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Struggling with decisions here. 164 LSAT; 3.63 GPA. Will be attending law school PT in the evening while keeping my day job. This limits my options for schools, so no use to retake. Right now my interests are IP and perhaps LIT, but I'm not so naive to think my mind can't or won't change while I'm actually in school.

As it stands now, I'm kind of leaning towards SJU because I like the idea of graduating debt-free from a school that at least has name-recognition (in the case I don't stay in NYC). However I am hesitant because of what I've read about low student morale. I did visit BLS and NYLS and preferred the atmosphere of NYLS - location is great, facilities are nice... I don't know, I just had a good impression. I know the school's rep is poor and they're not even ranked, but the new dean has made concerted efforts to growing and supporting the PT program with a focus on practical/experiential learning. Fordham originally was my top choice, but the debt is terrifying (I still have substantial undergrad debt).

I would greatly appreciate any serious/thoughtful input, especially from current or former students of these schools.

i don't know enough about the schools to give you specific advice but i will say that you should consider commute time (maybe you have already). st.johns is very far out in queens and not easily accessible by public transit, the closest train station is 20 mins away by walking and only 2 trains stop there, both of which could easily take an hour from midtown to arrive to.

what type of firm

large, market-paying firm? small firm that starts at 50k?

give us some more info about goals so we can start narrowing this down

Are you eligible for the patent bar?

Petrichor wrote:i don't know enough about the schools to give you specific advice but i will say that you should consider commute time (maybe you have already). st.johns is very far out in queens and not easily accessible by public transit, the closest train station is 20 mins away by walking and only 2 trains stop there, both of which could easily take an hour from midtown to arrive to.

I actually work in northern Queens, so commute there isn't a problem (I drive).

Brut wrote:what type of firm

large, market-paying firm? small firm that starts at 50k?

give us some more info about goals so we can start narrowing this down

I don't want to count anything out, but I'm somewhat ambivalent to biglaw. I'm thinking medium sized firm, most likely. Interested in intellectual property as it's a growing market right now. I'm trying to keep things in perspective and think of the longterm impact.

mela36 wrote:

Brut wrote:what type of firm

large, market-paying firm? small firm that starts at 50k?

give us some more info about goals so we can start narrowing this down

I don't want to count anything out, but I'm somewhat ambivalent to biglaw. I'm thinking medium sized firm, most likely. Interested in intellectual property as it's a growing market right now. I'm trying to keep things in perspective and think of the longterm impact.

What do you mean by medium sized firm?

Can you link us to a couple firm websites of the types of firms you're thinking of in your desired market?