Poll: USC v. GW Forum

[Tiresias]

Hey everyone. I wanted to get TLS's opinion on this. Today I got into GW and I was accepted at USC last Friday. Here are my considerations.

My Objective:

My objective is to work with an Israel Practice Group. I am less concerned as to where I practice. However, there are some geographic considerations. My primary concern is job placement, and if I will be able to achieve my goal. LA has a much larger Israeli presence and more Israeli companies do business with LA companies (Israel's boom industries are Software and Pharmaceuticals)

USC Pros:

Better placement. USC has, according to NLJ slightly higher placement in the NLJ 250 (about 4-5%). However, traditionally, USC has performed much better than GW by about 10% (this was in 2009).

Smaller graduating class

Better law school culture for what I am looking for. This is pretty important for me.

GW Pros:

Better International Law program

Washington DC (in terms of familiarity and culture) has an edge but this is not a deal breaker for me.

Logistics. Moving to GW would be logistically easier. It is closer to where I currently live, and GW's OCI and Academic year would give me more time to make the move (I currently own a condo where I live and I would need to rent it out).

I would really appreciate people's constructive feedback. I need to deposit on GW by 4EST today to participate in GW's OCI. Also, if anyone knows the answer to some of these questions I would appreciate it.

1. How do transfers fare at OCI for both schools? I heard it is not great for GW.

2. How is the legal market in both? I know it isn't great, but is one significantly worse off then the other?

Thanks