John Marshall!!!...Atlanta..? who?

[daveo20]

That's right, I'm using LSD to announce that I, within one week of being complete, got accepted to the newly provisionally accredited John Marshall Law School in Atlanta. I know you Yale and Harvard acceptees will scoff at this waste of a post, but hey, I'm goin to law school.

They've been accredited for exactly a month, and they've been around since the 1930s...so apparently this place is finally starting to get its act together. Their bar passage rate has jumped to 80%, and the new Dean there seems to know what he is doing.

Without starting the age old debate about accrediation, the tier system, and rankings, does anyone have any input about going to this school? It's now in the same boat as District of Columbia, St. Thomas, Appalachian St. etc...so next year they'll be in the official ABA guide. I mean albeit these schools pale in comparison to many others, accrediation has gotta mean something, right?

What are the chances of transferring out of this place? I'm deciding whether or not to wait a year and retake the LSAT, or jump right in and start law school at this place, since they're accredited now. I'm still waiting on Albany, but chances are it will be a dinger. I'm 150 with a 3.13, economics major about to graduate, 22 years old in Atlanta.

Any feedback is appreciated.

[jeflord]

Congrats!  I thought about applying there, and still might.  My feedback to you is this - It would have to be pretty exciting to go to school there during the first full year that they have ABA accreditation.  It is an opportunity to be part of something new.

Have you visited?  and might I ask if they offered any $?

Congrats again!

[daveo20]

Thanks man, Nah they didn't offer me any money. It's about 19K a year though, which really makes me mad about Ga State being 5K....but there's an open house this Saturday. If you need a safety, apply! b/c they don't have a deadline. Most likely they'll look at your numbers and autmatically accept you. It says right on the wesbite thats what they do if you're in their range. Ha, wow...but hey, ABA they are...

[Gatank]

From what I hear, they had accreditation many, many years ago, then they had a dean that came in, messed things up, and lost accreditation.  There reputation suffered from that for years.  Of course, out of all of the law schools operating in Atlanta that were not ABA accredited over the past few years, John Marshall is the only one still around and is now up to ABA provisional standards, so I guess that says some good things about the school.

I don't know how easy it is to transfer after your first year, but I would be interested in finding out as well.  I guess it depends on what school you want to transfer to.  It would be risky though if you went to a school you really didn't want to go to, and then got stuck there.

[America's Next Top Lawyer]

What connection does this school have to John Marshall in Illinois?

[Gatank]

I don't think they have any affiliation.

[daveo20]

yeah there's no connection whatsoever to the other John Marshall...

Apparently the dean came from Roger Williams law school and got them accredited really quickly...now he's at JM, been around only since 2001, and they've already got provisional.

i was doin my homework on the school and I came across an article in which this lawyer said being from John Marshall was the best thing that could have happened to him early on in his career. Why? B/c he said his opponents in court and when doing depositions and such highly overestimated him, knowing where he went to law school. I guess it's true sometimes it's not where you go,m but how hard you work when you get there and what you make yourself get out of it. Plus I did read that the Georgia Court of Appeals judge is an alumnus of JM, probably their onl prominent grad.

Maybe I'll be the next one, ha...

[daveo20]

i meant UNDERestimated in that last post, i'm hungover from st. patty's...