Top Law Schools

I haven't seen one of these threads yet, so I figured I would start one (correct me if I missed it).

In with a full-ride (Carlisle)

I'm going down to the ASD on Jan 27th to check out the school and area. Are there any other TLSers applying?

Got in a little while ago with a full tuition scholarship. I'm interested in PI work so the scholarship definitely puts Dickinson higher on my list.

Did you end up going to the ASD? What is your impression of the school? I wish there was more information on the school's performance following the split.

I loved the culture and atmosphere at the school - being the 5th oldest LS in the nation, they do have an extensive and fiercely loyal alumni base - including Tom Ridge and Rick Santorum (also a billionaire who recently passed and left them a thing or two, lol). Their JD Required and JD Advantage employment rate for last year's class was 88% (Penn State Law was 68%). Additionally, roughly 40% of the graduating class this Spring already have jobs upon passing the bar. From a few students I was talking to after, some people around the top 20% got Big law interviews, if that's your thing.

Their new-ish Dean seems like a good hire/promotion. He's very forward-thinking, according to some students afterwards. I would say my full puts that school above my other PA schools (partials at Nova (err last cycle), Pitt. Fulls at PS Law, Drexel Law).

What was your impression of Carlisle?

Just got an email offering a stipend. Pretty much solidified me attending unless I get mugged or something while visiting, and even then I'd still probably end up going.

fattsdomino wrote:Just got an email offering a stipend. Pretty much solidified me attending unless I get mugged or something while visiting, and even then I'd still probably end up going.

Same here. The stipend email today shocked me! Only 3 people (1.9%) had a stipend last year. Woohoo!

BL1554 wrote:What was your impression of Carlisle?

Carlisle seemed to be your stereotypical PA small city/town. Lots of mom and pop shops in the downtown, felt very safe, but your options are limited. However, the LS was nice and I'm sure I'll be spending most of my time there anyway. My only worry is finding a gym to train at (Ninja Warrior) - I'm certainly not wanting to give that up, but we'll see. It's also right on a stretch of the Apalachian Trail if you like the outdoors.

fattsdomino wrote:Just got an email offering a stipend. Pretty much solidified me attending unless I get mugged or something while visiting, and even then I'd still probably end up going.

Same exact situation. Looking forward to meeting you in Carlisle next year!

jas230314 wrote:

fattsdomino wrote:Just got an email offering a stipend. Pretty much solidified me attending unless I get mugged or something while visiting, and even then I'd still probably end up going.

Same exact situation. Looking forward to meeting you in Carlisle next year!

Definitely! I plan on going up for the March 17th ASD to get an idea of the area.

bmathers wrote:

BL1554 wrote:What was your impression of Carlisle?

Carlisle seemed to be your stereotypical PA small city/town. Lots of mom and pop shops in the downtown, felt very safe, but your options are limited. However, the LS was nice and I'm sure I'll be spending most of my time there anyway. My only worry is finding a gym to train at (Ninja Warrior) - I'm certainly not wanting to give that up, but we'll see. It's also right on a stretch of the Apalachian Trail if you like the outdoors.

Hey- I'm not applying here, but I do spend my summers working at a camp located at Dickinson (main campus). The town is cute. The bars shut down somewhat early and range from nice to filled with smoke (but also with cheap drinks). There's a pretty sweet guitar shop if that's your thing. Target/Walmart/Home Depot etc. are all pretty close. The gym for undergrads is AMAZING. They just finished building it two years ago. I don't know how they do for classes etc. but for what it's worth, that gym is pretty great.

Anyway, that's my two cents. There's also a really good restaurant called Bruges that has a nice beer selection and stellar food.

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Does anyone know what the curve is like at Dickinson for 1L courses?

I'm also curious about course offerings. Their website makes it seem like there's a decent selection of 2 and 3L electives, but I assume they're not all offered every year given Dickinson's small size?? Maybe a current student could share what kinda options they had to work with registering for classes this spring??

I'm in with full scholly too. I've gotten into way higher ranked schools, but the cost savings and small class sizes here are really attractive to me.

Will be attending March ASD. Look forward to meeting some of you!

Curious to see if there are any current Dickinson students or alumni willing to share their experiences here (PMs welcome as well!). Interested in outcomes for summer internships/employment, how successful students have been at clerking from Dickinson, and general thoughts on the atmosphere.

For what it is worth, I drove by the campus recently and thought the building was impressive. The town was very charming from what I saw as well.

I'm all but set on turning down many higher ranked schools (BC, GW, Emory, etc) to attend Dickinson for the full ride & stipend. I'm excited to attend the ASW in March.

bmathers wrote:

BL1554 wrote:What was your impression of Carlisle?

Carlisle seemed to be your stereotypical PA small city/town. Lots of mom and pop shops in the downtown, felt very safe, but your options are limited. However, the LS was nice and I'm sure I'll be spending most of my time there anyway. My only worry is finding a gym to train at (Ninja Warrior) - I'm certainly not wanting to give that up, but we'll see. It's also right on a stretch of the Apalachian Trail if you like the outdoors.

In case no odyssey let you know, there is a pretty nice little climbing gym and a bouldering room close by in Mechanicsburg. The place is called climbnasium. I haven't been there in quite some time but I think they have pretty good rates all things considered.

saf18hornet wrote:

bmathers wrote:

BL1554 wrote:What was your impression of Carlisle?

Carlisle seemed to be your stereotypical PA small city/town. Lots of mom and pop shops in the downtown, felt very safe, but your options are limited. However, the LS was nice and I'm sure I'll be spending most of my time there anyway. My only worry is finding a gym to train at (Ninja Warrior) - I'm certainly not wanting to give that up, but we'll see. It's also right on a stretch of the Apalachian Trail if you like the outdoors.

In case no odyssey let you know, there is a pretty nice little climbing gym and a bouldering room close by in Mechanicsburg. The place is called climbnasium. I haven't been there in quite some time but I think they have pretty good rates all things considered.

Sweet, thank you!

Just bumping to celebrate Dickinson's 21 spot jump in the rankings up to 65.

Who all is going to the open house on the 17th?

jas230314 wrote:Just bumping to celebrate Dickinson's 21 spot jump in the rankings up to 65.

Who all is going to the open house on the 17th?

I'll be up there the day before for the PILF auction and for a little bit of the trial competition the day after. I was hoping to see the St. Patrick's Parade in Harrisburgbut I don't think ill manage

I'll be there the 17th. It's a long way from home, but full tuition plus a stipend is tempting.

Just applied last week. The Lewis Katz building seems really nice and I like that it's environmentally friendly. Very debt averse so I am applying to schools where my numbers are most competitive. My career goal is to become a public defender... can't remember where but I heard someone saying that Penn State was for people who only want to be lawyers in central PA. I'm from the west coast but want to relocate to the east coast... what would it be like to cast a wider net for PD jobs after graduation than just PA? Would it be possible?

Just submitted the first deposit after visiting this weekend. Now I can switch from neurotically checking law school info to neurotically searching for living.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

pyramidenergy888 wrote:Just applied last week. The Lewis Katz building seems really nice and I like that it's environmentally friendly. Very debt averse so I am applying to schools where my numbers are most competitive. My career goal is to become a public defender... can't remember where but I heard someone saying that Penn State was for people who only want to be lawyers in central PA. I'm from the west coast but want to relocate to the east coast... what would it be like to cast a wider net for PD jobs after graduation than just PA? Would it be possible?

No, not at Dickinson.

saf18hornet wrote:

pyramidenergy888 wrote:Just applied last week. The Lewis Katz building seems really nice and I like that it's environmentally friendly. Very debt averse so I am applying to schools where my numbers are most competitive. My career goal is to become a public defender... can't remember where but I heard someone saying that Penn State was for people who only want to be lawyers in central PA. I'm from the west coast but want to relocate to the east coast... what would it be like to cast a wider net for PD jobs after graduation than just PA? Would it be possible?

No, not at Dickinson.

Possible? Absolutely is possible -- the alumni network at Dickinson hits every state in the nation (not sure about Alaska or Hawaii). They lso have a semester in practice that you can choose between DC, Harrisburg, and the Hague. Do most people stay in-state? Yes, but that's not saying they could not find work out of state - 509s can tell some things, but they can't tell you everything. Every year people are placed around the US. Just like them know your goals and work for it. It can all be done.

I'm sitting in my hotel in Carlisle right now, after having just submitted my seat deposit! Woohoo, now for housing!

bmathers wrote:

saf18hornet wrote:

pyramidenergy888 wrote:Just applied last week. The Lewis Katz building seems really nice and I like that it's environmentally friendly. Very debt averse so I am applying to schools where my numbers are most competitive. My career goal is to become a public defender... can't remember where but I heard someone saying that Penn State was for people who only want to be lawyers in central PA. I'm from the west coast but want to relocate to the east coast... what would it be like to cast a wider net for PD jobs after graduation than just PA? Would it be possible?

No, not at Dickinson.

Possible? Absolutely is possible -- the alumni network at Dickinson hits every state in the nation (not sure about Alaska or Hawaii). They lso have a semester in practice that you can choose between DC, Harrisburg, and the Hague. Do most people stay in-state? Yes, but that's not saying they could not find work out of state - 509s can tell some things, but they can't tell you everything. Every year people are placed around the US. Just like them know your goals and work for it. It can all be done.

Possible, and highly improbable unless you have specific ties to a firm. 8 students from the class of 2015 were employed outside of PA/MD/VA. More students were unemployed than were employed by another state.
https://www.lstreports.com/schools/dick ... /location/

saf18hornet wrote:

bmathers wrote:

saf18hornet wrote:

pyramidenergy888 wrote:Just applied last week. The Lewis Katz building seems really nice and I like that it's environmentally friendly. Very debt averse so I am applying to schools where my numbers are most competitive. My career goal is to become a public defender... can't remember where but I heard someone saying that Penn State was for people who only want to be lawyers in central PA. I'm from the west coast but want to relocate to the east coast... what would it be like to cast a wider net for PD jobs after graduation than just PA? Would it be possible?

No, not at Dickinson.

Possible? Absolutely is possible -- the alumni network at Dickinson hits every state in the nation (not sure about Alaska or Hawaii). They lso have a semester in practice that you can choose between DC, Harrisburg, and the Hague. Do most people stay in-state? Yes, but that's not saying they could not find work out of state - 509s can tell some things, but they can't tell you everything. Every year people are placed around the US. Just like them know your goals and work for it. It can all be done.

Possible, and highly improbable unless you have specific ties to a firm. 8 students from the class of 2015 were employed outside of PA/MD/VA. More students were unemployed than were employed by another state.
https://www.lstreports.com/schools/dick ... /location/

That's 8 out of around 60 total grads, of which I would say that the majority had goals of staying in-state. When class sizes are that small, percentages become rather negligible and can very easily be made unrepresentative by literally 2 or 3 students doing, or not doing, something.

bmathers wrote: That's 8 out of around 60 total grads, of which I would say that the majority had goals of staying in-state. When class sizes are that small, percentages become rather negligible and can very easily be made unrepresentative by literally 2 or 3 students doing, or not doing, something.

Just to be clear, your odds of unemployment after graduation from Dickinson are about as high as working out of state. We have no way of knowing if people "want" to work in PA after graduating or have no other options. For all we know, every single unemployed graduate was due to failure of finding employment out of PA.