UNLV - Boyd

[dre]

I turned down admittance into the University of Houston Law Center (#43 US NSN &WR I think, and I'm from Houston TX) to attend UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law (#82 USN&WR).

As I don't have a point of reference to compare it with other law schools I can't say how it's better or worse. BUT what I can say is that when interacting with both schools, I always got return calls from UNLV, I always received email replies promptly, when I had a question I could call and was always able to speak to someone who typically could answer my question immediately, compared to UH where I had to leave a message and got called back two days later, or if I had a question via email I got a response two weeks later, etc.

All of the instructors are very approachable, a couple of them invite students to lunch with them twice a week to ask any question you want of them (dutch of course). The faculty consists of graduates & previous faculty from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, and from other highly acclaimed law schools. When they were told that they could start a particular program at UNLV that they've always wanted to start but couldn't at their current school because the senior faculty member had been there 40 years and was on life support wouldn't let them, they jumped at the chance. Need help with an outline on a Saturday? There are hired 2L student helpers for one program that are there on Saturday, as well as all week.

The facilities are state of the art. Every classroom has it's own computer controlled media center with a touch screen that the professor can bring up overhead drop down projector screen with digital projector, computer, vcr, cable tuner, can even adjust the room's lighting, and the desks all have popup power outlets and Ethernet jacks, as well as wifi access all around the building. Every student hutch, study area, study table, everywhere has hidden popup power outlets and ethernet jacks.

Is anyone else out there who thinks like me?

[LoverOfWomen]

Probably.  But I'm not one of them.

[midnight thursday]

Hey dre,
I agree with you. I also turned down my University of Houston acceptance and took my name off the waitlist at 2 other ""higher ranked"" schools when I found out I was accepted at UNLV. Of all the schools I visited I thought UNLV was the best. Since it's new, it doesn't have a reputation yet, but I knew that the admin. dept was working hard to make sure the school got off to a good start. I don't regret my decision at all. Things are going well here and I think I would have been miserable in Houston.

[MrSmittie]

I'm 99.9% sure I'll be attending Boyd. I visited this past weekend (open house), though my mind was pretty much already made up. I think it is exciting to be accepted at the only ABA ls in the fastest growing area of the country. I was given a tour by an alumnus who now practices in criminal defense and she stated that the city of LV (and in particular, it's legal community) is "very proud of THEIR school". I like the small class size and the emphasis the school seems to put on it's various legal clinics. Another consideration is the reasonable cost of tuition. For me this is a win-win. Now, I just have to sell my house in CA, and line up a job transfer. Fortunately neither of these should be too difficult.

[pinealis]

I turned down admittance into the University of Houston Law Center (#43 US NSN &WR I think, and I'm from Houston TX) to attend UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law (#82 USN&WR).

Where are you getting your numbers from?

Houston = No.70
UNLV = third tier

[RootBrewskies]

regardless of the ranking.  unlv is probably a good safe school.  its in vegas and if thats what your looking for then thats awesome.  the job market is going to be pretty good there since your the only school.  unlv could be a T4 and it would still be the most dominate school in vegas. 

so if you can deal with the heat and can see yourself in vegas for 5-10 years, unlv is probably a good bet. 


one things for sure.  in sin city, people will always need lawyers.

[unlvcrjchick]

The person is getting the rankings from 2004 (Boyd was ranked at #82 that year, if I'm not mistaken).  Last year, we were ranked in the 90's range.  Now, unfortunately, we slipped all the way to being a crappy 3rd tier law school.

One of things I dislike about Boyd is the elective choices they have for the part-time students.  The school seems to discriminate against those students who are unable to attend full time:  They simply do not offer that many electives if you're a part-time student.  So, I advise against attending as a part-time student.

That beef aside, Boyd seems to be like any other law school in the country:  Typical issue-spotter exams, Socratic Method, heavy workload, etc.  So, in that sense, I don't think UNLV is as progressive as everyone who attends (or works for) Boyd will lead you to believe.

[MrSmittie]

I just sent in my seat deposit for PT.

[marinne]

[tamika]

I love Las Vegas. It's the most fun city in America!

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