The Howard Law/HBCU Law Schools Thread

[jsonlaw]

Does anyone have any info on Texas Southern?  I'm not considering applying but was curious about the school.   

I visted the school recently met with the dean and students faculty and got good and bad.

Bad...As you know TSU has a low bar passage rate for first time exam takers...with about 78% eventually passing the Bar after the THIRD TRY!  I was told by some students that the dean made some negative comments about african american students....Also TSU has two kinds of reputations in Houston.. One is the "Old School Rep" where TSU was a decent school before the low bar passage rate. "The new rep" is disparaging of course because of the low bar passage rate.  Also TSU has a high retention rate..30% of the entering class doesnt make it to graduation.

Good...If you graduate in the top 10-15% of your class make law review join organizations you almost a shoe in at recruiting law firms...(the Sunbelt Minority Recruitment Program) recruits there among other law firms. The law school is very diverse graduating 92%, yes 92% of all black attorneys and 75% of Latino attorneys in TX.  There seems to be a nurturing environment that is prevalent in the HBCU experience.  

Hope that helps...
Peace

[jsonlaw]

Thanks everyone for your input. I decided to attend Case because of the money, and their health law program. The next three years of my life will be spent in Cleveland, and to think I just returned home from undergrad.

Congrats!! Dont die of boredome...Cleveland is unfortunatly the most :exciting" city in Ohio 

[Made4law]

I visited the school 3 weeks ago, because I had narrowed my choices down to the 2 Houston schools that accepted me, STCL and TSU.  I too had heard many negative things about TSU, like the facilities were horrible, bad rep and the attrition rate was brutal.  As a matter of fact I seriously thought about skipping the visit all together.  Boy would that have been a mistake.

From the moment I entered the building everyone was as friendly and helpful as possible.  My tour was only supposed to last 30 minutes it lasted 3 hrs and was some of the most fun I had on my visit to Houston.  First off the facilities are vastly improved.  The school has just underwent an 11 million dollar renovation, because of a big flood a couple of years back and the student body were in trailers,so they have remedied the facility issue.  All classrooms are wired for laptop use, the entire school has wireless access.  Every room has been renovated, it really looks good, like a new building.  The ABA has put the school on notice about their attrition rate and in response they are becoming more selective. The school has always made an attempt to give students who would not normally have a chance at law school an oppurtunity.  They still believe in this concept, however they are toughing their standards to assure that the attrition rate stays relatively low.  The goal of the school is 10-15% attrition rate.

The staff was polite and knowledgeable many judges current and past teach at the school.  The school has a real family atmosphere.  While walking around the school I had no less than 7 students wish me luck and say they hope to see me next year.  I met 3 3L's that were each headed to very good jobs after graduation, one will be a staff attorney for an oil company and 2 more were headed to large firms within the city.  The alumni is huge do to the fact that they have been around for so many years, and the school is actively persuing increasing the connection with the alumni.

Parking is plentiful and free.  The school is in the hood, but close to downtown and has easy freeway access.  Tuition is cheap and they are still striving to give as much financial aid as possible.  If you have the oppurtunity to visit I encourage you to do so, I assure you you will be surprised and pleased.

Law School is what you make it, if you want a supportive and family like environment I suggest you visit the school. The students seemed very serious about their work.  I would encourage you to not listen to a lot of people on LSD...if you are considering Thurgood Marshall, give them a visit and try and get a tour with Tiffany Simmons, very cool lady, who loves the school and will tell you the real story.  

If you want to know how my South Texas visit went P.M. me. My momma told me if you don't have anything nice to say don't say nothing at all.

[HBCU.EDU]

I visited the school 3 weeks ago, because I had narrowed my choices down to the 2 Houston schools that accepted me, STCL and TSU.  I too had heard many negative things about TSU, like the facilities were horrible, bad rep and the attrition rate was brutal.  As a matter of fact I seriously thought about skipping the visit all together.  Boy would that have been a mistake.

From the moment I entered the building everyone was as friendly and helpful as possible.  My tour was only supposed to last 30 minutes it lasted 3 hrs and was some of the most fun I had on my visit to Houston.  First off the facilities are vastly improved.  The school has just underwent an 11 million dollar renovation, because of a big flood a couple of years back and the student body were in trailers,so they have remedied the facility issue.  All classrooms are wired for laptop use, the entire school has wireless access.  Every room has been renovated, it really looks good, like a new building.  The ABA has put the school on notice about their attrition rate and in response they are becoming more selective. The school has always made an attempt to give students who would not normally have a chance at law school an oppurtunity.  They still believe in this concept, however they are toughing their standards to assure that the attrition rate stays relatively low.  The goal of the school is 10-15% attrition rate.

The staff was polite and knowledgeable many judges current and past teach at the school.  The school has a real family atmosphere.  While walking around the school I had no less than 7 students wish me luck and say they hope to see me next year.  I met 3 3L's that were each headed to very good jobs after graduation, one will be a staff attorney for an oil company and 2 more were headed to large firms within the city.  The alumni is huge do to the fact that they have been around for so many years, and the school is actively persuing increasing the connection with the alumni.

Parking is plentiful and free.  The school is in the hood, but close to downtown and has easy freeway access.  Tuition is cheap and they are still striving to give as much financial aid as possible.  If you have the oppurtunity to visit I encourage you to do so, I assure you you will be surprised and pleased.

Law School is what you make it, if you want a supportive and family like environment I suggest you visit the school. The students seemed very serious about their work.  I would encourage you to not listen to a lot of people on LSD...if you are considering Thurgood Marshall, give them a visit and try and get a tour with Tiffany Simmons, very cool lady, who loves the school and will tell you the real story. 

If you want to know how my South Texas visit went P.M. me. My momma told me if you don't have anything nice to say don't say nothing at all.

Great post Made4Law! Congrats on TSU and good luck to you in the fall if you decide to go there. Hey, I hope you hang around BLSD to help out the TSU cats.   

[Made4law]

THanks, I have decided to go to TSU in the fall though I have not withdrawn my app from STCL, they'll get the hint when I don't send my seat deposit.  The positive things outweighed the negatives by a mile. I'll be hanging on the board for a while, BLSD has some of the country's future leaders it is only smart to try get in where I fit in and learn something from all of this free knowledge floating around.

P.S. Congrats on Southern...I grew up in Louisiana...Welcome to the Dirrrty.

[HBCU.EDU]

THanks, I have decided to go to TSU in the fall though I have not withdrawn my app from STCL, they'll get the hint when I don't send my seat deposit.  The positive things outweighed the negatives by a mile. I'll be hanging on the board for a while, BLSD has some of the country's future leaders it is only smart to try get in where I fit in and learn something from all of this free knowledge floating around.

P.S. Congrats on Southern...I grew up in Louisiana...Welcome to the Dirrrty.

Thanks. I'm looking forward to SU Law. I'm from Alabama so I know all about the dirty. 

[blk_reign]

Welcome to Houston

[jsonlaw]

THanks, I have decided to go to TSU in the fall though I have not withdrawn my app from STCL, they'll get the hint when I don't send my seat deposit.  The positive things outweighed the negatives by a mile. I'll be hanging on the board for a while, BLSD has some of the country's future leaders it is only smart to try get in where I fit in and learn something from all of this free knowledge floating around.

Congrats n good luck!  Im still up in the air about TSU, although I did enjoy my visit.

I advise anyone with questions to visit TSU for yourself..

[mash1]

Thanks!! I'll try not to die of boredom. I'm sure my law books will keep me busy must of the time though. . .

[kloud9nupe]

I will be attending Howard this fall.