In 2010, will FSU have surpassed UF?

[TheFloridaGuy]

FSU took a big jump in the rankings because they take the higher lsat score and don't accept a lot of people.  I know several people who got into FSU this admit cycle but did not get into UF or Miami because UF and Miami average lsat scores.

[TheFloridaGuy]

Wow- Thanks for that reply.
BTW...do you think that someone who does well at FSU would have a hard time finding a job in NY?

If you want to work in NY, and you plan to attend law school in Florida go to Miami.  They place very well in the Northeast, and many of their graduates are landing jobs in Big law NYC, Boston, DC and Chicago this year. You'll find it very hard to land a job in NY graduating from FSU or UF.

[TheFloridaGuy]

This is true, but doesn't the ABA/US News Data average the scores to create uniformity among the schools?

I'm not sure, however if that was the case I don't see why FSU would just take the higher score. But, you could be right.

[tegra8]

  UF has a huge alumni base that is constantly talking itself up, so the state is brainwashed about how great UF law is, when in reality it doesn't mean much outside of Florida.

jackpot!  UF grads, any degree, talk about UF like it is the harvard of the south and all the dumb redneck gator fans that never attended UF spew the same garbage.  Since there is an overwhelming number of UF grads and dumb redneck fans in Florida, they have brainwashed everyone to believe UF is great.  Anybody outside of Florida views UF and FSU as almost identical though   

[TheFloridaGuy]

Wow- Thanks for that reply.
BTW...do you think that someone who does well at FSU would have a hard time finding a job in NY?

If you want to work in NY, and you plan to attend law school in Florida go to Miami.  They place very well in the Northeast, and many of their graduates are landing jobs in Big law NYC, Boston, DC and Chicago this year. You'll find it very hard to land a job in NY graduating from FSU or UF.

I agree.  Though UF and FSU are both on the rise, they still won't place very well out of the SE.  UM would be your best bet for the Miami area and NE, though I would imagine your class rank would have to be ridiculous (competing with the big dawgs!).

Yep, it's the summa, magna cum laude, law review and moot court grads that are getting those jobs. But, if you do well you can land it, at UF and FSU forget about it.

[TheFloridaGuy]

  UF has a huge alumni base that is constantly talking itself up, so the state is brainwashed about how great UF law is, when in reality it doesn't mean much outside of Florida.

jackpot!  UF grads, any degree, talk about UF like it is the harvard of the south and all the dumb redneck gator fans that never attended UF spew the same garbage.  Since there is an overwhelming number of UF grads and dumb redneck fans in Florida, they have brainwashed everyone to believe UF is great.  Anybody outside of Florida views UF and FSU as almost identical though   

I'm a UF grad myself, I know what you're talking about. lol

[TheFloridaGuy]

Hey Willy, I heard Machen has gotten rid of the Florida resident cap for UF law.  Not sure if thats correct or not, but if it is, it's all about the rankings.

[borderlaw]

Would an average student at Fordham or Cardoza have a better time finding a NY job than someone in the top 1% at UGA, UF, or FSU?

 

[lawrankler]

I believe that top 1% at FSU or UF would be favored by a large NYC firm overt top 50% at the NY schools you mention.  For mid-sized and smaller firms, the NY law schools may have an advantage, in that students have closer proximity and can clerk during the year, but I believe that is a small advantage given the price you will pay over three years.  I am confident that with an FSU or UF degree you will get a job if you are a good student and take initiative, but it may not be as easy if you are going for NYC instead of closder markets in Florida or Atlanta.

I am not sure that going to Miami is the answer if you wish to work in NYC.  Miami may have more graduates in the NYC area, but basing a decision on placement statistics alone can be misleading.  Many of the students at Mianmi are from the Northeast, so it does not surprise me that Miami's NE placement rack record is better, but I suspect that is driven by supply rather than demand.  I thought your question was what firms would be more likely to hire graduates of a school, not which law school's graduates would be most likely to move back to NYC!

Also, to elaborate on my earlier post, while I do not think that FSU -- as a general undergraduate institution -- is as quite strong as UF (and as an alumnus of FSU this disappoints me), I do not think that FSU's lower rank as an undergraduate school (111 in the recent U.S. News, even though the law school ranks 56) should influence your choice about law school.  I would note two things.  First, UF's undergraduate institution also lags behind its law school in national rankings.  Second, the network advantage of UF is frequently WAY overstated.  I understand that UF has more grdauates each year and has gbeen around longer, so it have a much bigger network -- it does not take a NASA rocker scientist to see this.  Again, do not confuse past supply with future demand.  A lot of Nova and Stetson graduates staff law firms in S Florida, but I would recommend FSU over Nova and Stetson any day.  Placed in perspective UF's network is not at all impressive when compared to a school like Texas or UNC and FSU's network is increasingly impressive in all of the same ways that UF's is (just not as big).  In my opinion, as long as there are enough network contacts to have the door cracked open for consideration, a strong placement network alone is not going to make your career. 

What WILL make your career is your initiative, ability, performance, and follow through.  This is about your future, and you should think of your decision about which law school to attend as making an investment in a school -- it is not about any institution's past, but about anticipating a trend 5-10 years out -- specifically, what the learning and degree you receive from that school can do for you in the future?  In that sense, you are asking precisely the right question in asking where these schools will be 5 years from now.

[TheFloridaGuy]

I believe that top 1% at FSU or UF would be favored by a large NYC firm overt top 50% at the NY schools you mention.  For mid-sized and smaller firms, the NY law schools may have an advantage, in that students have closer proximity and can clerk during the year, but I believe that is a small advantage given the price you will pay over three years.  I am confident that with an FSU or UF degree you will get a job if you are a good student and take initiative, but it may not be as easy if you are going for NYC instead of closder markets in Florida or Atlanta.

Second, the network advantage of UF is frequently WAY overstated.  I understand that UF has more grdauates each year and has gbeen around longer, so it have a much bigger network -- it does not take a NASA rocker scientist to see this.  Again, do not confuse past supply with future demand.  A lot of Nova and Stetson graduates staff law firms in S Florida, but I would recommend FSU over Nova and Stetson any day.  Placed in perspective UF's network is not at all impressive when compared to a school like Texas or UNC and FSU's network is increasingly impressive in all of the same ways that UF's is (just not as big).  In my opinion, as long as there are enough network contacts to have the door cracked open for consideration, a strong placement network alone is not going to make your career.



 

It depends, I've heard from a few friends in Big Law NYC that FSU and UF JD's on the resume get tossed in the trash.Plus, you have to remember that law is the snobbiest profession in the country.  However, I'm sure there are plenty of firms that will def give you a look if you're top 1%. Yet, being top 1% in reality is probably not going to happen.

Depends were you want to work in Florida.  FSU is great in the small to medium size firms in Tampa area, central and North Florida. What is alarming to me, as a prospective student is that almost half of the graduating class at FSU goes into govt law and not private practice.  I would like to see more graduates going into the firms to build better alumni networks.  Big law in Florida is dominated by UF all over the state except the tri-county area (Broward, Dade and Palm Beach) in which Miami grads have an advantage over UF.  FSU is pretty nonexistent in Big Law in S.Florida, but does have a respectable showing in Tampa, Orlando, J-ville areas, yet UF still has a large lead in those areas simply because they graduate more and more head into private practice. In South Florida the current practicing lawyers in the tri-county area tota FSU 604 grads, UF 2397, Miami 5746, Stetson has 465, and Nova SE has 1491. I agree a strong placement network is not going to make your career, all it does is open up the first door for you.  Once you get into that door you have the chance to excel, establish a stellar rep and move up the ladder in your career.  But, getting into a better front door is huge IMHO, and where you go to school gives you an opportunity to get into that better front door upon graduation.