Top Law Schools

What's the better school for career prospects? I know UT seems obvious, but Fordham seems to place more people in the NLJ 250...

Zeile wrote:What's the better school for career prospects?

In what state?

Overall...

in this economy, texas places better.....

.

Zeile wrote:What's the better school for career prospects? I know UT seems obvious, but Fordham seems to place more people in the NLJ 250...

IIRC, Brian Leiter stated that the reason for this is that there are very few (zero?) NLJ 250 firms located in Texas, and many (most) Texas grads stay in Texas. You can still get a $160k/yr job in Texas, even w/out Biglaw. The earnings ceiling probably isn't as high, but you won't have any state income tax and could conceivably move laterally later in your career (bringing Texas-based clientele with you).

ITE, in-state tuition for Texas annihilates anything short of a full ride at Fordham. You don't necessarily have to be a resident to qualify for the in-state tuition (read up on this on their website), and I believe you can establish residency in a year.

If you want to work in NYC, Fordham. Texas for anywhere else though.

DreamShake wrote:IIRC, Brian Leiter stated that the reason for this is that there are very few (zero?) NLJ 250 firms located in Texas,

If he said that, he has no idea what he is talking about. There are several.

kalvano wrote:

DreamShake wrote:IIRC, Brian Leiter stated that the reason for this is that there are very few (zero?) NLJ 250 firms located in Texas,

If he said that, he has no idea what he is talking about. There are several.

This. Unless, several = a few.

You can't get a 160k job in Texas without biglaw- with the small exception of firms like Sussman.

There are quite a few NLJ250 firms in Texas- and several V100 firms based there.

kalvano wrote:

DreamShake wrote:IIRC, Brian Leiter stated that the reason for this is that there are very few (zero?) NLJ 250 firms located in Texas,

If he said that, he has no idea what he is talking about. There are several.

He (Leiter) obvs meant few comparatively speaking, and DreamShake obvs added the "(zero?)" bit on his own. Leiter isn't that stupid.

to even ask this question you have to be dumb....I am surprised they accepted you. The first fact we must know is Where do you want to work? Secondly, what type of law?
If you want to stay in Texas go to Texas. If you would like to do Immigration law, stay in Texas. If you want to live in NY, go to Fordham. I would seriously doubt though that they accept you.

Lawless25 wrote:to even ask this question you have to be dumb....I am surprised they accepted you. The first fact we must know is Where do you want to work? Secondly, what type of law?
If you want to stay in Texas go to Texas. If you would like to do Immigration law, stay in Texas. If you want to live in NY, go to Fordham. I would seriously doubt though that they accept you.

unnecessary....OP was just asking

Even for the rest of the east coast Texas>>>Fordham???

Lawless25 wrote:to even ask this question you have to be dumb....I am surprised they accepted you. The first fact we must know is Where do you want to work? Secondly, what type of law?
If you want to stay in Texas go to Texas. If you would like to do Immigration law, stay in Texas. If you want to live in NY, go to Fordham. I would seriously doubt though that they accept you.

Wow

And I haven't been accepted. However I have a 3.9+ GPA and a 167 LSAT. I have enough dough to apply to one more school and I've been debating between Fordham and Texas. I want the east coast, but I prefer, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh and Boston to NYC -- though I don't dislike NYC.

Zeile wrote:And I haven't been accepted. However I have a 3.9+ GPA and a 167 LSAT. I have enough dough to apply to one more school and I've been debating between Fordham and Texas. I want the east coast, but I prefer, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh and Boston to NYC -- though I don't dislike NYC.

Pittsburgh? Why?

jetsfan wrote:

Zeile wrote:And I haven't been accepted. However I have a 3.9+ GPA and a 167 LSAT. I have enough dough to apply to one more school and I've been debating between Fordham and Texas. I want the east coast, but I prefer, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh and Boston to NYC -- though I don't dislike NYC.

Pittsburgh? Why?

I like the people, neighborhoods and sweet COL and my so has family there, too.

I'm kind of interested in this as well. And what if we throw UCLA and Vandy ( the other supra-regionals) into the mix as well? Would going to UCLA, UT or Vandy over Fordham be a good idea if the east coast generally is your target market? Obviously Fordham is better for NYC, but is it THAT much better than those three? And what about for DC and Philly, etc?

Zeile wrote:

jetsfan wrote:

Zeile wrote:And I haven't been accepted. However I have a 3.9+ GPA and a 167 LSAT. I have enough dough to apply to one more school and I've been debating between Fordham and Texas. I want the east coast, but I prefer, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh and Boston to NYC -- though I don't dislike NYC.

Pittsburgh? Why?

I like the people, neighborhoods and sweet COL and my so has family there, too.

That makes sense, I was just surprised because it's nothing like DC, Philly, Boston, or NYC.

Aqualibrium wrote:

kalvano wrote:

DreamShake wrote:IIRC, Brian Leiter stated that the reason for this is that there are very few (zero?) NLJ 250 firms located in Texas,

If he said that, he has no idea what he is talking about. There are several.

He (Leiter) obvs meant few comparatively speaking, and DreamShake obvs added the "(zero?)" bit on his own. Leiter isn't that stupid.

Ignorance does not equate to stupidity; the question mark is obviously there because my memory is hazy on the issue and I was uncertain. Note the "IIRC."

This is the article I was too lazy to search for last night: http://www.leiterrankings.com/jobs/2008job_biglaw.shtml

Brian Leiter wrote:Houston is one of the five biggest cities in the United States, but one has to get into the 40s on the Vault listing before Houston-based firms turn up. (This also, I'm sure, explains the results for the University of Texas in the current study, compared to the earlier studies of national placement: until recently, the student body was 80% Texas residents, who overwhelmingly prefer to enter the major legal markets in Houston and Dallas, which UT dominates. Contrast that with schools like Michigan, Virginia, and Vanderbilt, which do not have many high-powered law firms in their local markets as a draw for students.)

I simply misremembered the stratum of firms he was discussing.

Edit: quote fail

FreddyBigShot wrote:I'm kind of interested in this as well. And what if we throw UCLA and Vandy ( the other supra-regionals) into the mix as well? Would going to UCLA, UT or Vandy over Fordham be a good idea if the east coast generally is your target market? Obviously Fordham is better for NYC, but is it THAT much better than those three? And what about for DC and Philly, etc?

from the NALP directory:
City: Firms at OCI (Fordham/UT/UCLA/Vandy) ->keep in mind, though, that Vandy has a much smaller class size than any of the other 3

NYC: 97/28/29/21
DC: 12/23/15/18
Philly: 3/2/4/1

so basically, unless you're deadset on NYC, you're better off at any of UT/UCLA/Vandy, where your prospects at the other east coast markets are similar/better, but you still get to fall back on each school's main market.

something else to note: if you're able to get into Vandy or UCLA, chances are you got into Cornell as well. In that case, go there.

I was wondering the same thing about Fordham. I live in the NYC area so would it be prudent to shoot for anything ranked higher than Fordham considering room and board if I don't make a top school like Columbia or Stanford? I've heard that Fordham has a great alumni association in the NYC area.