Hamline Weekend Student Taking Questions Forum

[Cowboy]

I am a Hamline weekend student who just finished their first year and I will be glad to answer any questions that anyone might have especially about the weekend program itself.

To forestall any of the inevitable comments, I will stipulate to the following:

1) The U of M is the big dog in MN.
2) William Mitchell has a much larger and well established alumni base and is very well thought of throughout the MN legal community.
3) St Thomas has all of those shiny new buildings that are very nice.

Having said that, I am extremely pleased with the high quality of the legal education at Hamline and even more pleased with the availability of the weekend program which was one of the deciding factors in my decision (which included turning down an acceptance to GW's part-time program).

I have also been very impressed with Hamline's willingness to offer $$$ to part-time students with good numbers (I am on a full scholarship) which is very different than many of the other PT programs to which I was accepted.

I await your questions ...

[tjperry]

hamline 50% tuition scholarship (FT) or william mitchell 45% scholarship (FT) ? What would you do?

[Cowboy]

hamline 50% tuition scholarship (FT) or william mitchell 45% scholarship (FT) ? What would you do?

That is a tough decision.

Since you are talking full time, the availability of the weekend program (which is a big plus for Hamline) is moot.

From a financial perspective, the difference is fairly small. Hamline's yearly tuition for full time is $30,100 while William Mitchell's yearly tuition for full time is $32,350. Therefore, the difference in the two scholarships will be $2,742.50 per year or $8,227.50 over 3 years.

Therefore, it comes down to a consideration of other factors such as what area of law you are interested in. For example, Hamline has fantastic alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and health law programs as well as a great Second Amendment seminar taught by Professor Joseph Olson who is one of the primary architects of the Minnesota carry law. I am sure William Mitchell has similar areas where they focus and excel.

Also, you should consider any connections you already have with firms in Minnesota and which school has the most alums there if applicable.

Good luck in your decision! I am sure you will be successful wherever you decide to attend.

[edinbourgh]

Hi Cowboy.

I'm an international applicant and I saw that Hamline offers a joint degree for JD and MFA in Creative Writing.
I know you're a weekend student but I was wondering if you knew anything about the program or knew someone who was enrolled in it. I was hoping to find more information about it.

I'm also a minority. From your perspective, would you say there is a lot of diversity on the campus/ in the school?
Thanks.

[haus]

Cowboy,

I know that this is a delayed response to your offer to answer questions, but I was curious how the commute from Virginia has been over the years.

Currently I am working on completing a Master's degree that is will have me spend two semesters traveling from Virginia to Massachusetts once a week (one semester is done, the other will take place in the Spring). I have found the travel to work rather well, but there is an obvious difference between two semesters of travel vice 8 semesters of travel...

Thanks,

[thechee]

What just happened here?

[haus]

What just happened here?

I am sorry if I caused some confusion.

In previous threads Cowboy commented that he is a weekend student that commutes to MN from VA. The logistics of this type of travel adds some extra wrinkles to the process of furthering ones education.

Given the nature of my work (which I do enjoy), I made a choice to attend a school that allows for more flexibility then traditional programs for the Masters degree that I am currently pursuing. As the cost of opportunity of walking away from my current work (both in regards to the income and the experience) was higher then I could stomach at the time I started my current program.

If I decide to continue on with my formal education after the Masters to pursue a Law degree I will need to make some choices about how this will balance out against both family and career. I am early in the thought process on this and am simply trying to wrap my head around my options, and what the major pros and cons that these options would entail.