Top Law Schools

I am a student.

1. I have a job lined up through a family connection.

2. I was given a full ride.

3. I am aware of the the reputation of the school.

Here are a few thoughts about the school:

Cons: Quiet a few things could use improvement. The facilities are terrible for a law school setting. The library closes way to early. The bottom 20% of the class has no business being here. The poor bar passage rate needs to be improved greatly. The beating we've taken since the move from Michigan.

Pros: The administration is quick to release professors who are not top notch. A tuition freeze that is going on 2 years, (for those who pay it). Given that the last "Michigan class" (students who spent a year in Ann Arbor) graduated in 2010, the next graduating class will have been educated entirely in Florida. This should help tremendously with bar passage rates.

Facts: There are three types of students who might want to attend here. 1. Religious (something like 44% are not Catholic). 2. Conservative. Though with more commuter students attending there seems to be an influx of liberalism on campus. This heats up debates rather nicely! 3. Those who wish to work and live in southern florida.

If anyone has any questions I'll do my best to field them.

How is the weather? Is it really warm like every day? Is the grade curve difficult? how is the attrition rate?

When you say the facilities are terrible, what (besides the library not being open enough) are you referring to: buildings decaying?...not enough room?...classrooms overcrowded?...no wireless internet?

Please give some specifics. Thanks!

garthwayne wrote:I am a student.

1. I have a job lined up through a family connection.

2. I was given a full ride.

3. I am aware of the the reputation of the school.

Here are a few thoughts about the school:

Cons: Quiet a few things could use improvement. The facilities are terrible for a law school setting. The library closes way to early. The bottom 20% of the class has no business being here. The poor bar passage rate needs to be improved greatly. The beating we've taken since the move from Michigan.

Pros: The administration is quick to release professors who are not top notch. A tuition freeze that is going on 2 years, (for those who pay it). Given that the last "Michigan class" (students who spent a year in Ann Arbor) graduated in 2010, the next graduating class will have been educated entirely in Florida. This should help tremendously with bar passage rates.

Facts: There are three types of students who might want to attend here. 1. Religious (something like 44% are not Catholic). 2. Conservative. Though with more commuter students attending there seems to be an influx of liberalism on campus. This heats up debates rather nicely! 3. Those who wish to work and live in southern florida.

If anyone has any questions I'll do my best to field them.

Damn... you had me until "quiet" I think you meant, QUITE. Sorry, I just had to.

I may be interested in this school. Is the reputation really that bad? I mean the creator was a business magnate (good connections) and it seems like the school draws a pretty geographically diverse group, as well as a good number of people from prestigious undergrad schools. Being Christian and interested in going to a small school in a beautiful location, the school sounds like a great option for me. Furthermore, I imagine there are a lot of opportunities for externships and jobs in the Naples area considering there are no other nearby law schools.

What would you say about the location in terms of opportunities, stuff to do, and weather? Are you happy with your decision to go there?

alexandra23 wrote:I may be interested in this school. Is the reputation really that bad?

OP has a job lined up through a family connection. But of course the reputation is bad. It's a third tier school. People are having trouble getting jobs from top 10 schools.

Yeah, that makes sense. I don't intend on being a lawyer after law school though-- I just think law would be really interesting to study and could be applied in many fields, particularly business. Does the ranking really matter for me? I don't want a cut-throat environment.

I find their accrediting odd. Yes that are ABA, but instead of being Regionally accredited they are nationally accredited as a trade school would be.

Also, why'd they sell their AnnArbor campus to cooley? That was weird.

If you just want to feel and degree why not go to Novus? They are only reconized by the Marshall Islands, and honestly not a good lawyer career choice, but might honestly work for you. You look into them at all?

alexandra23 wrote:Yeah, that makes sense. I don't intend on being a lawyer after law school though-- I just think law would be really interesting to study and could be applied in many fields, particularly business. Does the ranking really matter for me? I don't want a cut-throat environment.

No, I am not familiar with Novus. I'm from the upper Midwest but have strong ties to southern Florida and that is another appeal of Ave Maria to me. Forgot to mention that. And I kind of regret saying I don't intend on being a lawyer; I haven't ruled it out by any means but I'm preparing to apply what I learn from law school elsewhere considering the legal market is so saturated right now. At this point, I really have no idea what I'll end up going into, but I'm trying to be realistic.

From what I can tell, Ave Maria is just ranked badly because it is a very new school. It's located in a great area and is unique in that it promotes religious discussion in the classroom, and it's also founded by a very respectable man. I'm going to apply to other places too, but this is among the schools I am considering.

alexandra23 wrote:No, I am not familiar with Novus. I'm from the upper Midwest but have strong ties to southern Florida and that is another appeal of Ave Maria to me. Forgot to mention that. And I kind of regret saying I don't intend on being a lawyer; I haven't ruled it out by any means but I'm preparing to apply what I learn from law school elsewhere considering the legal market is so saturated right now. At this point, I really have no idea what I'll end up going into, but I'm trying to be realistic.

From what I can tell, Ave Maria is just ranked badly because it is a very new school. It's located in a great area and is unique in that it promotes religious discussion in the classroom, and it's also founded by a very respectable man. I'm going to apply to other places too, but this is among the schools I am considering.

Do you have a trust fund or are you independently wealthy? If no, going to law school is a horrendous idea unless you plan on practicing law. Almost nothing you learn in law school is of any use in the business world. Why spend 3 years where you could be working or earning a degree relevant to what you want to do, not to mention the cost of attendance.

alexandra23 wrote:I don't intend on being a lawyer after law school though-- I just think law would be really interesting to study and could be applied in many fields, particularly business.

It's not applicable.

alexandra23 wrote:Yeah, that makes sense. I don't intend on being a lawyer after law school though-- I just think law would be really interesting to study and could be applied in many fields, particularly business. Does the ranking really matter for me? I don't want a cut-throat environment.

If you want to just learn crap and aren't interested in a job, I recommend one of these:







And not any of these:

In response to an earlier post, thanks for the advice but I'm fortunate in that the cost isn't going to be a big deal in my situation.

It's pretty pathetic that some of you choose to spend your time being rude to people on here and thinking of "clever" pictures to post in response to legitimate questions. Makes me want to take anything you have to say with a grain of salt.

.

.

I am not the OP. The fact that you would even come up with such a weird scheme shows you spend a little too much time focusing on these message boards.

alexandra23 wrote:I am not the OP. The fact that you would even come up with such a weird scheme shows you spend a little too much time focusing on these message boards.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

And the stuff you learn in law school is only barely applicable to legal practice. Seriously. The idea that it's useful for anything else, to people that have actually been through law school, is laughable. Hence the snide comments.

alexandra23 wrote:I may be interested in this school. Is the reputation really that bad? I mean the creator was a business magnate (good connections)

Yeah, it's that bad.

You don't really network with the guy who helped found your school.

Everybody I know that went to Ave regrets his/her choice to attend.

alexandra23 wrote: the school sounds like a great option for me.

If you're like OP where you have job already lined up, don't have an issue with the 0 prestige or negative reputation, have a full-ride, and don't want to practice law, yes - might be a very good option for you.

Best line about Ave Maria - the law school is named after your chance of getting a job from the school... a Hail Mary