Kent VS Pepperdine

[dwkfym]

Hi. I got a pretty weird situation here and I would appreciate your opinions.
I've gotten into a bunch of schools and I have narrowed it down to Pepperdine and Chicago-Kent. They rank 59 and 66 respectively according to USNews. My entering grades are 162/3.0

Kent
 Tuition: 35k
Pepperdine
 Tuition: 39k

Kent is offering a 10k merit scholarship and Pepperdine is giving me nothing. I keep hearing Pepperdine has a better national reputation and that it is going to be a slightly more portable degree.

To me L.A. and Chicago are both pretty big cities which is what I like. I don't mind going anywhere in the nation. Eventually I want to be traveling / working overseas doing corporate type stuff. If you couldn't tell, I sort of have no idea on which specific legal field I want to be practicing in. "International" "Corporate" "Intellectual Property" "Automotive" are the words that pops in my mind.

From what I understand either way I will have to be studying for top 10-15% or transferring into T30. But given the circumstances, what would you recommend? Are there any significant differences in job prospects in the two areas? I would like some opinions from recent graduates as well. Thanks!

[Ninja1]

Kent for marginally better employment prospects and the money, Pepperdine for the weather and location. Take your pick, both are good schools. I'd rather live in California, but that's just me.

[Suikoden]

I'm also strongly considering Chicago Kent vs Seton Hall (but SH only gave me a part time gig). I prefer NYC over any other city and Newark is only 30 mins away which is cool.

I'm from L.A. and grew up here and its pretty cool but I don't think its as cool as people make it out to be. Depends on where your from though and what you can compare it to.

Im going to Chicago next week to visit Kent and I've heard MANY MANY good things about the school and that city. The cold is gonna suck though. Calif. weather is amazing but the clubs and lifestyle aren't as "cool" and "easy" as one might think. I hate driving.

[mtbrider59]

Hang Ten and go to Pepperdine. Have you visited their campus- if so what's taking you so long? If not, take a vacation and go!

[StevePirates]

Kent. 

[dwkfym]

I'm from San Diego (SDSU)
Yeah, leave SD and SDSU to go to Malibu.. figures huh?

I've visited Pepperdine. But I feel if it is better for my career a beautiful campus doesn't quite cut it. I'm almost not able to afford to go to Pepperdine.

Pepperdine ranked higher but Kent has better entrance LSAT scores; does this mean anything?

As far as career prospectives and the education itself goes, what do you think?

[StevePirates]

It means that Pepperdine is getting by on "prestige" and not on the actual talent of its students (and thus graduates).  Schools like that tend to have very strong alumni networking groups.

I'd go Kent.  Especially since you're from San Diego.  Go take in a change of scenery

I'm from San Diego (SDSU)
Yeah, leave SD and SDSU to go to Malibu.. figures huh?

I've visited Pepperdine. But I feel if it is better for my career a beautiful campus doesn't quite cut it. I'm almost not able to afford to go to Pepperdine.

Pepperdine ranked higher but Kent has better entrance LSAT scores; does this mean anything?

As far as career prospectives and the education itself goes, what do you think?

[egosumcignus]

Okay, let me preface this by saying I know absolutely nothing about Chicago-Kent.  I mean, I could Google it and do a little research, but I'm not from that area and I haven't attended the school, so I couldn't offer anything valuable.  Therefore, my response will be focused on what I know about Pepperdine and what my experience has been.  The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Pepperdine is how amazing the people there are.  The faculty are incredibly accessible (which I've heard can be an issue in law school); you can literally walk down the hallway, find an open door (there are many) and pop in for a chat.  The professors are interested in us as human beings as well as future attorneys, which can make the law school experience that much more bearable.  My 1L Contracts professor went to London for a week (he was the program director for the London study abroad program) during the fall semester and wrote our entire first year section postcards and left them in our mailboxes.  Each one said something different.  He also brought us treats on holidays (as did our Property professor).  Our Crim professor invited us up to his office to try some cookies that his wife had baked (he made some, too...they were the burned ones).  My Property professor (who is also my faculty mentor) held workshops for us: (1) how to prepare for finals (she even gave us a schedule to follow); (2) what to do/where to work your first summer; and (3) how to pick your 2L classes.  She also held an ice cream social for us at her house at the beginning of the year.  My Torts professor held a chocolate and cigars "conference" for us at the end of the year.  Students are similarly amazing.  We're all very driven and competitive, but we manage to do it without back-stabbing or being at one-another's throats.  People are friendly and supportive.  It makes for a much more productive atmosphere, I think. 
It's true..Malibu is beautiful.  To be honest, I rarely even think about that or notice it when I come in each morning.  I generally don't think that should be a deciding factor, although it could be if you think the physical environment might have a significant effect on your academic performance (I know that some people really internalize their physical environment). 
Jobs...I have two jobs this summer (one with the D.A's office as a law clerk and one as a research assistant...I think I overcommitted a little) and I have an externship with a bankruptcy judge in the fall (and I had two other offers from Bankruptcy judges, one from a District judge, and several other offers to interview).  I'm not top 10% and I haven't had problems thus far.  I hear similar things from other students.  For more on this topic, however, I would contact our CDO directly.  They have all the numbers and the info..and. let me tell you, they're amazing.  They're with you every step of the way (I got about five emails a day from them during the school year...we're down to about one a day now that it's summer) and really help you package and promote yourself and make connections.  Case in point:  I decided (pretty late in the game - they consider people from Feb to May and I applied the second week of April) that I wanted a judicial externship for the fall 2008 semester.  I didn't have a resume that was up to professional standards and I have absolute writer's block when it comes to cover letters (the bane of my existence).  Aymara Zielina in the CDO worked with me for several days to get everything all set.  She helped me brainstorm for my letter and went through and helped me edit my resume and letter (we're talking HOURS here).  I got everything done and sent out within a week and started getting calls for interviews in the next 2-3 days. 

So...I'm not ignoring the rest of the issues of might want addressed.  I just have to get back to work.  Hope this helped!

[law.001]

I would probably go with Kent in this case if I were you, especially since you're already from California.  I think it would be nice to go to a state other than where you went to undergrad for the change, and that in itself increases your portability/national reach a bit.  Also, Kent is going to be a better deal financially, so it appears to be the better choice, unless you are really tied to L.A. because of family or some other reason. Another thing is that Pepperdine's climb in the rankings is very recent and unpredictable, so it is more of a risk that it may drop again (it has been ranked lower than Kent for quite a while).

[Mitchell]

decide if you want to live in LA or Chicago b/c you'll probably end up practicing near your school.