Am I making a mistake?

[becca]

  I got into Pepperdine, Santa Clara, UC Davis, and Cal Western..Still waiting on USD and Hastings. I'm from San Diego and am in the military so I have a job after grad. I really loved Cal Western's environment, facilities, faculty ect. and got 10k for my first year there. If I get out of the military later I know I want to live in San Diego and I've talked to a lot of lawyers practicing out there who told me that Cal Western grads hire other grads and that the firms in town don't look down on the school. Still I'm questioning because of all the "go to the highest ranked school" talk. Am I nuts to turn down Davis for a low ranked regional school?

[tahoetahoe]

I would say, go to Davis.  You may think you know what you want to do for the REST OF YOUR LIFE right now, but I have found that life can lead you on pretty crazy, unexpected paths.  When it comes to degrees, always go with what is more versatile.  Nowadays, the economy is increasingly mobile.  You have to plan for what you can't plan for, if that makes sense.

[thechoson]

Yes, you are nuts.  UC Davis is a public school, so even money wise I'd think you'd recoup that 10,000 you got from Cal Western.  If you really want to go to Cal WEstern, you should drag a full ride out of them. If not, go to UC DAvis.  no question

[Skippy]

Definitely, goto UC Davis.  "Rankings aren't everything blah blah blah"...but reputation is much more important than you might think.  Unless you have some personal vendetta against going to UC Davis, I wouldn't consider going to Cal Western (never heard of it!)  You can never be sure you're going to stay in that limited area for long.  Once you leave, they won't know what Cal Western is either. 

[onehandedreader]

no, you're not nuts.  rankings aren't everything, and i think people get so hung up on them that they don't think about what the next few years will actually be like. for example, davis is in a pretty rural area, with a much different croud that san diego.  and lots of hippies that might not like you if you're military.  cal western has a loose affiliation with UCSD, by the way, and it is a new school, but i would like to mention that my friend's older sister graduated from Whittier law school (?) in california, and within 6 months was making $89k as a public defender in orange county.
i'm just saying don't go on rankings alone, that's all.  check out this site, too
http://www.top-law-schools.com/california-profiles-ratings.shtml

[BigDaddy]

no, you're not nuts.  rankings aren't everything, and i think people get so hung up on them that they don't think about what the next few years will actually be like. for example, davis is in a pretty rural area, with a much different croud that san diego.  and lots of hippies that might not like you if you're military.  cal western has a loose affiliation with UCSD, by the way, and it is a new school, but i would like to mention that my friend's older sister graduated from Whittier law school (?) in california, and within 6 months was making $89k as a public defender in orange county.
i'm just saying don't go on rankings alone, that's all.  check out this site, too
http://www.top-law-schools.com/california-profiles-ratings.shtml

There are different sides to this, and please realize that PLANS CHANGE!!! Get the degree that will open the most options for you (i.e. Davis)

BTW - Davis is not full of "hippies" it is a very conservative cow-town. I went to a nearby UG, and Davis is full of right-wing bad guys.
HTH

[MattMurdock]

I think decisions like this should be made by the individual. Maybe, you could gather info on the schools and make a decision. Pros/Cons...Cost/Benefits type decision making..

[GA_Kristi]

I agree about it all being personal to you.  I'm trying to decide between two very similar schools right now and made a chart with pros and cons with both schools.  You'd be amazed how far ahead one school jumps when you have to sit down and list real reasons for going or not going.  There was a clear "winner" when I did this.

That said, I'm still undecided    lol

[marista]

And sometimes you  make your list of pros and cons, and one school wins, and then you find yourself wishing the other school had won. Then you know you really want to go to that school.

Or if you're religious you could pray about it. Seriously.

[GA_Kristi]

My problem is the school that "won" when I did the pro and con lists is the one I think I wanted to win.  So, now I don't know if I was fair in my considerations or not, or if I subconsciously came up with more in favor of the school I think I want more.  Ugh!    I'm playing games with myself here...

However, I posted my pro/con lists on another message board and asked for other people's opinions about whether my considerations had been fair and valid.  I think 90+% of the people agreed with my lists.