ALABAMA or UNC Forum

[scooter123]

Currently deciding between Alabama and UNC. Love both schools but don't know what to do. Any advice? Where would y'all go in the situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Rigo]

Ummm..where do you want to practice? Where do you have ties? What are your career goals?
ETA: Just saw you attend Alabama undergrad, so go there.
And are you really wasting your 4.1 GPA by not retaking a 159 162?

[whitespider]

If you want the most helpful advice, we need a little more information...

-The schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

[scooter123]

I have ties in both states (From Carolina, but currently go to School at the University of Alabama). I have good connections in both. I want to practice in the South, but not sure exactly where yet. Either Alabama or the Carolinas is where I want to end up. Should I care that Alabama is ranked higher??

My LSAT : 162 (Took the LSAT twice)
GPA: 4.1

I want to pursue Corporate/Business Law I think.

[scooter123]

I made a 159 the first time and 162 my second time.

[hillz]

Have you considered taking time off? And are you willing to retake? How did you study the first couple of times?

[Rigo]

Should I care that Alabama is ranked higher??

No.

If you truly do not care where you end up, go to whichever one is least expensive. Just know you are likely to spend your entire career in whichever state you choose. The degrees won't be portable.
You are unlikely to get biglaw (which most people are referring to when they say corporate) from either school.

[JuTMSY4]

Should I care that Alabama is ranked higher??

No.

If you truly do not care where you end up, go to whichever one is least expensive. Just know you are likely to spend your entire career in whichever state you choose. The degrees won't be portable.
You are unlikely to get biglaw (which most people are referring to when they say corporate) from either school.

credited - especially the part I bolded

IMHO, Alabama gives you the better chance to practice law relative to it's market. It will not be biglaw though and without more info, it's hard to say whether said job would be enough to service your debt comfortably.

[scooter123]

Disclosure: I want to live in either Birmingham or somewhere in the Carolinas, my whole life. Not really interested in TOP-14 Northern Schools. They are not for everybody who wants to go to Law School.

[Rigo]

Disclosure: I want to live in either Birmingham or somewhere in the Carolinas, my whole life. Not really interested in TOP-14 Northern Schools. They are not for everybody who wants to go to Law School.

I really encourage you to retake for Duke or UVA.
But if not, go to the cheaper of Bama and UNC. There are no meaningful differences other than geographic placement between the two.

[scooter123]

I have no undergraduate debt and will not have any law school debt as well. Is their a particular reason everyone on this website seems to believe if you do not go HYS or Top-14, you are incompetent. Not upset just wondering, just its extremely prevalent. I would prefer to be lawyer in a smaller southern city (BHAM or Charlotte for example), nothing more.

[hillz]

I have no undergraduate debt and will not have any law school debt as well. Is their a particular reason everyone on this website seems to believe if you do not go HYS or Top-14, you are incompetent. Not upset just wondering, just its extremely prevalent. I would prefer to be lawyer in a smaller southern city (BHAM or Charlotte for example), nothing more.

I don't think we are suggesting that. However, I would encourage you to retake even for Bama so that you can get some scholarship money. If you scored high enough, you could be in the running for a Dean's Award scholarship. Even if you don't care about the cost, it would get you extra mentoring throughout law school.

[hillz]

Also, I'm pretty sure the reason that Rigo suggested Duke or UVA was because your goal of corporate/business law would be more likely there.

[whitespider]

Is their a particular reason everyone on this website seems to believe if you do not go HYS or Top-14, you are incompetent.

I don't think that's a prevailing opinion on TLS. I think people just understand that attending a T14 school will give you way more options and flexibility than a regional school might.

[Winston1984]

Vandy would be a real solid option with a good retake as well.

[Tiago Splitter]

I have no undergraduate debt and will not have any law school debt as well. Is their a particular reason everyone on this website seems to believe if you do not go HYS or Top-14, you are incompetent. Not upset just wondering, just its extremely prevalent. I would prefer to be lawyer in a smaller southern city (BHAM or Charlotte for example), nothing more.

You're the one insisting you're too dumb to improve your LSAT score. Everyone other than you seems to think you can do better.

The reason people recommend UVA/Duke is that you are more likely to end up working as a lawyer in Birmingham or Charlotte if you go to one of those schools as opposed to Alabama or UNC. If you will have no debt regardless then you shouldn't have a problem financing UVA or Duke. If those schools are a little too pricy as it stands just add a few points to your LSAT and you'll be in great shape.

[Rigo]

Also, I'm pretty sure the reason that Rigo suggested Duke or UVA was because your goal of corporate/business law would be more likely there.

Precisely. Not suggesting you're incompetent, OP. Your 4.1 indicates otherwise. I just encourage you to maximize your odds for success.

[Ron Don Volante]

neither

retake

get into duke or vandy w/ a good scholarship then we're in business

[Dr. Review]

UNC gives you a slightly better shot at larger firms than Alabama does (19.8% vs 12%), and it gives you a much better chance of not living in Alabama, so that's also positive.

[dstars823]

i would highly suggest a retake here. As someone who has worked in biglaw in NC i can speak that UNC does go kind of far but you pretty much have to be top 10% to even get a look from any of the firms there that do the kind of corporate work you seek. Whereas at Duke or any T14 you can pretty much be median/they dont care about your grades. This is what my partner told me when i worked last summer.

[Winston1984]

UNC gives you a slightly better shot at larger firms than Alabama does (19.8% vs 12%), and it gives you a much better chance of not living in Alabama, so that's also positive.

That number is a little misleading because Bama has a pretty high fed clerkship rate (assuming these folks could have also gotten biglaw).

[TheSpanishMain]

I have no undergraduate debt and will not have any law school debt as well. Is their a particular reason everyone on this website seems to believe if you do not go HYS or Top-14, you are incompetent. Not upset just wondering, just its extremely prevalent. I would prefer to be lawyer in a smaller southern city (BHAM or Charlotte for example), nothing more.

Corporate usually means Big Law. How many corporate law jobs do you think exist in smaller southern cities? I'm not saying there aren't any, but there are relatively few, and you'd be competing with Duke and UVA grads for them.

If you go to a regional school like UNC or Bama, your most likely outcome is a smaller firm. There's nothing wrong with that, and it has nothing to do with your competence. It's just that these schools aren't likely to get you to your stated goals. If you're happy working in a smaller firm in Alabama or NC, then going to the state flagship for free is perfectly defensible.

[chuckbass]

Also OP if you're not gonna be paying for school, with that GPA you have a good shot at Duke/UVA/Vandy with just a few more points even.

[Moneytrees]

In this admissions climate, you have to imagine that a 164 or 165 along with a 4.1 will get you good money at Vandy.

[eriedoctrine]

Retake and come to Duke. Outside T14, WUSTL or Vandy are good options with $$$.