- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 9010
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Fri May 19, 2017 1:18 pm
#35116
What follows is the transcript of a conversation between a student, Claire, and one of our Admissions gurus, Dave, regarding Claire's choice between two law schools.
Claire: "Hi Dave, I am in a very tough situation right now deciding between two schools. Both are not in the top tier, but it is between Florida State University ranked from upper 40 to lower 50 and Louisiana State University ranked upper 80 to low 90.
I am from Tampa and am currently working at a personal injury firm so I have made some ties with attorneys this way. I attended University of Florida for my undergrad and was not very dedicated coming out with a lower but not terrible GPA, but worked really hard and made a very good LSAT score.
I have been offered full tuition for LSU(out of state tuition) and 50% at FSU(in state tuition). This would be about a 30k difference in loans that I would be taking out, as I am not using any of my savings to finance rent, living expenses etc(although rent, gas and other expenses are cheaper in LA). Although I am lucky and have no debt from undergrad, I also do not have a very extensive savings. I was accepted off of the waitlist for FSU so I was unsuccessful when I tried to negotiate into getting offered more of a scholarship.
I am interested in pursuing family or disability rights law, but am not positive where I will end up practicing as my husband is still in school at LSU as an engineer and can be placed anywhere. I have looked into the civil law that LSU teaches and have found that I could avoid most civil law courses and stick to common law. Both have family law clinics that I could be apart of and other organizations that would allow me to get involved in family law. I also have ties with a family judge in Baton Rouge so would have connections for internships etc, but would be interested in coming back to FL for the summers to possibly intern so I would also have ties there in case I was wanting to come back to FL to practice when I graduated.
What is your opinion on choosing the full ride vs. 10k a year for a school ranked just a little higher but not top tier."
Claire: "I would also like to add I don't have any big lofty goals after graduation,I do not want to be a law professor, or go into big law or clerkships, I would just like to work at a private firm working with family law as I studied family, youth and community sciences for undergrad. I have possibly thought about wanting to become a judge or having a goal to reach for after practicing for a little while.
Also as I mentioned my husband that leaves the possibility of moving to Texas, Louisiana, or other big engineering states but also the possibility of just staying in FL if a good enough job presents itself to him, so state does not matter. Although I am born and raised in FL and my family is located in Tampa, so I do enjoy staying here."
Dave Killoran: "Hey Claire, Thanks for the question! That's an interesting situation you are in and the good news is that I think either choice would work just fine, so I don't think you can go wrong with here
First, as far as practice and alumni, I think LSU would be just as good as FSU for what you want to do and the connections you have made. Yes, FSU will have a deeper alumni base that could be of assistance in Florida, but it sounds like you are already on your way as far as knowing attorneys and making certain connections. Then, since it may be that you end up in Louisiana or even on the other side in Texas, LSU has its advantages as well. So overall, it's somewhat of a wash for me with the alumni bases.
And so it comes down to the classic "money vs a higher ranking" battle. Personally I believe I would take the money since it is tangible--you know you won't be graduating with the same debt that you'd incur via FSU, and that has an actual value because you don't start out in a hole. Yes, FSU has a better ranking, but it's not really all that much better, and given the vagaries of rankings it could very well be that FSU falls and LSU rises in the next few years (or, honestly, the reverse could occur--that's the problem with rankings. LSU was #72 in 2014 then tumbled to #94 and then moved back up to #82 in 2016 before going down to #96 this year).
I guess for me LSU is close enough to Florida and family so that the money becomes extremely appealing, and enough in my opinion to offset the better rank that FSU currently sports. However, if you disagreed I could easily understand that since this is all about personal preferences!
Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!"
Claire: "Hi Dave, I am in a very tough situation right now deciding between two schools. Both are not in the top tier, but it is between Florida State University ranked from upper 40 to lower 50 and Louisiana State University ranked upper 80 to low 90.
I am from Tampa and am currently working at a personal injury firm so I have made some ties with attorneys this way. I attended University of Florida for my undergrad and was not very dedicated coming out with a lower but not terrible GPA, but worked really hard and made a very good LSAT score.
I have been offered full tuition for LSU(out of state tuition) and 50% at FSU(in state tuition). This would be about a 30k difference in loans that I would be taking out, as I am not using any of my savings to finance rent, living expenses etc(although rent, gas and other expenses are cheaper in LA). Although I am lucky and have no debt from undergrad, I also do not have a very extensive savings. I was accepted off of the waitlist for FSU so I was unsuccessful when I tried to negotiate into getting offered more of a scholarship.
I am interested in pursuing family or disability rights law, but am not positive where I will end up practicing as my husband is still in school at LSU as an engineer and can be placed anywhere. I have looked into the civil law that LSU teaches and have found that I could avoid most civil law courses and stick to common law. Both have family law clinics that I could be apart of and other organizations that would allow me to get involved in family law. I also have ties with a family judge in Baton Rouge so would have connections for internships etc, but would be interested in coming back to FL for the summers to possibly intern so I would also have ties there in case I was wanting to come back to FL to practice when I graduated.
What is your opinion on choosing the full ride vs. 10k a year for a school ranked just a little higher but not top tier."
Claire: "I would also like to add I don't have any big lofty goals after graduation,I do not want to be a law professor, or go into big law or clerkships, I would just like to work at a private firm working with family law as I studied family, youth and community sciences for undergrad. I have possibly thought about wanting to become a judge or having a goal to reach for after practicing for a little while.
Also as I mentioned my husband that leaves the possibility of moving to Texas, Louisiana, or other big engineering states but also the possibility of just staying in FL if a good enough job presents itself to him, so state does not matter. Although I am born and raised in FL and my family is located in Tampa, so I do enjoy staying here."
Dave Killoran: "Hey Claire, Thanks for the question! That's an interesting situation you are in and the good news is that I think either choice would work just fine, so I don't think you can go wrong with here
First, as far as practice and alumni, I think LSU would be just as good as FSU for what you want to do and the connections you have made. Yes, FSU will have a deeper alumni base that could be of assistance in Florida, but it sounds like you are already on your way as far as knowing attorneys and making certain connections. Then, since it may be that you end up in Louisiana or even on the other side in Texas, LSU has its advantages as well. So overall, it's somewhat of a wash for me with the alumni bases.
And so it comes down to the classic "money vs a higher ranking" battle. Personally I believe I would take the money since it is tangible--you know you won't be graduating with the same debt that you'd incur via FSU, and that has an actual value because you don't start out in a hole. Yes, FSU has a better ranking, but it's not really all that much better, and given the vagaries of rankings it could very well be that FSU falls and LSU rises in the next few years (or, honestly, the reverse could occur--that's the problem with rankings. LSU was #72 in 2014 then tumbled to #94 and then moved back up to #82 in 2016 before going down to #96 this year).
I guess for me LSU is close enough to Florida and family so that the money becomes extremely appealing, and enough in my opinion to offset the better rank that FSU currently sports. However, if you disagreed I could easily understand that since this is all about personal preferences!
Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!"