Top Law Schools

Did not see a thread for Seton Hall yet. A little late, but I figured I would make one anyway.

25th 50th 75th 25th 50th 75th 1Ls
152 156 159 3.14 3.48 3.71 167

LST Scores:

Employment Score: 68.9%
Under-Employment: 15.2%
Art III: 1%
BigLaw: 9.1%
PI: 7.1%
School Funded: 0%

3.5/156, accepted with $25k/yr with low stip.

Made the trek for accepted students day with an positive mindset, but absolutely hated it and got a terrible impression. I'm willing to go into more detail about it if anyone is interested.

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:3.5/156, accepted with $25k/yr with low stip.

Made the trek for accepted students day with an positive mindset, but absolutely hated it and got a terrible impression. I'm willing to go into more detail about it if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in more info for sure.

Got the same scholly. 3.2/162

cal2013 wrote:

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:3.5/156, accepted with $25k/yr with low stip.

Made the trek for accepted students day with an positive mindset, but absolutely hated it and got a terrible impression. I'm willing to go into more detail about it if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in more info for sure.

Got the same scholly. 3.2/162

Went for an ASD in January. Badly handled and highly unimpressive.

- My biggest gripe was the fact that it only focused on Jersey. Obviously, if Jersey is what you want, then it's worth consideration. I'm interested in PA/NY/CT, and so a law school in Jersey can sometimes be an alright bet. Almost every single one of the students was born and raised in Jersey. 2/3 of the alumni that they brought stayed in Jersey. Upon mentioning working in other nearby states there was a noncommittal "the student employment department can help with that". No discussion or information about where its alumni were, except that they're in all 49 states. Overall, whether it is a fair assumption or not, my impression was that Seton Hall is a place for people from Jersey, who want to work in Jersey.

- An emphasis on fun. Dear lord jesus this one blew my mind. ALL they talked about was fun. There was absolutely zero substance. "It'll be the best time of your life", "you'll make lots of friends", "you'll have great experiences and classmates". I'm not against "fun", but I want to hear about how my investment of my time and money to YOUR university will benefit my career. It felt like an open house for undergrad in this sense. I'm not attending law school to have fun, I'm attending to become a lawyer. And let's be honest, it's law school - "fun" is a word that does not immediately come to mind.

- The student that led my tour was a first semester 1L (also from Jersey) who had never dealt with their career services and could not answer any questions about it. It was obviously useless, although she was very nice. She could not speak to anything, which, although understandable, was frustrating especially since I traveled to come for ASD.

- A person asked about how they can get a job the summer of their 1L if they don't do too well their first semester in law school. The dean just hammered home how everyone will be able to get great opportunities, and made it sound as if performance essentially did not matter for the outcome. It made no sense to me, and had a negative impression - it was as if he was saying, "YOU get a job, and YOU get a job, who cares how you do?" I know he was trying to quell the questioner's concern, but it was ridiculous.

- One alumnus (recent grad) brought in was arrogant, and literally talked about getting drunk at Barristers and meeting her ~boyfriend~ there. The first thing out of her mouth was also, "So, in law school, I was what is called a GUNNER, let me define that for you..." It was highly unprofessional and cringe worthy.

I mean, take my opinion as you will. I did visit with an open mind, but a visit is obviously recommended.

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:

cal2013 wrote:

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:3.5/156, accepted with $25k/yr with low stip.

Made the trek for accepted students day with an positive mindset, but absolutely hated it and got a terrible impression. I'm willing to go into more detail about it if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in more info for sure.

Got the same scholly. 3.2/162

Went for an ASD in January. Badly handled and highly unimpressive.

- My biggest gripe was the fact that it only focused on Jersey. Obviously, if Jersey is what you want, then it's worth consideration. I'm interested in PA/NY/CT, and so a law school in Jersey can sometimes be an alright bet. Almost every single one of the students was born and raised in Jersey. 2/3 of the alumni that they brought stayed in Jersey. Upon mentioning working in other nearby states there was a noncommittal "the student employment department can help with that". No discussion or information about where its alumni were, except that they're in all 49 states. Overall, whether it is a fair assumption or not, my impression was that Seton Hall is a place for people from Jersey, who want to work in Jersey.

- An emphasis on fun. Dear lord jesus this one blew my mind. ALL they talked about was fun. There was absolutely zero substance. "It'll be the best time of your life", "you'll make lots of friends", "you'll have great experiences and classmates". I'm not against "fun", but I want to hear about how my investment of my time and money to YOUR university will benefit my career. It felt like an open house for undergrad in this sense. I'm not attending law school to have fun, I'm attending to become a lawyer. And let's be honest, it's law school - "fun" is a word that does not immediately come to mind.

- The student that led my tour was a first semester 1L (also from Jersey) who had never dealt with their career services and could not answer any questions about it. It was obviously useless, although she was very nice. She could not speak to anything, which, although understandable, was frustrating especially since I traveled to come for ASD.

- A person asked about how they can get a job the summer of their 1L if they don't do too well their first semester in law school. The dean just hammered home how everyone will be able to get great opportunities, and made it sound as if performance essentially did not matter for the outcome. It made no sense to me, and had a negative impression - it was as if he was saying, "YOU get a job, and YOU get a job, who cares how you do?" I know he was trying to quell the questioner's concern, but it was ridiculous.

- One alumnus (recent grad) brought in was arrogant, and literally talked about getting drunk at Barristers and meeting her ~boyfriend~ there. The first thing out of her mouth was also, "So, in law school, I was what is called a GUNNER, let me define that for you..." It was highly unprofessional and cringe worthy.

I mean, take my opinion as you will. I did visit with an open mind, but a visit is obviously recommended.

That sounds absolutely dreadful. I am pretty much deciding on 3 schools at this point, and SHU isn't one of them. Thanks for sharing!

There are many good reasons not to attend Seton Hall Law, but the ones ineedacoffee recounted are not them (except arguably the working in NJ piece). I am in my second semester here, if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer any questions I can.

I got into Seton Hall and just attended their recent ASD. From what they told me that ranked right below Fordham in NYC Firm Employment rate. Most of their graduates are trying to get jobs in NYC. And they even had a panel of alumni who are attorneys who work in NYC.

But a lot of their students are all from New Jersey, which is expected. I'm still deciding on this school. It's between Cardozo, Brooklyn, and SHU right now. Anyone have any opinions?

aalaw18 wrote:I got into Seton Hall and just attended their recent ASD. From what they told me that ranked right below Fordham in NYC Firm Employment rate. Most of their graduates are trying to get jobs in NYC. And they even had a panel of alumni who are attorneys who work in NYC.

But a lot of their students are all from New Jersey, which is expected. I'm still deciding on this school. It's between Cardozo, Brooklyn, and SHU right now. Anyone have any opinions?

ASD's are engineered to make you want to go to the school. The school employs a number of strategies to achieve this including the ones you mentioned: pointing to any rankings that put the school in some type of national best type spotlight, showing you success stories to make you believe that they are the rule and not the exception, and some good old fashioned puffery. I guess it's technically true that most (? not sure, maybe 'many') grads try to get jobs in NYC, but the operative word is try. The vast majority of SHU law grads end up working in the state. There are a few people in my class from far flung regions of the country and I have to imagine they were sold on the "this is a NYC school" when in reality it isn't. It places better in NYC than many schools, but if you come to SHU you better be prepared to be happy working in NJ.

Another strategy: bring you into NYC for some booze, schmooze, and appetizer-y food event (idk if you went on one or not, but they usually package something like that into the ASD). I've been here for almost a year and have gone into NYC exactly 3 times, all of which were to hang with college/high school friends. People go out in Hoboken/Jersey City most weeks/weekends though and both of those spots are pretty chill.

Just got my acceptance letter with a full scholarship for the part time program. 166/3.32

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:

cal2013 wrote:

ineedacupofcoffee wrote:3.5/156, accepted with $25k/yr with low stip.

Made the trek for accepted students day with an positive mindset, but absolutely hated it and got a terrible impression. I'm willing to go into more detail about it if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in more info for sure.

Got the same scholly. 3.2/162

Went for an ASD in January. Badly handled and highly unimpressive.

- My biggest gripe was the fact that it only focused on Jersey. Obviously, if Jersey is what you want, then it's worth consideration. I'm interested in PA/NY/CT, and so a law school in Jersey can sometimes be an alright bet. Almost every single one of the students was born and raised in Jersey. 2/3 of the alumni that they brought stayed in Jersey. Upon mentioning working in other nearby states there was a noncommittal "the student employment department can help with that". No discussion or information about where its alumni were, except that they're in all 49 states. Overall, whether it is a fair assumption or not, my impression was that Seton Hall is a place for people from Jersey, who want to work in Jersey.

- An emphasis on fun. Dear lord jesus this one blew my mind. ALL they talked about was fun. There was absolutely zero substance. "It'll be the best time of your life", "you'll make lots of friends", "you'll have great experiences and classmates". I'm not against "fun", but I want to hear about how my investment of my time and money to YOUR university will benefit my career. It felt like an open house for undergrad in this sense. I'm not attending law school to have fun, I'm attending to become a lawyer. And let's be honest, it's law school - "fun" is a word that does not immediately come to mind.

- The student that led my tour was a first semester 1L (also from Jersey) who had never dealt with their career services and could not answer any questions about it. It was obviously useless, although she was very nice. She could not speak to anything, which, although understandable, was frustrating especially since I traveled to come for ASD.

- A person asked about how they can get a job the summer of their 1L if they don't do too well their first semester in law school. The dean just hammered home how everyone will be able to get great opportunities, and made it sound as if performance essentially did not matter for the outcome. It made no sense to me, and had a negative impression - it was as if he was saying, "YOU get a job, and YOU get a job, who cares how you do?" I know he was trying to quell the questioner's concern, but it was ridiculous.

- One alumnus (recent grad) brought in was arrogant, and literally talked about getting drunk at Barristers and meeting her ~boyfriend~ there. The first thing out of her mouth was also, "So, in law school, I was what is called a GUNNER, let me define that for you..." It was highly unprofessional and cringe worthy.

I mean, take my opinion as you will. I did visit with an open mind, but a visit is obviously recommended.

For future applicants: the reasons cited here are stupid. So they overplayed the fun part, who cares? Also, SHU is for Jersey. Maybe some NY in the suburbs, but not really. You go there to be a lawyer in NJ, and they're the best in the state at making that happen.

With your numbers too, you're not going to find a school that places well in three-four states.

Seton Hall doesn't hold itself out to be a top 10 school, and it would be unfair to demand that kind of airs from them too.