st.thomas florida or florida coastal or cooley?

[bengosi]

lsat 148, gpa 3.13, from china, English is my foreign language.
Three school give acceptance to me:cooley(25% tuition discount),florida coastal(5000$), st.thomas florida(no money).
which is better? from the LSN date, it seems florida is the better, but I am interested
in st.thomas florida.Then how is st.thomas florida since 42 out 228 1l have transfered out
lsat year, which scared me greatly. is st.thomas a awful law school?
can anybody kindly give me some advice or information where to go?
thank you all

[ntiger]

Consider Florida Coastal and St Thomas!  Cooley has the worst reputation.

It all depends on what you want to do with your degree.  The reason people transfer out is because these schools are low ranked and don't have the best employment opportunities after graduation.  If you already have a job lined up and you just need a degree, then it doesn't matter as much.

Hope it helps!!  Good luck!!

[dennycrane]

I am from Florida, went to UF for undergrad and it was one of the markets that I targeted for my 2L SA search.

I think if you want to work in Florida, St. Thomas would be your best bet. Since St. Thomas is in Miami, you'll have more exposure to firms and alumni practicing in S.Fl. However, it will be difficult to place anywhere outside of S.Fl. Since Coastal is in Jacksonville and the legal market there is very small, youll get less in regards to alumni and firms.

However, if you want to work outside of Florida, your choice is a bit more difficult. Cooley is more "well known" than Coastal or St. Thomas. However, it is well known for not the right reasons. It is basically (and I am not trying to sound like a male private part, more like a realist) the joke of law schools. This is because of their ridiculous and misleading rankings that they generate that puts them in the top 20 of law schools and that they are essentially a law degree mill.

Also, BigLaw will be difficult from any of these schools. However, BigLaw in Miami is your most realistic option, which requires you to attend St. Thomas and be in the top of the class.

Hope that helps!

[SplitFinger]

Biglaw will not be an option coming from any of these schools.  You should check the attrition rates of these schools before you decide - I know Cooley in particular is notorious for deliberately flunking out a massive number of students (who shouldn't have been there in the first place) after collecting their tuition for a year or two. 

Honestly, if those are your choices, you should consider a different career.  Now is not the time to be graduating from a horrible law school and looking for a job.

[Ninja1]

St. Thomas. It's not much, but it's the best of the three...

[bengosi]

thank you all for the comment above.
now I am in a new dilemma: I got admitted into another two school,south dakota and stcl(south taxas college of law).
south dakota is t3 and stcl t4, stcl is located in houston,much warmer.
by now I should make a choice out of 5 law school:cooley,florida coastal,st thomas(florida),south dakota and south texas college of law.which is better? since I have never been to USA，there is difficulty for me to make choice, any idea about these school?
any comment is welcome.

[VandyGrad]

I don't know if I agree with the harsh comment that you should find a new career.  I would, however, consider re-taking the LSAT simply to open up more possibilities. 

If you are into moot court, South Texas has the best program in the country, despite its T4 status. 

Finally, if you want to practice in Florida, I would probably agree that St. Thomas is your best bet, but unless you are in the top 5-10% of your class, your options will be limited.  If, however, you are not very interested in private practice (or if you want to work in a small firm), you will probably be okay (assuming the economy improves).