Law School Discussion

I'm with trollis and googler on this one. I have some sympathy for the Palestinian people, but not because of the "oppression" they feel at the hands of Israel. The Palestinians are victims of their own radical leadership that insist upon heaping violence upon them by terrorizing Israel. They need to get their poop in a group, get Hamas out and a more moderate Fatah in before there will be any real peace.

Evolve,

I am not attending Drexel. I've read a lot and talked to some admission counselors (not affiliated with either school) about Rutgers-Newark and Drexel. Most people going to Rutgers-Newark are looking to transfer out after year 1. The neighborhood sucks and your competing with many many law schools in the NYC area.

Those who would auomatically pick Rutgers over Drexel are doing nothing but reading US News and do not have a long-term view.

Fair enough and I think I agree with your long-term assessment. How much do you feel that applies to the class of '09? While I feel that one day Drexel will be competitive, if not surpass, Rutgers I can't help but think that for this class the decision is a little tighter.

that's a nice employer list (i see mine on there ...good to hear you're up to speed on the particulars of the program.  how about employment after school...does the co-op program purport to lead to permanent opportunities, or are you on your own after you finish a co-op w/ an employer?  do both terms need to be done with the same employer?

good luck; keep us posted on what you decide.

Thanks. Considering that this is the biggest decision I have had to make to date, I'm doing my best to be as informed as possible. I can tell you that both terms do not have to be with the same employer, in fact its my impression that attempting to spend both terms with the same employer is frowned upon if its allowed at all.  As for employment after school, its really hard to say. Being that this is the first class there is no telling for certain. I do think that co-op to employment is the assumption the school and most students are working under though. In the long run, that doesn't really seem feasible though and it'll be interesting to see how previous co-op'ers fair in getting summer internships versus non co-op'ers. Beyond that it'll be just as interesting to see how co-op'ers fair gaining employment with these employers compared to students who only interned there.

I'm not really concerned with unemployment. As several of you have pointed out, as a member of the inaugural class they will make sure I am employed. I am worried that I won't be able to get the kind of employment I want or that I think I will deserve. From visiting Philly I can say that I really do enjoy the city, but Rutgers employs heavily in THE City. Not to say I'd rather live there, but there's definately more opportunity. Plus, the transfer thing really is lingering in the back of my mind. If I hate it then I'm stuck. What's worse, I can't imagine what I would do if at the end of 1L I am near the top of my class. At Rutgers (or any other ABA school for that matter) I could transfer up. Of course, I am not counting on this but I could see myself really regretting a decision to go to Drexel if that happened.

What did you end up doing here and why? I've actually put a deposit down at both to delay deciding. I'm really torn here for the same reasons you mentioned.

Kent is definately on the rise while Loyola is wavering a bit, however neither is going to break into a new tier upwards or downwards. Loyola currently has a better rep in Chicago, but Kent's is very good and growing. It will pry be just as good if not slightly better within a few years. Loyola is also going through some hard times rankings-wise, but they are still a solid T2 plus rankings really aren't that practically important anyway. I think the main thing you need to look at is what type of law you are interested in. Kent has a better IP program, though Loyola's is good as well. Loyola has a better health law and public law program, though Kent's is also good.

Honestly, what you need to do is ignore the rankings and everything else you know about the programs second hand. Then visit both campuses, sit in on some classes, and talk to the admissions folks (if you haven't done all that already). Finally make your decision based of off what you know about the schools and how you feel about them. One way or another you can rest assured that you'll be attending a quality school that will place you well in the Chicago market regardless of where you decide to go.