Law Schools To Avoid At All Costs!

[bgjyhfd]

What you are failing to realize is that the United States has a 33% illiteracy rate.

LOl

[Erapitt]

What you are failing to realize is that the United States has a 33% illiteracy rate.

you have a link for this claim?

I am glad this was challenged as I was a bit off in my posting.  The world illiteracy rate is upwards of 35%+.  However, the illiteracy rate in the U.S. is only around 14%.  Nonetheless, this is still an extremely high percentage.  It also is enough to comment that the statement regarding the "average person" as intelligent is far from accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_rate#The_United_States

See the study by the NAAL for detailed statistics.

[jason1114]

 It also is enough to comment that the statement regarding the "average person" as intelligent is far from accurate.

I agree, the average person is not intelligent. They are average.

I've worked at a couple of colleges as a computer tech, as well as network support, and most people are dumb as rocks. They still get degrees. The average person (with an IQ of 100) can get a degree. They have to work their ass off. But I've personally seen it happen countless times. Never underestimate the power of the paper and the extra food it will put on the table of a toothless, southern redneck fathermeaning to provide more for his mullet-headed children.

[loquitur]

Here in Chicago DePaul has a good rep for health law, John Marshall does not have a good rep. I have heard complaints from bottom half of the class people at DePaul, Kent, Loyola and John Marshall landing permanent jobs in the city (no real surprise about that though) but there seems to be a lot of temp work.

Students from lower ranked schools have a problem in that they get a lot of the T1's in the Midwest going to Chicago for biglaw. For instance, besides UC and NW placing well in the city, Michigan places a lot. You also have students from Wisconsin, Notre Dame, and Illinois that all go to the city seeking fame and fortune.

All this being said, there is still opportunity. The city and burbs are huge; one of the people I know through a mutual friend that went to Kent did okay in her class, but didn't get into a large firm, she was worried she wouldn't pass the bar and was freaking out. But she was able to work her school contacts and land a gig in DC working as a foreign legal liason for one of the Ill. congressmen. A sister of a classmate of mine went to John Marshall, did mediocre and hasn't been able to land anything beyond a temp position in a little over a year. I don't know how hard she is looking, etc. but that is where she is at presently.

[thingy]

If your absolutely sure you want to be a lawyer, and you cant get into anything but a Tier 4, there is no wrong in attending, especially if you are offered scholarship $$. One should definetly be aware of the risks involved because they are significant. I know first hand because I just finished my first year at Florida Coastal. I was fortunate to get transfer worthy grades so I'm out of there, but many (most actually) are disapointed with their grades because of the forced C curve. The forced curve is a huge factor because you could be smart and work hard and still literally fail out of school. Even if you graduate, if you're not at the top of the class you will have an uphill battle finding a job. There are a ton of Florida Coastal grads without legal jobs. There are just soooo many lawyers out there that employers don't have to take "chances" on T4 grads. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have waited a few years, retaken the LSAT, got some kind of respectable job and reapplied. Everyone who attends a T4 thinks that they are gonna get great grades and transfer out, but the T4's have caught on to this, and the forced curve prevents all but the top from getting "transferable grades." Like I said, nothing wrong with going to a T4 but there are serious risks that many are quick to downplay. Having 100k in debt and a 40k a year job is not worth it.

Don't let 4th Tier law schools fleece you! I understand that most won't hear -- after all every prospective JD candidate has an ego the size of the Atlantic and is not so easily dissuaded by, y'know, reason -- but don't tell me I didn't warn you when you get burned!

[jippyjappa]

Don't let 4th Tier law schools fleece you! I understand that most won't hear -- after all every prospective JD candidate has an ego the size of the Atlantic and is not so easily dissuaded by, y'know, reason -- but don't tell me I didn't warn you when you get burned!

Maybe some of them fleece you but I think most provide needed opportunities by giving students a chance to be lawyers when other law schools wouldn't. If they flunk out after first year, it is the student's fault, not the school's. And yeah, if the student had done better on the LSAT or studied more in undergrad (or been a legacy), maybe they could have gotten into a law school where you are guaranteed to graduate. Frankly, I find nothing wrong with graduation being earned, not a right granted at admission.

[jason1114]

As much as I'm glad I'm not going to a 4th tier school, I think that there is a place for these schools. After all, if there weren't some people who did well after graduating from these schools (well being a relative term); then I doubt that these schools would still have hundreds of people appying to them...

[jasonbpear]

Ok, so here is the reason to avoid lower ranked law schools.  It has nothing to do with quality of the professorate, although they may be better at better schools, and it has nothing to do with the students, although they may too be better at better schools.  The REAL reason why better schools are better is because of the opportunity offered by those better schools.  Education in America is essentially used by employers to sort individuals.  If you don’t agree/understand this then you aren’t living in the same nation as me.  Obviously this is not as important to solo practitioners.  This is the single most important that an individual should choose a better regarded PROFESSIONAL school, because it opens more doors.  If you would like there are many books asserting my thesis (as if it really must be reasoned, it is so obvious that it’s not necessary to state it) including my favorite “The Big Test: The Secret of the American Meritocracy”

[jippyjappa]

Ok, so here is the reason to avoid lower ranked law schools.  It has nothing to do with quality of the professorate, although they may be better at better schools, and it has nothing to do with the students, although they may too be better at better schools.  The REAL reason why better schools are better is because of the opportunity offered by those better schools.  Education in America is essentially used by employers to sort individuals.  If you don’t agree/understand this then you aren’t living in the same nation as me.  Obviously this is not as important to solo practitioners.  This is the single most important that an individual should choose a better regarded PROFESSIONAL school, because it opens more doors.  If you would like there are many books asserting my thesis (as if it really must be reasoned, it is so obvious that it’s not necessary to state it) including my favorite “The Big Test: The Secret of the American Meritocracy”

well, yeah, no kidding. I there was one reason I would give to go to a higher ranked school it would be the on-campus interviewing and the career center in general. Of course, if you get into a teir one school you shoudl avoid lower ranked schools. But if you didn't, that doesn't mean you should just give up on being a lawyer and go for a grad. degree in english lit. The T4 schools will still alow you to go out hang a shingle, get a great government job, or work for a small perosnal injury, family law, or criminal defense firm. Most of the opportunities you lose are with big firms, with a career as a law professor, with the possibility of a judgeship down the road, or with the more prestigous clerkships. BUt if you're not taht interesting in that and you just want to be a lawyer, you know who actually spends time in court with civil litigation or criminal defense, you don't lose that much by going to a lower ranked school. Of course, if your goal is to work for a big corporate firm, yeah, you gotta be at the very top of your 4T school to even get an interview (where at many 1T schools who gets interviews are determined by lottery).

[align]

Ok, so here is the reason to avoid lower ranked law schools. It has nothing to do with quality of the professorate, although they may be better at better schools, and it has nothing to do with the students, although they may too be better at better schools.  The REAL reason why better schools are better is because of the opportunity offered by those better schools.  Education in America is essentially used by employers to sort individuals.  If you don’t agree/understand this then you aren’t living in the same nation as me.  Obviously this is not as important to solo practitioners.  This is the single most important that an individual should choose a better regarded PROFESSIONAL school, because it opens more doors.  If you would like there are many books asserting my thesis (as if it really must be reasoned, it is so obvious that it's not necessary to state it) including my favorite "The Big Test: The Secret of the American Meritocracy"

TITCR!