Baylor, SMU, and Houston Forum

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[kalvano]

Check Law School Numbers and see what people with your GPA had and what money it got them.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[icecold3000]

a 162 is nearly an auto admit at baylor according to LSN

[icecold3000]

See been there. The bare minimum seems to fluctuate between 161 and 164. I am wondering if the fact I am a texas resident from a top 10 program would carry any weight.

it would be a good soft factor

[kalvano]

It won't make any difference save for Houston. SMU and Baylor are private, so no residency requirements.

[bartleby]

k, I'll bite since I applied to all three schools this cycle.

Going by this cycle - 165 for SMU w/ half scholarship; 163 for UH w/ barely any scholarship (163 to be safe, they aren't like SMU with the hard LSAT wall. i know of people with 160 flats that got into FT); Baylor is really anyone's guess. I know people with worse numbers than mine who got rejected and people w/ better numbers than mine who were admitted.

I am not sure if going to a top 10 program will help you. Faulty logic but going to a TTT ug with a BS major did not hurt me.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[bartleby]

i'm not sure it works like that. i don't even know if they make any students pay sticker. with that low of a GPA though (mine was lower), you need to aim for a 165 to feel confident about getting into SMU.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[Longhorn88]

McCombs won't get you anything in law school admissions, you'd need at least a 165 for SMU. That, or become a minority.

[reepS]

Eh, SMU seemed pretty lenient with me. I had am a white male with a low GPA, 160 lsat, and they took me PT w/ a 9k a year scholarship. From what I can tell extracurriculars and your UG school may play a factor in their equation. Or the PT LSAT cut of is 160?

[kalvano]

Eh, SMU seemed pretty lenient with me. I had am a white male with a low GPA, 160 lsat, and they took me PT w/ a 9k a year scholarship. From what I can tell extracurriculars and your UG school may play a factor in their equation. Or the PT LSAT cut of is 160?

Big difference between PT and FT admissions.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[CanadianWolf]

Baylor's results on lawschoolnumbers.com are very telling.

[deadpanic]

Any more insight into Baylor would be great.

Does it seem like 162 would be a safe goal with a 3.3 in Mccombs Finance?

You are probably a lock with a 162/3.3 at Baylor, but I'd suggest retaking the LSAT to get a half scholarship at SMU or going to Houston.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[Aberzombie1892]

What's the problem with Baylor?

one of the best trial law program in the country and that is what I am interested in.

SMU is understandable. Lot of money, lot of contacts but What does houston have over baylor?

Houston.

[deadpanic]

What's the problem with Baylor?

one of the best trial law program in the country and that is what I am interested in.

SMU is understandable. Lot of money, lot of contacts but What does houston have over baylor?

UH is in Houston, which is a huge legal market. Baylor is in Waco...not so much. Baylor is good if you want to be a prosecutor & get huge $, but it is super, super competitive and they are on a quarter system. Watch out for the stipulations on the scholarship too.

[fathergoose]

SMU for whatever reason draws the line at 165. If you do better than that and you don't have 57 DWIs on your record, you'll get in, probably with money.

Baylor sucks. I know I'm biased but Baylor sucks. There is no good reason to pick Baylor over SMU or UH. I have never heard anybody at Baylor law say anything positive about their experience there or their job prospects.

SMU >>> UH for placement in Texas.

UT >>> SMU for placement in Texas

[Aberzombie1892]

OP, maybe you should look at a study being completed about feeder schools for NLJ100 firm partners (since 1986) in the top 11 markets in the US, as two of the top markets are Dallas and Houston. You'll notice that some of the schools only do well in Houston, and some only do well in Dallas.

Top Feeder Schools: Dallas
Rank 1986- Partners in the NLJ 100
1 Texas 110
2 Southern Methodist 93
3 Baylor 25
4 Houston 19
5 Texas Tech 18
6 Harvard 16
7 Virginia 13
8 Tulane 11
9 Michigan 9
10 Chicago 8
10 Vanderbilt 8

Top Feeder Schools: Houston
Rank 1986- Partners in the NLJ 100
1 Texas 112
2 Houston 99
3 South Texas 44
4 Harvard 21
5 Tulane 16
6 Baylor 13
6 Southern Methodist 13
8 Vanderbilt 12
9 Georgetown 9

OP, I'm not sure what you want to do, but this will give you an idea of how each school does. It appears that South Texas could be a viable alternative to Baylor if it ever came to choosing between them.

[Cshark440]

(Deleted)

[fathergoose]

What about the quality of education?

I mean I have spent my entire life and Texas. I have met great lawyers from UT, SMU, and Baylor.. even Texas Tech on occassion... but not so many from Houston.

I also hear that Baylor fellows are ready to try cases right out of law school.

I think SMU is great for being a good established law school.

Baylor's Top Trial Law program is attractive to me as well.

About the only merit's I hear about houston are that it is in Houston and gives you access to a larger job market.

I am interested in becoming the best lawyer I can be. I am already in the work force and comfortable with my ability to land a job. I feel a better trained lawyer will land better jobs eventually. So the training is what I am going for.

Thoughts?

I guess it depends on what you want out of law school. If you really don't think you will have a problem landing a job, then go wherever you want. But if getting a job is your primary concern then there is a significant amount of empirical evidence that shows that UT>SMU>UH>Baylor>STCL

Houston is not a shiny law school but I they place lawyers better than Baylor. Plain and simple.

As far as Baylor's trial program, most firms you go to are going to train you to do things their way anyways so any "advantage" to Baylor's program is pretty much moot.

[kalvano]

I am already in the work force and comfortable with my ability to land a job.

Yeah, don't be so sure about that.

Forget specialty rankings, forget Baylor's trial program, forget everything but the name on the school. It's all that matters. Baylor's doesn't carry anywhere near the wight that others in Texas do.

Also, Baylor is a pretty miserable place to spend 3 years. It's cutthroat, people are dicks to each other, the school takes pride in abusing you. I know lots of Baylor people, and met several over the summer. You know what the number one thing they say about Baylor is? "I wish I had gone (or could have gone) to SMU or UH."

I feel a better trained lawyer will land better jobs eventually. So the training is what I am going for.

The lawyer with the best name on their degree will get the best jobs. Plain and simple. Baylor may provide you with oodles better training than UH or SMU, and when you go to interview for legal jobs, the poorly-trained snotty little SMU shit will wander in in a daze and get the job because he went to SMU and you went to Baylor. Name is everything.

[Bustang]

Texas schools-

UT



SMU
UH


Baylor





Everything else.