Los Angeles Law schools

[pinkybella]

isn't southwestern on wilshire blvd east of west hollywood?

on my way from UCLA to chinatown, i drove by a building that said southwestern law school.

if that is where the school is- bad location.  parking must be impossible.

loyolas campus is in a bad location as well, but lls is well regarded in the LA area.

pepperdine has the best campus, by far.

if you get accepted to all 3 of those school, you should not consider southwestern.

I would pick Southwestern over Pepperdine despite rankings, if you want to practice in LA.

From LSAC.org:


Percent employed after graduation:
Pepperdine: 80%
Southwestern 90%

JMO

bad idea.  pepperdine >>> southwestern

if you like statistics:

bar passage rate:
pepperdine: 70.1%
southwestern: 56.9% (less than the state passage rate)

employed 9 mos after graduation:
pepperdine: 95.7%
southwestern: 88.4%

ranking:
pepperdine: #77
southwestern: tier 3

so even though southwesterns employment rate and salaries may appear to be higher, just a little over half of their class passes the bar.  i dont know what the other half of their class does for a job- but it is probably not law related.

That's a faulty assumption that they don't do anything law related - they probably just take the bar exam again.

It just depends what you want to do. If you like entertainment law and you can't get into Loyola, you're better off going to Southwestern over Pepperdine.

[pinkybella]

My neighbor went to Southwestern.  When I talked to her about school she said immediately "Do not consider Southwestern."  Part of it was the competitive atmosphere and the other part was job placement.  She said Southwestern cut a third of the class each year through the curve.

Southwestern is on Vermont and Wilshire, basically Korea town.

Every person I knew that went to Pepperdine did not get a job out of school.  Now, I only know three, but I don't think they were exactly the bottom of the barrel.  They might have been picky, however.

Loyola has good reach in LA, but it is definitely better than Southwestern. 

I have a neighbor who went to Peppedine and he always tells me how hard it was for him to find a job after law school. He even mentioned that he didn't get to choose what type of law he wanted to work it - he just worked in whatever type of law he could get a job in. And he was NOT near the bottom of his class.

[shae]

probably because they are competing against usc, ucla, and loyola grads (not to mention standford, berkeley, hastings, davis, san diego).

[judicialreview]

I have just been accepted to Southwestern Law school. I am pretty sure I got into pepperdine and Loyola also. Can Anyone tell me their impressions about each school? What are the campuses like and how do the social scenes compare? I applied to all these schools blind without knowing much about them accept their ranking and a couple mailers i got.

I'm a 1L at Loyola.  I've been happy so far.  I'm not social at all, so I stay away from the Bar Reviews and stuff, but the social opportunities are there.  We have a de-facto social chair for our section that organizes a lot of social stuff, and people generally get along, though obviously you have your cliques here and there.

Loyola's campus is ahem.. utilitarian?  Nothing special, the architecture is kinda out there.  The whole "it's in the ghetto" thing you might have heard is totally blown out of proportion.  The neighborhood can be sketchy, but the campus is very well lit.  Also, its pretty much off of Olympic, which is a huge street and well lighted.  Sometimes I park at school and walk the mile to Staples for LAkers/ Clippers games at night, and don't feel endangered at all, though I'm a guy, don't know what it would be like for girls.

If you have any other Qs about Loyola, feel free to ask

[csun]

By the way, Southwestern has a new dean. The guy has a Stanford JD, passed the Illinois and California Bars, and was head of the American Bar Association. Word on the legal/academic street is, Southwestern is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. They are being much more selective as to who enters, hence attrition talk will greatly decrease to levels characteristic to other law programs in or near the greater Los Angeles.  HTH

Im a 1L at southwestern.  Listen to CALIMAN, we have a new dean (who is awesome!) and we are undergoing a lot of changes.  New curves all over the place.  Our bar passage rate is coming back up, 67% for this year (we dropped for a few years from a passage rate in the low 70s).  We DO NOT KICK OUT a third of our class.  This is simply not true.  Last year, 8.6% were kicked out and with the new curves, it might decrease. regardless, if you study you shouldnt have a problem. Also, our employment rates and salary rates are comparable to pepperdine and loyola.  With the new changes and new "hot shot" factulty we are acquiring, i dont see any reason not to come to southwestern.

[csun]

Southwestern's "campus" basically consists of two buildings: the one containing the classrooms and right next to it, a refurbished department store (an LA historical landmark) that houses the law library.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's in a ghetto, but the neighborhood might get a little sketchy after dark.  Plus, I don't think Christopher Darden teaches there anymore, so you won't even get to hear any cool OJ stories.

Go to Pepperdine or Loyola.  Actually, scratch that.  Go to Pepperdine.  Stay out of LA.

you make our library seem like trash, have you been inside our library? it is probably one of the nicest around.  this is coming from someone that hated to set foot in one.

[redbottlecap]

you make our library seem like trash, have you been inside our library?

Yes.  And how exactly did I make the library seem like trash?  All I said was that it's in a refurbished department store/historical landmark.  True or false?

[Groundhog]

HTH

XOXOpwn3d!

[Manwithaplan]

HTH

XOXOpwn3d!

even pre law kids speak 1337. brilliant. lol

[shae]

If you’re going to include Pepperdine into the category of Law Schools in Los Angeles, then you need to consider not only non-ABA accredited schools in LA but also other nearby law schools that have students compete for and enter the LA market. For example: The Peoples College of Law (in LA), The University of West Los Angeles College of law, Western State (in Fullerton), Chapman (in Fullerton), Whittier (in Costa Mesa), The University of La Verne College of Law (in Ontario), not to mention the numerous law firms with attorneys that have a mentor stripe and are willing to take-in legal apprentices. Don’t short change the LA legal scene!

By the way, Southwestern has a new dean. The guy has a Stanford JD, passed the Illinois and California Bars, and was head of the American Bar Association. Word on the legal/academic street is, Southwestern is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. They are being much more selective as to who enters, hence attrition talk will greatly decrease to levels characteristic to other law programs in or near the greater Los Angeles.  HTH

go to southwestern over pepperdine.  see what your life looks like in 3 years.  good luck.

HTFH