Top Law Schools

A little bit about me:
-From Wisconsin
-Going to UG in Wisconsin
-Want to live/work in WI long-term

This may seem premature since I'm just starting to submit apps now, but I'm at a crossroads. I'm applying to UW-Madison, Michigan, and Northwestern. Michigan and NU are obviously reaches, and I will probably be riding waitlists. Assuming I am accepted to either, I will likely be paying sticker for tuition.

On the other hand, my numbers will hopefully land a substantial scholarship at Wisconsin. This, combined with savings, will allow me to graduate with insignificant/zero debt. (I will also have no UG debt)

So my question is this - if I want to end up in Wisconsin, is UW-Madison my clear option here? Am I crazy for even considering paying sticker at NU or Michigan? To secure a good position with a firm in Madison/Milwaukee I will likely have to finish in the top-20% or so at WI. Graduating from a T14 may allow more leeway in regard to class standing, but is this worth the additional debt? Also, diploma privilege at Wisconsin sounds fantastic...

I'm just feeling a bit conflicted between my (hypothetical) options. I would really appreciate any input or opinions!

post again when you have offers so we don't have to have this discussion twice
right now it's pure speculation
in the meantime, there are lots of posts on strong regionals vs t14 at sticker
those will give you the same info you'd get here, since you don't have specifics yet

retake

Octavius wrote:A little bit about me:
-From Wisconsin
-Going to UG in Wisconsin
-Want to live/work in WI long-term

This may seem premature since I'm just starting to submit apps now, but I'm at a crossroads. I'm applying to UW-Madison, Michigan, and Northwestern. Michigan and NU are obviously reaches, and I will probably be riding waitlists. Assuming I am accepted to either, I will likely be paying sticker for tuition.

On the other hand, my numbers will hopefully land a substantial scholarship at Wisconsin. This, combined with savings, will allow me to graduate with insignificant/zero debt. (I will also have no UG debt)

So my question is this - if I want to end up in Wisconsin, is UW-Madison my clear option here? Am I crazy for even considering paying sticker at NU or Michigan? To secure a good position with a firm in Madison/Milwaukee I will likely have to finish in the top-20% or so at WI. Graduating from a T14 may allow more leeway in regard to class standing, but is this worth the additional debt? Also, diploma privilege at Wisconsin sounds fantastic...

I'm just feeling a bit conflicted between my (hypothetical) options. I would really appreciate any input or opinions!

If you're absolutely positive you want to stay in Wisconsin I suggest you go for the full scholly. Of course, this is a personal decision. I wouldn't go $250k+ in debt to work in Wisconsin when I could've gone to UW for free, but that's just me.

another thing... if you want to work in WI, and are a WI resident AND go to UW, you don't need to take the bar

james.bungles wrote:retake

yes, where is my head today

op, have you considered retaking?

I've considered a retake, but my PT average was about 167-168 (164 on test day). On a re-take, I would only be likely to score 2-3 points higher, which would still require me to take out significant loans to attend NU or Mich. If my goal is to end up in Wisconsin, wouldn't graduating here with no debt (and not having to take the bar!) be my best option?

Apply to WUSTL/UMN/UIUC/ND/etc for leverage, I don't think it's the best idea to only apply to 3 schools (especially when 2 are reaches).

Octavius wrote:I've considered a retake, but my PT average was about 167-168 (164 on test day). On a re-take, I would only be likely to score 2-3 points higher, which would still require me to take out significant loans to attend NU or Mich. If my goal is to end up in Wisconsin, wouldn't graduating here with no debt (and not having to take the bar!) be my best option?

you don't know if you'll have any of those options

Brut wrote:

Octavius wrote:I've considered a retake, but my PT average was about 167-168 (164 on test day). On a re-take, I would only be likely to score 2-3 points higher, which would still require me to take out significant loans to attend NU or Mich. If my goal is to end up in Wisconsin, wouldn't graduating here with no debt (and not having to take the bar!) be my best option?

you don't know if you'll have any of those options

I know for a fact that I will be able to graduate from UW with no debt. I am an admit there with my numbers, and regardless of a scholarship offer I have enough money saved to pay for tuition. Simmer down a bit.

Not retaking is a really bad idea if you're even considering NU/etc (which you should be). More importantly, how important is being in WI to you? Would you be equally okay with Chicago?

.

Octavius wrote:

Brut wrote:

Octavius wrote:I've considered a retake, but my PT average was about 167-168 (164 on test day). On a re-take, I would only be likely to score 2-3 points higher, which would still require me to take out significant loans to attend NU or Mich. If my goal is to end up in Wisconsin, wouldn't graduating here with no debt (and not having to take the bar!) be my best option?

you don't know if you'll have any of those options

I know for a fact that I will be able to graduate from UW with no debt. I am an admit there with my numbers, and regardless of a scholarship offer I have enough money saved to pay for tuition. Simmer down a bit.

you don't know if you'll have two of those three options then
this thread is pointless

we're just going to have this entire thread all over again in two months when you get your offers
and there are about a million threads on this exact topic

Brut wrote:

Octavius wrote:

Brut wrote:

Octavius wrote:I've considered a retake, but my PT average was about 167-168 (164 on test day). On a re-take, I would only be likely to score 2-3 points higher, which would still require me to take out significant loans to attend NU or Mich. If my goal is to end up in Wisconsin, wouldn't graduating here with no debt (and not having to take the bar!) be my best option?

you don't know if you'll have any of those options

I know for a fact that I will be able to graduate from UW with no debt. I am an admit there with my numbers, and regardless of a scholarship offer I have enough money saved to pay for tuition. Simmer down a bit.

you don't know if you'll have two of those three options then
this thread is pointless

I made a well-reasoned post, asking about a hypothetical (but likely) situation. As I said in the OP, it is a hypo. For your sake, lets take NU and Michigan completely out of the equation. Assuming I want to live in Wisconsin, is attending UW-Madison with no debt a decent option? I appreciate the input from other posters, if you're going to offer nothing but snide remarks please stop trolling my thread.

inb4 OP gets waitlisted at wisconsin

james.bungles wrote:inb4 OP gets waitlisted at wisconsin

http://mylsn.info/wgvmfe/

i'm not trolling your thread

this is (a) posted on the wrong board (b) without any actual information about your offers because you don't have any (c) and is a rehash of topics that have already been discussed to death (d) and is almost a guaranteed waste of time because you'll just post another choosing thread in about six weeks once you actually have a decision to make

if you don't understand why this is asinine and/or you're too lazy to look up those older threads yourself, good luck in law school

What do you mean "good position with a firm"? If you're talking BIG CHEESEHEAD LAW I'm sure that's a very select group of people. You'd likely have to be top 10% at UW to even have a shot and even then there's no guarantees. Schmo-y top 20% bro will be dead in the water I have to imagine.

Don't go to regional schools with a goal of big law.

NU and Michigan are dicey calls too unless you're ok with big law in NYC (and maybe Chicago).

Not sure I understand the anger you directed towards Brut. Speculating that you'll get into a T14 with a mid-160s LSAT seems kind of pointless.

Brut wrote:yes, where is my head today

I could venture a guess.

Julien_Benda wrote:

Brut wrote:yes, where is my head today

I could venture a guess.

Brut wrote:LOL now you're stalking me, following me into threads?
i thought i smelled a loser

how's your ED app to UT? lol

Octavius wrote:

james.bungles wrote:inb4 OP gets waitlisted at wisconsin

http://mylsn.info/wgvmfe/

>7 data points

Julien_Benda wrote:

Brut wrote:yes, where is my head today

I could venture a guess.

You need to both keep this feud out of other people's threads (and in particular, Julien_Benda, don't post in another person's thread just to bring it up).

A 57.1 employment score and 21.4 underemployment score aren't exactly good. Even if UW is considered the "strong" regional for WI, at what point does the low employment make that irrelevant? For people who know more than me about this stuff, what employment cutoff would you set for a strong regional with $$$?

EricHosmer wrote:A 57.1 employment score and 21.4 underemployment score aren't exactly good. Even if UW is considered the "strong" regional for WI, at what point does the low employment make that irrelevant? For people who know more than me about this stuff, what employment cutoff would you set for a strong regional with $$$?

The last class for which we have stats graduated 252 people, but the entering class this fall has just 158, so that percentage may not be very useful. If you really want to work in Wisconsin and understand that this likely means small-mid law and are ok with that, I'd probably go with Wisconsin here. From the sounds of it though, OP wants biglaw in Wisconsin without retaking, which means it might be time to take a step back.

OP whatever you do please apply to a lot more than three schools. And don't be so quick to assume that you'll get no money; with 2-3 more points you'll be above both of Cornell's medians, which can lead to a scholarship negotiation waterfall that puts both Michigan and Northwestern ahead of Wisconsin.