So how much weight should I put into location when applying? Forum

[AlabamaIceman]

I'm from Alabama (points to username), and the U of Alabama is an obvious choice for my application process next year thanks to it's as of now T1 status and low price, made even lower by possible financial aid and in-state tuition.

But amidst all my other confusion over law school, there's one thing I'm pretty sure of, and that's that I would like to get out of Alabama for a while. I don't dislike my state to the tune of all the extreme stereotypes associated with it, but I have traveled to the majority of the other states in the union, and I still fantasize over ending up somewhere like southern California or NYC for school. This might be an extreme case of "be careful what you wish for" and I'll be crawling back to the small-town college life in a few years after being sucked dry from higher cost of living, but I have a bad case of the wanderlust right now.

My concerns also are at least partially practical, as I understand that finding a firm job during school is almost impossible to do outside of your school's sphere of influence, which for U of A is pretty much Mobile/Birmingham/Montgomery and possibly Atlanta, none of which are places I have dreamed of settling down in someday.

This is all conjecture considering that I haven't even seen what schools do or don't want me yet (as well as the money they're willing to throw my way), but I wanted this board's take on the issue. How much should I consider my own desire to move about the country in the application process?

[Eugenie Danglars]

A lot of people say go to the best school you can get into and afford-you can deal with three years anywhere.

My take is that you'll mostly be living 5-8 years where you go to school. If you don't want to do those years in Alabama, don't go there. I didn't apply to several good matches for me because I didn't want to live in Virginia or Ann Arbor or wherever. If you think you will be miserable in a place look elsewhere

[AlabamaIceman]

I didn't want to live in Virginia or Ann Arbor or wherever. If you think you will be miserable in a place look elsewhere

This I can certainly understand. I have bouts of Seasonally-Affected Depression just thanks to shorter days and darkness and such... I'm pretty sure somewhere with actual snow for the majority of the academic year would NOT be good for me along with the stresses of law school.

[aliarrow]

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[Eugenie Danglars]

I didn't want to live in Virginia or Ann Arbor or wherever. If you think you will be miserable in a place look elsewhere

This I can certainly understand. I have bouts of Seasonally-Affected Depression just thanks to shorter days and darkness and such... I'm pretty sure somewhere with actual snow for the majority of the academic year would NOT be good for me along with the stresses of law school.

No Ithaca for you either!

[reasonable_man]

Conventional wisdom says that you should, essentially, attend a law school within the region you one day hope to practice. The obvious exception is to attend a school with national name recognition, i.e. One of the top 6 to 10 law schools. Those schools typically allow for mobility to many markets.

That said, in practice, in New York, I have encountered attorneys from many law schools. While the bulk of the people I meet attended either Top schools or NYC local schools, I do, from time to time, meet attorneys from schools well beyond the NYC-local mix. So its not impossible. That said, its also not easy and in this market, I'd be very careful about stepping outside of the safety zone of staying either within your market or attending a truly top school.

[AlabamaIceman]

Conventional wisdom says that you should, essentially, attend a law school within the region you one day hope to practice. The obvious exception is to attend a school with national name recognition, i.e. One of the top 6 to 10 law schools. Those schools typically allow for mobility to many markets.

That said, in practice, in New York, I have encountered attorneys from many law schools. While the bulk of the people I meet attended either Top schools or NYC local schools, I do, from time to time, meet attorneys from schools well beyond the NYC-local mix. So its not impossible. That said, its also not easy and in this market, I'd be very careful about stepping outside of the safety zone of staying either within your market or attending a truly top school.

Thanks for that response.

My intuition tells me that if I do get a good offer from Alabama or one of the top-5 at sticker, I'll be back on this board asking "Go here or here?" with these same considerations...

[reasonable_man]

Conventional wisdom says that you should, essentially, attend a law school within the region you one day hope to practice. The obvious exception is to attend a school with national name recognition, i.e. One of the top 6 to 10 law schools. Those schools typically allow for mobility to many markets.

That said, in practice, in New York, I have encountered attorneys from many law schools. While the bulk of the people I meet attended either Top schools or NYC local schools, I do, from time to time, meet attorneys from schools well beyond the NYC-local mix. So its not impossible. That said, its also not easy and in this market, I'd be very careful about stepping outside of the safety zone of staying either within your market or attending a truly top school.

Thanks for that response.

My intuition tells me that if I do get a good offer from Alabama or one of the top-5 at sticker, I'll be back on this board asking "Go here or here?" with these same considerations...

Allow me to save you the trip back to the computer.... If you get into a top 5 law school, Alafuckingbama law, or whatever its called, should not even enter your mind. Send your seat deposit to the top LS you got into, thank your lucky stars and in 3 years, profit. While my career has turned out just fine, having graduated from a TTT, there is truly nothing that will give your career a boost quite like a Top 5 LS degree.

[AlabamaIceman]

Allow me to save you the trip back to the computer.... If you get into a top 5 law school, Alafuckingbama law, or whatever its called, should not even enter your mind. Send your seat deposit to the top LS you got into, thank your lucky stars and in 3 years, profit. While my career has turned out just fine, having graduated from a TTT, there is truly nothing that will give your career a boost quite like a Top 5 LS degree.

Debt vs. a possible free ride would be the only consideration I would make, and even then, I would be biased towards leaving bama. This economy just scares me.

[reasonable_man]

Allow me to save you the trip back to the computer.... If you get into a top 5 law school, Alafuckingbama law, or whatever its called, should not even enter your mind. Send your seat deposit to the top LS you got into, thank your lucky stars and in 3 years, profit. While my career has turned out just fine, having graduated from a TTT, there is truly nothing that will give your career a boost quite like a Top 5 LS degree.

Debt vs. a possible free ride would be the only consideration I would make, and even then, I would be biased towards leaving bama. This economy just scares me.

It scares us all. But honestly, I'm inclined to believe that a Top 5 law degree almost always pays for itself in the end.

[thecilent]

I feel like I'm on xo with this egregious CC trolling

[duckmoney]

Regardless of where you go to school, you will also be considered for jobs in the market you have ties too. For instance, if you go to Fordham, you will be considered by Alabama firms because Alabama is all over your resume and you grew up there. But they will consider you as a candidate from a T30 school, or whatever Fordham is these days.

And if you get into a t5 (yes I'm CC trolling) then you will have a very easy time landing a top job in Bama.

I was in an almost identical situation as your hypothetical and chose t5. There's a thread called "seriously considering Bama over t14" which you might find useful. Can't link to it because I'm on phone.