Should I go?....American

[Captain Sk33z]

I know that WCL is a top tier school (#45) according to USNWR. I also know that American gets DOGGED on a lot by people on LSD and TLS, mainly because of its cost and position in a saturated market.

But, I'm leaning in this direction because: A.) it's the best school I got into, B.) I want to live somewhere new and DC is the nation's capital (I'm from Massachusetts) and C.) DC is the most recession-proof area in the US.

I'm also interested in working in: MIDLAW (granted, it is dwindling given this economy), the PI sector or starting off with a judicial clerkship. I'm not terribly enamored with BIGLAW.

Should I go for it?

Can anybody (American students, preferably) tell me more about WCL, what its student body atmosphere is like and how it places in DC/MD/VA? And what kind of jobs graduates typically get? All insight would be appreciated. Thanks!


P.S.-
Black Male
1 year removed from college
working in a law firm

[bigs5068]

Honestly don't get to caught up in the rankings, they are pretty much B.S. look to how the formula works and you will see it makes no sense and the ABA and LSAC specifically say to ignore it. I am sure American is a fine school and if you want to be a lawyer in D.C. it will give you a great opportunity to do that.

Do not listen to people dogging schools on this website either, they are full of s*it.  I am sure someone out there did have a bad experience at American and even one of my professors  hated Harvard and transferred to UCLA. Harvard is certainly not a bad law school, just because they didn't like it.  Your law school experience is based on you what you make of it. It sounds like your goal is to be a lawyer in D.C. and the best way to do that is to go to law school in D.C. Simple as that.

I think the real reason people complain about law school in general, is because they have unrealistic expectations that getting a J.D. will result in having the red carpet rolled out for them and result in having 100,000 a year offers as they walk off stage at graduation and that is just not realistic. Maybe Harvard, Yale, grads have that luxury, but even some of them don't pass the bar and they probably are out of luck finding a job as an attorney, until they pass.  

I just remember being caught up in the rankings this time last year and I am so glad I choose not to pay attention to them. My tier 4 school has worked out fine for me and I have a good 1L summer job lined up and did well academically.  I am sure American will open plenty of doors for you, but as with any type of schooling it is up to you what you make of it.

[Captain Sk33z]

Hey there!

Thanks for your insight and advice! I sincerely appreciate it. It seems like LSD can be a ghost town so I'm glad you took the time to reply.

[bigs5068]

No problem, I remember being in the same situation last year it is pretty scary to really make the decision to go to law school. However, common sense really prevails in the end and if you want to be a lawyer go to law school and if you have a certain location you want to live in then go to school in that location.

Obviously, there is no absolute guarantee law school will work out perfectly no matter what school you go to, you could go to Harvard and fail the bar or just be a complete and utter jackass that nobody wants to work with then it probably won't work out for you. Or you could go to Cooley and do the right things and it could work out perfectly. There are no guarantees and every school has some attrition, some unemployed grads, and some people that didn't pass the bar.  So at every school there is someone it did not work out for.  Obviously, if you go to Harvard your going to have a lot more advantages than the Cooley Grad, but not nothing is guaranteed at any school. The reality is any type of education is a risk, but if you put the work in at whatever school you go to the odds are heavily in your favor that it will work out. Good luck to you.