NESL or Suffolk?

[20caliguy]

Hi everyone! Alright, I am seriously confused on what to do. I was accepted to New England Law with a $12,000 scholarship provided I stay above a 3.0 (they don't use a curve). I was also accepted into Suffolk but with no $$$. With the scholarship NESL comes out to $26,000 a year and Suffolk is $38,000 a year. Taking out so much money for Suffolk scares me. What are the reputation differences between the two? Would it be dumb to go to NESL because its a T4? I would like to stay in Boston after I graduate if I attend either one of these schools. Any info would help. Thanks.

Also, just a side note. I was accepted to Drake ($5,000/ yr- top 1/3 requirement,) Stetson (no $$$), Albany ($10,000/ yr- top 50% of class requirement) and Baltimore (no $$$). I would like to go to Boston but if anyone thinks these schools would be a better choice please comment.

[penni_rose]

IMO, Suffolk is a better school, especially if you'd like to be in Boston. I used to live up there and I knew a few people at Suffolk, they all loved it. It has a good reputation in the area (I mean, it competes with Harvard and other high ranked schools, but it's still not seen as a BAD school). I think that it is definitely the better choice. I mean, you're only looking at an extra what 12K per year to go to a much better school. You should go for it.

[swc5018]

As far as I can tell Suffolk is much better. Higher avg. starting salary by about 15K, higher employment rate, higher bar passage rate. And according to the Cooley rankings Suffolk is #35 overall this year.

http://www.cooley.edu/rankings/overall2008.htm

It might be worth a little extra money upfront to go to Suffolk.

[mrbrucesmith78]

First off, anyone who bases their opinion on Cooly's rankings should have their head checked.  According to their own rankings, Cooly is ranked higher in overall ranking then Stanford, UCLA, and Penn.  I just throw that out there.

With that said, I am recent grad from Suffolk and work in a small Cambridge law firm.  So here is my two cents...

Both NESL (4th Tier) and Suffolk (3rd Tier) have decent reputations in Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and around Providence RI.  Outside those regions however, the job prospects will be hard to find.  In comparison, Suffolk does have a more beautiful building (which is important to some) and has a more established alumni base around New England.  But outside of that there isn't that much of a difference in reputation or education between the two once you get out of law school and into the real legal world.  In Boston, I feel the perception is that there are two tiers of schools in the city. The top tier obviously being Harvard, BU, and BC.  The bottom tier being Northeastern, Suffolk, and NESL.  And to the comments made by penni_rose earlier, Suffolk does not compete with Harvard in reputation in Boston.  I mean believe me I wish it did.

My advice: If you do want to stay in Boston after you graduate, pick either NESL or Suffolk.  The other schools like Stetson, Drake, Baltimore and even Albany to a certain degree will not be a better choice, even over NESL, mainly because of a serious lack of local alumni.  If this was 3 years ago I would say pick Suffolk over NESL.  But with the economy on life support, a scholarship of 12k a year is not something to sneeze at.  So to answer your question, attending NESL over Suffolk would not necessarily be a dumb move.  You have to find what is best for you financially because remember living expenses will be quite pricey in Boston as well.  Hope that helps.

[supra93]

I am stuck on the same exact issue, except I was offered a 20k scholarship at NESL.  I'd really love to attend Suffolk over NESL..but I'm not sure if it is worth turning down a 20k/year scholarship.

[econtutorNV]

First off, anyone who bases their opinion on Cooly's rankings should have their head checked.  According to their own rankings, Cooly is ranked higher in overall ranking then Stanford, UCLA, and Penn.  I just throw that out there.

With that said, I am recent grad from Suffolk and work in a small Cambridge law firm.  So here is my two cents...

Both NESL (4th Tier) and Suffolk (3rd Tier) have decent reputations in Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and around Providence RI.  Outside those regions however, the job prospects will be hard to find.  In comparison, Suffolk does have a more beautiful building (which is important to some) and has a more established alumni base around New England.  But outside of that there isn't that much of a difference in reputation or education between the two once you get out of law school and into the real legal world.  In Boston, I feel the perception is that there are two tiers of schools in the city. The top tier obviously being Harvard, BU, and BC.  The bottom tier being Northeastern, Suffolk, and NESL.  And to the comments made by penni_rose earlier, Suffolk does not compete with Harvard in reputation in Boston.  I mean believe me I wish it did.

My advice: If you do want to stay in Boston after you graduate, pick either NESL or Suffolk.  The other schools like Stetson, Drake, Baltimore and even Albany to a certain degree will not be a better choice, even over NESL, mainly because of a serious lack of local alumni.  If this was 3 years ago I would say pick Suffolk over NESL.  But with the economy on life support, a scholarship of 12k a year is not something to sneeze at.  So to answer your question, attending NESL over Suffolk would not necessarily be a dumb move.  You have to find what is best for you financially because remember living expenses will be quite pricey in Boston as well.  Hope that helps.

You mean Cooley isn't T-14?

[penni_rose]

Just so we're clear, I didn't mean that it successfully competes with Harvard. I meant that it has to be looked at in the shadow of Harvard, BU, and BC simply due to location, but it is not a bad school, even if it is not seen in the same light as those. I guess I didn't word that properly. I think that it is a good T3 school. When I started looking at schools I was still living in Boston, so I looked at those too. I think it was still ranked in the top 100 then. I guess it must have dropped.

[laurageorgia]

I am also in the same boat with NESL w/ 20K vs Suffolk with 6500. It's a tough call b/c 14K/year is a lot of money. Is Suffolk's reputation worth 14K more/year?

I am interested in environmental law and neither one of them has a strong program. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this or public interest law? I am obviously most concerned with job opportunities and debt once I graduate.

[wickedzeus]

people should also look at how many of the grads from harvard, BU and BC actually stay in MA, the numbers are pretty low

[k0em9u]

people should also look at how many of the grads from harvard, BU and BC actually stay in MA, the numbers are pretty low

Not really relevant, since any law firm would rather take someone who ended up in the bottom 10% of Harvard instead of a graduate from NESL or Suffolk. That shouldn't stop you from going to law school, but don't put too much stock in most of the Harvard grads going out of town. As far as I know, a pretty considerable number of graduates from BU and BC stay in Boston.