Nova Law School- Any good??

[lyre]

Why come here to ask if the school is any good?  It sounds like you've already made up your mind, so why bother asking?  You're receiving good, honest advice about your career opportunities from this school and all you are doing is defending it.  If you're already convinced Nova is so great, just go there.  But don't come here asking everyone to praise you about what a great school it is.

[gatorsvs]

First off, I went to UF undergrad and graduate school and loved it.  Because I had to stay in South Florida for my family I went to Nova Law.

I am going into my 4th year as a night student.

Having said that, I think Nova is a good school.  It has good professors and a great campus.  There are always activities going on.  If you are going to stay locally, going to Nova isn't a handicap.  If you are going out of state any Florida will not look great.  UF is the best and don't count on that to open doors in NYC. 

I wouldn't rate UM above Nova.  Have you ever visited the campus or seen the classrooms? 

If you have any questions about Nova, feel free to ask me...

Darren

[Contract2008]

First off, I went to UF undergrad and graduate school and loved it.  Because I had to stay in South Florida for my family I went to Nova Law.

I am going into my 4th year as a night student.

Having said that, I think Nova is a good school.  It has good professors and a great campus.  There are always activities going on.  If you are going to stay locally, going to Nova isn't a handicap.  If you are going out of state any Florida will not look great.  UF is the best and don't count on that to open doors in NYC. 

I wouldn't rate UM above Nova.  Have you ever visited the campus or seen the classrooms? 

If you have any questions about Nova, feel free to ask me...

Darren

This is a warning (or advice) to all pre-law students. 

Do NOT base you decision on the size of the library, the type of wood used to make thoe cafeteria table, or the state of art of those classrooms. You have to keep in mind the reasons why you go to law school.  Is it because you want a legal job after graduation or because you want to have a nice place to go, i.e. how you would evaluate a hotel room? 

It matters very little how the law building is.  You're not buying the building.  You're going there to hopefully land a legal job after graduation.  It also bothers me somewhat when people say "I met the professors at my school and they are so nice and that's why I go there"  Com'on now, people!  Seriously.

The bottom line is JOB JOB JOB.  UM is no better than Nova when it comes to JOB....ha ha ha, only a delusional 4L would say something like that. 

[UnbiasedObserver]

First off, I went to UF undergrad and graduate school and loved it.  Because I had to stay in South Florida for my family I went to Nova Law.

I am going into my 4th year as a night student.

Having said that, I think Nova is a good school.  It has good professors and a great campus.  There are always activities going on.  If you are going to stay locally, going to Nova isn't a handicap.  If you are going out of state any Florida will not look great.  UF is the best and don't count on that to open doors in NYC. 

I wouldn't rate UM above Nova.  Have you ever visited the campus or seen the classrooms? 

If you have any questions about Nova, feel free to ask me...

Darren

Darren, with all due respect, how can you honestly say that Nova is on par with UM? 

You can't honestly tell me that you believe that. The stats don't show that. 

While Nova's not a bad school for some, it's a horrible choice for many.  Paying "sticker" price for it is not a good choice--neither is going there normally unless it's the top school into which you are accepted, and you have some special factors in your favor (which most people don't have). 

Also, as others mentioned, peruse that attrition link.  Places like Florida rarely flunk out more than 1% of their students, whereas (sadly) places like Nova flunk out 20% or more of their class regularly.  I don't say that to demean Nova or those other schools, but we can't ignore the facts. 

[UnbiasedObserver]

The bottom line is JOB JOB JOB.  UM is no better than Nova when it comes to JOB....ha ha ha, only a delusional 4L would say something like that. 

There's no need to be disrespectful on this discussion forum. 

[jillibean]

thanks for your response

i think you would be right if a person wants a job in big law being stuck in a library for 80 hours a week.

Not me i want to work in the public defenders office or da's office so im sure most graduates of those four schools would not want to work in local government for 30-40k a year but i would to get the experience for a few years then open up a office.

I reject the notion that one would not be successful unless they go to the "top four" schools in florda. I have a friend that goes to famu and interns for a lawyer that practices criminal law in orlando and graduated from barry. He makes 250k a year handling violation of probation and other criminal cases.

your right in the sense that going to those top 4 schools would give an individual a leg up in corporate law. But really lets be honest none of the schools in the southeast is no yale. I think for me the best route to go is to find the most cost effective school with a good bar pass rate so i have no debt. I have another friend that graduated from hofsta has 120k in debt and has not found a job after 9 months.

Government jobs like with a DA or public defender are in high demand, especially with CCRA paying off your loan balance after 10 years. Unless you have a full ride, I would go public if you plan on going the DA/pd route.

[jillibean]

I also wanted to add, that yes UM is an ugly school. The undergrad is nice but the law school is rather bland. Nova on the other hand is very pretty. But it is rather silly to use the attractiveness of a school to determine how much better it is. That is like comparing the really ugly chicks at UVA to the hott ones at Florida Coastal- Florida Coastal lawyers are automatically better right?

UM is building a new law school though within the next 2 years.

[Contract2008]

I also wanted to add, that yes UM is an ugly school. The undergrad is nice but the law school is rather bland. Nova on the other hand is very pretty. But it is rather silly to use the attractiveness of a school to determine how much better it is. That is like comparing the really ugly chicks at UVA to the hott ones at Florida Coastal- Florida Coastal lawyers are automatically better right?

UM is building a new law school though within the next 2 years.

It just blows my mind that so called professional students at this level would care that much about a building. It's almost like a presidential candidate speaking like Paris Hilton...."I would totally like having my BFF to be my VP choice." 

[jillibean]

I also wanted to add, that yes UM is an ugly school. The undergrad is nice but the law school is rather bland. Nova on the other hand is very pretty. But it is rather silly to use the attractiveness of a school to determine how much better it is. That is like comparing the really ugly chicks at UVA to the hott ones at Florida Coastal- Florida Coastal lawyers are automatically better right?

UM is building a new law school though within the next 2 years.

It just blows my mind that so called professional students at this level would care that much about a building. It's almost like a presidential candidate speaking like Paris Hilton...."I would totally like having my BFF to be my VP choice." 

Agreed

[ewing.esq]

I can speak from experience when I say that Nova is a good law school.  It's focus is on the actual practice of law versus a pure academic approach you might experience at Yale, U. Chicago, Etc...  If you plan on staying in the South Florida area, it has a very good reputation and you'll find many firm partners are alumni. (In Seattle, they've probably never heard of Nova, but down here everyone knows Nova).  You'll be surprised how many circuit court judges are Nova grads as well.  At present more than half of the judges I am litigating in front of are Nova grads.  If you plan on doing the big corporate firm thing, you'll have to place in the top 5-10% to be considered at Nova, or any other non Tier 1 school for that matter.  However, if you have no interest in the "Golden Handcuffs" of 80+ hours work week schedules, I think you'll find you're well prepared from the gate to begin practicing law.  I had a good job at a local firm one month before I passed the bar. Am I making about the same and working 1/2 the hours as a major firm associate, yes.  Am I more likely to make partner in the next few years, absolutely.

FYI - Here's the current bar passage rate ranking for July, '09:  (1) FSU, (2) U. Florida, (3) Nova, (4) U.Miami (5) Florida Coastal, (6) Stetson, (7) FIU, and the rest.

Biggest negative at Nova v. public law schools is the debt you'll have when you graduate. Of course, private is always more expensive.