Thoughts on UW-Madison and/or Miami

[Happyday]

I am a soon to be 1L and I just recently got into both of these schools. I was hoping to get some current students opinions on both of the schools. Please give me the good, the bad & the ugly.

I am not sure as to what type of law I want to practice and am not sure where I want to live after law school.

Thanks in advance!

[GA-fan]

Please go to Wisconsin. You will have a shot at a decent job after there. With Miami, you will be stuck in Miami.

[jsh26]

If you go to Wisconsin and plan to practice in-state, you also won't have to take the Bar exam.

[keelee]

You can get a good, high-paying job out of UM, you just have to remember that that job is going to be in Miami, which in most people's mind, isn't a bad thing, but it depends on if you want to live in Miami. From Madison, though, you'll be stuck in the Midwest, and while that encompasses a wider geographic area, do you really want to live in Milwaukee, St. Louis, or Chicago? That's the question you have to ask yourself. They are both pretty good schools, and at Madison you will have a better chance of being able to practice outside of the Midwest, but you should go into them realizing that, chances are, as a UM graduate you will live in Florida and as a UW graduate you will live in Wisconsin or Illinois.

[Budlaw]

Don't go to Miami! It's located in the South, and yet its not the South. They don't even have seet tea there! How crazy is that?

Plus do you really want to be that 40 year old Miami lawyer having the mid-life crisis, getting divorced, buying a Ferrari, and picking up 20 year old chicks on South beach? Oh wait...that doesn't sound bad actually.

[Falcoffej]

Hey,
Don't know much about Miami, but I'm a 1L at UW-Madison. I love it. Great school. UW, just like all the other Big-10 lawschools (except for Michigan) is regional in nature. Alumni tend to stick around the Midwest. The biggest markets for UW lawschool alumni are Chicago, Milwaukee and the twin cities. If you have any more questions about the school let me know.

[GA-fan]

One more thing to think about: Miami gives out scholarship money like candy, but usually just enough to bring the cost down to a more expensive state school- I think they gave me like 14K/year scholarship last year, which was still more expensive than State U. Plus COL in Miami will be high as a student (at least more expensive than UW-M). As a bit of a prestige whore, I'd still choose UW.

[vercingetorix]

if you are not sure where you want to live then wi seems like a better choice since it affords you more chances outside of its traditional sphere of influence (mn, wi, il).  if you graduate from miami good luck finding work anywhere outside of fl.  the standard of living in madison is also tough to beat (regularly featured as one of the best places to live in the country) and as another poster noted, you don't have to take the bar once you graduate in order to practice in wi.  i think miami is a burning cesspool of corruption and that florida has the warmth and charm of a food court but that's just me.  having said all that donna shalala (sp?) has made some real strides at the school not only in terms of reputation but also in attracting money (i understand the place has brand new digs...not bad...but then again so does madison).