New York Law School (NYLS) 1L Forum

[romothesavior]

yo danteshek im definitely feeling you on needing that thick skin to get past the bullshit on this site haha! and coolgrnmen i also agree with u on a lot of points...

im just talking, realistically, whadaya guys think about say going to a third tier school where u get a lot of money versus say a tier 2 like hofstra or st johns or seton hall. is there really a big difference?

i feel like a lot of intangibles come into play into getting this law jobs. i mean if youre a guy who gets good grades, goes to a top school but is a total douchebag, is it really likely guys like this are gonna edge out over people who still do well at lower schools with more amicable personalities who are just as driven and hardworking but simply dont have the numbers to attend top spot schools?

Didn't you say you have a 100k job guaranteed lined up? Then why does it matter? Go to whatever school is cheapest.

[KamaalTheAbstract]

NYLS didn't make the top 50 Big law placement list. That means at best they have about 10% big law rate. OP being in the top 10% hardly guarantees him anything. Getting a 1L job means nothing. At 45k for tuition and stringent scholarship requirements its just not worth it. OP needs to make this same thread once he's a 3L given that he actually stays.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

does this site have anyone who looks beyond what the us news rankings dictates? personal experiences with ny law schools? advantages to a new york city school over say a long island school? damn this is frustrating

That depends, will you ever admit that you're wrong, and that maybe in the most over-saturated market in north America in a bleeding profession, schools outside the T1 in the northeast are simply not worth it.

No man, you don't get it. Most of the students at these T4 schools want to go into PI. They won't be competing with people from Fordham and NYU because no one from those schools want PI, they just want the big white shoe firms. And also, they are planning to get really good grades and make law review. Things will be fine, you'll see!

Trust me d00der, I understand. I asked my dad yesterday and he said I can get wachtell from Emory if I really put my heart into it.

Someone's gotta work outside the vault 100 right??

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

i feel like a lot of intangibles come into play into getting this law jobs. i mean if youre a guy who gets good grades, goes to a top school but is a total douchebag, is it really likely guys like this are gonna edge out over people who still do well at lower schools with more amicable personalities who are just as driven and hardworking but simply dont have the numbers to attend top spot schools?

unquestionably

[Danteshek]

It doesn't really work that way. Nobody is a douchbag during an interview. You should go to the best school you can get into in your region.

[nylawyer488]

frankly romo, i do. but i never like to go into something without a backup plan and im asking this forums advice. i dont have the numbers to go to a top 50 school (160/3.4). i did okay, but im saying a lot of people r stressing bout rankings and i dont see it. why not take the money and just kill it wherever u r

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

frankly romo, i do. but i never like to go into something without a backup plan and im asking this forums advice. i dont have the numbers to go to a top 50 school (160/3.4). i did okay, but im saying a lot of people r stressing bout rankings and i dont see it. why not take the money and just kill it wherever u r

Becuase the reality is that you only have so much control over your class rank. 80% of any given class comes in the fall planning on "killing it". About half of them will finish below median.

[KamaalTheAbstract]

frankly romo, i do. but i never like to go into something without a backup plan and im asking this forums advice. i dont have the numbers to go to a top 50 school (160/3.4). i did okay, but im saying a lot of people r stressing bout rankings and i dont see it. why not take the money and just kill it wherever u r

Because attempting to kill it wherever you go is not good enough to get a job. Everyone at your school is planning on killing it. Most of them don't.

[nylawyer488]

OK.

so what are some NY schools u guys have heard good things about outside the top 50

[Helmholtz]

nylawyer488 = troll

thanks for playing

[nylawyer488]

nice picture guy.

[Helmholtz]

nylawyer488 #WINNING #tigerblood

[zanda]

Brooklyn and Cardozo are decent.

CUNY is cheap and seems to provide decent not horrible PI opportunities.

Really if Brooklyn or Cardozo are out I'd consider moving to a different region. NYC is just so congested. Don't forget that besides NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Cardozo, and Brooklyn you have people from every other top school trying to make it into New York post-grad.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

OK.

so what are some NY schools u guys have heard good things about outside the top 50

Broseph Haydn, we've already given you all the advise you're going to get: go to the lowest cost of school you can, take your free 100k job, and enjoy life with less debt.

[nylawyer488]

helmholtz i cant argue with you, you seem to really be in touch. so lemme make the question more direct:

pace (w $$$), ny law, albany, or hofstra?

[Coolgrnmen]

frankly romo, i do. but i never like to go into something without a backup plan and im asking this forums advice. i dont have the numbers to go to a top 50 school (160/3.4). i did okay, but im saying a lot of people r stressing bout rankings and i dont see it. why not take the money and just kill it wherever u r

Becuase the reality is that you only have so much control over your class rank. 80% of any given class comes in the fall planning on "killing it". About half of them will finish below median.

I am just entertained that you said "about" half will be below the median...exactly half will be below...half will be above.
Not correcting you cause I think you did it on purpose...just pointing it out

[KamaalTheAbstract]

Brooklyn and Cardozo are decent.

CUNY is cheap and seems to provide decent not horrible PI opportunities.

Really if Brooklyn or Cardozo are out I'd consider moving to a different region. NYC is just so congested. Don't forget that besides NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Cardozo, and Brooklyn you have people from every other top school trying to make it into New York post-grad.

I wouldn't go to Dozo for a 10% shot at big law and 45k a year. It just doesn't make sense. Unless you can go for free.

[romothesavior]

frankly romo, i do. but i never like to go into something without a backup plan and im asking this forums advice. i dont have the numbers to go to a top 50 school (160/3.4). i did okay, but im saying a lot of people r stressing bout rankings and i dont see it. why not take the money and just kill it wherever u r

No one here has mentioned rankings. I will be the first to admit that rankings are close to worthless. I don't rip T4 schools because they are poorly ranked; I rip them because they charge outrageous sums of money for students to go there, lie through their teeth about their prospects, and sucker in thousands of naive students every year. It is all about job prospects, and students at the schools you're looking at don't have many. If there were enough jobs to go around, you wouldn't hear a peep out of me.

If you think this website is harsh, you should go on over to JD Underground or Third Tier Reality or any of the other countless websites dedicated to bashing law school (believe it or not, TLS has a reputation on other legal forums and websites for being too rosy and optimistic). Many of those on these other sites are third and fourth tier graduates who were in your shoes just a few years ago. Now they're all unemployed and financially destroyed by their debt. I could get you a prof of mine who used to teach at a T3 in NYC, as well as a good friend who goes to John Marshall in Chicago, and they'll all corroborate these horror stories. There are tens of thousands more graduates every year than there are available jobs, and guess who feels that pinch the worst? Not Columbia or NYU. More like St. John's, Pace, Touro, etc. These schools completely and utterly suck. Sorry for the bluntness, but it is the truth.

Also, you can't expect to go into law school and plan on "killing it." Almost everyone in your class will have similar grades, LSAT scores, intelligence, motivation, and work ethic. Everyone plans to "kill it." Few do.

And finally, contrary to what you and mrgreenman and whoever else might think, I'm not an elitist d-bag. I'm a middle class, average joe who goes to a non-T14 and has never even so much as sniffed a blue blood, Ivy League background. I only post in these threads because I realize how crappy things are, and I am thankful that TLS slapped me around two years ago and exposed how law school works.

[nylawyer488]

thank you romo, and i didnt mean to disrespect you earlier. i just feel there's a lot of negativity and condescension on this site and i dont get it. for the most part, everyone checking out the blog is actually in the process /already in law school. thanks for all the advice people.

[romothesavior]

thank you romo, and i didnt mean to disrespect you earlier. i just feel there's a lot of negativity and condescension on this site and i dont get it. for the most part, everyone checking out the blog is actually in the process /already in law school. thanks for all the advice people.

I understand, and I probably came off a bit harsh. It's just that I have this same conversation multiple times a week and it gets old.

I think you hit the nail on the head for why there is so much negativity (I'd call it pessimism) on TLS, and it is because so many of us are in law school. We know what things are like right now, and we're scared stiff. I go to a T20, and I know that we have a LOT of 3Ls who are freaking out right now. The job market is atrocious, and that's why so many people on TLS come off as harsh, cynical, and negative. But if you can cut through all of that, you'll come away with a VERY important lesson: the job market sucks, and there are way more graduates than jobs. Because of this, you need to either go to school for very cheap, or go to a really, really good school. Law school is a big risk, the key is minimizing that risk.

[zanda]

Brooklyn and Cardozo are decent.

CUNY is cheap and seems to provide decent not horrible PI opportunities.

Really if Brooklyn or Cardozo are out I'd consider moving to a different region. NYC is just so congested. Don't forget that besides NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Cardozo, and Brooklyn you have people from every other top school trying to make it into New York post-grad.

I wouldn't go to Dozo for a 10% shot at big law and 45k a year. It just doesn't make sense. Unless you can go for free.

I wouldn't go to Dozo, Brooklyn, or Fordham for sticker, but I think not recognizing they're a step above the other NYC schools not named Columbia and NYU is inaccurate and unfair (Fordham is a bit better than the other two as well). I probably implied that in the post you quoted. My B.

[nylawyer488]

good looks romo.

my greatest hope is to go to school where i get the most money ( as of now pace), and just try to do my best. i feel that law school, like college, can be a fun time where you can learn a lot too. and hopefully, if done right, could lead to a promising job, big law or not.

[Coolgrnmen]

thank you romo, and i didnt mean to disrespect you earlier. i just feel there's a lot of negativity and condescension on this site and i dont get it. for the most part, everyone checking out the blog is actually in the process /already in law school. thanks for all the advice people.

I understand, and I probably came off a bit harsh. It's just that I have this same conversation multiple times a week and it gets old.

I think you hit the nail on the head for why there is so much negativity (I'd call it pessimism) on TLS, and it is because so many of us are in law school. We know what things are like right now, and we're scared stiff. I go to a T20, and I know that we have a LOT of 3Ls who are freaking out right now. The job market is atrocious, and that's why so many people on TLS come off as harsh, cynical, and negative. But if you can cut through all of that, you'll come away with a VERY important lesson: the job market sucks, and there are way more graduates than jobs. Because of this, you need to either go to school for very cheap, or go to a really, really good school. Law school is a big risk, the key is minimizing that risk.

Yeah, our CSO constantly reminds us that for our class alone, there are 43,000 J.D. to-bes.

[Danteshek]

good looks romo.

my greatest hope is to go to school where i get the most money ( as of now pace), and just try to do my best. i feel that law school, like college, can be a fun time where you can learn a lot too. and hopefully, if done right, could lead to a promising job, big law or not.

Hm. Well, that is a big risk. You may be forced into a practice area you do not like (personal injury, for instance). It may be difficult for you to get a legal job of any kind. But that is your choice I guess. If you do well, I would recommend that you transfer to a better NY area school (Brooklyn and up). Hofstra may be a better choice here...

[nylawyer488]

yeah i got into hofstra already but no $$$$, so pace is more desirable as theyve offered me a lot ($20 k +)