Top Law Schools

Looking to stay on the east coast and eventually end up working politics in DC. Where could I get half to full tuition schools?

You're probably not getting much money in the T14, but you should get good money from some T1s outside the T14 if you apply broadly. Check out LSN--there should be some (though probably not many) people from previous cycles who had stats in your ballpark.

lemonlymon wrote:Looking to stay on the east coast and eventually end up working politics in DC.

Then why would you go to law school?

WUSTL is > half barely. Not going to get much if any money at T14. WUSTL may negotiate up to higher if you get competing offers. See my LSN if you want, though you will probably do better as long as you apply intelligently.

The problem with extreme splitters is that it's very hard to get a big scholarship, as those are generally reserved for those at or above both medians. This is why you may get some money, but not a hell of a lot. Another problem is that even if you go further down to the t20 or t25, they won't care if you got a 174 or 169, as both are probably above the 75%, but your 3.25 is still below most 25%. But who knows. This cycle is really unpredictable, so I'd apply everywhere and see who offers you what.

tennisking88 wrote:

lemonlymon wrote:Looking to stay on the east coast and eventually end up working politics in DC.

Then why would you go to law school?

This. Working in politics is more about who you know and where you've worked than what credentials you've gotten rubber-stamped with. You need to move to DC and start hustling. If you can't do that, a law degree isn't going to change anything.

maybe OP want to be a prosecutor for 10 years and run for congress or something. Can people please stop regurgitating mindless crap on TLS? It is not ridiculous to want law-->politics. What percentage of Congress holds law degrees?It might be difficult so are a lot of things.

kwais wrote:maybe OP want to be a prosecutor for 10 years and run for congress or something. Can people please stop regurgitating mindless crap on TLS? It is not ridiculous to want law-->politics. What percentage of Congress holds law degrees?It might be difficult so are a lot of things.

i am not regurgitating anything. i worked in DC in politics.

IAFG wrote:

kwais wrote:maybe OP want to be a prosecutor for 10 years and run for congress or something. Can people please stop regurgitating mindless crap on TLS? It is not ridiculous to want law-->politics. What percentage of Congress holds law degrees?It might be difficult so are a lot of things.

i am not regurgitating anything. i worked in DC in politics.

oh shit! well there you have it

kwais wrote:

IAFG wrote:

kwais wrote:maybe OP want to be a prosecutor for 10 years and run for congress or something. Can people please stop regurgitating mindless crap on TLS? It is not ridiculous to want law-->politics. What percentage of Congress holds law degrees?It might be difficult so are a lot of things.

i am not regurgitating anything. i worked in DC in politics.

oh shit! well there you have it

I have also worked in politics (and live in DC) and can tell you that you most certainly do not need a JD to get a job on Capitol Hill (in fact most don't have one) OR organize/work on campaigns (in fact almost none have JDs).

I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

If I were you I would only seriously consider DC area schools.

I don't want to get too much into this, but FWIW OP, as somebody who's worked in politics for 4+ years, I can tell you that the best way to learn all of those things is through hands-on experience. Moreover, finding an entry level job in politics (and w/ a JD...you will be looking at an entry level job) is tough with a JD because there's an assumption that you'll want to make more than the 30-40K they want to pay junior level folks. It's certainly not impossible, but you'll need to have some ties to break into those worlds. Most of politics in any form is really about knowing how the system works, and the little ins and outs of the process.

If I were you, I'd go to Georgetown and get that experience through internships. (actually, if I were you, I'd get some work experience then go to law school, which is what I did...and I am very glad I did.) A school like WUSTL will give you more money, but I don't know if it'll bring you to DC.

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

Con law and admin law might be the only courses at all relevant to what you want to do. I have to imagine that a government program would be better, not to mention far cheaper.

As to the legislative process, that's only come up in a one hour walk-through the Lexis guy gave us on looking up legislative history?

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

LOL law school will disappoint greatly.

Grizz wrote:

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

LOL law school will disappoint greatly.

To be fair, is anyone not greatly disappointed when they get here and find that studying law consists entirely of reading [mostly out of date] court cases [mostly on issues they'll likely never face as attorneys]?

mrloblaw wrote:

Grizz wrote:

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

LOL law school will disappoint greatly.

To be fair, is anyone not greatly disappointed when they get here and find that studying law consists entirely of reading [mostly out of date] court cases [mostly on issues they'll likely never face as attorneys]?

I wasn't disappointed because I knew that coming in.

Grizz wrote:

mrloblaw wrote:

Grizz wrote:

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

LOL law school will disappoint greatly.

To be fair, is anyone not greatly disappointed when they get here and find that studying law consists entirely of reading [mostly out of date] court cases [mostly on issues they'll likely never face as attorneys]?

I wasn't disappointed because I knew that coming in.

I'm guessing that your masochism is far more conducive to lawl school success than my ignorance.

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

Whatever it is you do, do not spend so much time/money on the false assumption that having a JD will give you skills of "communication and persuasion" that you will not get in one year as a staffer on the Hill. In truth, JD is just as academic as a pol sci degree.

mrloblaw wrote:
I'm guessing that your masochism is far more conducive to lawl school success than my ignorance.

I do have an uncanny ability to grind with little regard for my physical or emotional well-being.

mrloblaw wrote:

Grizz wrote:

lemonlymon wrote:I want to learn about the constitution, the laws that govern the government, the legislative process, etc... MPP/MPA programs are too narrow and practical and Poli Sci programs are too academic. I'm not entirely sure what my career path will be (and that is why I'm looking to minimize debt for maximum flexibility). I also want the skills of communication and persuasion that one can acquire at law school. Employment opportunities are very important to me, but they're not everything.

LOL law school will disappoint greatly.

To be fair, is anyone not greatly disappointed when they get here and find that studying law consists entirely of reading [mostly out of date] court cases [mostly on issues they'll likely never face as attorneys]?

I actually can't wait to get away from the power point n' multiple choice "law" courses I've had take in undergrad.