Underrated programs Forum

[sluguy14]

Coming from a potential (and hopeful) WUSTL student, why do we seem to feel that WUSTL is overrated?

[holydonkey]

Coming from a potential (and hopeful) WUSTL student, why do we seem to feel that WUSTL is overrated?

I would guess most would say job placement/oci. maybe that's just me.

[09042014]

Coming from a potential (and hopeful) WUSTL student, why do we seem to feel that WUSTL is overrated?

I would guess most would say job placement/oci. maybe that's just me.

Places as well at UMN, UIUC, ND, Emory, BC, BU, and GW. Better than IUB. Sounds like its ranked just about right.

Fordham is probably the one underranked school.

[holydonkey]

Coming from a potential (and hopeful) WUSTL student, why do we seem to feel that WUSTL is overrated?

I would guess most would say job placement/oci. maybe that's just me.

Places as well at UMN, UIUC, ND, Emory, BC, BU, and GW. Better than IUB. Sounds like its ranked just about right.

Fordham is probably the one underranked school.

Definitely would put it before IUB, Emory, BC, UMN, and probably UIUC. Just not sure it would be a better option than BU or GW. Maybe it would. I'd put it somewhere around (arbitrary #....) 22 instead of 19.

/I would also be happy to go there

[09042014]

Coming from a potential (and hopeful) WUSTL student, why do we seem to feel that WUSTL is overrated?

I would guess most would say job placement/oci. maybe that's just me.

Places as well at UMN, UIUC, ND, Emory, BC, BU, and GW. Better than IUB. Sounds like its ranked just about right.

Fordham is probably the one underranked school.

Definitely would put it before IUB, Emory, BC, UMN, and probably UIUC. Just not sure it would be a better option than BU or GW. Maybe it would. I'd put it somewhere around (arbitrary #....) 22 instead of 19.

/I would also be happy to go there

All these schools are regional. WUSTL gets a little screwed because its got no market to focus on, though ITE it may be a strong suit, but its still limited to the midwest. It barely out places UIUC (and UIUC out places it inside Chicago, WUSTL is better everywhere else).


WUSTL is better if you want midwest, BU or BC are better for Boston, Emory is better for the Southeast, UMN is better for Minnesota, GW for DC, etc etc.

[robin600]

WI is very well regarded and hangs with IL, IN and MN, but is significantly lower in the rankings than the other Midwest state schools.

+1 they place just as good as MN and Iowa, and if you're interested in something other than biglaw it's probably a good choice for you. I know many biglaw lawyers in detroit who graduated from there.

[reasonable_man]

Overrated: Any school not in the T30 charging the same amount of money to attend as a school in the T30

Underrated: Any school in the T30-TTTT that is much cheaper than a T30 and functions in a smaller secondary market with few T30 schools in close proximity.

Most overrated in NY: Carschmozo and BLS. BLS gets shit on, but people stop short of calling them complete criminals, thus its overrated in my book.

[LifeinKodachrome]

I tend to gravitate towards the top school in any region with a decent market. U Washington, Colorado, etc. Of course this includes many of the T14s, but I'd personally rather go with say U Washington (top school in the pacific northwest) than Fordham (similar ranks, but vastly overshadowed by the other NYC schools)

[Slimpee]

I've seen Nebraska mentioned several times as underrated...as someone who applied and received a very generous offer i'm intrigued by this.

Pros:
-Cheap-as-hell for in-state. I'm not sure what out-of-state is but I get in-state just for going to HS in Nebraska...
-It's the only gig in town. Nebraska firms take Nebraska grads because it's the only law school in the state. Except Creighton, but they don't count
-Was vastly underranked last year due to clerical error. It should be in the 60's or 70's this year.
-I'm sure there are others related to faculty and curriculum but I haven't done the proper due diligence yet...

Cons:
-National portability?
-You have to live in Nebraska

Thoughts on what makes it underranked?

[Padimud]

COOLEY.



lol..

I highly doubt anyone actually did this while reading your post; and regarding the thread: BYU

are there any other law schools in Utah? LOL

And on that note, BYU is probably slightly overrated, however, the University of Utah is supremely overrated. BYU places better in state and out of state, local respect for the schools depends on political affiliation, but in general BYU smokes UU in every category. Admittedly both may be a little high, but BYU is miles ahead of Utah.

[Padimud]

And on that note, BYU is probably slightly overrated, however, the University of Utah is supremely overrated. BYU places better in state and out of state, local respect for the schools depends on political affiliation, but in general BYU smokes UU in every category. Admittedly both may be a little high, but BYU is miles ahead of Utah.

BYU has a strong national network, especially if you are LDS.

+1

[09042014]

And on that note, BYU is probably slightly overrated, however, the University of Utah is supremely overrated. BYU places better in state and out of state, local respect for the schools depends on political affiliation, but in general BYU smokes UU in every category. Admittedly both may be a little high, but BYU is miles ahead of Utah.

BYU has a strong national network, [strike]especially[/strike] if you are LDS.

[General Tso]

Overrated: Any school not in the T30 charging the same amount of money to attend as a school in the T30

Underrated: Any school in the T30-TTTT that is much cheaper than a T30 and functions in a smaller secondary market with few T30 schools in close proximity.

Most overrated in NY: Carschmozo and BLS. BLS gets shit on, but people stop short of calling them complete criminals, thus its overrated in my book.

I usually agree with RM but disagree here. People often talk about Ole Miss (where my brother attended) as a "cheap school that dominates its regional market." I know from personal experience that no matter how cheap, no matter how low the competition, Ole Miss law sucks. In places like Mississippi there is no competition for a reason...there are *surprise* NO JOBS. Anyone not in the top 10% at Ole Miss is screwed. 40k local gov't job if you are lucky (like my brother), 20k solo practice in a small town of ~10,000 people if you are not lucky (like most of my brother's friends who finished around median).

I assume the same is true for the Montanas and Arkansases of the legal world. I'm not saying that schools like NYLS or St. John's are good buys in comparison, nor am I disputing that they are overrated. I am just saying that cheap schools in the "T30-TTTT" are not underrated nor are they always "good buys."

[rayiner]

All law schools are overrated.

[reasonable_man]

All law schools are overrated.

Truth. If people only knew how fucking useless legal education is to the actual practice of law... I mean people talk about it jokingly, but the truth is, most people learn more valuable information during bar review than they do during the 3 years of LS. I suppose it does help teach you how to 'think like a lawyer,' but one would think that a 'professional school' would aim to do act more like its peer (medical schools), in teaching students 'how' to be a lawyer, not just what it means to be one.

[holydonkey]

I've heard University of Richmond is much better than its' ranking suggests.

[xanderdellus]

I've heard University of Richmond is much better than its' ranking suggests.

I am from VA, and it is not. As many top 50 schools as any market in the country (W&M, W&L, UVA, GMU, (all state schools) plus GULC and GWU in DC) and Richmond can not compete. They have a decent alumni network in Richmond, but that's it. Not a good investment of $$$. On the upside - pretty campus with pretty undergrads.

[General Tso]

I tend to gravitate towards the top school in any region with a decent market. U Washington, Colorado, etc. Of course this includes many of the T14s, but I'd personally rather go with say U Washington (top school in the pacific northwest) than Fordham (similar ranks, but vastly overshadowed by the other NYC schools)

You have to think about it in terms of volume of employment opportunities. I love Seattle and think UW is a great school. I probably would have gone there if I had applied and been accepted. Maybe I am stating the obvious here, but the job situation is vastly different between NYC and Seattle. This is the biggest legal market in the country vs. one of the smaller ones. There are probably 10x the biglaw jobs in NYC than there are in Seattle. Now you may say, "well there is much more competition in NYC, and there are only ~180 UW grads per year." That is true, but Seattle biglaw is so small to the point that I have heard of top 1/3 UW grads who had to move out of state to get a market paying job.

The point is...if you are around the 1/3 rank in your class at Fordham vs. 1/3 rank at UW, your employment opportunities may be vastly different.

[tarheel87]

Ok maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about, but Fordham seems overranked if anything. Especially in this economy it seems like a terrible choice (no offense OS, etc.). They don't give out much aid so most students are paying a huge amount of money in addition to an outrageous COL for very limited job prospects. It seems to either be biglaw in NYC for those who do very well and low paying jobs in NY for the other 90% or so, which doesn't work so well with $200k debt. So all this talk about them being underrated seems awful wrong in my book.

[09042014]

People saying Emory is overrated and other saying underrated...care to voice some opinions on the matter?

Its a regional school. Those in the region it places with value it, those who aren't don't care.

[Dick Whitman]

People saying Emory is overrated and other saying underrated...care to voice some opinions on the matter?

Its a regional school. Those in the region it places with value it, those who aren't don't care.

Emory's problem is that its placement is far stronger in Atlanta than anywhere else, and if you want to work in Atlanta, why not just save the money and go to UGA?

[treeey86]

many students want the option to go to ATL, DC or NYC hence why they choose Emory. Also, Emory is very generous with money. I would not be surprised to find many students chose Emory of UGa on the basis of scholarship money offered at Emory.

[MarkRenton]

many students want the option to go to ATL, DC or NYC hence why they choose Emory. Also, Emory is very generous with money. I would not be surprised to find many students chose Emory of UGa on the basis of scholarship money offered at Emory.

Really? Generous enough to make up the $50k difference per year? That seems astounding...

Emory, Tulane, and WUSTL tend to be the two most generous respectable schools. Not only are most people on scholly - big scholarships too.

[Chelios]

many students want the option to go to ATL, DC or NYC hence why they choose Emory. Also, Emory is very generous with money. I would not be surprised to find many students chose Emory of UGa on the basis of scholarship money offered at Emory.

Really? Generous enough to make up the $50k difference per year? That seems astounding...

Emory, Tulane, and WUSTL tend to be the two most generous respectable schools. Not only are most people on scholly - big scholarships too.

Lawyers invented fuzzy math.

[Dick Whitman]

many students want the option to go to ATL, DC or NYC hence why they choose Emory. Also, Emory is very generous with money. I would not be surprised to find many students chose Emory of UGa on the basis of scholarship money offered at Emory.

Really? Generous enough to make up the $50k difference per year? That seems astounding...

Emory, Tulane, and WUSTL tend to be the two most generous respectable schools. Not only are most people on scholly - big scholarships too.

Emory's generous scholarships don't make up for the fact that sticker at Emory is ludicrously expensive and that sticker at UGA is super cheap.