Help me pick a school~

[Poetgirl80]

My acceptances:

Baylor
Tulane
Texas Tech (w/$$)
South Texas (w/$$$)
Texas Wesleyan (w/$$$)
St. Mary's (w/$$$)

I'm on the waitlist at Notre Dame and am pretty sure I have no shot at getting in. I still have 4 pending apps (2 way out of my league, plus SMU and Houston). Let's assume I do not get in to either SMU or Houston. I have 2 offers from decent-good schools that will both cost me over 100k and 4 offers from below average schools that are relatively cheap (24k-38k total debt assuming I can keep my scholarships, 42k-68k if I lose it). I ultimately want to practice in Dallas, Austin or Houston, but would be willing to take my first job in a small town to gain experience for a few years.

Somebody told me to take Baylor over Tulane, since I want to practice in Texas, but there are things Tulane can offer me that Baylor cannot. 1) Study abroad in Europe... it's something I never got to do in UG and I was really looking forward to in law school. 2) I'm viewing law school as a new chapter in my life, and being such, REALLY want a new and different environment. I did my UG at Baylor. I've run the 'bear trail' a thousand times. I've worked out at the "slick". I've gotten a "Milky Way" at Common Grounds. Apart from the academic stuff, I'll have no new memories. It's like I'm living my life over again. But, I have heard that they offer superior training for litigators (which is what I want to be)... Sigh-- I'm torn.

As for the T3 and T4s... am I crazy for considering them? South Texas, for example, places pretty well in Houston. I could live with my parents for free and only graduate with a marginal debt. Is this really such a bad plan?

Finally, if I do get accepted to SMU &/or Houston, would these offers trump your prior advice-- how so?

[Gitmo Jones]

out of all your choices i would say tulane, take this with a grain of salt because i am about 90% sure that is where i am going, but with that being said, it sounds like you really do not want to go to baylor, and the others i do not think i would go to, it is scary to take on that much debt though, thus if you got into houston i would say go there over tulane because it is so much cheaper, and also if you do not get biglaw out of tulane it might be hard to pay off the loans, hope this helps some

[nealric]

Are the $$$ offers conditional on a certain GPA?

If so, Tulane.

[Poetgirl80]

All offers are conditional upon my class rank-- Texas Tech is top 50%, all others are top 25%...

[botbot]

I assume Texas Tech is going to be free?  If so, give the school a good look.

Tulane places better in Dallas and Houston than Baylor.  If they are going to cost the same, go to Tulane.

You are certainly competitive at UH and if you get in, take the instate tuition and run.

[OnTheRoad]

Happy to suggest Tulane due to the social possibilities. But in all honesty, with a situation like this where you're clear on where you want to working, I really recommend that you talk to some Dallas area lawyers. Especially if you have an idea of what you'd like to be practicing, what size firm, etc. I think you'll find that if you call some folks there and ask for 15 minutes of their time at some point, you'll find that they're happy to give you some advice. Might even be a good way to make some early contacts.