice, COL is cheap, QOL is high. That being said, Louisville gets spanked by UK in the rankings and in recruiting. If you want a lucrative firm job in Kentucky ("market" for the largest firms is like $90-100k) then you'll have to be a lot more successful at Brandeis (U of L) or Chase (Northern Kentucky) than you would at UK.

vexion wrote:

lawchampion wrote:

nrj1084 wrote:Louisville is a good choice if you want to practice in Kentucky. If you want to practice in California, retake the LSAT and apply to CA schools again next year.

That's not an option for me. I have firmly decided to start this fall, so should I settle for 4th tier with sticker price or go to Louisville?

1) Why is that not an option? What's the incredibly compelling reason that you have to start this fall?

2) The general consensus is, unless you have connections and you're guaranteed a nice job after graduation regardless of where you got your degree, never pay sticker at a crap school. It's just not a sensible investment. You have a near-zero chance of landing a job paying over 50k, or even a job at all.

3) I'm from Kentucky, and while any respectable Lexingtonian will tell you that Lexington is a hundred times better than Louisville, I still say if you ever get the opportunity to live, work or study in Kentucky, if just for a bit, you should take it. It's one of the most beautiful states in the union, the people are incredibly nice, COL is cheap, QOL is high. That being said, Louisville gets spanked by UK in the rankings and in recruiting. If you want a lucrative firm job in Kentucky ("market" for the largest firms is like $90-100k) then you'll have to be a lot more successful at Brandeis (U of L) or Chase (Northern Kentucky) than you would at UK.

thanks for the great input. The reason I want to start this Fall is because this is my second cycle and I am not quite sure If my LSAT score would go north decide I take it for the forth time. The only thing that really bothers me is that I have incredible connections in CA and would definitely wanted to come back after I earn my JD. I am pretty sure ULBSL is a respectable regional school, but in CA ULBSL says close to nothing to many people.

Brandeis won't move outside of Kentucky. If you have your heart set on working in California, but you have a really low LSAT, go to Chapman or something. But the same advice from earlier stands: sticker at a T3/T4 is a terrible investment.

Stay in CA if that is where you want to live. Going to a school in KY will defiantly not help your odds at landing a job in CA, no matter what KY school you go to. It along way from your home and your not even sure if you would like the Midwest. I am from Ohio and have applied to schools like UC, UK U of L and NKU. It wouldn't make sense for me to go to University of San Diego law school if I wanted to live in the Midwest. Except to temporarily be in one of the most beautiful city's in the country for three years.

UofL doesn't hold a lot of weight outside of Kentuckiana area. You would be better off taking your chances in Cali, unless you want to spend a long time in the Midwest.

AsylumPB wrote:UofL doesn't hold a lot of weight outside of Kentuckiana area. You would be better off taking your chances in Cali, unless you want to spend a long time in the Midwest.

Thanks guys, what you all say really makes sense but my only concern is that if I stay in CA I would have to pay sticker price for a 4 tier school which is close to 40 $. Now go and figure...

lawchampion wrote:

AsylumPB wrote:UofL doesn't hold a lot of weight outside of Kentuckiana area. You would be better off taking your chances in Cali, unless you want to spend a long time in the Midwest.

Thanks guys, what you all say really makes sense but my only concern is that if I stay in CA I would have to pay sticker price for a 4 tier school which is close to 40 $. Now go and figure...

But how much with books col everything would you be paying per year at u of l? You gotta think about it like that. Plus your family is in CA and all your connections.

stintez wrote:

lawchampion wrote:

AsylumPB wrote:UofL doesn't hold a lot of weight outside of Kentuckiana area. You would be better off taking your chances in Cali, unless you want to spend a long time in the Midwest.

Thanks guys, what you all say really makes sense but my only concern is that if I stay in CA I would have to pay sticker price for a 4 tier school which is close to 40 $. Now go and figure...

But how much with books col everything would you be paying per year at u of l? You gotta think about it like that. Plus your family is in CA and all your connections.

paying 40$ makes me sick for a tier 4 school with very questionable job prospects

I think you would be better off going to a solid CA Accredited School at a third of the cost than pay sticker at a tier 4. I had a couple of friends that went this route and with help from connections were able to land jobs in a DA's office. Clearly connections were the key here, but you did indicate you had "incredible connections" so maybe you can land a good job as long as you pass the CA bar. However, if the choice is only between Louisville w/ scholly vs. CA tier 4 at sticker I would go with Louisville.

jremington wrote:I think you would be better off going to a solid CA Accredited School at a third of the cost than pay sticker at a tier 4. I had a couple of friends that went this route and with help from connections were able to land jobs in a DA's office. Clearly connections were the key here, but you did indicate you had "incredible connections" so maybe you can land a good job as long as you pass the CA bar. However, if the choice is only between Louisville w/ scholly vs. CA tier 4 at sticker I would go with Louisville.

Thanks, most probably I will stick with Louisville for I think It is an insane idea to pay 40$ for a 4 tier school. Although Louisville will charge out of state tuition for the first year, I think, and correct me if I am wrong, the second year I'll be paying in state tuition which is close to 14 $.

Just an FYI: If you are single and moving to KY solely to attend UofL, you will be paying out of state for all 3 years. KY's residency policy sucks for out of staters.

I called and confirmed this with the admissions office a few months back because I was interested in attending UofL before hearing this.

lawchampion wrote:

jremington wrote:I think you would be better off going to a solid CA Accredited School at a third of the cost than pay sticker at a tier 4. I had a couple of friends that went this route and with help from connections were able to land jobs in a DA's office. Clearly connections were the key here, but you did indicate you had "incredible connections" so maybe you can land a good job as long as you pass the CA bar. However, if the choice is only between Louisville w/ scholly vs. CA tier 4 at sticker I would go with Louisville.

Thanks, most probably I will stick with Louisville for I think It is an insane idea to pay 40$ for a 4 tier school. Although Louisville will charge out of state tuition for the first year, I think, and correct me if I am wrong, the second year I'll be paying in state tuition which is close to 14 $.

I am not sure if that's true. I know that if I go to NKU, UK, or U of L, I will be saying I am living at one of my friends parents house who live in KY. Which means Ill have to get a KY license and things of that nature. If I were you call U of L and ask what requirements you have to fulfill to be considered in state. If they say something that seems unrealistic for you boom your decision becomes quickly very easy.

Coincidentally, I will probably be leaving Cali to go to U Kentucky this fall. I got an out of state waiver as part of my acceptance, but the Admissions staff made it seem like it wouldn't be a problem to establish instate residency. On the other hand, I had heard (like the above poster mentioned) that establishing in-state residency for U Louisville was not an easy task. It wouldn't make sense that the state residency policies would be different at these respective schools, but I guess it is possible.

jremington wrote:Coincidentally, I will probably be leaving Cali to go to U Kentucky this fall. I got an out of state waiver as part of my acceptance, but the Admissions staff made it seem like it wouldn't be a problem to establish instate residency. On the other hand, I had heard (like the above poster mentioned) that establishing in-state residency for U Louisville was not an easy task. It wouldn't make sense that the state residency policies would be different at these respective schools, but I guess it is possible.

That makes my situation even worse. I'll definitely call them to see what are the requirements for instate tuition.

deadpanic wrote:Just an FYI: If you are single and moving to KY solely to attend UofL, you will be paying out of state for all 3 years. KY's residency policy sucks for out of staters.

I called and confirmed this with the admissions office a few months back because I was interested in attending UofL before hearing this.

this is correct to my knowledge