La Verne, Whittier or Western State

[Pjovell]

Hello fellow present/future/past law students! I'm in a bit of a dilemma with choosing which school to attend and would love some input on personal experiences from those who went to La Verne, Whittier or Western State law.

La Verne is offering me an extremely generous scholarship (about 80%) but I'm skeptical about the provisionally approved aspect. Actually, if anyone would like to chime in on how attending a provisionally approved school would mean to me, please do! At any rate, I stopped by the campus (ok fine, drove by) and it seems to be quite new, and esthetically pleasing (not that that matters too much since I'm sure to be cocooned in a library most my day). The main concern is that while they seem to have a couple great clinics, the one which I am most interested in, that is, a criminal justice clinic, is not offered. This brings me to the next two law schools, which appear to have leading criminal justice clinics and what I’m most excited about, the opportunity for an externship at the District Attorney’s.

Western State has offered me a 50% scholarship while Whittier has offered me about 25%, both are ABA approved. Again, they both have criminal justice clinics and great intern/extern advances with their local D.A offices.

Truth be told, the 80% scholarship at La Verne is pulling my "justice scale" nearly all the way to a side. It's of course not to say, that because La Verne does not offer a CJ clinic that I cannot try to internship at the D.A's office but the help and preparation Western and Whittier may provide may outweigh that big lump of money I’d be saving- not to mention I'm sure it might be harder for me to get in to a position that like without a law school supporting and recommending me... or would it?

Thank you very much for your input, it’s greatly appreciated!

[Cher1300]

I would avoid La Verne because they lost their ABA accreditation.  They won't be up for approval again until 2014 so I wouldn't risk it.  I'll be attending Western State part-time evening in the fall so I'm a bit partial to it.  I was also accepted to Whittier, but Western State has more alumni which would be more of a benefit when seeking employment.  Also, your scholarship is greater.  Just my 2 cents...hope that helps!

[politicolaw]

I would strongly urge you to look at bar passage rates. The "lower tiered" California schools often have very scary bar passage rates. Whittier looks to be near the state average, but the other two are far below.

There are bar prep programs that you should use, but the published bar passage rates should really be cautiously considered. www.lsac.org gives you official statistics to compare.

[Cher1300]

Western State's bar passage rate for July 2010 was 83% and was among the top 6 schools and may have tied with UCLA.  From what I understand, the passage rate from February 2011 is also above the state average at around 76 - 78%, but I don't believe the formal numbers are out yet.  Don't know what Western State is doing differently, but it surpassed Whittier and even Southwestern that year.  If you google bar passage rates, you'll see where it ranked.  That was part of the reason I decided to go.  Not sure if it will stay that way.  Their history for bar passage rates was definitely horrid, but they appear to be overcoming this.  Just FYI.