Top Law Schools

Hello, I'm stuck at the moment. I got in to Pitt and Duquesne, and after visiting Pitt, I'm pretty much positive I want to study law a block away from the Cathedral of Learning. Duquesne just email blasted me a scholarship notification, and that means Duquesne will end up being around six grand a year less than Pitt. I've heard from many individuals who hold Duquesne in high regard, but say that the JD won't travel nearly as far as Pitt's. So, my question, should I bite the bullet and go to Pitt, or take the cheaper route aat Duquesne? Thanks

whatsEwingdoing wrote:Hello, I'm stuck at the moment. I got in to Pitt and Duquesne, and after visiting Pitt, I'm pretty much positive I want to study law a block away from the Cathedral of Learning. Duquesne just email blasted me a scholarship notification, and that means Duquesne will end up being around six grand a year less than Pitt. I've heard from many individuals who hold Duquesne in high regard, but say that the JD won't travel nearly as far as Pitt's. So, my question, should I bite the bullet and go to Pitt, or take the cheaper route aat Duquesne? Thanks

How much is the total COA??

Whats the cost of attendance for both. I know Pitt doesn't give full scholarships only half. FWIW I have two friends at dusquene one is on law review the other is top 15% neither have jobs secured at graduation. One is a 2L and the other is a 3L. Just something to think about. I'm from Pittsburgh BTW want to return and turned down a full ride at Pitt.

Pitt will be around 30 grand, Duquesne will be around 24 grand. I hear all the time that Pitt has a stronger reputation than Duquesne, and that it's JD travels outside of Pittsburgh, whereas Duquesne's does not.

whatsEwingdoing wrote:Pitt will be around 30 grand, Duquesne will be around 24 grand. I hear all the time that Pitt has a stronger reputation than Duquesne, and that it's JD travels outside of Pittsburgh, whereas Duquesne's does not.

They both don't. Is that per year? if so don't go. Also, you won't be leaving Pittsburgh with a Pitt JD even if you are lucky enough to get a job after.

whatsEwingdoing wrote:Pitt will be around 30 grand, Duquesne will be around 24 grand. I hear all the time that Pitt has a stronger reputation than Duquesne, and that it's JD travels outside of Pittsburgh, whereas Duquesne's does not.

I think Pitt is a better choice here...alumni pretty much run the city....

While both of them aren't too too portable outside of Pittsburgh, I'd say Pitt. I'm work with lawyers in Philadelphia and have NEVER seen a Duquesne grad, but have come across a few attorneys who went to Pitt. It definitely depends on where you're interested in living, though.

Do you want to work in Pittsburgh? Do not get a degree from either of these schools if you have no intention of staying in the area. Pittsburgh may be able to get you to west virginia, but thats the only portability I can possibly see from it. People in the city do hold Duquesne's Law Degree to be on pretty equal footing compared to Pitt though. I think it is a tough choice, and If you had to attend, I would personally say attend the cheaper school. With that said, 18k difference isn't the end of the world and if your heart is set on Pitt then by all means go for it. From my understanding though, the employment difference between the two isn't that large.

Also, Duquesne is like a 5-10 minute bus ride from the Cathedral of Learning, so you could always stop by and visit it. And while you are in law school you will probably be stuck in the Barco law building the whole time. I don't know about Duquesne's building, but Barco is just depressing .

Out of curiousity though, have you tried negotiating with Pitt by showing them Duquesne's scholarship?

Actually, due to your post, I just called Pitt Admissions to try to negotiate for a scholarship matching Case or Duquesne's. I have lived in Pitt my whole life, I love it here. I would love to practice law here. I applied incredibly late in the admissions season (March 15th), and I didn't think I had too good of a chance for Pitt. But I got in! I suppose I will go with Pitt over Duquesne.

whatsEwingdoing wrote:Actually, due to your post, I just called Pitt Admissions to try to negotiate for a scholarship matching Case or Duquesne's. I have lived in Pitt my whole life, I love it here. I would love to practice law here. I applied incredibly late in the admissions season (March 15th), and I didn't think I had too good of a chance for Pitt. But I got in! I suppose I will go with Pitt over Duquesne.

Congrats!!

Why is everyone giving such terrible advice in this thread. Pitt is not a good option at 30k per year. I don't even know if OP has calculated COA, and has not told us whether it would be 30k per year or all 3. I highly doubt its the latter as being from Pgh and knowing their scholarships they usually only give half to a lot of people. Considering Pitt's tuition is like 30k a year or more by now that can't be right.

I am currently a 1L at Duquesne, so perhaps I am a bit biased, but at any rate ...

If you do not want to practice in Pittsburgh Pitt is a better choice since it has more of a national name. However, especially in this economy, I would discourage anyone from going to law school in a place other than where they want to practice.

If, on the other hand, you want to stay in Pittsburgh:
- The two schools are very similarly regarded in the area (and tbh Duquesne seems to be gaining ground)
- Duquesne has a vastly superior legal research and writing program. If you don't think that's important, you are wrong.
- Duquesne has a really active, supportive, and close niche alumni association (because most Duquesne's grads stay in the area).
- Duquesne is obviously cheaper since you got a scholarship. Do not disregard this point.
- Duquesne is in a much nicer, although smaller, building. If you haven't visited you should (but yes, the Cathedral IS cool).
- Duquesne's law library has longer hours. You will appreciate it believe me.

This being said, shop around. Talk to the other schools that have admitted you and see if you can get more money. Visit as many schools as you can (and when you do stop and talk to the students who happen to walk the hallways). Look at the employment data for each of the schools (now they all have to report a ton more statistics, look at them closely). Look at the class composition and think REALLY hard about going at all if your scores (LSAT/GPA) fall below the median.

Good luck with your decision.

According to law school transparency they both have a 50% employment so I guess you can pick your favorite considering Biglaw from either school is unlikely. Damn Pitts really gone down the shitter lately I thought they would be much better. Please don't take out a lot of debt for a coins flip chance at actually gaining legal employment.

You have lived in Pittsburgh your whole life and the cathedral of learning is your selling point?? Doesn't it get packed with undergrads during the day anyway? I'd be worried about Pitt's momentous slide down the rankings...not that Duq is killing it in that department.

Lacepiece23 wrote:Whats the cost of attendance for both. I know Pitt doesn't give full scholarships only half. FWIW I have two friends at dusquene one is on law review the other is top 15% neither have jobs secured at graduation. One is a 2L and the other is a 3L. Just something to think about. I'm from Pittsburgh BTW want to return and turned down a full ride at Pitt.

How did you turn down a full ride if you claim they only give half scholarships? Also, that is false, PItt gives full rides (or at least very close to it).

RedPanda wrote:I am currently a 1L at Duquesne, so perhaps I am a bit biased, but at any rate ...

If you do not want to practice in Pittsburgh Pitt is a better choice since it has more of a national name. However, especially in this economy, I would discourage anyone from going to law school in a place other than where they want to practice.

If, on the other hand, you want to stay in Pittsburgh:
- The two schools are very similarly regarded in the area (and tbh Duquesne seems to be gaining ground)
- Duquesne has a vastly superior legal research and writing program. If you don't think that's important, you are wrong.
- Duquesne has a really active, supportive, and close niche alumni association (because most Duquesne's grads stay in the area).
- Duquesne is obviously cheaper since you got a scholarship. Do not disregard this point.
- Duquesne is in a much nicer, although smaller, building. If you haven't visited you should (but yes, the Cathedral IS cool).
- Duquesne's law library has longer hours. You will appreciate it believe me.

This being said, shop around. Talk to the other schools that have admitted you and see if you can get more money. Visit as many schools as you can (and when you do stop and talk to the students who happen to walk the hallways). Look at the employment data for each of the schools (now they all have to report a ton more statistics, look at them closely). Look at the class composition and think REALLY hard about going at all if your scores (LSAT/GPA) fall below the median.

Good luck with your decision.

This just screams bad advice. OP, don't base your decision on some legal writing program. Tons of TT and TTT schools have better specialty rankings than the T14, but do you think employers actually care about that? Also don't base your decision on LSAT/GPA medians. You don't know how well you will do in law school, so just assume you will be median. Who cares about buildings or longer library hours? Would you turn down HYS if the library was open for 8 hours a day? No. Unless you can graduate with less than 50k from either school, you shouldn't go. Retake and reapply.

Winston1984 wrote:

Lacepiece23 wrote:Whats the cost of attendance for both. I know Pitt doesn't give full scholarships only half. FWIW I have two friends at dusquene one is on law review the other is top 15% neither have jobs secured at graduation. One is a 2L and the other is a 3L. Just something to think about. I'm from Pittsburgh BTW want to return and turned down a full ride at Pitt.

How did you turn down a full ride if you claim they only give half scholarships? Also, that is false, PItt gives full rides (or at least very close to it).

URM bra they only give one per year and its a named scholly. I turned it down last year. I was told by admissions that they didn't give any other full rides unless they lied to me.

Lacepiece23 wrote:

Winston1984 wrote:

Lacepiece23 wrote:Whats the cost of attendance for both. I know Pitt doesn't give full scholarships only half. FWIW I have two friends at dusquene one is on law review the other is top 15% neither have jobs secured at graduation. One is a 2L and the other is a 3L. Just something to think about. I'm from Pittsburgh BTW want to return and turned down a full ride at Pitt.

How did you turn down a full ride if you claim they only give half scholarships? Also, that is false, PItt gives full rides (or at least very close to it).

URM bra they only give one per year and its a named scholly. I turned it down last year. I was told by admissions that they didn't give any other full rides unless they lied to me.

They lied. I did and am white as shiz.

banana$$stand wrote:

Lacepiece23 wrote:

Winston1984 wrote:

Lacepiece23 wrote:Whats the cost of attendance for both. I know Pitt doesn't give full scholarships only half. FWIW I have two friends at dusquene one is on law review the other is top 15% neither have jobs secured at graduation. One is a 2L and the other is a 3L. Just something to think about. I'm from Pittsburgh BTW want to return and turned down a full ride at Pitt.

How did you turn down a full ride if you claim they only give half scholarships? Also, that is false, PItt gives full rides (or at least very close to it).

URM bra they only give one per year and its a named scholly. I turned it down last year. I was told by admissions that they didn't give any other full rides unless they lied to me.

They lied. I did and am white as shiz.

shit it was literally on the letter they sent me with the award. O well lol don't really care that much I'm still probably correct in saying they don't give out many, and they tend to spread the wealth vs. giving few a lot of merit aid.

Pitt. Duquene's administrative and pedagogical problems are numerous and major.

As an about-to-graduate Pitt student, I am going to have to say Pitt. This is after talking to a LOT of practitioners in the area, including a fairly large number of Duquesne grads. I won't get into a big discussion about it right now because it is late and I'm tired, but if you'd like to PM me about it, I'd be glad to discuss it more later.

I wouldn't go to either of these schools unless you were able to go for almost nothing. According to the recent US News rankings, only 32.4% of Pitt and 36.8% of Duquesne students had jobs at graduation. Those numbers are pitiful. The Pittsburgh legal market is saturated with attorneys. Spending a lot of money on a Pitt or Duquesne law degree that is more likely to leave you in debt servitude than with a decent-paying job would be stupid.

It should be interesting to see how these two schools perform going forward. Although Duquesne's dean had the gall to brag about moving up to a 121st place ranking (what a feat!), a source has reported that Duquesne's entering class size decreased approximately 49.5% from 2010 to 2013. While in one way this is welcome news (it's hard to fathom how pumping 200 Duquesne grads a year into a small city's saturated legal market was a ever a good idea) it raises questions about how many competent students Duquesne can actually attract in the years to come.

DebtMonkey wrote:I wouldn't go to either of these schools unless you were able to go for almost nothing. According to the recent US News rankings, only 32.4% of Pitt and 36.8% of Duquesne students had jobs at graduation. Those numbers are pitiful. The Pittsburgh legal market is saturated with attorneys. Spending a lot of money on a Pitt or Duquesne law degree that is more likely to leave you in debt servitude than with a decent-paying job would be stupid.

It should be interesting to see how these two schools perform going forward. Although Duquesne's dean had the gall to brag about moving up to a 121st place ranking (what a feat!), a source has reported that Duquesne's entering class size decreased approximately 49.5% from 2010 to 2013. While in one way this is welcome news (it's hard to fathom how pumping 200 Duquesne grads a year into a small city's saturated legal market was a ever a good idea) it raises questions about how many competent students Duquesne can actually attract in the years to come.

This thread is a year old man.