University of Baltimore Law School Forum

[urmaster123]

How do you feel about this law school? Does anyone have in-depth knowledge of their programs and employment outlooks?

I know its a proverbial "TTT", but it is instate, public school...

[ggocat]

This article about gaming the U.S. News rankings discusses the current dean of UBalt: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1219717 ... s_page_one

Note the article was written before U.S. News started using part-time numbers in the overall ranking; no doubt because of administrators like this dean.

One of the top beneficiaries of the current U.S. News criteria is Phillip Closius, former dean of the University of Toledo's law school. He led the school's rise from the list's fourth tier to its second tier within a few years. After he took the helm of the University of Baltimore law school last year, that school also quickly climbed the rankings, to 125 this year from 170 last year, he says. (Schools in the third and fourth tiers aren't publicly ranked -- instead they are grouped together -- but deans can find out where they placed.)

Mr. Closius's winning strategy in both places: Cut the number of full-time students accepted into the program to boost the median LSAT scores and GPAs, which together account for more than 20% of a school's ranking. In their place, the schools add more part-time students, who can transfer to full-time the second year.

Mr. Closius says having some students complete fewer classes at first gives them a better chance of academic success. He says he also made other changes that improved the school's ranking, including keeping better track of graduates' employment status after graduation. The moves benefit students, he says: At Toledo, more large law firms began interviewing students after the school's ranking climbed, and at Baltimore, he recently got multimillion-dollar grants and donations for a new building.

"U.S. News is not a moral code, it's a set of seriously flawed rules of a magazine, and I follow the rules...without hiding anything," he says.

I'm not saying this is necessarily good or bad (probably more good than bad for students at UBalt); it's just all I know about UBalt.

[urban_cdn]

i'm sure they do alright in baltimore...if you want to live in baltimore. if you're looking to work in DC, i doubt they do as well there.

[urmaster123]

i'm sure they do alright in baltimore...if you want to live in baltimore. if you're looking to work in DC, i doubt they do as well there.

Though doing 'what' in Baltimore? I do want a "Big Law" job, however odd that might seem for a person w/ a '160' LSAT score and '3.2-3.3' GPA...

[ggocat]

i'm sure they do alright in baltimore...if you want to live in baltimore. if you're looking to work in DC, i doubt they do as well there.

Though doing 'what' in Baltimore? I do want a "Big Law" job, however odd that might seem for a person w/ a '160' LSAT score and '3.2-3.3' GPA...

This article is a good read for someone choosing between non-national schools: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... 7904889498

You would not have a very good chance of getting biglaw from Baltimore. But you also won't have a good shot from most other schools you could get into. So I would focus on limiting your debt as much as possible and just doing biglaw if the opportunity arises (keeping in mind that it probably won't right out of law school).

[llawguru]

How do you feel about this law school? Does anyone have in-depth knowledge of their programs and employment outlooks?

I know its a proverbial "TTT", but it is instate, public school...

University of Baltimore Law School is a T4 now, got demoted from last year (was a T3).

It should go up in the ranks in a few years cause of the new law school they are building.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+7

[urmaster123]

A very shameless bump.... does anyone know more about this law school? I have been too busy to go and see the school, so I would like to know more.

[llawguru]

-they are building a new law school - should open around 2012.

-they were demoted from Tier 3 to Tier 4 last year.

-a few judges in Maryland went there

[BizOwner]

As well as the State's Attorney

[Dandorsky]

I got into the 'Part Time Limited Program', just wondering if anyone has more information about it or is currently enrolled in it?

[slacus08]

Baltimore is actually a great law school, especially if you plan to stay in the Baltimore area.

My ex boyfriends mom is the head district court judge of baltimore and went there and currently teaches there part time.

He got into great prestigious such as George Mason and he will be most likely going to Baltimore or Maryland due to living at home and in-state. But in Maryland, UB is a decent school and usually everyone has contacts from there.

[AreJay711]

A lot of people here are top 14 or bust (or top 20 or bust). Most of the lawyers I've talked to in Baltimore went to UB or UMD so it's not like you wont be able to find a job as long as you do well but it's not so great for biglaw. I dont think there are that many large firms even in Baltimore. Still, if you work for a small or middle sized firm and make partner you will still make a pretty good living.

On the flip side if Baltimore is where you really want to be, UB or UMD seems like the place to go. My interviewer from Vandy really wanted to go back home to Baltimore to work but she hadn't yet found a job here -- probably because not a lot of other schools have strong alumni networks in Baltimore.

[crashhelmi]

I recently visited the school so I might be able to give a little insight from the perspective of another prospective student. Here's the impressions I got (which were overall very positive).

I first took a tour of the school... it's a very, very small school (four stories in a smallish building) but that allows for a very tight-nit community. I got the feeling that everyone knows each other and there was a very friendly vibe, at least from what I can tell. The facilities weren't great (minus the one moot court room, which was very nice), but the new building will be finished Winter 2012 (so us Class of 2014 people will have a solid year and a half in it) and judging by the newer buildings on campus, it should be very nice. The library was OK... kind of smallish but it's a small school so it makes sense. They have plenty of study areas and a decent amount of computer labs for students to work in... at first it didn't seem like enough but yeah, it's a small school.

I then sat in on a Contracts class and actually really enjoyed it... the professor was extremely engaging and I actually felt like I learned more from that one class then I do from a lot of a lot of my undergrad classes overall. Obviously I'm sure they put prospective students with the most favorite professors, but the 1L that gave us the tour (who was taking the class we sat in on) said that most classes so far are similarly interesting.

My meeting with an admissions personnel member was also very enlightening... some 50% or so of the judges and a ton of the lawyers in the area are UBalt alums and love taking on UBalt students in internships and clerkships. They have a very strong experiential program where they place 1Ls in internships over the summer with law firms where they can experience different focuses of law firsthand early, and often even have 2Ls and 3Ls represent clients themselves with guidance and stewardship by professors and willing local lawyers. They have a bar passage rate about 4 points over the MD average (which they claim is skewed due to people taking the MD bar with hopes of practicing law in DC) and something like a 95% job placement average.

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Overall impressions: Extremely small, but very underrated law school that's great if you want to stay in Maryland.

[ilovesf]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

[RKline]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

Your sn would have us believe that you love San Francisco...

[androstan]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

+1

Baltimore is not a "beautiful city". It's a bit dumpy, actually. It has a lot of culture and ethnic diversity. Camden Yards is a nice stadium, plus it's got the Ravens. The Inner Harbor is kinda nice. But I don't think that any sane person would call the city "beautiful".

[ilovesf]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

Your sn would have us believe that you love San Francisco...

I can't love more than one city? I went to school in Baltimore for 4 years, I think I'm allowed to love it as well.

[RKline]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

Your sn would have us believe that you love San Francisco...

I can't love more than one city? I went to school in Baltimore for 4 years, I think I'm allowed to love it as well.

You are entitled. Just making an observation.

[solarae]

does anyone know when they release scholarship information? in the initial acceptance packet?

[ach24]

.

[RKline]

does anyone know when they release scholarship information? in the initial acceptance packet?

There was a problem with my address and mine never made it to me. Can't hurt to call if you are curious.

[DrackedaryMaster]

The school's also like dead center in one of the most beautiful cities in the country and literally across the street from the train station. It's also about a half hour walk or a short train ride from Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium which I know for me is a huge plus.

Uhhhh, what? I love Baltimore, but now I'm really not sure if I can believe anything else you have written.

+1

Baltimore is not a "beautiful city". It's a bit dumpy, actually. It has a lot of culture and ethnic diversity. Camden Yards is a nice stadium, plus it's got the Ravens. The Inner Harbor is kinda nice. But I don't think that any sane person would call the city "beautiful".

+1. This is my Undergrad alma-mater. I went here mainly because when I transferred military bases from Alabama to DC, they were the one school that would let me keep all my credits and not take additional classes that would have delayed graduation (like GMU and GW).

Except for the parts of the city listed above (and Mt Vernon and the area around JHU), Baltimore is a dangerous dump. Take a ride on Rt 40 from West to East (and pray you don't miss that turnoff) and you'll see what I mean. Traffic also sucked if you are coming from the South because you have to take the surface streets (MLK, Pratt, Charles, etc) and they are littered with a million traffic lights. Parking was also a pain (not as much for the law school building because it is closer to the train lot, but they fill up fast.

That said, UB has a very good reputation and holds its own in the city with UMD and the surrounding areas.

[solarae]

interesting to know about the town. i had the impression from the web and friends that the city was a paradise.

i received a 15k scholarship which was pretty generous given my numbers, but i received the same from a t3 school with half the cost of tuition. i asked for more and was denied today.

... but as crummy as the city may be.. it can't be as bad as my t3 (cleveland) , and it just may sway me.

[VTarmyjag]

.

[hokie]

Anybody go here or know somebody that does?

not entirely sure if the VT in your username stands for Va Tech but I know a few people that went to Univ. of Baltimore from there (it seems like an oddly popular law school at tech). It seems that the school has a great reputation in Baltimore and around Maryland. With a decent scholarship and full intentions of staying in/near Baltimore, I would say University of Baltimore would be a suitable option.