Pitt FT v. Case Western PT

[Should I go to Pitt FT or Case PT]

Should I go to Pitt FT or Case PT

Pitt

 4 (100%)

Case Western

 0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 4

[Remarq]

Ok, so I just got off Pitt's waitlist this morning and I have until monday to decide.

I am currently slated to attend Case Western as a PT student. PT as Case is 12 credits during the day. I would take one class (crim law) during the summer to catch up and transition to FT for 2L. I have an apartment lined up, but I would only lose $50 by not moving to Cleveland. I have been to Cleveland and to Case a few times and I liked both. My total debt load will be around 150K at Case.

As I said, I got the call this morning that I am off Pitt's waitlist. When I started this cycle Pitt was higher on my list than Case. I will be a FT student at Pitt, so next summer I would be free to work/intern/extern etc. I will probably pay full at Pitt, out of state this year, in state the last two. So my debt will be about 115k.  I haven't been to Pittsburgh since I was very young (9). My cousin lives there, and it really seems like a city I would enjoy.

Case has more employers coming to OCI than Pitt. They're both T2 schools. I would probably save 30-35K by going to Pitt. It looks like Case does offer better career prospects, but not by a large margin. I think class at Pitt starts the 24th, but I dont know when I'd need to be there (maybe the 17th?)

My life will be more hectic and stressful by making the move to Pitt this late I think, is it worth it? I understand the regionalness of both schools, I cant imagine not being ok with living in either city after law school.

My girlfriend of 3 years (longterm committed relationship) is getting her PhD at Ohio State and will be there for the next 5 years. I would like to (I know, I know, don't count on it and I'm not) transfer to OSU after 1L. Will being an Ohio resident via living in Cleveland make it easier? Or I will I need the same grade from either? I would like to work in Columbus after law school while she finishes up her PhD. Case has 11 firms from Columbus do OCI and Pitt has 3. I would live in Columbus during the summer and network regardless of which school I'm at.


Any thoughts?

[big - fat - box]

1. Neither school is worth the money you'd be paying for it. Chances of getting a high paying job out of either are slim.

2. Don't even worry about OCI right now. OCI at these schools is strictly pre-screened. If you don't make a firm's cutoff, you don't get an interview, period. Everything goes through the career office. Even in a good economy, students outside the top 20% are probably not going to get many OCI interviews, if any at all. Outside the top 10-15% means no interviews for six-figure jobs. Most students at these schools are going to be on their own for jobs, and will be lucky to find something paying $40-50K.

3. If you really want to be in Ohio, obtain residency there, then go to law school. Look at the residency rules carefully. Call the schools, then figure out what you have to do to get residency. There are several in-state schools and frankly I'd go to Cleveland State, Cinci, or OSU with in-state tuition for all three years over either Pitt or Case at what you're looking at paying.

4. Do not count on transferring. You'll need to do well regardless of what school you go to. Also, OSU only took 13 transfers last year according to the ABA guide. You can always call the admissions office or check the transferapps yahoogroup database for more info on who transferred from where to get into OSU and with what grades/rank. Still, this is kind of pointless at this stage, since you haven't even completed a semester of law school yet and predicting your grades/class rank is pretty much impossible regardless of how well you've done in prior schooling.

http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchResults/SchoolPage_PDFs/ABA_LawSchoolData/ABA1592.pdf

[Remarq]

I've decided to go to Pitt.