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.
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