Top Law Schools

Anyone else going?

I may if I get accepted. I haven't heard anything from them since applying "in" (edited) November.

I also applied in Nov. and I just got in last week.

Accepted...need to learn more about school before I will make up my mind...anybody help?

Will most likely be at William Boyd this fall. Anyone else close to a decision?

I just got in at UNLV- got the envelope yesterday! I'm pretty excited. Unless I get in to Willamette, where I am waitlisted, I will probably attend here.

I grew up in LV, which has its pros and cons. Honestly it wasn't at the top of my list at the beginning of the admissions season, but I'm so excited just to go to law school and after a closer look, the school seems better than I'd previously thought.

Unless you would just love to be in Oregon or just hate Las Vegas, Willamette is a large step below UNLV. UNLV has only been around ten years and has climbed in the rankings (#88 last year). At Willamette you have to compete with U of Oregon and Lewis and Clark grads, not to mention UW and Seattle grads. I went to undergrad in Oregon, and Willamette seems to receive very little respect especially compared to its price.

I echo Kramer's sentiments. Willamette may be the least respected law school in the PNW.

If you're determined to wind up in Oregon, it may be the best choice for you, but if you're willing to be anywhere else after graduation...Boyd is a better choice. Seems like a good school and is obviously top dog in Nevada. Good luck in your decision either way.

For anyone who has visited, lived in LV, or gone to undergrad there - are the students close? or is it more of a commuter school?

PhantaManta wrote:For anyone who has visited, lived in LV, or gone to undergrad there - are the students close? or is it more of a commuter school?

It can be either. There are dorms, but I'm not sure how that works with the law school. Many people live nearby. It's not the best part of town, but I, personally, have always felt safe around there. I've been a commuter myself. The law school is in the center of the university. Either way you go, I think you're gonna walk a bit.

As for my opinion on the school, it's amazing how fast it has moved up. Only 10 years, and it's ranked 88. Slightly less than 1 out of 4 applicants gets accepted. Several of the professors got their J.D.s from Harvard and Yale. I think it'd be a great school to go to. However, I declined their offer of admission two days ago. Nothing against the school, I just decided law is not for me, at least not now.

I went to the open house they had and I'm pretty sure that they said that there is no housing for law students. I wouldn't live too close to campus as it's not the best area but you don't have to go too far to find nice areas. So I guess that it is more of a commuter school but the impression that I got is that the students are still pretty close.

This is the one thing that makes me really nervous about attending Boyd:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/ap ... oyd-adieu/

Scratch that. What really scares me is this guy:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/ma ... on-terror/

If I am late on my tuition bill will they pull out my fingernails?

First...Two professors left because of their children and the other because of their foreign husband. Who cares?? What one should worry about is a professor leaving because of how the school is ran itself. Professors leave colleges for personal reasons everyday.

Second...Bybee teaches one seminar a year. Obviously, a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is qualified to teach a seminar. He is barely on the faculty anymore, and it does not mean that any of UNLV's real faculty condone torturing.

kramer22 wrote:First...Two professors left because of their children and the other because of their foreign husband. Who cares?? What one should worry about is a professor leaving because of how the school is ran itself. Professors leave colleges for personal reasons everyday.

I disagree. I think the article is important. Everyone, even students, will face similar quality of life issues, but in different ways. A 36% cut in higher education will impact our education at Boyd no matter how well the law school is managed. It remains to be seen how much the State will cut the budget though. We won't find out for many weeks or months. A 36% cut is pretty draconian, and I predict Nevada's legislature will negotiate a budget that does not slash higher education's budget as much. Maybe 15%? For these three professors I reckon it was a combination of likely salary cuts and quality of life issues that convinced them to seek work elsewhere.

Nearly all publicly funded law schools across the country will face some type of budget cut. The problem in Nevada is that our State's budget is in much worse shape, and Boyd will be hurt more than other schools.

Second...Bybee teaches one seminar a year. Obviously, a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is qualified to teach a seminar. He is barely on the faculty anymore, and it does not mean that any of UNLV's real faculty condone torturing.

It was a joke.

I'm not terribly worried about Bybee.

I heard he might even teach a new class entitled Practical Ethics in an Oligarchy.

PhantaManta wrote:For anyone who has visited, lived in LV, or gone to undergrad there - are the students close? or is it more of a commuter school?

Boyd will definitely be a commuter school. I grew up here and went to UNLV for undergrad. You cannot help the fact that everything is spread out. You also will not find strong concentrations of students living in any one particular area. (graduate anyway) But there are alot of beautiful serene areas around here. The city expands out about 20 miles in every direction from the campus, and you can live anywhere in the city and still get to campus in a relatively short amount of time. Some areas close by that aren't ghettofied, that you might be interested in checking out are:

Green Valley
Henderson-Certain Areas
Spring Valley
Silverado Ranch
Southern Highlands-a bit further

These are general areas, each has nicer parts and not so nice parts. But they're no more than 10-15min drive away from campus.
If you don't mind driving about 25-35 min to class, look at areas such as: Mountain's Edge, The lakes, Summerlin, and to a lesser extent Anthem Country Club area. These areas are beautiful,in that they are very new, so things tend to be nicer. Neighborhoods wear out faster in Vegas because it's such a transient city.

A good way to think of it is like this. the city was born on the strip, and it grew out and expanded from there. The oldest parts are closest to the strip and the newest are the furthest away. We have a large hispanic immigrant population here and many reside in the inner parts of the city, although it's not accurate to describe it as a traditional inner city. there is no city in Vegas, it's entirely urban sprawl. The oldest parts of the city will have poorer immigrant populations with higher rates of crime. Things change demographically as you venture beyond. If you sense racism in this paragraph, then there's something wrong with you.

Ordinarily, the further you go away from campus the pricier things get, but we've been hit the hardest in the country by the housing bubble burst and there are so many good deals on housing here it's ridiculous. You can really find affordable housing anywhere right now. Shit, I'd even venture to say you could prolly rent yourself a single family home, albeit a small 2-3 bedroom for 700.00 amonth if you look in the right spots. They'll be old though, but that's not necessarily a problem. You wouldn't necessarily be giving up your safety and well being.

If anyone has questions about specific areas and price concerns, feel free to pm me. I can help point you in the right direction.

I live in Southern Highlands, it's about a 13 minute drive from my place to one of the parking lots for UNLV. It's quite far away but really quick to get there, and a it's a great area. It's also close to South Point and Silverton where I drink and gamble. Though in law school, probably wouldn't have any time for that.

And like perconte1 said, housing bubble hit the hardest here. Housing prices are pretty low.

This is funny:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =1&t=69258

Sunday Night around 11PM PST there was a race to post the U.S. News & World Report Rankings first.

Anyway, UNLV jumped to 75th.

kramer22 wrote:Unless you would just love to be in Oregon or just hate Las Vegas, Willamette is a large step below UNLV. UNLV has only been around ten years and has climbed in the rankings (#88 last year). At Willamette you have to compete with U of Oregon and Lewis and Clark grads, not to mention UW and Seattle grads. I went to undergrad in Oregon, and Willamette seems to receive very little respect especially compared to its price.

I don't hate Las Vegas, but got tired of the desert after growing up there. I just went to the open house though and loved the school. Def a step up from the undergrad! I am very much on the fence between the two. And I have heard great things about Willamette, so perhaps we have different sources. I know the rankings will point to UNLV (now 75!!), but the Oregon lifestyle is just so nice, and thats where I want to be in the long run, no matter where I go to school. Either place I will honestly be happy.

btw did anyone else attend the open house for admitted students? what did you guys think? I spoke with Dean White; he is pretty awesome and very approachable, imo.

I went to the open house and I was really impressed. My decision had already been made to go there so it was mainly to check out the campus. I didn't get to talk to Dean White but I went to the talk he did and he does seem like a good guy. I'm pretty excited to go there but Vegas is definitely not for everyone.

UNLV CLASS OF 2012 Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.p ... 508&ref=nf

Hello everyone,

This is a link to the UNLV Boyd School of Law Class of 2012 group. I look forward to meeting with all of you this fall. Check out the TLS 2012 thread, and let them know you that you are attending.

I was on the waitlist and withdrew. I hope it helps someone who really wants to go. A shorter wait list has to be a good thing for those still waiting. Good luck.

Well, I have made my decision, I will be attending UNLV in the Fall. I had it narrowed down to University of Arizona and UNLV and Nevada is where I must be. I am really excited!

My wife and I are flying down in a couple of weeks to put earnest money down on a home and start getting everything in order.

I look forward to speaking with and meeting each of you in the coming months!

Well that is awesome. Congratulations.

hate to dredge up an old thread, but i was wondering if any 2Ls at UNLV might notice this thread - i have a question about a prof from UNLV visiting my institution.