University of Minnesota?

[3ML]

At this point it increasingly looks like Minnesota is right near the top of my list. Really looks like a great school for me. If I could establish Manitoba residency it would also mean that I probably wouldn't need as high paying a job because tuition would be so much lower.

[GoHuskies05]

At this point it increasingly looks like Minnesota is right near the top of my list. Really looks like a great school for me. If I could establish Manitoba residency it would also mean that I probably wouldn't need as high paying a job because tuition would be so much lower.

If you want residency, you need to get a job now for next year.  It is very hard to establish once you start school.  They have become more strict, because the state budget is strapped, because of more requirements from the feds. 

[HippieLawChick]

Minneapolis is a wonderful city...who knows? You may want to stay there!

They have some excellent clinical programs too!

[mqt]

The more I find out about it, the more I like. The only figure that has me the slightest bit apprehensive is the 25-75 salary range. However, I'm guessing it is because so many stay in Minnesota. Or at least that's what I'm hoping.

Is it possible to come out of UMN with one of the big 125k jobs?

UMN has some idiosyncrasies that many other top 25 schools don't have.  First,  a large number of its students come to the school without ever planning to work in big law.  They come from smaller towns throughout Minnesota and the midwest, are very intelligent, but after law school just want to go back to where they are from.  That fact along explains the larger than usual (for T25 schools) gap in 25-75% salaries.  For a smart kid from the midwest with the scores to get him in, it's often cheaper to go to UMN than it is to go to other midwestern TIII and TIV schools.  If your interest is in moving to a larger city or staying in Minneapolis, you will certainly have that opportunity, but keep in mind that many don't have that interest and it certainly affects the post-graduate salary statistics.

Second, Minneapolis is a charming city that tends to have a lot of appeal to people when they relocate here.  There are countless examples of executives that come for a 1 or 2 year stint at one of the big banking or corporate HQs (best buy, target, medtronic, etc) from the east and soon determine that they never want to leave.  I imagine that that happens to a lot of law students as well.  If it does, obviously it's by choice.  Well, the dollar goes much, much further here than it does on the east or west coasts.  In other words, $100k in Minneapolis is much better than $125k in NYC or D.C.  In fact, I think I'd take 75k in minneapolis over 125K in NYC or D.C. So if you're worried about the salary statistics from UMN, you need to do a qualitative analysis of the value of the dollar in different markets.  Obviously, if  UMN graduate is competitive for Biglaw on east or west coast, he'll get market rate. 

Just something to think about.

[Served]

Go to the bottom of this page and you will see a link with all the firms that recruit at the U.  As you can see, there are many of the most prestigious and highest paying, as well as more local ones, across the country from D.C. to Hawaii.

http://www.law.umn.edu/prospective/cso.html

[alb]

As for the quartiles, it isn't as bad as it sounds.  They tell you the exact GPA range for each quartile, so if you are near the top of the 2nd quartile, that will be obvious when you list your GPA and the quartile range on your resume.  So, for example:

Class of 2007: 67 per quartile
1st Quartile -      4.197 - 3.420
2nd Quartile -      3.419 - 3.198
3rd Quartile -      3.197 - 2.914
4th Quartile -       2.913 -

If your GPA is 3.419, and you put on your resume:
"GPA 3.419, 2nd Quartile range 3.198-3.419"

Then they know that you are right on the borderline, and they probably won't exclude you from consideration while considering your classmate with the 3.420 GPA who was ranked 67th.

The law school also has off-campus recruiting.  The career services staff is absolutely amazing in going out of their way to help you, and they know all the alums who are now working at the firms on the coasts and will help you make those connections.  It seems like once the U of MN gets its foot in the door at a big firm, the door is likely to start opening for others, and the career services people play a big role in that.  Professors can also be incredibly helpful in that regard, because most of them aren't from the mid-west and they like to see the reputation of the school boosted by getting more of those costal placements.

[GoHuskies05]

good information, alb.  Are you at UMN?  What year?  It sounds like you like it so far.

[alb]

good information, alb. Are you at UMN? What year? It sounds like you like it so far.

I just finished my first year and I really love it.