Law School Discussion

You should probably all read this article if you're on the fence.

Seriously, if you can think of anything else you might want to do, you should go for it instead. Don't worry about the money and time you've put into preparation, because it's less than you'll spend on the schooling itself. Going with it despite having doubts is a slippery slope, since people will go since they've put so much money into prep, then stick with it once they start school and hate it because they've already shelled for a semester/year's tuition, then get a job they hate that works them like a dog and doesn't pay anything near what they hoped for when they started and stick with it because it'd be a shame to pay that much for school and not break even before changing careers, and then piss away their entire lives with a career they despise because while they've broken even they're too set in the grueling lifestyle, are too old to begin a new career, have no lives outside work anymore anyway, etc.

hello allaboutlydia, I have to correct you due to the fact that you are wrong. You said below that Whittier does not accept students without a bachelors degree. You are wrong. Whittier does in fact accept students withouta  bachelors degree. Here is the link to the facts taken from whittier's website itself. http://www.law.whittier.edu/pstudents/admissions/admissions.html#special
Also, I am going to repost what you posted below. You said "Please research your facts before posting inaccurate information." There you go, maybe you should do your own research before you post inaccurate information. 

My information was accurate.  Please re-read the link you posted.  It indicated that there was a special exception made for applicants who were over 35 and passed initial California Bar exceptions.  It also indicated that this was a limited situation.  Thus, these are exceptions and not the rule as you would have everyone believe.  I do not place my faith in World News Rankings and neither should anyone on this board.  Several deans from ivy league schools penned a letter which can be found on lsac's site indicating that the rankings are not relevant.  They maintain that many schools are riding on their reputation without any progress made to their legal curriculum.  My friend was accepted into Loyola Law School.  According to her stats she should not have been accepted.  She had a LSAT score of 138 and a low GPA.  She met the dean at some law school forum, chatted him up and he assured her she would be accepted.  She freely admits that no way should she have been accepted into this school.  Now here we are 4 years later (she want part time) and she just took the February bar and failed.  On the other hand, another friend went to a 4 tier school and passed the bar on her first try.  John Kennedy, Jr attended an ivy league law school and failed the bar three times.  I have friends who graduated from Columbia and NYU who failed the bar several times.  I don't think law school rankings tell the entire story.  World News is in the business of selling magazines.  It is not in the business of legal education.  I was shocked to learn that Harvard grads are having a hard time finding employment.  I decided to do some research.  I called 25 large firms.  Among them were Weil, Gotschal, White & Case, Paul Hastings, Skadden, Arps, Jones Day, Fried, Frank, Harris & Shriver, etc and spoke to their recruitment department. I  wanted to know what were the chances of someone from a 3 or 4 tier school obtaining employment at their firms.  I've saved the email responses from several of these recruiting managers.  They all overwhelmingly informed me that one should not rely on school rank, particularly national rank to glide you into the door.  They look at grades, internships and overall what sort of legal talent would you bring to their firm.  This was especially true for firms with regional offices who hired new associates from regional law schools. The dean at University Detroit Mercy wanted to give his students a fighting chance.  Aware that his school was listed as a "4" tier school he created the law firm program. An article on this school appeared in the Wall Street Journal How Obscure Law School Places Grads at Top Firms.   I have seen Southwestern (a school I respect) drop in it's rankings.  It's just not fair or mature to base one's destiny on the choice of where one attends school.  The job market is tight and employers are looking for smart attorneys.  You can't rely on "looking good on paper" you have to show you can produce.  It's interesting to me that someone would come on this board and ask people who DON'T ATTEND any of these schools which one is harder?  Considering that most reading and responding to these posts are not attorneys it is asking the  blind to lead the blind.  So for those who are brave, energetic and intelligent prospective lawyers avoid the know-it-alls who really know nothinga and think outside the box.  You'll have to be a bit more imaginative, work harder and be a trail blazer.  Don't let anyone keep you in a box.  Stop putting people in a box.  Reginald Lewis founder and CEO of Beatrice foods didn't even take the LSAT and Harvard admitted him.

Hmmm, San Diego resident here.  Cal West is competitive.  The San Diego legal market is flooded with lawyers.  I know two recent grads of Cal West who were on law reivew and are looking for work.   

Whittier will have the problem of being 10 miles from the first wave of grads from UCI.  That is going to hurt.  People dont transfer from Whittier and Cal West to UCLA.  Never.

Be happy with the school you choose and be honest with yourself about your prospects.