HELP!!!! Good schools vs Free school

[thelawman]

im deciding between USC ($0) Hastings (20K) and Loyola (full)

im reasoning that if i can do well at the top 2 schools i can get top 10% at loyola with little debt and have the same opportunities afforded to me  

im scared tho that if i dont get top 10% at loyola my life is pretty much, for all intent and purposes, finished   

what's the decision?   

[themanwithnoname]

the answer is if you are going to flame you might not want to be quite so obvious.

[procrastinator]

Hastings.  SF rocks.  I don't think this is a flame and I'm serious.

[bloomlaw]

im deciding between USC ($0) Hastings (20K) and Loyola (full)

im reasoning that if i can do well at the top 2 schools i can get top 10% at loyola with little debt and have the same opportunities afforded to me 

im scared tho that if i dont get top 10% at loyola my life is pretty much, for all intent and purposes, finished   

what's the decision?   

this is the problem here, to think that lack of direct and immediate success out of law school means your life is over. God, I wish more people would realize that your career is a way to make money consistently to pay for what you want, not what you want

[Ninja1]

USC unless you really want to live in SF, then Hastings.

[dashrashi]

im deciding between USC ($0) Hastings (20K) and Loyola (full)

im reasoning that if i can do well at the top 2 schools i can get top 10% at loyola with little debt and have the same opportunities afforded to me 

im scared tho that if i dont get top 10% at loyola my life is pretty much, for all intent and purposes, finished   

what's the decision?   

this is the problem here, to think that lack of direct and immediate success out of law school means your life is over. God, I wish more people would realize that your career is a way to make money consistently to pay for what you want, not what you want

That's not the problem. The bolded is the problem. OP, of all the law school assumptions never to make, this might be Number 1. This is why most people tell you to go to the best school you get into; it's inordinately hard--if not outright impossible--to predict how you'll do in law school, no matter the rank of the school. Also: scholarship maintenance requirements? Are there any?

[StevePirates]

I was in a similar situation.  I chose the full ride at the t4 over getting in at the top schools I got into.  So far it's worked out well for me.  being a scholarship student at my school comes with perks.  Administration knows and cares who you are and how you're doing.  I've had about a dozen dinner and lunches with the dean and several of the trustees.  Those extras were the deciding factor for me.  In law it's as much who you know as what you know.  At my school at least, being on scholarship lets you know a lot of people who can really help your career start right.

IF Loyola's scholarship programs are like that... then I'd definitely go for it (because I already have, right?).  If it's just money, and the scholarship is in jeopardy if you don't do fantastically well.....

Then Go Trojans!!

[DCLabor25]

im deciding between USC ($0) Hastings (20K) and Loyola (full)

im reasoning that if i can do well at the top 2 schools i can get top 10% at loyola with little debt and have the same opportunities afforded to me 

im scared tho that if i dont get top 10% at loyola my life is pretty much, for all intent and purposes, finished   

what's the decision?   

this is the problem here, to think that lack of direct and immediate success out of law school means your life is over. God, I wish more people would realize that your career is a way to make money consistently to pay for what you want, not what you want

That's not the problem. The bolded is the problem. OP, of all the law school assumptions never to make, this might be Number 1. This is why most people tell you to go to the best school you get into; it's inordinately hard--if not outright impossible--to predict how you'll do in law school, no matter the rank of the school. Also: scholarship maintenance requirements? Are there any?

OP -- this is a tough decision and I was faced with sort of the same thing.  I would strongly urge you to read the following article -- I found it very helpful in my own decision-making:

http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1208256428026

and the main chart that goes along with their story:

http://www.law.com/pdf/nlj/20080414employment_trends.pdf

I agree that you can not assume that you will finish higher at Loyola simply because of the lower ranking.  BUT, I also think that this article lays out the case as to why "always going to the best school" might not be the best advice either, especially when that school is outside the T14.  As you can see from the chart, less than 20 percent of USC grads made NLJ250 firms.  And looking up their cost on LSAC reveals that they are $40K a year alone in tuition.  I imagine you can easily spend $180K over three years if you add together tuition and cost of living.  Is it worth that gamble?

The only rational way to answer that question is to look at a lot of different factors -- how obsessed are you with making BIGLAW?  What do the majority of Loyola grads do?  Would you be happy with only making say $60K or maybe even less coming out of law school?  Does that outweigh the risk of taking out $180K in loans?  Do you have prior connections that might come in handy come job search time?  How far above Loyola's 75 percent range are your GPA and LSAT score?  Do you have undergrad debt?  What type of salary do the non-BIGLAW people at USC make?  Could you stomach having $180K in loans and maybe only making $50 or $60K?  Have you run those numbers to see what your loan repayments would be?

These are all variables that I think you have to consider.  Different answers to those questions should determine the answer to this question.  What I think is the wrong strategy however is just blindly using USNWR or blindly taking a scholarship offer.  You have to realize that there are very complicated tradeoffs in this equation.  Simply going to the higher ranked school however is NOT a guarantee of getting a better job -- it statistically increases your chances but even that increase might be very small and not worth the additional debt.   

[Astro]

the answer is if you are going to flame you might not want to be quite so obvious.

lulz

Credited.

[baller1023]

i admit that my post is a shameless USC troll

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1207904889529