Santa Clara vs Pepperdine vs BYU

[biggame]

I will basically be able to go to all of these schools for free. I just have to decide what school would be the best for career prospects. I want to eventually end up in Cali. I have family near all of these schools and I wouldn't mind living in any of their locations.

Tell me what you know about how hard it is to be in the top 20% of any of these schools.

Tell me about the professors and the students at these schools.

Tell me how much students study at these schools.

Tell me where you would go.

Keep in mind they are all free so price doesn't matter except for the fact that california has a much higher cost of living compared to Utah. Thanks for all the input.

[thelawman]

depends on what type of law you want to practice and where in the country you prefer to work

i had a friend who went to SC and he liked it a lot.  they have a good IP program and you can find work in the silicon valley with ease since the  school's repuatation is strong in that area

pepperdine has a beautiful campus and is making noise in academic circles with its recent successes - however u better graduate top 15% of your class if you want good job prospects

[R.P. McMurphy]

I'd go with BYU. It's a Tier 1 school. Plus, you can take better advantage of the MORMONLAW network (aka JRCLS). COL would be the deciding factor for me. Utah is much cheaper and the job prospects from these schools will probably be pretty similar. Although actually being in CA will give you networking opportunities.

[nhutchin]

I'm sure you are tired of hearing from me about my opinion, but I would still go with Pepperdine.
Personally I do not think it is that hard to be in the top 20% at Pepperdine, but that being said I am in the top 10% so my opinion may be a little biased.  Basically I feel that if you are willing to put in the work then you can be in the top 20%.
See my post on the Pepperdine Student Taking any questions thread to see what I think abut the students and professors at Pepperdine.  Basically I cannot say enough how helpful and friendly everyone is.  I love all of my professors and I have a great time hanging out with my classmates both inside and outside of class.
As far as how much people study, the best example I can give is how much I personally study.  I usually spend about 3 to 4 hours a night preparing for class (that includes reading and briefing).  Then I would say I spend about another 4 hours a week outlining.  If I have a midterm I would say that my amount of studying goes up for that week and then it goes up to bout 6 to 7 hours a day during finals.  Overall it is managable and you can still have a life outside of law school.
Of course I would pick Pepperdine.

[Hannibal]

BYU.  COL is near zero (they would have to pay me to live in Provo...).  If you qualify for free school, then you should do well enough to find a very  good job in UT, or the CA mormons could hook you up.  We're cool like that.

[biggame]

Thanks for all the ideas/input. COL is a major factor in the decision. Santa Clara and Pepperdine would be similar and then there is Provo which compared to California is obviously ridiculously inexpensive. Since I wanna end up in Cali I am leaning to Santa Clara/Pepperdine but I think from BYU I would be able to make it back to California.