Is Emory Law Worth the Price Forum

[Minnietron]

A transfer will help if you want to practice in Atlanta and your 1L school is not in the South.

1L school is also here in Atlanta which makes the decision tough for me. I also want to stay and practice in Atlanta afterwards.

If your 1L school is John Marshall, then transfer. If your 1L school is Georgia State, stay put.

[barkschool]

A transfer will help if you want to practice in Atlanta and your 1L school is not in the South.

1L school is also here in Atlanta which makes the decision tough for me. I also want to stay and practice in Atlanta afterwards.

May be easier to get a job at emory if you come from GSU instead of John Marshall. During OCI at least.

[Toni V]

A fair number of Emory grads secure work at good high paying Atlanta firms.

That's what I've heard. I just wonder if I could get the same job prospects from a cheaper lower tier school if I keep my top 10% rank. What are your thoughts?

Top 10% could possibly be of help, but to answer your question, not likely. Emory ranks high in the world of [southern] prestigious schools, perhaps #1 in GA with the top high paying firms, which is a huge advantage.

Although arguable, the optics of Tier 4 signifies a lower class of intellect, however, if you could convince an Atlanta firm that you could have attended Emory, GA, Duke, etc., but passed because of a prudent financial consideration [lower school debt], you might come out ok....maybe.

[legit]

I would transfer, but I do not know your financial situation.

If you decide to stay, negotiate your scholarship at your 1L school and start mass mailing all the firms in Atlanta that have alumni from your law school.

[lavarman84]

Might be too late, but is it Emory or bust? What about Georgia or Georgia State? I feel like Emory with no scholarship isn't worth it. But staying at your current school like isn't worth it either. If you could get Georgia or Georgia State with in-state tuition, that would likely be better than Emory.

[Anonymous User]

Hey all - thanks for the awesome input. I am leaving John Marshall to attend Georgia State. They gave me in-state tuition, (even though I'm from out of state!!) and it's literally right beside my small firm job in Peachtree Towers. All Emory was willing to do was waive the $1,000 deposit. As much as I tried, I just couldn't convince myself that Emory was worth the extra debt. I appreciate all the incredible advice!

[JennJenn]

Probably not if you plan to stay in the South. Transferring to UGA or GSU would be a better investment in terms of cost / benefit. Those law schools cost far less but place as many students at Atlanta big law as Emory does, and the mid-range firms in the area are more likely to hire UGA & GSU grads than Emory, if only because of loyalty to their local alma maters. A lot of regional attorneys have ties to the two state schools or Mercer, and they seem to see Emory as an outsider. I went to UGA as an undergrad, and that helped getting interviews back in the day as much as graduating from Emory Law.

Additionally (and this is not a slam, just a fact), those schools are less competitive, meaning you have a better chance of a higher class ranking against your classmates. In the end, with firms, class rank is the biggest factor for on-campus interviews. If you graduate from one of the top 5 law schools in the country in the middle of the class, you likely will still have good options. However, beyond those top schools, it largely comes down to class rank. If you aren't top 10%, maybe 15, then you are not getting a chance at those jobs. So, to me, it actually pays to go to a less competitive school where you can be top dog and make the OCI cuts.

I went to Emory Law with a guy whose younger brother went to GSU. Emory guy graduated in the middle of the class and got a staff level consulting job at one of the consulting firms upon graduation, about 40K a year. A year behind him, his younger brother transferred from a 4th tier school to GSU, ranked in the top 10 percentile of his GSU class, and got a job at Morris, Manning making about 110K upon graduation. The younger brother freely admitted that GSU wasn't as demanding as what he saw of his older brother's load at Emory, and he laughed about how much easier it was for him to do better in class rankings with less work.

Emory has been hiring its own students in recent years to make its placement numbers look better. Look into it, as well as the Emory law professor who told graduates that they were entitled for wanting decently paying jobs upon graduation, in order to handle their debt. I say all of this as an older and very frustrated alum who is incredibly disappointed in their performance over many years, along with their lack of accountability to students. Really disappointing, and I don't want to see more young people graduating from Emory, saddled with debt and few decent job prospects.

--Edit: Just saw your last post. You did the right thing. While 85% of Emory grads will be working at low paying firms or contract jobs for the next 10 years trying to pay off their loans while eating Ramen noodles, you will be free from the exorbitant debt.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you for that post, I really do appreciate all the insight! If you are still in the Atlanta area we should network sometime. Thanks again - I'm thrilled that I made the right choice!