Chapman University Forum

[SpencerPratt]

Anyone have any info on this school? Princeton Review loves it, but I haven't heard of it (east coast guy here).

[JOE!]

What kind of info are you looking for? It's a third tier school in Orange, CA. Good reputation in Orange County, some people think it'll soon move up to the top 100. Let me know if you have specific questions.

[SpencerPratt]

I mean that's a pretty good start. My GPA is hurting me for the T100 schools I'd love to go to due to location (Marymount, UF, Santa Clara, etc), so I'm just looking at under the radar schools unless I hear it's a waste of money/poor reputation/etc. Thanks.

[JOE!]

Well, I'm not sure I would go to Chapman (or any other school outside the T50) at sticker price. What are your numbers? Chapman's pretty open-handed with scholarship money if your numbers are decent. I would say reasons not to go to Chapman are if you want to practice outside the area or if you really want biglaw. If you want to practice in Orange County or a nearby secondary market, don't care about biglaw, and especially if you get scholarship money, then I think it's a great school.

[Inygma]

My Co-worker went to Chapman UG, and she says they have an awesome Alumni network. Many of her peers were really rich kids, but she said they weren't jerks. Then again she is pretty hot.

That's all I know, not sure how their law is.

[emoticons777]

Chapman is really working on improving the stature of their law school. They have had some relatively high profile names come through, and welcome controversy in the "no publicity is bad publicity" type of way. The law school is very nice and brand new, right across the street from the undergrad campus. Chapman's alumni network is pretty expansive in Orange County, and Orange County is a nice place to live . I've been to a couple of alumni events, and those who did not go to to Chapman for law school will still hire Chapman law grads.

[Danteshek]

Chapman is really working on improving the stature of their law school. They have had some relatively high profile names come through, and welcome controversy in the "no publicity is bad publicity" type of way. The law school is very nice and brand new, right across the street from the undergrad campus. Chapman's alumni network is pretty expansive in Orange County, and Orange County is a nice place to live . I've been to a couple of alumni events, and those who did not go to to Chapman for law school will still hire Chapman law grads.

I visited Chapman today for the admitted students reception. I got there early and got to sit in on a 1L moot court quarterfinal match. The issue at hand was whether section 7 of the civil rights act protected transgendered people. I was pretty impressed with both the competitors and the judges. At the actual reception the students for the most part tried the hard sell. I mentioned that I'm leaning towards SW and that threw some of them off. They really seem to have a high opinion of their school. It was hard to get anyone to say anything negative about the place. Just because they went from T4 to T3 in one year does not mean the school is "skyrocketing in the rankings". A few students also mentioned that they are doing better in the LA market, which I highly doubt. Overall I was less than impressed with Chapman.

[Cara]

Rankings are irrelevant for schools ranked so low, all that matters is how much debt you will accrue to go there set against your prospects of employment in the local area that the school services.

[gfunk3]

Chapman University School of Law: #93 in USNWR 2011 rankings