Whiitier Law School v. Florida Coastal School of Law

[gotcha]

Hi everyone,

Can you guys give me the pros and cons between these two schools?  Which one would you choose?  Why and why not?

Thank you

[Eva Destruction]

I would look at the ABA Guide to law schools for that info.  Make your decision based on your own needs and goals.  Check out the LSAC site for guidance.  You'll just get mostly flame comments on here.

Sadly, you are correct.

[juliemccoy]

Do you want to be in CA or Florida? That's the biggest question. Neither school is highly regarded in their respective regions, so you are going to be living and working in either Orange County, CA, or North Florida, for a few years until you establish some professional credibility and make a lateral jump to another law job in another region.

[brightline]

Both are expensive and have poor job prospects.

Whittier has a horrid bar pass rate and is on probation with the ABA.

FCSL is a relatively new school and doesn't really have an established alumni base.

I recommend against going to either.

Retake the LSAT and reapply. Shoot for a state school somewhere in your home state or one that will offer you in-state tuition for years 2 and 3.

[BootheBar]

I am a student at Florida Coastal and have to disagree with most on this board but also give a fair warning.  Many will slam FCSL as an unknown law school or one that won't get you a job.  While it is known outside of Florida very little, it is starting to become well known in Florida because of the decent bar passage rate and moot court/mock trial teams.  I wouldn't listen to the people that talk about jobs too much though unless you plan on being in the top 10% of your class.  You're going to need those grades from any school to get into the large firms, the smaller firms could care less where you graduated from (I worked in two).  Additionally, anyone that knows absolutely anything about hiring knows that after about 4 years out, the school you went to means almost nothing at all.  Could you imagine a hiring process where they disregard your actual work history and just focus on the school you went to 20 years ago?  Of course you couldn't, because it doesn't happen.  Again, disregard all of that if you plan on working in a huge firm and being top 10% because you will be at a disadvantage going to FCSL.

On to the warning...this is a for profit school and it shows at all times.  The school's number one priority is having you pass the bar so they can just bring more students in.  They will often treat you poorly and deny requests on the basis of money alone.  Of course I would suggest going to a state school to save money, but if you have no other choice FCSL is a decent school if you can handle being treated poorly.  I passed up on a state school and I wouldn't come here if I could do it all over again.

[GA-fan]

Be warned- most firms won't judge you based on your law school after a few years, but they WILL judge you on the quality of your first firm and the kind of work you were assigned. Let's face it: if you're starting in insurance defense firms, you'll have very little chance of lateralling to a biglaw firm. You might be a good attorney, but you're more likely to be a partner at a small firm than to lateral to a biglaw firm.

Regarding florida coastal, most of the major firms in Jax don't even interview coastal grads. You need top 10% to be considered for a job, but you're by no means guaranteed a job because you're in the top 10. I know only one person on law review or moot court got a summer associate gig at a large firm last year. don't flame me here, just trying to keep it real.