Baylor Law School Forum

[StylinNProfilin]

why Baylor with that great LSAT?
U could definitely be looking at some money from SMU. Despite ur GPA, previous applicants have gotten into Northwestern and Virginia. I think ur selling urself short unless u just have to be in Waco.

[kalvano]

For a 176, SMU would give you massive amounts of money, plus hookers and beer, plus a little man named Bidwell to follow you around doing your bidding.

[libelintel23]

Thanks for responding,


As for what I want to do when I graduate is muddy waters for me. I am open to practicing anywhere and I have thoughts of trial law, criminal defense and prosecution and perhaps even education. I was planning to enter law school with more of an open mind and run with whatever opportunities were presented to me by professors, colleagues and the college. Is that a wise mindset?

The spring admissions seems like a real hindrance in terms of job prospects and transferring. That brings me more concern than actually attending Baylor and graduating in the median.

Thanks again

[libelintel23]

For a 176, SMU would give you massive amounts of money, plus hookers and beer, plus a little man named Bidwell to follow you around doing your bidding.

I think massive amounts of money, hookers and beer might be how I got myself here A Bidwell might be nice though

[kalvano]

I never did apply to SMU based on perhaps a misplaced preconception of their campus based on the SMU students I taught the LSAT too.

There is definitely some spoiled rich kid syndrome, but there are also a lot of nice people at SMU. The generally nice atmosphere is one of the things I like best about the school. I've met a lot of really cool, easygoing folks.

You can definitely do better than Baylor, and probably SMU. But don't let a few dipshits that you worked with color your whole view. It's pretty nice, as far as student body goes.

[b.gump81]

Edited because I actually meant to write this in a PM. That's what I get for using TLS on my cell phone. Didn't want to derail the thread.

[libelintel23]

Also, with your goal of practicing criminal law, school prestige doesn't matter at all

I was not aware school prestige does not matter for criminal law. Everything I've read seems to indicate class rank, grades, and school ranking are the holy trinity. Do you have any good resources to read up further on this? Would be very helpful.

[kalvano]

Also, with your goal of practicing criminal law, school prestige doesn't matter at all

I was not aware school prestige does not matter for criminal law. Everything I've read seems to indicate class rank, grades, and school ranking are the holy trinity. Do you have any good resources to read up further on this? Would be very helpful.

School prestige always matters. Don't listen to him.

[patrickd139]

Also, with your goal of practicing criminal law, school prestige doesn't matter at all

I was not aware school prestige does not matter for criminal law. Everything I've read seems to indicate class rank, grades, and school ranking are the holy trinity. Do you have any good resources to read up further on this? Would be very helpful.

School prestige always matters. Don't listen to him.

This. Although (a bit off topic) I would personally take Tech fall start on a full ride over Baylor spring any day of the week if you want to do something other than biglaw.

[b.gump81]

Also, with your goal of practicing criminal law, school prestige doesn't matter at all

I was not aware school prestige does not matter for criminal law. Everything I've read seems to indicate class rank, grades, and school ranking are the holy trinity. Do you have any good resources to read up further on this? Would be very helpful.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=155423

[kalvano]

1) Do not assume that what you want to do as a 0L will be what you want to do after 1L or 2L.

2) Prestige always matters. Pretty much every law school offers the same education, so it comes down to school name, cost, and atmosphere.

[b.gump81]

1) Do not assume that what you want to do as a 0L will be what you want to do after 1L or 2L.

I completely agree: always keep your options open. But the same goes for choosing a school that has a low CoA. Otherwise, you get forced into Biglaw and have to abandon the "noble goals" you came to law school for, in order to pay off your school loans. *cough* Baylor/SMU *cough*

2) Prestige always matters. Pretty much every law school offers the same education, so it comes down to school name, cost, and atmosphere.

Again, I agree. I guess I was too conclusive by saying prestige "didn't matter at all" for careers in crim law. But the fact of the matter is that school prestige isn't a significant factor in crim law hiring. Yeah, it matters a little, but dedication, experience, clinic, and moot court/mock trial generally mean more to most crim law employers than where you went school.

But like I said, I didn't want to derail the thread. Back to bashing Baylor, which is something we can all agree on. I still don't understand why anyone would pay 40k+ for the additional misery Baylor puts its students through.

[kalvano]

If you had a choice between Tech and Baylor, choose Tech.

Also, no way SMU is worth it without money. I will totally agree that Tech is one of the best bargains in the state and pretty well-respected in D/FW. If you are 100% dead set on being a DA/PD, then Tech is a better deal than Baylor.

Baylor is miserable. It's cool to be all about preparation for something, but they take it to such an extreme. See earlier in this thread wherein I am appalled but not terribly surprised that they would put practice court over someone having a job.

[utlaw2007]

To the people who scored 176 and 169 on the LSAT, apply to SMU or U of H. DO NOT APPLY TO BAYLOR with those scores. Heck, you should apply to UT and some of the other lower T14's. Your gpa's are low, but if you have some incredible softs, you never know. But you are really selling yourself short applying to Baylor. Biglaw just isn't a realistic option at Baylor. Biglaw is a realistic option coming out of SMU for Dallas Biglaw or U of H for Houston Biglaw. I would say any sized firm, smaller than Biglaw, located in Houston or Dallas is not an option coming out of Baylor unless you are high in the class. And Austin? Austin firms only hire UT or HYS for the most part. Columbia, NYU, and Chicago give you a shot, as well. Seeing that MANY UT Law grads (more than there is space for) want to work in Austin, Austin Biglaw is far more competitive than Houston or Dallas Biglaw. And that includes Austin area midlaw firms, as well.

And I'd like to reiterate the advice given in this thread. Never attend a law school with the intention of transferring. In all likelihood, your transferring out is not going to happen. Then your stuck at a school that you never really wanted to attend in the first place.

I can't believe they make you take a stupid practice court that could prevent you from doing a summer clerkship. That is just insane to me. But what that tells me is that a majority of students don't do summer clerkships, otherwise, Baylor would likely not have the practice court be that long so that it could better accommodate its students. So that is something to consider, as well.

As for the criminal track, prestige and grades always matter to any employer. As far as criminal law goes, they just doesn't matter as much. If a DA's office could litter its offices with Harvard Law grads, it would. But they can't. So they have to take the best of what they can get. And as a result, obtaining those jobs isn't as competitive.

[libelintel23]

Deleted

[utlaw2007]

Wow, you guys are really making me re-think this decision. I am already concerned because starting in Spring seems to really hurt my chances of transferring. After doing more research, the semester hours by starting in spring on the quarter system at Baylor don't match up well with transferring deadlines (with the exception of UT, which is kind of a shot in the dark it seems). Either I will not have enough credits to transfer for the fall of 2013, or by the next transfer I will have too many

Can anyone please give me advice on throwing out applications to SMU and UH this late into the cycle, while ALREADY putting in my seat deposit for Spring Baylor? When can I expect to hear back?

Ughh... what was exciting for finally getting into Law School has quickly turned. Any advice especially from Baylor Students/Grads personally familiar with the quarter system and school would particularly be helpful.

Yall are awesome, even though the reality you speak of kind of sucks

You have a 176 LSAT. Yes, your gpa is low, but you have a 176 LSAT. You have much better options than Baylor. Remember, at the most you would have to wait a year for the next application cycle. But that is much better than having the wrong law school follow you for the rest of your legal career. And there may be tons of money that you could make throughout the entirety of your career based on the law school that you attended. So I think it is far more important to get this right than to rush and make the wrong decision.

[Jeremyl]

And there may be tons of money that you could make throughout the entirety of your career based on the law school that you attended. So I think it is far more important to get this right than to rush and make the wrong decision.

This is coming from the guy that couldn't find a job and had to go solo.

There is nothing wrong with applying to some schools that will provide a low/zero cost of attendance, especially if you know you don't want Biglaw. With that said, you definitely shouldn't rush and attend Baylor this cycle. Apply to SMU, UH, and Tech. See what happens. Sitting out a cycle may not be bad advice if those don't give you lots of money.

Cue utlaw2007 to tell us that he knows more than we do because he is a real life attorney and we're just measly students.

[nickb285]

.

[libelintel23]

Thanks everyone.

[Jeremyl]

he knows more than we do because he is a real life attorney and we're just measly students.

I'm not utlaw, but if he says this, I'll agree with him.

"I read on the internet that anyone who works solo is a giant failure and will die alone in a gutter!" < "I actually work as a lawyer, and you're a fucking idiot."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WkFuCi2ZdQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBLTW-KLdHA

This guy is real. If you didn't hear, he is a lawyer. He was a solo for several years before being disbarred and graduated from UT law before the economy went to shit and legal hiring got flipped on its head. Same as our friend utlaw2007 (except for the disbarment I hope).

Would you trust this guys legal hiring advice over the conventional wisdom of TLS? I didn't think so.

[patrickd139]

he knows more than we do because he is a real life attorney and we're just measly students.

I'm not utlaw, but if he says this, I'll agree with him.

"I read on the internet that anyone who works solo is a giant failure and will die alone in a gutter!" < "I actually work as a lawyer, and you're a fucking idiot."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WkFuCi2ZdQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBLTW-KLdHA

This guy is real. If you didn't hear, he is a lawyer. He was a solo for several years before being disbarred and graduated from UT law before the economy went to shit and legal hiring got flipped on its head. Same as our friend utlaw2007 (except for the disbarment I hope).

Would you trust this guys legal hiring advice over the conventional wisdom of TLS? I didn't think so.

Unless Adam Reposa = utlaw2007, then your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

[Jeremyl]

he knows more than we do because he is a real life attorney and we're just measly students.

I'm not utlaw, but if he says this, I'll agree with him.

"I read on the internet that anyone who works solo is a giant failure and will die alone in a gutter!" < "I actually work as a lawyer, and you're a fucking idiot."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WkFuCi2ZdQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBLTW-KLdHA

This guy is real. If you didn't hear, he is a lawyer. He was a solo for several years before being disbarred and graduated from UT law before the economy went to shit and legal hiring got flipped on its head. Same as our friend utlaw2007 (except for the disbarment I hope).

Would you trust this guys legal hiring advice over the conventional wisdom of TLS? I didn't think so.

Unless Adam Reposa = utlaw2007, then your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

my argument is logically sound. i was just saying that just because the guy is a lawyer from UT doesn't mean he should be unquestionably trusted.

i will always picture utlaw2007 as adam reposa, until i am proven otherwise.

[nickb285]

.

[utlaw2007]

And there may be tons of money that you could make throughout the entirety of your career based on the law school that you attended. So I think it is far more important to get this right than to rush and make the wrong decision.

This is coming from the guy that couldn't find a job and had to go solo.

There is nothing wrong with applying to some schools that will provide a low/zero cost of attendance, especially if you know you don't want Biglaw. With that said, you definitely shouldn't rush and attend Baylor this cycle. Apply to SMU, UH, and Tech. See what happens. Sitting out a cycle may not be bad advice if those don't give you lots of money.

Cue utlaw2007 to tell us that he knows more than we do because he is a real life attorney and we're just measly students.

Apparently, you don't have good reading comprehension skills because I explained at length the desire for my employment and the fact that I was gravely ill for THREE years after law school. Did I not say that I did not want biglaw because I wanted to see courtroom action immediately? I believe I said that. And anyone on this site should know that small firms (best place to see civil courtroom action immediately) hire extremely infrequently. Not to mention, the employment prospects at UT have little to do with my unique situation. Tell that to most of my UT Law classmates who are making 200k+ in biglaw.

I have to reiterate because it's true, this dude attends Baylor and he's a UT Law hater. We have had arguments before on this site. He is not too bright. He has tried to use numbers and as a result of his feeble intelligence, has been grossly deficient in his interpretation of those numbers. The guy's intellectually challenged. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

[utlaw2007]

I am not Adam whoever the hell his last name is. Why would you assume that? You do realize that I could be all sorts of people. My class had 420 graduates. But you can't comprehend that. I'm solo because there is a lot more money in it if you are a plaintiff's lawyer that handles large cases. Pocketing 330k off of a demand letter is slumming it. Isn't it? Tell that to my other classmate who settled for 5.5 mil in a case. He's not even a trial lawyer and bluffed his way to a huge payday. Tell that to my other friend, a South Texas grad by the way, who settled for 4.5 mil for a wrongful death. Victim was run over by an 18 wheeler. Why do you think I wanted to go solo in the first place? You think you can earn 1+ million dollars off of one case on a firm job? You think I would rather take a job than be in a position where I make all of the money generated from a case and make tens of thousands of dollars just off of settlement of ONE case routinely?! In your effort to make me look like I'm desperate and don't know what I'm talking about, you've made yourself look foolish.

And it's not like I never participated in the employment process at UT when I was healthy. So it's not like I know nothing about it. I had a change of heart. It wasn't until my 3L year that I decided that I wanted to be a trial lawyer. That means that biglaw/midlaw was out if you want the chance to try cases in court in the immediate future. I explained this at length, too, on previous threads of which you were an active participant. So again, we see evidence of your suspect reading comprehension which explains why you are at Baylor in the first place.

He's mad because in an earlier thread, I said UT Law's trial advocacy program was better than Baylor's. South Texas' trial ad program is probably better than Baylor's, too. If you want to work in Houston, I'd much rather go to South Texas than Baylor any day of the week.

If you are representative of Baylor grads, then Baylor is in trouble. At least the original poster can see the type of students that attend Baylor.