Top Law Schools

I'm currently trying to decide between UMiami at sticker price, Syracuse with 31k or Suffolk with 30k.

That being said, I want to work in corporate law long term. I don't need to hear that none of these schools are worth going to, I've seen enough of that.

However, what would people recommend out of those three options? I'm struggling to come to a decision.

I know UMiami is the highest ranked of the three, but I don't want to be stuck in Fl for my whole life. What would be the best option for corporate practice, and which school would travel the best? (I know none are amazing on that front, either, but still!)

lawskwlapp wrote:I'm currently trying to decide between UMiami at sticker price, Syracuse with 31k or Suffolk with 30k.

That being said, I want to work in corporate law long term. I don't need to hear that none of these schools are worth going to, I've seen enough of that.

However, what would people recommend out of those three options? I'm struggling to come to a decision.

I know UMiami is the highest ranked of the three, but I don't want to be stuck in Fl for my whole life. What would be the best option for corporate practice, and which school would travel the best? (I know none are amazing on that front, either, but still!)

As you probably already know, all of these schools are extremely regional and will only travel so far as their immediate location. So, where would you like to end up practicing long-term? FL, MA, or NY? In both Boston and NY you would be facing stiff competition from a plethora of other, higher-ranked law schools. You have already ruled out Florida as a long-term option (I would rule it out anyway due to sticker price) so we are down to Syracuse or Suffolk.

The question then becomes would you like to have a 67% chance of finding employment as a lawyer (Syracuse) or a 53% chance (Suffolk)? If you are fine with those numbers, then which one will give you the most likely chance of reaching your goal of working in corporate law?

10.4% of 2018 grads placed into a large firm from Syracuse. 13.9% of 2018 grads placed into a large firm from Suffolk.

These numbers do not look good. Not one of these schools gives you a likely chance to reach your goals. I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but I would not attend any of these schools because the outcomes from these schools do not line up with what you ultimately want to do.

Agree with Kipper. Why are you asking for advice if you don't want good advice?

Since you've made up your mind as to what advice you will consider: my thoughts are if you're going to pick one might as well go to the cheapest, including COL. I would imagine that's cuse right? Whatever you choose, definitely don't go to UMiami at sticker that's a huge L and the worst option of the three. Especially since you don't want to be in FL long term. None of these gives you a very good shot at corporate and I don't think the tiny, and in all likelihood irrelevant, biglaw boost from suffolk is worth the higher COL in Boston. Plus, if you do beat the odds and get biglaw from cuse, I imagine it'd be in NY--which would probably be more portable experience than boston biglaw. Hope it works out for you

I'll give a real answer even though you shouldn't go to any of these schools with your goals. Suffolk is a trash heap and your scholarship is pitiful for how bad they are. Don't go there. Miami and Syracuse both have their place (neither of which is a portable degree with a good chance of corporate work), and since miami is more expensive outright and you have a scholarship to cuse making it about 80k cheaper overall, I would say cuse because it's also not in Florida. I'm also guessing from some of my experience looking at firms that the Cuse grads who do get biglaw mostly get upstate biglaw, so jobs paying 120k or less in Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo.

lawskwlapp wrote:I don't need to hear that none of these schools are worth going to, I've seen enough of that.

But apparently you haven't seen enough of it for it to sink in.

Do not go to any of these schools for anything more than the cost of living. Do not go to any of these schools planning on biglaw. There is no reason you need to go to law school this year (or at all), and picking any of these options at their current price tag could be financially ruinous.

lawskwlapp wrote:What would be the best option for corporate practice, and which school would travel the best?

All three are equally-terrible on both fronts. If you insist on going to one of these law schools, at these prices, you might as well just pick randomly; it's like playing Russian roulette with a bullet in every chamber.

If you want biglaw, only T14 (maybe a bit after but falls off quickly) are viable nationally and you really want to stay in top 25 or so (except maybe Fordham, which seems to place better than the typical school ranked in 30s, probably due to location.)

That is just a fact.

I think it would be foolish to take the current economy as a proxy for what the economy will be in 3 years. You probably have about a 25% chance practicing corporate law coming from one of these schools so I agree with minimizing debt, but the debt levels will be high to begin with. I'd go against the grain a bit and say if retaking is not an option, you should really maximize your quality of life for the next 3 years because the next 30 are statistically going to be very grim. I think Miami is probably the most fun, and while it won't place you outside of Miami, it's also unlikely you're going to get a job in your desired area from the other schools as well and once you're jobless and 150k in the hole, it's not that much worse to be jobless and 250k in the hole. I'd maximize quality of life for the next 3 years as your entire perception of life is going to change after 3 years anyway. I think Miami would be the most fun. Try your best to do well, but if you're not top 20% after 1L, focus on having fun and not getting too hung up on post-graduate jobs. You're not going to be in a dramatically different position being top 40% or top 60% so I'd focus on having fun and trying not to think about life post-graduation. For your goals and what you want to hear, the YOLO mantra is going to bring you the most joy both now and for 3 years.