Do not listen to what people say about T-3 and T-4 schools on this site

[bigs5068]

I just wanted to say as a T-4 student, to not listen to all the things people say on this site. No school kicks out 25% of their class, the 25% attrition rate includes transfers.  On LSAC my school had a 25% attrirtion rate, but we had 32 transfers out that ended up going to higher ranked schools after their first year.  In reality only 8% or so got kicked out for academics and a lot of them were night students who were balancing careers and going to law school, which is really difficult to do.

No matter what ABA school you end up going to you will learn the same things, consideration in a contract is the same whether you went to Cooley or Harvard.

Certinaly employment from a T-4 will be harder for me than a Harvard student, but you are not unhireable. I found a summer job already that I am very satisfied with, but obvioulsy you are not going to have the same doors open to you as a Harvard Grad. However, once you start distinguishing between the 73rd and 101st best school does it really matter? It seems ridiclous to me.   

My whole reason for writing this is that I almost made the worst decision of my life going to a higher ranked school in an area I had no desire to live in. Relying on what I read on this board I thought the T-4 I was going to would be horrible and kick me out, but that is far from the truth everybody is supportive, I made a lot of friends, and I have learned a lot. My main point is that go to a school in a location you want to live in as opposed to what it is ranked. I am not trying to say that my school is Harvard or Yale those schools will open doors that will probably be closed to me.

Bottom line if you want to be a lawyer and are willing to put in the work that law school requuires and you only get into a T-4 then go. If you like the law you will be happy, but as I said some doors will be closed if you aspire to be a U.s. Supreme Court Judge and you won't be satisfied with your career unless that happens then do not go toa t-4, but if you want to be a lawyer and are willing to put in the work it will work out. THE END.

[nealric]

We just had this discussion in students and graduates. It's really beating a dead horse.

[bigs5068]

Yes it has, but I wanted to officially make one individual thread saying it. The reason I put it out there one more time is because there are about 20 million posts on here knocking lower ranked schools and I wanted to defend them and let people know what they hear is not true. 

I  remember being terrified about going to a T-4 based on what I read on the internet and I wanted to alleviate the fear of someone in the same position I was in last year.

[cooleylawstudent]

I agree, I tried saying the same thing but yahoo's would point the lsac lists that you described and refuse to believe that people would voluntarily quit or transfer. Seems like common sense to me.

[bigs5068]

LSAC really should change how they measure that stat, because it can really be misconstrued granted they do list the transfers out on the website, but they should include that the attrition rates include transfers.

I guess my main reason for posting this is that the U.S. News and Rankings really aggravates me they are the real scam and not any of the ABA approved law schools. Tell me how they tell the difference between the 83rd and 114 best law school, I mean that is ridiculous. Outside of the national law schools i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and so on all the rest of the schools are only known in their local area. I remember working as a paralegal in New York and telling attorneys I really wanted to go to Pepperdine or Hastings, nobody any idea what either of those schools were. They are both really good schools, but outside of California nobody really knows about them. 

Before I moved out there I had never heard of Cardozo law school or Hofstra, which are also respectable places. I mean really how do they measure the difference between Willliamette, Gonzaga, Florida International University, and Texas Wesleyan seriously how do measure the difference you can't. Another example I will give is University of San Francisco in 2007 was ranked something like 72 in 2008 they apparently did something so atrocious that dropped them to tier 3 so 30 some odd law schools all the sudden became better than them over one year. Then the next year they were back up to 70 or so. I doubt a 1L starting in 2007 noticed any dramatic changes during the time they were in law school when the rankings fluctuated 30 spots.

The ABA specifically says to ignore the rankings on their website and it just seems like complete B.S. that a private organization can use their own subjective opinions to raise or drop a school's status I mean how do they tell. I mean good for Cooley for making their own ranking that puts them at number 1. I feel like they did that as a F U to the U.S. News and I think it is awesome of them.

[mnewboldc]

In an economy where there are rumors that some T-14 2L's at the MEDIAN can't find summer interships in the cities where their schools are located, any argument for attending a T3 or T4 school simply cannot be taken seriously.

[cooleylawstudent]

Some recycled BS, "Its not worth it, shovel graves instead"Vs"the economy is bad for all career", 

In an economy where there are rumors that some T-14 2L's at the MEDIAN can't find summer interships in the cities where their schools are located, any argument for attending a T3 or T4 school simply cannot be taken seriously.

[bigs5068]

In an economy where there are rumors that some T-14 2L's at the MEDIAN can't find summer interships in the cities where their schools are located, any argument for attending a T3 or T4 school simply cannot be taken seriously.

Rumors of people not being able to find jobs!!! OH MY GOD NO!!!!!!! So you are saying that if someone goes to law school they may not get a job? I heard that argument before and then I went to talk to the other academic programs at my school since a J.D. doesn't guarantee me anything, but it was the weirdest thing apparently M.B.A's, Clinical Psychologists, and even M.D.'s and basically every other academic program can't guarantee a job. Weird right?  

Apparently just getting an education doesn't guarantee you a job.  I know it is impossible to get a job handed to you if you go to a tier 4, but I came up with this WILD IDEA and sent my resumes into a few firms and actually showed up for an interview and got hired. I know it's a radical concept that you actually have to try to find a job, but that is the horrors of going to a tier 3 or 4 you have to put in an ounce of effort. As you said these t-14 student's probably didn't accept that they might have to put an ounce of effort in and of actually doing something they just female dog and moaning that nobody is handing them a job. Welcome to real life is all I can say. At the end of the day just saying I go to so and so school doesn't matter. You got to put effort in to succeed in life.  Shocking concept for spoiled rich kids I know, but some people actually have to put work in.

[Trivium]

I go to a T-25 and when we have visiting professors here they are terrible compared to the quality of education you get from the actual profs. The subject matter may be the same, but that doesn't mean you learn it as well. That's one difference.

[bigs5068]

No doubt about it, obviously a T-25 is going to have better professors. Except in the case of location. I am sure a lot of profs would rather teach at Golden Gate a tier 4 in the heart of San Francisco, opposed to say University of Kansas or Nebraska higher ranked schools in the middle of Nowhere. Professors have lives and location matters they won't give a rats ass what a school is ranked if they have to live in the Boondocks.  However, I am sure professors at Stanford are better than the ones at my school since location is the same.

However, even if you have a bad professor you can still the learn the stuff. I am capable of doing this thing called reading  the textbook and a lot of times reading that thing can teach you a thing or two.