Miami Law

[entlaw72]

Hey,
Anyone have any thoughts on University of Miami Law?  I have just been accepted there, it is the only school I have heard from so far.  FYI, I am waiting from the following:
Fordham (PT)
Brooklyn
Temple
Loyola LA
USF
Santa Clara

Any thoughts on how Miami measures up to these other schools?

[bigs5068]

I am sure Miami is fine, but you should really go to the school in the area you want to live in.  Your applications seem to be all over the place and if Miami is where you want to be at graduation then Miami is a great choice. If San Jose is where you want to be Santa Clara is a great choice. If Philadelphia is where you want to be then Temple is a great choice. I think you can see a theme.

The rankings are completely bogus unless you are dealing with top schools, which none of these are. Try to get out as cheaply as possible, because no employer will be in awe of someone who graduated from the 74th best school. You can have a successful career from any law school, but the burden will be on you to figure it out. Since the burden is going to be on you to succeed if you go to any the schools you listed you should try to get out as cheaply as possible.

[entlaw72]

Thanks for the reply.  You don't think that Fordham is in a class above the rest of these schools?  I wanted to give myself a lot of different options, that is why I applied all over.  Just seeing where I get in next...  I was under the impression that Fordham was much better than the rest of these.

[bigs5068]

I am just a second year law student so I certainly do not have all the answers. However, practically speaking Fordham comes in 3rd, 4th, 5th place in it's own market. NYU, Colombia, are head & shoulders above Fordham. Then Cardozo & Brooklyn are about as good from what I understand. Not to mention you will have Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, etc grads competing for jobs in New York. Fordham is a fine school, but in my 2nd year law student opinion (which means I know very little) unless you go to an ELITE school you might as well get out as cheaply as possible. I would not think employers would be flooding to  Fordham to hire grads when all those other schools I mentioned will be competing with you. You can get out of Fordham with 90k more in debt than some of the other schools in New York like CUNY.  If you graduate from Fordham you can say you went to the U.S. News 38th best school and if you think that is worth 90k then knock yourself out. I have never been impressed by the 38th best anything and in my limited experience in the legal field this far 38th best law school won't raise any eyebrows either.

In regards to Miami law that might be a little different, because Miami is probably top dawg in Miami. So there the extra money might be worth it. Or if you wanted to be in Utah BYU would be worth extra money. If you wanted to be in Washington State University of Washington is worth the extra money. Nebraska go to Nebrasksa you can see a theme. If a school is top in it's own market then it is a good buy. If U.S. decides to say it is the 39th best school, but 4 schools in the same city are ahead of it then you can imagine people are not going to lineup to hire from the 5th best school in their area.

[nealric]

Then Cardozo & Brooklyn are about as good from what I understand. 

Fordham is a solid step above Cardozo/Brooklyn in placement.

[bigs5068]

Possibly, but again what is placement. Here is lawschooltransparency.com's take on each school.

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/clearinghouse/?school=fordham

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/clearinghouse/?school=brooklyn

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/clearinghouse/?school=cardozo

Cardozo has 60% of their grads accounted for & 15% of them were making below 75k so 45% of their graduates will be able to make their payments as it stands. Fordham does actually look to be doing pretty well about 80% of their grads were making 100K plus. Brooklyn I was really surprised by only 40% of their grads were accounted for and almost 15% of those were making less than 75k. So only about 25% of their grads are likely able to make their loan payments yikes. I can't believe they all 45k a year that is outrageous! Especially Brooklyn it is in the ghetto I used to live two subway stops away from it and Bedstuy is awful I am surprised they are not cheaper.

Nearilic is right Fordham is a lot better than the other school's I mentioned and seems to be a pretty good buy. I recommend looking at lawschooltransparency before making any decisions. I really wish LSAC and the school's would comply with their requests. It is nice to see they give real facts, which seems to be completely lacking in any other law school publication.

[louiebstef]

As a native Floridian who has actually visited UM Law, I can categorically agree with what Bigs supposed.  Miami is indeed the BIG DAWG in Miami itself.  The most portable degree around here is from University of Florida, closely followed by Florida State.

What gives me pause about attending Miami is the excessive tuition and higher cost of living (generally) in the Miami area.  That said, if you can get some scholly money, Miami might be a good deal.

[Sugar70]

Thanks guys,
Great share!


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