Law School Discussion

To all -
   This is my personal experience, so take all this with a grain of salt, as I firmly believe that no deecision is correct for more than that person..That being said....

I went to both schools, and many things at McGeorge caught my attention that were not present at SCU
1) Atmosphere - much more collegial than SCU. SCU seemed like everyone was at each others throats. McG seemed like a very friendly place, somewhere wher I would not mind spending three years of my life. SCU seemed a bit on edge for me.
2) City - I HATE San Jose / Santa Clara. Too many people, too dirty. I like the Sac area, at least the northern suburb where I will live (Roseville), even though McG is in the Ghetto (nice facilities, though)
3) Administration - I was offered a Dean's scholarship at McG, and nothing at SCU. I was also offered good $$ at Denver, so I talked to a person in the admissions office at SCU about trying to get a competitive scholarship. IN ONE EMAIL RESPONSE, he said both that he had taken the subject to the committee, AND that they said no...ALL 20 minutes after our first contact. I don't know if he thinks I'm stupid or what, but that just pissed me off.
I did the same thing talking to Dean Barrett at McGeorge, and he got me 6K more over three years.
4)Ranking Trend (I'm a minor rankings whore) - McG is going up FAST, and I have it from an inside source that they were VERY suprised they didn't get into Tier 2 this year. (If you look at the numbers, I think there were 2-3 schools in T2 that they should have beat.) They are on the rise, with great new faculty and a HELLUVA new dean (ex-CIA and NSA general counsel!!) Look for mid 90's next year.
5) Other factors - My wife rtunities in and daughter have better oppothe Sac area, and I really don't want to send my little one to an inner city school.

Even with all of this in McG's favor, I had a VERY difficult decision. I have a BS and am finishing an MS in microbiology, and am interested in bioteh patent prosecution / litigation. SCU's reputation in patent law ALONE was almost enough to go there over all of the things McG has going for it. I think without the family, I would have attended SCU.

One other thing, and I think that this is VERY personal; McGeorge FELT right. I went to many different schools. Denver had the nicest facilities I have ever seen; Colorado has the rank; SCU has the IP program;McGeorge just was the "right" place for me.

Hope this all helps.

Martinibar -
I was at the admitted students day on the 5th...were you there? Just trying to find out if I know anyone from that day that will be attending with me!!

BigD