way o/t looking into law school...tell me about your local u's

[pontiusplaymate]

My wife and I are looking into law school next year, and I wouldn't mind some info about schools, even if it doesn't directly pertain to their law program.

 

Some of our considerations:

 

My wife is East Indian, and we don't want to end up at a school where there is a very small minority student population, or one where bigotry is widespread.

 

Also, after 3 years in ugly Buffalo, it would be a nice change to study at a school with a nice looking campus.

 

Also, after 3 years at Buffalo, it would be nice to study at a school with decent study facilities and a library that's open late.

 

I'm looking for a school with a quality faculty member in the field of legal philosophy (perhaps w/ emphasis on ontology of law), or a strong program in constitutional law...maybe an up and comer (and not yet on the national radar)

 

It would be nice to be in or near a city or town with healthy cultural life--good art museum/symphony orchestra/band scene.

 

It would be nice to live in a locale where the cost of living isn't insane.

 

The schools we're very interested in at this point are University of Minnesota, UT Austin (long shot), UC Hastings, Cordoza, Rutgers, UNC, U of Illanois, NYU (another longshot)...where else should I look or not look? Thanks!

[ginnboonmiller]

If you want to go to New York, and would consider staying in New York, check out both New York Law School and Brooklyn Law School. Not really long shots, and I know lots of bigtime high-powered types that went there, so it's probably a good place to get connected. But if you're going for academia, which I'm sure you are, NYU is the place, and might not be such a long shot. Just promise me that if you go there, you won't let it turn you into the ex-girlfriend of mine that went there.

Oh, and have you checked out U. Penn? Good school and Philly is cool and cheap as hell.

[palthegiraffe]

Originally posted by ginnboonmiller Oh, and have you checked out U. Penn? Good school and Philly is cool and cheap as hell.

Also in that town, one of my best friends in the world is a law student at Temple. Let me know if you want me to ask him about it; he seems very happy there.

For low cost of living, a diverse student population, and a law building directly across the street from a guitar store , it is also my responsibility as an OSU alum to suggest The Ohio State University. (My first editor's job was at the Ohio State Bar Association, but sadly my main contacts there have moved on.)

You could make a decent argument for art/culture/music in either city, though Philly gets the east coast edge. But they don't have a field of giant concrete corn statues, so it all balances out.

[space cred]

flee your crazy country and come to canada.

[blaghaus]

Originally posted by scotron flee your crazy country and come to canada.

 

 

Funnily enough, I was going to recommend UofT. Fantastic university, and Toronto is as ethnically diverse as any city.

[jcn37203]

Vanderbilt Law school...

Don't know jack about the law school, but the U in general kicks ass.

http://law.vanderbilt.edu/about/index.html

[IndofunkCity]

My cousin (who's East Indian) went to Brooklyn Law. She liked it, FWIW...

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll ask her.

[incubass]

University of Texas-Austin. Brian Leiter (the guy who does the Gourmet Report) has dual appointment in the law school and the philosophy department and has spent some time building up their legal philosophy specialty. It's one of the programs I'm looking at when I do my grad work in a year or so (in philosophy, then law).

[Barnabyhuggins]

University of Colorado @ Boulder.

Now rated as one of the top 20 in America.

Set in one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in the country.

30 Minutes from Denver; a wonderful city with a high quality symphony (I have season tix) a two time Tony award winning local theater company and gets about 85% of nationally touring bands.

Plus I'll be there and we can talk gear!

[Zooey]

Originally posted by pontiusplaymate The schools we're very interested in at this point are University of Minnesota, UT Austin (long shot), UC Hastings, Cordoza, Rutgers, UNC, U of Illanois, NYU (another longshot)...where else should I look or not look? Thanks!

 

 

I'm a graduate of UC Hastings. Here's my take:

 

The good:

Excellent school with good reputation (especially in western US)

In-state tuition makes it a good value (but still expensive)

Fairly diverse student body

Located in San Francisco

Highly qualified professors

 

The bad:

Highly competitive admissions, highly competitive students

Strict grade curve policy (unlike your colleagues at Stanford, you WILL get C's)

Gritty, dumpy campus in bad neighborhood

Doesn't have the resources or student body of a full campus. You will be surrounded by neurotic law students at all hours with no escape. Yes, that's as bad as it sounds.

 

If I were to do it over again, I'd consider Boalt or UC Davis (and maybe end up at Hastings anyway).

[pontiusplaymate]

bump, and thanks for all the helpful information. I'll definitely take a look at all the recommended schools.

Incubass, UT Austin is kinda my dream choice, given the strength of its philosophy, law and cog sci depts....but because state law mandates that no more than 20% of it's incoming classes are from out of state, it is very difficult to get accepted unless you're a texas resident (i know this is the case with the law school, and I'm pretty sure the same rule applies for the other dept). Add to this their already very high standards for instate applicants, and it's almost as tough to get into Austin as schools like Stanford and Yale.

But from what I've hear, it's a great place to go to school.

Zooey, your insider's report of Hastings is very helpful...thanks for taking the time to respond!

Bump

[Wilbo26]

Texas is also really big on admitting minority students...

When my class was applying for college in Spring 2000, when affirmative action was effectively banned in Texas, one of my friends, wealthy and white, but had enough Mexican heritage in him somewhere down the line that he was able to check that as his ethnicity. I think his SAT was 1100 or something like that and his GPA was maybe 6.0/8.0, probably less and he was accepted straight out.

Other people that had better GPA's and better SAT scores got flat out denied or had to do provisional.

Don't rule UT out at all. There's a really big and active Indian community here, the campus is awesome, and the law school top notch. Plus, from what I've heard from friends that have attended, once you're in its not insanely tough.

Good luck!

[AcousticControl]

bump

[Zooey]

[PermaNoobie]

DeLorean;

 

this thread is abt 5 years old - I assume he's already graduated

 

 

just saw Zooey's post

...oh, I guess it's an inside joke

[Zooey]

He did graduate: he fights injustice now.

[PermaNoobie]

he fights injustice now.

 

 

so he decided not to be an atty?!?! :poke:

 

I keed, I keed

 

why the resurrection - is it his birthday or something?

(ugh, that got a little messianic)

[kanamvar32]

Georgetown on the east coast and UCLA on the west coast. Both have really nice campuses but different environments. Both are also supposedly difficult to get into.

You should also look into USC (Southern California). I went there and I've heard the law program is pretty solid. The campus is quite diverse, but to me it seemed that there were pockets of "diversity". Basically, most of the international students stayed in their own groups, but of course this wasn't the case for everyone. The campus is very pretty but the surrounding area is pretty bad. Cost of living and tuition is also very high.

[TheCardiacKid]

THE Ohio State University.

[WC1]

The first thing you want to ask yourself is what type of lawyer do you want to be. If you want to graduate and get a starting salary of over $100k, you need to go to a top ranked law school. The elite law firms hire their attorneys right out of law school. However, they court them at the school their last two years. If you wish to work at one of the top firms, you have to go to a top school. Then you apply for a summer internship where they pay you and wine and dine you over your summer break. If they like you after your second summer there, they'll hire you straight out of law school. If you go to a lower ranked law school, you can't get into a larger firm without bringing in business (which you got to stay with you after you left a previous firm).

I went to a non-top law school and this has been my experience. I've also talked to the most successful (financially) lawyers I know and this is what they've said. Your experience may vary.

My advice would be to go to the best school you could get into that has the highest first time bar pass rate.

[IRG]

We have a pretty good law school here at Cornell. Beautiful campus, ethnically diverse. Hard to get into, expensive. But excellent reputation. Not far from where you are, so the winters are still here, but not nearly as bad as Buffalo.