Top Law Schools

Hi everyone,

I am currently living in Texas. I have been accepted at STU with a 15k scholarship ( their tuition costs 31k/year so that leaves 16k for me to pay )and also been accepted at Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) without scholarship because my LSAT score wasn't that great. I would love to live in both cities but just been worried about the legal scenario in Miami area. I believe I will have more chances to receive a better education, thus, get a better job in NUSL especially after researching about their Co-Op program. However, the tuition is pretty high there (49kk/year) and i haven't got any scholarship. The COL is about the same in both cities. I don't have family in none.
I would be able to pay the COL and part of my first year w savings if I go to STU. However I am scared to risk my time there and not be happy with the school based on some reviews. On the other hand, I am not sure if i want to borrow so much money and be in debt in order to go to a better law school (NUSL). I need to make a decision by Sunday (23-July-2017)

Please, I would like to hear everyone's opinion. What do you know about these schools and the legal/economic situation in both cities? thanks!

This would be better suited for the Choosing a Law School section of the forums: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=1

That said, it's an easy answer: don't go to either of these schools if you want to be a practicing lawyer, and definitely don't pay for it.

What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

Do yourself a huge favor and don't go to either of these "schools." They are for-profit institutions that will charge you an outrageous amount of money compared to the value of the education you'll receive. And more importantly, your employment options from either of these schools will be seriously limited. I suggest reading through some of the recent threads on the Legal Employment forum (on this site) to acquire a better understanding of what the practice of law actually entails. Then, if you truly want to be a lawyer, you need to reapply next year to give yourself time to study extremely hard for the LSAT and attend a mid-T14 on full scholarship. Don't waste 3 years of your life, hundreds of thousands of dollars, or forgo other opportunities for these cancers.

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

GPA 3.8, LSAT 155, Civil litigation, tax ,and marijuana law

Brazil_007 wrote:

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

GPA 3.8, LSAT 155, Civil litigation, tax ,and marijuana law

2 of those are real, one is not. You have a GPA that will not keep you out of any school in the country, do yourself a favor and retake the LSAT. My first take was similar to yours, but I studied, took it again, and now have a 2/3 scholarship to a t13 that will give me a realistic shot at my goals and will actually provide me with a job that can pay off the loans I will take out. You owe it to yourself to give it another go. You can get full rides to better schools and into schools that are suvstantially better than your current options

How much time did you spend studying for the LSAT when you got a 155?

How many times have you taken the LSAT overall?

You have a fantastic GPA and if you could even raise your score to the mid 160s, you'd have so many better options than either of those schools.

I also don't think "marijuana law" is a realistic outcome for you, regardless of where you go to school.

If you can finish with a 3.8, you can get a 170. I would be a ridiculous and unnecessary blow to your entire life to go to either of those schools for any amount of money when a year spent studying the LSAT can change your entire path.

acr wrote:Do yourself a huge favor and don't go to either of these "schools." They are for-profit institutions that will charge you an outrageous amount of money compared to the value of the education you'll receive. And more importantly, your employment options from either of these schools will be seriously limited. I suggest reading through some of the recent threads on the Legal Employment forum (on this site) to acquire a better understanding of what the practice of law actually entails. Then, if you truly want to be a lawyer, you need to reapply next year to give yourself time to study extremely hard for the LSAT and attend a mid-T14 on full scholarship. Don't waste 3 years of your life, hundreds of thousands of dollars, or forgo other opportunities for these cancers.

Unless I'm missing something Northeastern University is a non-profit (like most other traditional universities).

But I would agree that it is not a good value, especially at sticker price.

stego wrote:

acr wrote:Do yourself a huge favor and don't go to either of these "schools." They are for-profit institutions that will charge you an outrageous amount of money compared to the value of the education you'll receive. And more importantly, your employment options from either of these schools will be seriously limited. I suggest reading through some of the recent threads on the Legal Employment forum (on this site) to acquire a better understanding of what the practice of law actually entails. Then, if you truly want to be a lawyer, you need to reapply next year to give yourself time to study extremely hard for the LSAT and attend a mid-T14 on full scholarship. Don't waste 3 years of your life, hundreds of thousands of dollars, or forgo other opportunities for these cancers.

Unless I'm missing something Northeastern University is a non-profit (like most other traditional universities).

But I would agree that it is not a good value, especially at sticker price.

Yea, I understand as much that they are technically organized as a non-profit organization, what I'm saying through slight sarcasm is that their functional purpose is to make large profits off of students and pay lucrative salaries to deans/professors, not provide good education or opportunities.

Why is this in the forum for law school students?

UVA2B wrote:Why is this in the forum for law school students?

Probably because OP has 2 posts and doesn't understand the nuances of TLS?

Thread moved to appropriate forum.

I just finished my first year at NUSL and I'm transferring to a t12. NUSL is a great school if you received a full ride, want to practice in the Boston area and want to work in the public sector. Their OCI is extremely limited (about 15 firms) and you have be in the top .5% to even be considered by the Boston powerhouses (Goodwin, Ropes. Wilmer, Foley, Mintz etc.) Like you said, NUSL's co-op program is amazing and can lead to full time employment, but only at public interest orgs, the gov, or a small firms that pay about 60-80k. If debt is no issue for you, because your parents are rich or you have a trust fund, then go to NUSL, but only if you're positive you want to work in Boston maybe NY, Alaska, and Cali. If you want to work in the private sector, I would say take the LSAT again. You should def be able to increase to above 160 but you have to put the work in. Focus on the logic games. you should be able to get through that whole section. Focus on the arguments section since its two sections. Apply to schools earlyyyyyy! (like submit in October). I cant emphasize this enough. Since your gpa is above every school's 75% percentile some schools would be willing to admit you despite having a LSAT score below their 25th percentile, but only if they feel they can make up for your low lsat score with other applicants. You have two months to study for the October LSAt. Lock in and see where you're at late September. I'd imagine even with a score like 159 you'd have a chance at UMiami. Especially if you apply early. Def do not go to St. Thomas. People on these forums tend to be a little harsh on any school that isnt t14 - with good reason i guess but they are completely right about St. Thomas. If you have any other questions about NUSL just PM or something I'm not sure how this works this is my first post ever.

TooMuchTuna wrote:How much time did you spend studying for the LSAT when you got a 155?

How many times have you taken the LSAT overall?

You have a fantastic GPA and if you could even raise your score to the mid 160s, you'd have so many better options than either of those schools.

I also don't think "marijuana law" is a realistic outcome for you, regardless of where you go to school.

chargers21 wrote:

Brazil_007 wrote:

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

GPA 3.8, LSAT 155, Civil litigation, tax ,and marijuana law

2 of those are real, one is not. You have a GPA that will not keep you out of any school in the country, do yourself a favor and retake the LSAT. My first take was similar to yours, but I studied, took it again, and now have a 2/3 scholarship to a t13 that will give me a realistic shot at my goals and will actually provide me with a job that can pay off the loans I will take out. You owe it to yourself to give it another go. You can get full rides to better schools and into schools that are suvstantially better than your current options

Not to distract from the topic at hand, but my cousin's good friend went to a T2 in the Midwest and is either a solo or a partner in a very small firm that mainly does cases related to marijuana law. He makes a pretty solid living doing this. I'm not sure exactly what his daily work is like, and anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, etc etc. I just wanted to through that out there since it presumably is a "thing" to some degree

Anon-e-miss wrote:

TooMuchTuna wrote:How much time did you spend studying for the LSAT when you got a 155?

How many times have you taken the LSAT overall?

You have a fantastic GPA and if you could even raise your score to the mid 160s, you'd have so many better options than either of those schools.

I also don't think "marijuana law" is a realistic outcome for you, regardless of where you go to school.

chargers21 wrote:

Brazil_007 wrote:

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

GPA 3.8, LSAT 155, Civil litigation, tax ,and marijuana law

2 of those are real, one is not. You have a GPA that will not keep you out of any school in the country, do yourself a favor and retake the LSAT. My first take was similar to yours, but I studied, took it again, and now have a 2/3 scholarship to a t13 that will give me a realistic shot at my goals and will actually provide me with a job that can pay off the loans I will take out. You owe it to yourself to give it another go. You can get full rides to better schools and into schools that are suvstantially better than your current options

Not to distract from the topic at hand, but my cousin's good friend went to a T2 in the Midwest and is either a solo or a partner in a very small firm that mainly does cases related to marijuana law. He makes a pretty solid living doing this. I'm not sure exactly what his daily work is like, and anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, etc etc. I just wanted to through that out there since it presumably is a "thing" to some degree

If you mean works in a small firm that does public defense of misdemeanor drug offenses, then I'm sure he does. But that isn't any different than any other public defender job. "Marijuana law" suggests something different than just defending minor criminals (feel free to expand on what he does if it's not misdemeanor criminal defense, but I can't imagine "marijuana law" being anything other than criminal defense).

UVA2B wrote:

Anon-e-miss wrote:

TooMuchTuna wrote:How much time did you spend studying for the LSAT when you got a 155?

How many times have you taken the LSAT overall?

You have a fantastic GPA and if you could even raise your score to the mid 160s, you'd have so many better options than either of those schools.

I also don't think "marijuana law" is a realistic outcome for you, regardless of where you go to school.

chargers21 wrote:

Brazil_007 wrote:

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:What is your gpa and lsat as well as career goals.

GPA 3.8, LSAT 155, Civil litigation, tax ,and marijuana law

2 of those are real, one is not. You have a GPA that will not keep you out of any school in the country, do yourself a favor and retake the LSAT. My first take was similar to yours, but I studied, took it again, and now have a 2/3 scholarship to a t13 that will give me a realistic shot at my goals and will actually provide me with a job that can pay off the loans I will take out. You owe it to yourself to give it another go. You can get full rides to better schools and into schools that are suvstantially better than your current options

Not to distract from the topic at hand, but my cousin's good friend went to a T2 in the Midwest and is either a solo or a partner in a very small firm that mainly does cases related to marijuana law. He makes a pretty solid living doing this. I'm not sure exactly what his daily work is like, and anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, etc etc. I just wanted to through that out there since it presumably is a "thing" to some degree

If you mean works in a small firm that does public defense of misdemeanor drug offenses, then I'm sure he does. But that isn't any different than any other public defender job. "Marijuana law" suggests something different than just defending minor criminals (feel free to expand on what he does if it's not misdemeanor criminal defense, but I can't imagine "marijuana law" being anything other than criminal defense).

I don't know his name so I couldn't google and try and find his practice, but based on my cousin's (who is not a lawyer fwiw) explanation, it is more along the lines of this: http://cannalawgroup.com/
I'm also in a state that where medical marijuana is legal and recreational is illegal, so dispensaries and those types of businesses probably have to consult with lawyers to stay in compliance with the law. I'm a 0L so I don't want to give the impression that I have significant knowledge of this, but perhaps OP does have such knowledge given his stated interest in it.

TooMuchTuna wrote:How much time did you spend studying for the LSAT when you got a 155?

How many times have you taken the LSAT overall?

You have a fantastic GPA and if you could even raise your score to the mid 160s, you'd have so many better options than either of those schools.

I also don't think "marijuana law" is a realistic outcome for you, regardless of where you go to school.

I was working full-time while taking the prep course for the LSAT. I took the class for a month and was able to take a week off work to actually study for the test. Only one time last September.

Thank you for your feedback, and thanks everyone for the info provided here.

capo wrote:I just finished my first year at NUSL and I'm transferring to a t12. NUSL is a great school if you received a full ride, want to practice in the Boston area and want to work in the public sector. Their OCI is extremely limited (about 15 firms) and you have be in the top .5% to even be considered by the Boston powerhouses (Goodwin, Ropes. Wilmer, Foley, Mintz etc.) Like you said, NUSL's co-op program is amazing and can lead to full time employment, but only at public interest orgs, the gov, or a small firms that pay about 60-80k. If debt is no issue for you, because your parents are rich or you have a trust fund, then go to NUSL, but only if you're positive you want to work in Boston maybe NY, Alaska, and Cali. If you want to work in the private sector, I would say take the LSAT again. You should def be able to increase to above 160 but you have to put the work in. Focus on the logic games. you should be able to get through that whole section. Focus on the arguments section since its two sections. Apply to schools earlyyyyyy! (like submit in October). I cant emphasize this enough. Since your gpa is above every school's 75% percentile some schools would be willing to admit you despite having a LSAT score below their 25th percentile, but only if they feel they can make up for your low lsat score with other applicants. You have two months to study for the October LSAt. Lock in and see where you're at late September. I'd imagine even with a score like 159 you'd have a chance at UMiami. Especially if you apply early. Def do not go to St. Thomas. People on these forums tend to be a little harsh on any school that isnt t14 - with good reason i guess but they are completely right about St. Thomas. If you have any other questions about NUSL just PM or something I'm not sure how this works this is my first post ever.

Thank u so much for your feedback. I know the right thing to do would be study for the test and take it again but I don't want to go another year out of school. I took a year off, however, I was offered a great job position to work in deal management (contracts administrator) at Oracle. I know I should had prioritized the LSAT, since going to law school has been my goal since my first day in college, but I wanted to have some experience in contracts. I thought I was going to be able to work full-time and study for the LSAT simuntaneously but in practice it was much harder to work all day and still be able to go to prep course at night (and actually focus/study for the test). Lesson learned.
That being said, I will prob start at NUSL and try to transfer to a better school after the first year like you did. I'm gonna message you directly for more info.

Thanks again everyone!

.

Platopus wrote:

Brazil_007 wrote: That being said, I will prob start at NUSL and try to transfer to a better school after the first year like you did.

This is a bad idea. You should only go to a school you are comfortable graduating from. Transferring is a tough process and you need to do real well in school in order to have a realistic shot at transferring. Also, as a transfer student you are not going to be eligible for scholarships.

Second everything platopus said. You are making an incredibly horrible, life-changing decision if you go to NUSL at that price. You are making an even worse one if you are doing it with the idea that you can transfer to a better school.

acr wrote:

UVA2B wrote:Why is this in the forum for law school students?

Probably because OP has 2 posts and doesn't understand the nuances of TLS?

Yes, I am new here and that was my first post, sorry.
Thought that "law school students " from one of these two schools would be able to give me helpful feedback. My bad.

Brazil_007 wrote:

capo wrote:I just finished my first year at NUSL and I'm transferring to a t12. NUSL is a great school if you received a full ride, want to practice in the Boston area and want to work in the public sector. Their OCI is extremely limited (about 15 firms) and you have be in the top .5% to even be considered by the Boston powerhouses (Goodwin, Ropes. Wilmer, Foley, Mintz etc.) Like you said, NUSL's co-op program is amazing and can lead to full time employment, but only at public interest orgs, the gov, or a small firms that pay about 60-80k. If debt is no issue for you, because your parents are rich or you have a trust fund, then go to NUSL, but only if you're positive you want to work in Boston maybe NY, Alaska, and Cali. If you want to work in the private sector, I would say take the LSAT again. You should def be able to increase to above 160 but you have to put the work in. Focus on the logic games. you should be able to get through that whole section. Focus on the arguments section since its two sections. Apply to schools earlyyyyyy! (like submit in October). I cant emphasize this enough. Since your gpa is above every school's 75% percentile some schools would be willing to admit you despite having a LSAT score below their 25th percentile, but only if they feel they can make up for your low lsat score with other applicants. You have two months to study for the October LSAt. Lock in and see where you're at late September. I'd imagine even with a score like 159 you'd have a chance at UMiami. Especially if you apply early. Def do not go to St. Thomas. People on these forums tend to be a little harsh on any school that isnt t14 - with good reason i guess but they are completely right about St. Thomas. If you have any other questions about NUSL just PM or something I'm not sure how this works this is my first post ever.

Thank u so much for your feedback. I know the right thing to do would be study for the test and take it again but I don't want to go another year out of school. I took a year off, however, I was offered a great job position to work in deal management (contracts administrator) at Oracle. I know I should had prioritized the LSAT, since going to law school has been my goal since my first day in college, but I wanted to have some experience in contracts. I thought I was going to be able to work full-time and study for the LSAT simuntaneously but in practice it was much harder to work all day and still be able to go to prep course at night (and actually focus/study for the test). Lesson learned.
That being said, I will prob start at NUSL and try to transfer to a better school after the first year like you did. I'm gonna message you directly for more info.

Thanks again everyone!

You have a great job at Oracle, just stay and do that for another year, build up some work experience for your app
You can't count on transferring because that requires top grades and because of the forced curve in law school and the fact that law school exams are different from other tests you have taken, you cannot count on having top grades
Don't go to Northeastern at close to sticker, study and retake the LSAT

OP, you're literally on track to wreck your life. Stop, breathe, and take your time.

Law school isn't going anywhere, and going to any of these options, especially at sticker, is insane.

If you really have a solid job at Oracle, you would be incredibly foolish to go to NUSL or St. Thomas just because you get to go this year. And never, ever, ever go to a school thinking you'll want to/be able to transfer. It's much, much easier to just retake the LSAT to improve your options.

You're making a decision for a career, not just for the next three years. Start that career off on the right foot. The right foot does not involve stepping on campus at St. Thomas or NUSL.

What do you even want to do with a law degree?