Ohio Northern vs. Roger Williams

[bigs5068]

Rankings dude don't matter at all outside of top 25 if you want to be on the East Coast then Roger Williams is where you should go just geographically. Geography then cost should be your top priorities unless a school like Harvard or Yale gets thrown in the mix.

If you want to be on the east coast then go to a school on the east coast. If you want to work in the midwest go to a school in the midwest. At the end of the day any ABA school will give you the basics to succeed and if you put the work in it will probably work out.

[the white rabbit]

If you want to be on the east coast then go to a school on the east coast. If you want to work in the midwest go to a school in the midwest. At the end of the day any ABA school will give you the basics to succeed and if you put the work in it will probably work out.

I don't think that you can lump the whole east coast together, or the whole midwest.  I don't think that the RWU degree would carry to NJ.

...but I am confident that I will be able to land a decent job in public interest law and eventually private practice. 

Why are you confident about this?

Also, I think that Ohio would be the better choice between the two, though I'd like to know if there's any reason you can't retake the LSAT?

[Packers-Cubs]

If I weren't confident why would I even be doing this? I find it odd that many people attend law school, especially on this sight, with an extremely negative attitude.  Confidence, not cockiness, is key to success in law. At the end of the day, there is a legitimate shot, more so than at a higher ranked school, for me to make either law review or moot court at either of these schools.  I am already at ONU Law for a summer starter program (not conditional admission) where I'm taking Civ Pro and Crim Law over the entire summer which makes my course-load lighter in the fall and spring.
I took the LSAT twice--same score even after a review class.  I have heard that taking it a 3rd time is not wise.  That being said, here I stand...
 
PS: thank you to all for giving your advice thus far.  I REALLY appreciate!!!

[the white rabbit]

Don't get me wrong: I think that confidence is a good thing.  But I tend to think that the difference between confidence and cockiness is knowing the basis for how you feel.

[bigs5068]

As another another sidenote today I was assigned a jury trial as a 1L-in transition to 2 student ahead of all the Hastings interns I work with. They didn't care about the ranking they cared that I had been doing a good job.  If you really handle your sh**T and are confident it will work out as most things do. Of course it might not anything is possible, but if you in with an attitude of I am just as good as anyone else then you will be fine.

Whether you went to Harvard or Cooley you put you are still a human being and you pants on one leg at a time. Good luck with wherever you end up going.

[Northwoods]

Neither school's name is going to carry over into New Jersey, so discount that and make your decision based on other factors. If you want to be a criminal attorney, then experience will matter more than academics. Look into what clinical opportunities each school offers. Talk with the deans or crim-law professors at each school and ask them straight out: How early can I start getting experience? Do they have placement programs with local prosecutors (or public defenders)?

[Packers-Cubs]

I have heard some terrible things about Roger Williams, mainly that the professors take an advesarial position against the students and that admin. is terrible.  I've also heard that the quality of education is poor and students are generally more miserable there than other law schools.  Can anyone speak to this? Or is this just sour grapes from passive-aggresive RWU students who have filled the blog-o-sphere with bad things?

[bigs5068]

It is probably all b.s. man I heard so many horror stories about GGU and they were all complete b.s.  I can't speak for Roger Williams personally, but people that bi**h and moan bi**h and moan about anything and everything. 

Law school is what you make of it and if being a lawyer is something you really want to do and you are willing to work for it you will figure it out man. Good Luck to you.

[Northwoods]

I visited Roger Williams and strongly considered going there. I was impressed with all of the administrators that I met, particularly their dean (Logan) and the head of career services (Bastone), and I sat in on two classes and was impressed by both professors (Ritchie and Kuckes). I think they have the potential to run a damn good program, and probably do.

Some of the students I met while I was being 'recruited' were bright, warm, and engaged, the sort you'd be pleased to have as classmates. Others were more stereotypically "Tier 4 law students." But you're going to get that kind of good and bad at any school. Overall, my impression of Roger Williams was a good one. I didn't go because I got into my first choice and because I think even their best students will have a difficult time impressing anybody in Boston with that degree. Which gets us back to the original point of this thread: For all Roger Williams's strengths as a school, I don't think it will carry any weight (or detriment) in the New Jersey market. I think it's a nonissue.

[bigs5068]

Yep law is what you make of it. Just like anything in life if you really put the work in you will probably do fine, but it might not work out there is always that risk.  However, no ABA school is terrible most of the people at any law school are fairly intelligent hard working people.  Good luck to you.