Early dilemma deciding which law school to attend... Forum

[cgra1916]

Hi everyone,

I know it's still early in the cycle and I have some schools decision still pending, but I sorta have that gut feeling I will attend one of these schools that have already accepted me.

I am still waiting on Texas A&M, SMU, UH and OU and got waitlisted at Texas Tech, but the two choices I'm really debating right now is U of Denver with a decent scholarship that puts COA at a little over 30k/year and Oklahoma City Law, which I understand is unranked but has given me the best scholarship offer and will put COA at only $15k/year.

I am drawn to U of Denver's better ranking and am fascinated at the idea of moving and working in Colorado, but the debt scares me. Fortunately, I have never had student debt. I am not too excited about possibly attending OCU Law considering that it is not a great school anywhere outside Oklahoma or OKC, but financially I think that will be my best offer and I wouldn't mind working in OKC for a couple years. I wish I knew where I wanted to work after 3 years, so I guess i'm also drawn to Denver because of the relative flexibility and mobility of a Denver Law degree?

Everyone on here has been completely honest and supportive with me, so I have no issue being transparent about my financial situation in order to help me with a decision. After my last year of work this year, I will have close to $55k in savings which I plan to use for law school, but obviously try and keep as much as I can. My parents have said they will help me with some of my expenses, but I am not willing to ask for help with tuition money.

Between Denver Law and OCU Law, what do you guys think would be better given my situation? I have close to or less than a 50% chance at the other schools I mentioned, which is why I'm not too hopeful that I will be accepted at this point. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

[Npret]

I know nothing about either school but at least Denver is ranked.

[acr]

If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

[cavalier1138]

What are your current numbers? What are your career goals?

OCU is a hard no, but it's impossible to give better guidance without knowing your answers to those questions.

[nixy]

DU with money isn’t a terrible option for Colorado but it’s not really going to give you more flexibility/mobility.

[Eggs]

If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

Why? I don't know the market, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between Colorado and Denver. I agree that schollys are needed

[nixy]

If you want CO, then Boulder with a full scholly or don't go to law school.

Why? I don't know the market, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between Colorado and Denver. I agree that schollys are needed

There isn’t much. I think you might need to be a bit higher up in your class at Denver for the good outcomes than at CU and DU’s bar passage rate has historically been lower than CU’s (sometimes quite a bit lower, though I think it’s gone up in recent years). But they both have strong networks in Colorado, and at each a small group will get biglaw/clerkships while most people will be looking at local jobs, smaller firms or local government, where connections, experience, and hustling will be key.

[nealric]

Let me be the first to encourage you to retake the LSAT and apply again next year. A few more points on the LSAT could be worth tends of thousands.
But if you must, Denver is a much better option than an unranked law school.

"The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price."