Emory 2L Taking Q's Forum

[FGCUguy123]

Why is the weather in Boston relevant to this thread? If people want weather they should consider school in Miami.

Yeah, except Miami (as a city and law school) sucks and you're hoping for top 5% so you can get W&C or welcome to 1-800-ABOGADO.

I'm a 1L at Emory right now. How much value does mock trial have? I have zero interest in doing moot court. Right now, I'm well inside the grade onto LR band (in the top 1%). I'm going to do the write on anyway, but (1) if disaster hits this semester, what are the odds of top 10% plus good write on making LR? (2) is it worth trying out for mock trial in my situation?

Haha that is so true. I'm from SF and I got into UM but I didn't want to work at Pedro Fernandez's ticket clinic in Heighleigh with $38,000+\year in debt from a tier 2 school.

[MrAnon]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

[spets]

What's the bar scene/nightlife like around Emory? Or do most people drive to downtown ATL?

[kaspar]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

There are 9 NLJ250 firms based in Atlanta with 4,096 attorneys.

There are 3 NLJ250 firms based in Miami with 894 attorneys.

This does not count firms based elsewhere but with offices in either city. I don't think Miami sucks, I quite like it myself, but Biglaw in Atlanta is much bigger.

[Grizz]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

At least Emory has a 20% chance of getting you biglaw. Can't say the same for Miami. Miami has a decent big firm scene, but it's not as parochial as other FL markets, and kids from T25ish schools, many of whom with Miami ties, snap up the biglaw jobs. Also UF has about the same prestige as UM in South FL. UM is not a good idea.

[gobucks101]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

Weather is absolutely important. Law school is a depressing place 1L year. I can't tell you how much having it sunny and warm helped. It is one of many factors to be considered especially when you know that you will likely stay regional at a school like Boston or Emory.

What's the bar scene/nightlife like around Emory? Or do most people drive to downtown ATL?

My time to shine! Nobody goes to Downtown ATL. What we have are bar reviews every Thursday-Saturday. Free kegs every Thursday on Bacardi Plaza sets the tone. For the first few weeks everyone goes to all the bar reviews and gets to know one another then as semester goes on people are all friends and go out to their favorite places half the time the bar review the other time. The Virginia Highlands are like 12 chill, cheaper bars and are where most law students go. It is very close and 2L and 3L year a lot of us live by the bars. There is Buckhead which is a combination of clubs (Tounge and Groove, East Andrews) and dive bars (Hole in the Wall, Moon Dogs) . Lots of GT and Georgia State undergrads go there and it is a lot of fun. Midtown is dancing (and club scene ComoLava, Sutra, Flip Flops)

[FGCUguy123]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

At least Emory has a 20% chance of getting you biglaw. Can't say the same for Miami. Miami has a decent big firm scene, but it's not as parochial as other FL markets, and kids from T25ish schools, many of whom with Miami ties, snap up the biglaw jobs. Also UF has about the same prestige as UM in South FL. UM is not a good idea.

Actually, UF reigns supreme over Florida. UM does fairly well im SFla but it's stuck in that region. Personally, I think an Emory grad would have a shot over UF, FSU, UM, and Stetson (which are the top schools in Fl).

[Grizz]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

At least Emory has a 20% chance of getting you biglaw. Can't say the same for Miami. Miami has a decent big firm scene, but it's not as parochial as other FL markets, and kids from T25ish schools, many of whom with Miami ties, snap up the biglaw jobs. Also UF has about the same prestige as UM in South FL. UM is not a good idea.

Actually, UF reigns supreme over Florida. UM does fairly well im SFla but it's stuck in that region. Personally, I think an Emory grad would have a shot over UF, FSU, UM, and Stetson (which are the top schools in Fl).

How does what you said contradict anything I said.

[FGCUguy123]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

At least Emory has a 20% chance of getting you biglaw. Can't say the same for Miami. Miami has a decent big firm scene, but it's not as parochial as other FL markets, and kids from T25ish schools, many of whom with Miami ties, snap up the biglaw jobs. Also UF has about the same prestige as UM in South FL. UM is not a good idea.

UF reigns supreme over Florida. UM does fairly well im SFla but it's stuck in that region. Personally, I think an Emory grad would have a shot over UF, FSU, UM, and Stetson (which are the top schools in Fl).

How does what you said contradict anything I said.

Exactly as I said. UF reigns supreme. Sure, UM does fairly well in SFL, however, if it comes down to students with the same credentials...UF is favored. I wasn't trying To contradict you necessarily.

This is coming from a recruiter in a BL firm in Miami.

[Omerta]

Here's a great reason to go for southern biglaw.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofli ... iving.html

[MrAnon]

Too bad U.S. news doesn't give points for that marvelous central Georgia weather.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

[Metaread]

The rankings are somewhat worrisome, if only because Emory has an employment stat at 65% or so....yikes!

[MrAnon]

Somewhat? If you read around this thread you will be assured however that employment at Emory runs at 100%. LOL.

[FGCUguy123]

Somewhat? If you read around this thread you will be assured however that employment at Emory runs at 100%. LOL.

That new stat does bother me a bit.

[Metaread]

Let's hope someone high up in Emory law can answer our worry about the 65% employment stat? Better yet, let's hope our hope is answered.

[bigredforlaw]

Weather is absolutely important. Law school is a depressing place 1L year. I can't tell you how much having it sunny and warm helped. It is one of many factors to be considered especially when you know that you will likely stay regional at a school like Boston or Emory.

First, thanks so much for answering questions. I'm happy to see your comment about weather. While I know a bunch of other considerations are more important for choosing a law school, I went to undergrad in a pretty depressing place and completely agree that sunny days (+ friendly students, I hear) would make for a really good learning environment.

I also have a question about job placement outside of the SE. I am interested in the DC area and do have some ties there. I am not gunning for big law and am possibly interested in government work. Any thoughts?

[gobucks101]

Haven't had a chance to check out the new rankings or stuff like that but my smartass classmates let me know on fb feed. My fav: "does this mean we get hot and dumb girls next year because I'm all for that." Considering that class was over 90 employed at graduation and within 9 months it is disconcerting. My guess? That data is from 2008 right? Look what happened in 2008-2010. Who do you think big law cut, a 5 year associate in new York or a 1 year associate in a secondary office down south(where we send tons of peeps). The worst is over and we are still number 18 on hiring partners list. At lunch on phone so spotty for typos or lack of coherence. Big, I don't know but can give you some classmates emails who will this week

[Ryou]

School email in response to the ranking shift claims that the shift is mostly likely due to the employment statistics. The school asserts that the employment statistics changes are due to two things: 1) the recession disproportionately affecting large firms which represent a significant amount of jobs (unsaid implication being that if large firms are cutting the slack, we're going to feel more of it than higher schools) and 2) a change in the employment equations USNWR used for this year.

Emory touted that it's employment numbers were competitive because of an extremely high reporting rate when compared to other GA schools. The new methodology for the USNWR supposedly attempts to eliminate stat manipulation, so I would have figured Emory would be less affected given a high reporting rate. The opposite seems to be true. Even if the raw employment numbers used for the 2012 rankings are based on statistics from the Class of 2009, this number disparity seems too large.

[MrAnon]

Firms cutting jobs is not news, not unexpected. The question is, how are they going to adapt. Are they just going to wait it out until the jobs come back? That could be a long time. It also raises the question of what is Emory's, WUSTL's, and similar schools' place in the job market? Schools in this range talk about placing large numbers of students in big firms, but when hard times strike (and yes, hard times are still here) it seems like schools in this range are the first places employers strike from the interview list. At that point, if you are law student, not at a T14, and can't get a big firm job, then you probably want to be positioned at the local school with the most ties to the area. In Georgia, that is probably a school with "Georgia" in the name. You don't want your interviewer thinking in the back of his or her mind that the interviewee would be trying for a firm in NYC if the economy were a little better.

[Ryou]

3 Q&A sessions related to the rankings drop scheduled.

They're treating student concern seriously, will they treat the ranking drop itself seriously?

[JusticeHarlan]

I was simply suggesting that if someone is going to attend a school based on weather then Miami is a better choice.

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions. Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies. I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

There are 9 NLJ250 firms based in Atlanta with 4,096 attorneys.

There are 3 NLJ250 firms based in Miami with 894 attorneys.

This does not count firms based elsewhere but with offices in either city. I don't think Miami sucks, I quite like it myself, but Biglaw in Atlanta is much bigger.

Or, you could just use this data:

ATLANTA: 3,168 attorneys [at NLJ 250 firms]
• 45 NLJ 250 firms have offices in Atlanta.

MIAMI: 1,278 attorneys [at NLJ 250 firms]
• 26 [NLJ 250] firms have Miami offices.

[MrAnon]

If there were 2 billion biglaw firms in Atlanta employing 5 zillion attorneys it wouldn't matter much to a school with 65% employment at graduation. Because a large part of that school is not getting biglaw.

[gobucks101]

If there were 2 billion biglaw firms in Atlanta employing 5 zillion attorneys it wouldn't matter much to a school with 65% employment at graduation. Because a large part of that school is not getting biglaw.

Serious question: what are you gaining by trolling in here? I looked through your history and it seems you stalk various threads devoted to serious questions for future students of those schools and then trash the school, whether it be Emory/Cardoza/Georgetown/GW/UC Irvine/American/Wash U and I'm sure I missed some. You are like the aliens in Independence Day, trolling from place to place and sucking the life out of it before moving on. You may be going to a school better than Emory but 95% of law school applicants aren't. The Bar is a lot tighter group than you could imagine and if belittling people who are here to ask legitimate questions while mocking current students taking time out of their busy semester to help is your idea of fun, you are in for a rude awakening down the road. Move along now.

[JusticeHarlan]

If there were 2 billion biglaw firms in Atlanta employing 5 zillion attorneys it wouldn't matter much to a school with 65% employment at graduation. Because a large part of that school is not getting biglaw.

Hey, I'm all for ragging on Emory. Really, I am.

Just thought that accurate stats > inaccurate stats.

Here's what I mean.

Example #1: If someone said

Both Atlanta and Miami have comparable economies.

And we had stats that showed, you know, that the Atlanta market was a bigger legal market than Miami, then that would be better than claiming otherwise.



Example #2: If someone said

Job prospects from both schools are comparable in their respective regions.

And, like, we could show that Miami placed only an even worse 56.1% at graduation, then that would be better than claiming they were equal.


That way, with better data, if someone said

I'm not sure by what metric Miami sucks.

We could show them why.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled Emory-bashing.

[MrAnon]

You realize there is a difference between the economy of an area and its legal market, right? NYC has tons of lawyers, but many of them don't make much.