Wake Forest vs. UGA Forum

[nickt92]

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[Charlestonsfb60]

I had the same choice to make last year with slightly less money at each school and chose UGA. You have to decide whether you want to work in Georgia or the Carolinas because neither option is going to take you out of the area. Also SEC>ACC

[OhBoyOhBortles]

I had the same choice to make last year with slightly less money at each school and chose UGA. You have to decide whether you want to work in Georgia or the Carolinas because neither option is going to take you out of the area.Also SEC>ACC

Bolded is credited. Can you expand more on your career goals?
Also, out of curiosity, LSAT/GPA?

Edit: 162/3.9 via your previous posts. I'd recommend a retake. I am still interested in hearing your career goals.

[nickt92]

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[CanadianWolf]

Georgia is the better law school. The person who runs the DOJ's day-to-day operations, Sally Yates, is a Georgia grad. Fairly recent appointment. Prior to that she was US Attorney in Atlanta (hired by one of my friends when he was the US Attorney there). Immediately after graduating Georgia Law she worked for King & Spalding. Georgia grads have opportunities that WFU law grads seldom see. Atlanta has been a huge force in the Dept. of Justice for a couple of decades now. Due in part, I suspect, to Newt Gingrich's influence as Speaker of the House & while in Congress. Sam Nunn was also a dominant force in DC.
Biglaw recruits at Georgia--but not as deeply as at a T-14 law school. Lots of money & power in Atlanta.
I attended both schools during short visits in my undergraduate years. I love Georgia & love North Carolina as places to live. Georgia, however, is a bit of a powerhouse in terms of Fortune 500 companies & opportunities. Charlotte has banking.

P.S. FWIW if you're single Atlanta (not far from Athens) is arguably the best place in the nation for a young single professional. Athens isn't far behind. Winston-Salem used to be, and may still be, one of the most segregated cities in the US. Wasn't a pleasant experience as a distance runner as I often crossed the line during long runs.

[shump92]

Emory or Vanderbilt would probably maximize your "chances of landing a good job". A retake with very dedicated studying could get you the 3/5 point bump to hit their LSAT medians, which would likely mean admission with your GPA. I think UGA does give you good chances at options in Atlanta, but Vanderbilt definitely would give you the most flexibility throughout the South. You would probably get into UGA again next year unless they yield-protect you, so I don't see the harm in shooting for the 1/2 schools in the South instead of settling for #4.

[CanadianWolf]

Duke is the best law school in the South. I'd recommend Georgia over Emory. Emory's employment stats are greatly inflated by law school funded positions for law grads unsuccessful at getting regular employment upon graduation. Also, if you reapply & want The South, Alabama is a solid law school with strong regional placement.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I would normally recommend WF for sure (because of $$$), but one consideration is that I think (correct me if wrong) that the legal market is better in GA than NC because there are so many law schools in Carolina. Off the top of my head, besides Wake, is UNC, Duke, Charlotte School of Law, Campbell, Elon...and there may be others. So I would consider this but maybe GA is not different? Let's see UGA, Emory, Georgia State. Anything else?

[Clemenceau]

Yeah from my understanding, atlanta is pretty damn competitive. Uga is a good school, but with a 3.9 you should really consider a retake and go to duke/UVA/vandy

Edit: you mention maximizing your chances of getting a "good job", which seems like code for biglaw/fed clerk/etc. Definitely retake. I'd say 6-7 more points on the lsat and you will cruise into duke/uva with money

[CanadianWolf]

Georgia has Mercer in Macon--but it is not much of a factor in the Atlanta market. Georgia will get you connected, Georgia State puts students in the middle of the market, Emory has a national name while Duke & Virginia are tops in The South.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

Yeah from my understanding, atlanta is pretty damn competitive. Uga is a good school, but with a 3.9 you should really consider a retake and go to duke/UVA/vandy

[stego]

I would normally recommend WF for sure (because of $$$), but one consideration is that I think (correct me if wrong) that the legal market is better in GA than NC because there are so many law schools in Carolina. Off the top of my head, besides Wake, is UNC, Duke, Charlotte School of Law, Campbell, Elon...and there may be others. So I would consider this but maybe GA is not different? Let's see UGA, Emory, Georgia State. Anything else?

7 law schools in NC: Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Charlotte, Campbell, Elon, and North Carolina Central University.

6 in GA: UGA, Emory, GSU, Mercer, Savannah, and John Marshall.

[CanadianWolf]

Agree that with a 3.9 GPA, a retake is worthwhile. Can you ask Georgia for more money ? Regardless, WFU should be out of the picture unless targeting Winston-Salem or some smaller North Carolina cities.

[nickt92]

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[shump92]

If I could pick any school to attend outside of the T14, it would be Vandy (I love TN and I'm a huge Titans/Preds fan). But both the school and Nashville are extremely expensive. Vandy offered me 20k per year off the waitlist, but it would still cost 150k+ to go there. I'm not sure if any school (outside of YHS) is worth that much money. UGA was my compromise b/w Vandy and UR (full ride). Their LST numbers are better than most of their competitor schools and I do agree ATL has the potential to provide lucrative opportunities.

I did seriously consider waiting/retaking but decided not to for several reasons. Alabama wait listed me which I though was strange but I guess they put a large emphasis on in-state apps. Also, they still do those conditional scholarships so I most likely would have withdraw anyway.

I think the one thing you should be considering between Vandy and UGA is the flexibility for your job opportunities, particularly the first 3-5 years out of law school. At Vandy, you would have a much broader range of options than you would from UGA, mostly in a geographic sense. You would also have less pressure to hit a certain ranking in your class and the name on the degree would be a stronger tiebreaker for competitive positions. If you are comfortable likely committing yourself to staying in Georgia for at least 5 years, then I think you are making the right decision. If not, the 150K or getting a better offer from Vandy after a retake would probably be worth it. If you are that high on Tennessee, the extra COA might be worth having the ties there. My two cents.

[stego]

I did seriously consider waiting/retaking but decided not to for several reasons. Alabama wait listed me which I though was strange but I guess they put a large emphasis on in-state apps. Also, they still do those conditional scholarships so I most likely would have withdraw anyway.

I got offered a more than full ride at Alabama with your GPA and 5 points more on the LSAT. They do conditional scholarships but they also made a couple of unsolicited increases/improvements to their offer. I went from a top 50% stipulation to a good academic standing stipulation. I'm not from Alabama.

Consider a retake.

[unsweetened]

FWIW, I was looking at WF/UNC v. UGA as well. Selected UGA because of COA + proximity to ATL + ties. Why not retake, especially with a 3.9 GPA? A couple points better on the LSAT you'd be looking at Duke instead of WF.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

FWIW, I was looking at WF/UNC v. UGA as well. Selected UGA because of COA + proximity to ATL + ties. Why not retake, especially with a 3.9 GPA? A couple points better on the LSAT you'd be looking at Duke instead of WF.

With the possibility of substantial $$

[nickt92]

how much should I consider the LSAT percentiles from each school? Is this really indicative of the competitiveness for the respective class? Can I use these to have a realistic idea of where I would place in the class?

UGA: 158/163/164

WF: 157/161/163

My score: 162

After looking at LST some more, their numbers are very similar.. If WF could offer a greater chance of placing in the top percentage, it might be worth the jump.

[Tom Joad]

UGA based solely on sports.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

how much should I consider the LSAT percentiles from each school? Is this really indicative of the competitiveness for the respective class? Can I use these to have a realistic idea of where I would place in the class?

UGA: 158/163/164

WF: 157/161/163

My score: 162

After looking at LST some more, their numbers are very similar.. If WF could offer a greater chance of placing in the top percentage, it might be worth the jump.

Not at all. Your LSAT is absolutely not an indicator of how you will do in law school. Don't choose a school because you think you'll be closer to the top. There's no way to predict where you will be. Assume you'll be at median and plan accordingly. A.k.a. Choose the school that gets their median students the most desirable results for you.

[nickt92]

Even at a school like Vandy? I realize the difference b/w a 162 and a 164 is marginal (in fact it was the difference of 2 questions for me).. but Vandy has 162/167/168 percentiles.. Is it not safe to assume I would perform comparatively better against my peers at UGA than at Vandy?

[OhBoyOhBortles]

Even at a school like Vandy? I realize the difference b/w a 162 and a 164 is marginal (in fact it was the difference of 2 questions for me).. but Vandy has 162/167/168 percentiles.. Is it not safe to assume I would perform comparatively better against my peers at UGA than at Vandy?

No. There's no correlation. It's all highly competitive students graded on a curve. There's no accurate way to predict.

[nickt92]

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[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Even at a school like Vandy? I realize the difference b/w a 162 and a 164 is marginal (in fact it was the difference of 2 questions for me).. but Vandy has 162/167/168 percentiles.. Is it not safe to assume I would perform comparatively better against my peers at UGA than at Vandy?

No. There's no correlation. It's all highly competitive students graded on a curve. There's no accurate way to predict.

I agree that there's no way to predict between 162 and 164 at Vandy. I think if you are significantly above or below LSAT median (ex. you attend a T40 with a 170+ or you attend HYS with 160-162 there is definitely a correlation with grades).