casearc program vs. ohio state

[curiouslaw]

There seems to be a consensus that ohio state is a better law school than case western.  Why is this? I am trying to decide b/w the two schools. Even if osu is the better school would i be better off going to case ie: greater chance to make law review?

I know there was a controversy regarding the casarc program, does anyone know what it was about?

[Ronald Hyatt]

There seems to be a consensus that ohio state is a better law school than case western.  Why is this?

because this is what a magazine has told us to think.
osu has a higher ranking and better nationwide name recognition.
osu probably has more firms recruiting on campus.

I am trying to decide b/w the two schools. Even if osu is the better school would i be better off going to case ie: greater chance to make law review?

conventional wisdom says to go to the best school you can get into.
it also says never to assume it will be easier to do well at a lower ranked school.
assume you will do average at either school. which would give you the better options? the higher ranked school.

now, with that out of the way, osu and case aren't too far apart. looking them up on nalp, case has 95 OCI employers and osu has 108 (realizing that nalp is never 100% accurate, they are approximately the same). other factors very well might push one over the other. would you rather be in columbus or cleveland? does one of the schools have better professors or course options in an area of law that interests you?

[divotjr]

There seems to be a consensus that ohio state is a better law school than case western.  Why is this?

because this is what a magazine has told us to think.
osu has a higher ranking and better nationwide name recognition.
osu probably has more firms recruiting on campus.

I am trying to decide b/w the two schools. Even if osu is the better school would i be better off going to case ie: greater chance to make law review?

conventional wisdom says to go to the best school you can get into.
it also says never to assume it will be easier to do well at a lower ranked school.
assume you will do average at either school. which would give you the better options? the higher ranked school.

now, with that out of the way, osu and case aren't too far apart. looking them up on nalp, case has 95 OCI employers and osu has 108 (realizing that nalp is never 100% accurate, they are approximately the same). other factors very well might push one over the other. would you rather be in columbus or cleveland? does one of the schools have better professors or course options in an area of law that interests you?

I go to CASE Law, and totally agree with Ron. I was accepted to both, and chose to be in Cleveland cause thats where my family is. Also consider that OSU is approx. 1/3 the cost (if you are in state)

[lalala]

Ditto... I got into both OSU and Case and chose Case because:
a) I liked Cleveland better;
b) it was easier to renew Case's scholarships than Ohio State's; and
c) Case just felt friendlier to me, and I liked it much better.


Within Ohio, I don't think you can go wrong with either OSU or Case.  Now, if you're looking to leave Ohio after graduation, the calculus may be different.


Edited to add -- I found it interesting that both OSU and Case made Vault's list last week of "top 25 underrated law schools."
http://www.vault.com/lawschool/underrated/  (OSU is 12 on Vault's list; Case is 17.)

[NeoElle]

There seems to be a consensus that ohio state is a better law school than case western.  Why is this? I am trying to decide b/w the two schools. Even if osu is the better school would i be better off going to case ie: greater chance to make law review?

I know there was a controversy regarding the casarc program, does anyone know what it was about?

Are you joking me?  Go to OSU!  Look at my post history (BOTH HERE AND ON THE PRE-LAW BOARD) and you'll see why I chose it.  Plus hello, if you want to talk rankings look who just jumped 8 spots and Case is what 53rd?? I realize that anything outside the T14 sometimes gets lumped together but c'mon 20+spots and you're seriously considering that much of a lower ranked school?!       

[lalala]

Yes, but also consider the specialty rankings -- Case's health law program jumped to #5 this year, and its international program is now #15 (tied with U Texas).  IP is up there, too (I forget what that ranking is).

If you want to do international law, I honestly don't think there are many schools outside the T14 that do a better job at it than Case.  There are tons of students this summer who are working at international tribunals -- the International Criminal Court in the Hague, the Special Court for the Former Yugoslavia, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (prosecuting Khmer Rouge), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (prosecuting the Rwandan genocide of 1994), etc.  Several students have gone on to do 6-month or 12-month clerkships with the ICC.  At least two students each summer work for Human Rights Watch (Case has two guaranteed spots with HRW), and at least two each summer work for the International Trade Centre in Geneva, which is an agency of the WTO.  Case students prepared documents for the Iraqi Special Tribunal that prosecuted Saddam Hussein, and others prepared memos related to Guantanamo detainees and counterterrorism actions -- documents that are actually being used in the cases.

Ohio State certainly has its strengths, but it doesn't have anything like that.

Anyway, don't choose Case just because you think you have a better chance of making law review... it's sort of presumptuous to assume that.  Choose Case because you like it, because you want to be in Cleveland, because you got a bigger scholarship, or because you want to pursue a certain specialty area.  Just don't choose it because of a presumption that it's easier.