Top Law Schools

I have a dilemma that most everybody on here is probably facing, just with different schools. I have been accepted to many schools, some higher ranked than others but have narrowed it down to Memphis or Stetson. I am from TN, so if I go to Memphis my debt would be alot less, looking at about 16,000 a year vs. 38,000 a year at Stetson. I would like to move to Florida, I visited the campus and loved it. Quality of life would be alot better and I would like to practice in the Tampa area. I am interested in trial advocacy, which Stetson has repeatably ranked in the top 5 since the rankings began. I am wondering if it would be worth it to take the risk of going to Stetson instead of Memphis? Thanks for the input, it will help me out alot.

How well can you swim ? If very well, then Memphis can be considered in light of the current flooding.

Has Stetson ever been ranked lower than number one (1) for trial advocacy ?

Also, if you want to live & work in the Tampa Bay area, Stetson should offer much better opportunities & connections.

ThatGuy980 wrote: I am wondering if it would be worth it to take the risk of going to Stetson instead of Memphis?

ThatGuy980 wrote:16,000 a year vs. 38,000 a year

FWIW, I recently debated between two schools. One was my 2nd choice and was ranked high in trial advocacy, but was sticker and roughly 50K/yr. The other was further down my list and doesn't have much of a litigation program at all, but has a reasonable network, competitive job prospects (albeit O K given the economy) and is going to be around 15-20K/yr. I chose the cheaper route.

Think of it this way, is the "program" (or insert whatever is holding you back) worth the extra $___.
In my case I'll save roughly 35K PER YEAR, and after interest over a ten or fifteen year note, NO clinical program is worth $200,000.

Save yourself the $66,000 of non-dischargeable debt and go to Memphis. Don't pick a law school based on specialty rankings.

Fred_McGriff wrote:Save yourself the $66,000 of non-dischargeable debt and go to Memphis. Don't pick a law school based on specialty rankings.

TITCR

Stetson at sticker would be a comically poor decision.

Not if you want to live & work in the Tampa Bay area. Also, not if you prefer above-water law schools. Seriously, check on the flood status of Memphis. Stetson, if I recall correctly, is one of the lowest cost law private schools in the country. And houses are very reasonable in many areas of Florida--although I am not sure about the Tampa Bay-Clearwater-St. Pete region. Plus, Memphis was unattractive, hot & humid before the flood, while the Tampa Bay area has gorgeous beaches & beautiful neighborhoods. The trial advocacy program at Stetson is very well respected.

I've never been to Tampa, but I think that most large cities in Florida would be nicer than here in Memphis....

The Good: The midtown area is nice. It's slightly more trendy and bohemian than the rest of the city. Downtown, where the law school is, is a good area, too (if you don't mind hobos-they generally won't bother you). They are trying to revitalize a lot of the old warehouses and office buildings into condos and such. The southern and art deco architecture is very pretty, when you can find it. We have an NBA team, AAA baseball, a few nice concert halls, good bars The river is actually a great place to visit when it isn't bent on swallowing up civilization. There is a beautiful park down there where they have a music and barbeque festival that attracts some pretty well known artists.

The Bad: It's hot and terribly humid during the summer, high crime rate, poor management by city officials, etc. It has somewhat improved since the last mayor retired, but not by much. The schools are terrible in the city (the city school board refuses to fund them, voted to disband themselves and force the county to pay for them.) and there are talks of merging the county and the city schools. The jobs available primarily consist of lower paying/unskilled labor positions. Alot of the city is run down and ugly.

I grew up here, so it may be that I'm a little biased/tired of it. As with most things, it is what you make of it. As far as the law school goes, I've known a few people that went there. Most of them ended up in lower paying private practice jobs here in MEM, but I don't know their placement in the class/lsat/gpa. It could be that there were others that made it further. I know of one that made it to California and she is in private practice immigration law.

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Pick where you want to live and go to the school there. I think 100k is COMPLETELY worth living in an area of the country you really prefer. They don't throw you in jail for being in debt, and Stetson provides a good opportunity to pay off that debt by the time you are 40 or 45, much sooner if you are really talented or lucky.

I actually like Memphis though, so whatever floats your boat. There are some cool smaller towns around there as well...

I wouldn't worry about trial advocacy much-- I'm sure Stetson has great coaches and a good program but its a huge school and the chances of you being involved in that are very small.

Canadianwolf are you employed by Stetson? Ha you really seem to be pushing it a lot in these forums.

I don't think that you will find employment coming out from either school, so I would suggest "Don't go."

But if you are dead set on going to law school, I'd pick Memphis because of the lower debt burden.

Btw, here is a TTR post on Stetson:

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/20 ... etson.html

It really sounds like an awful place.

CanadianWolf wrote:Not if you want to live & work in the Tampa Bay area. Also, not if you prefer above-water law schools. Seriously, check on the flood status of Memphis. Stetson, if I recall correctly, is one of the lowest cost law private schools in the country. And houses are very reasonable in many areas of Florida--although I am not sure about the Tampa Bay-Clearwater-St. Pete region. Plus, Memphis was unattractive, hot & humid before the flood, while the Tampa Bay area has gorgeous beaches & beautiful neighborhoods. The trial advocacy program at Stetson is very well respected.

Dude.. you have no idea what you are talking about. Memphis is on a 45 ft bluff. This flooding crap is the biggest sensationalism job by the news ever. The flood covers a total of one significant street in the city and the street is more of a tourism thing (for walks beside the river) than anything major. The actual city of memphis is on an additional hill (with the law school in a newly renovated building downtown overlooking the river). The flooded houses are in a really poor area of town that is very low lying cheap land. Even there, the flood isnt anything extreme. The only area of nice homes near the flood were built to a height of 50+ ft so they are still largely untouched. Overall, on a scale of 1-10 I would say the floods current affect on actual life in the city is MAYBE a 3 or 4, and thats only if you live downtown. Outside of the immediate downtown area the effect is essentially zero at this point.

ETA: Unless you really, really, really want to live in Florida... go to Memphis. Also, I live in Memphis currently and went to undergrad here so if you have any questions feel free to PM and I will answer to the best of my ability.

Glad to read that the law school is not flooded, but sorry to read & see that Memphis is flooded downtown. As I posted above, check on the flood status of Memphis. I just read that the river crested in Memphis right before rundoxierun posted immediately above.
Regardless, if you want to live & work in Florida, Stetson is the better choice depending upon your tolerance for debt. But, if you are willing to stay in the Memphis area, then Memphis.

P.S. Just read the Memphis profile. New location & new law school building as of 2010.

Don't let the flood status factor at all into your decision, it will be forgotten by this time next year. If you think living in Tampa is worth an extra $66,000 plus interest (Think $136,000 total), then go to Stetson. You'll have a much better chance of being employed in Tampa out of Stetson. If not, go to Memphis, save that money, and learn to love the place like everyone I know who lives there does.

Thanks everybody for the advice, all things I have considered and continuing to do so. I have to decide here pretty soon so anymore constructive input would be great. I guess I just have to determine whether living in Florida and having a better quality of life is worth the extra money in the long run. I just don't want to end up stuck in Memphis for the rest of my life, but there is a possibility of breaking into some Nashville firms if I am at the top of my class, and Nashville is a lot better town comparably.

The flooding really isn't that bad on the Memphis side. It looks bad on tv though. The majority of downtown is on the bluff as the earlier poster said. It's already receding at this point...slowly. I vote Memphis. Its not so bad here and after reading so much on the serious debt that can be accrued versus job prospects it seems like the best bet is the best cheap program you can get into.
Either way, best of luck!
Mb

scammedhard wrote: Btw, here is a TTR post on Stetson:

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/20 ... etson.html

It really sounds like an awful place.

TTR just does a cut and paste job for each school. Not saying it's not true, or not to consider debt, but I wouldn't link to it for the benefit of substantive conversation.

I'd go with the cheaper school.