Does it Matter Where you go to Law School?

[jiggedyjared]

Yeah, you may have better opportunities come to think of it if you graduate from an Ivy League undergrad.  For example, I graduated from Texas A&M recently (top 50 nationally, but just a public school), and we just recently started having McKinsey start recruiting on our campus.  They typically only hire Ivy Leaguers from what I hear.

[trogdor]

Trog. are you from DC?  You realize you could have gotten in-state tuition in any state, right?  Its one of the benefits of taxation without representation.

i wish.  i'm from out west.  i heard about that when i moved here, and wanted to cry.  if i were interested in having children, i would definitely take advantage of that for their sakes.  that's an amazing opportunity. 

[blocke123]

Fair enough trog.  Point taken.

However, I do think it is extremely hyped up as to the importance of going to a good UG.  Especially in terms of the cost. It simply isn't worth $100K to end up with a job paying $40-50K to start (and that is on the higher end than many entry-level positions).

I understand, and I was lucky to have such a good public school in my state to attend for undergrad.  I think differences in school quality are overhyped, and often blindly accepted as "conventional wisdom," but that does not, to me, make all UG educations equal.

While its not a sole contributing factor the UG you go to is a factor for the FIRST JOB out of college.  In fact it is a huge factor, this is from someone who has been out in the field for four years.  The year I graduated the UG I went to made a difference (UIUC) but after two years of glowing reviews at a major corporation known for its reputation, no one even asks where I went to.

That's all I'm saying.  All the lawyers I ask say it does matter where you go if you want to go into private law, with diminishing returns after a few years in the profession.

This is outright wrong.  I have been out for three years as well and you are sitting here telling me where you go to UG matters for your first job while I sit behind my cushy desk in the job I received after graduation.  I went to a state school and did alright, nothing amazing.  Don't make broad generalizations when you can't back them up.

Law school is a different story.  It will always matter to some extent.  Just more so earlier than later after graduation.

Trog. are you from DC?  You realize you could have gotten in-state tuition in any state, right?  Its one of the benefits of taxation without representation.

You asked that I not make broad generalizations... yet your only response has been that you have a good job.  As do I.  I graduated from the U of I a state institution, but mind you a GREAT strate institution.  Its very well regarded especially in engineering.  My school was visited by many large corporations who could only attend a few schools for business and engineering.  They picked UIUC, Georgia Tech MIT etc. 

Again, as I am said, after a few years of working hard it really doesn't make a damn bit of difference where you went to school.  However, fresh out of school, companies can only visit a limited number of schools and favor an even narrower set of schools.

[jiggedyjared]

I graduated from the U of I a state institution, but mind you a GREAT strate institution.  Its very well regarded especially in engineering.  My school was visited by many large corporations who could only attend a few schools for business and engineering.  They picked UIUC, Georgia Tech MIT etc. 

You do realize that pretty much every large state school think it's a GREAT state school, and that every school has companies that only choose it and a couple others to recruit at.  Come on... this reminds me of the Football fan forum I read. 

[jiggedyjared]

U of I

another reason it seems like you're straight out of undergrad.  No one outside of your state realizes if you're talking about Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, or Illionis.

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

Just about all undergraduate educations are equal.

Although we can all have only 1 undergraduate education, so we can never REALLY know, I'm gonna call shenanigans.  Personally, I think I would've gotten a very different education if I'd gone to Swarthmore as opposed to UVA, and those are recognized as somewhat comparable schools.  When you compare Yale to Southeast Podunk State, I don't think you get an equal education.

I went to a state school for undergrad and got a great job after graduation as well as being admitted to a T20 law school. 

I have met and spoken to Harvard grads. that are going to 2nd tier law schools.  It doesn't matter where you went, just your GPA and LSAT score.

One thing I have learned throughout my growth process as a person is I will do whatever it takes to get my children to go to a state school.  It simply does not make sense to end up $50-100K in debt for undergrad.

Hmm..I agree for the most part about UG not really mattering.  However, I don't think I would push my kid to go to state school.  It seems unfair to me, because I'm not rich (no where near it) yet my mom paid for me to go to school all my life (parochial school from k-12, and then ivy ug). Thus, I can't see myself telling my future kid, that they should attend a public school.  Plus, in my case, my state school gave me a ridiculous amount of loans, and that school system isn't even that good (NY)

However, if I lived in a state with a good public university system (CA, MI, VA, etc) then I would tell them to think about those schools. 

[Mr. Pink]

Just about all undergraduate educations are equal.

Although we can all have only 1 undergraduate education, so we can never REALLY know, I'm gonna call shenanigans.  Personally, I think I would've gotten a very different education if I'd gone to Swarthmore as opposed to UVA, and those are recognized as somewhat comparable schools.  When you compare Yale to Southeast Podunk State, I don't think you get an equal education.

I went to a state school for undergrad and got a great job after graduation as well as being admitted to a T20 law school. 

I have met and spoken to Harvard grads. that are going to 2nd tier law schools.  It doesn't matter where you went, just your GPA and LSAT score.

One thing I have learned throughout my growth process as a person is I will do whatever it takes to get my children to go to a state school.  It simply does not make sense to end up $50-100K in debt for undergrad.

Hmm..I agree for the most part about UG not really mattering.  However, I don't think I would push my kid to go to state school.  It seems unfair to me, because I'm not rich (no where near it) yet my mom paid for me to go to school all my life (parochial school from k-12, and then ivy ug). Thus, I can't see myself telling my future kid, that they should attend a public school.  Plus, in my case, my state school gave me a ridiculous amount of loans, and that school system isn't even that good (NY)

However, if I lived in a state with a good public university system (CA, MI, VA, etc) then I would tell them to think about those schools. 

I'm with you on this one.  It pisses me off a lot, that instead of creating one flagship university (like UVA, Umich, Berkeley, etc.), New York chooses to have numerous crappy schools.  They market Binghamton as being the most selective in the system, but let's be honest, it's really not that good a school.  Plus it has by far the ugliest campus that I have ever seen. 

NY could definetely improve its college system.

[Mr. Pink]

Just about all undergraduate educations are equal.

Although we can all have only 1 undergraduate education, so we can never REALLY know, I'm gonna call shenanigans.  Personally, I think I would've gotten a very different education if I'd gone to Swarthmore as opposed to UVA, and those are recognized as somewhat comparable schools.  When you compare Yale to Southeast Podunk State, I don't think you get an equal education.

I went to a state school for undergrad and got a great job after graduation as well as being admitted to a T20 law school. 

I have met and spoken to Harvard grads. that are going to 2nd tier law schools.  It doesn't matter where you went, just your GPA and LSAT score.

One thing I have learned throughout my growth process as a person is I will do whatever it takes to get my children to go to a state school.  It simply does not make sense to end up $50-100K in debt for undergrad.

Hmm..I agree for the most part about UG not really mattering.  However, I don't think I would push my kid to go to state school.  It seems unfair to me, because I'm not rich (no where near it) yet my mom paid for me to go to school all my life (parochial school from k-12, and then ivy ug). Thus, I can't see myself telling my future kid, that they should attend a public school.  Plus, in my case, my state school gave me a ridiculous amount of loans, and that school system isn't even that good (NY)

However, if I lived in a state with a good public university system (CA, MI, VA, etc) then I would tell them to think about those schools. 

I'm with you on this one.  It pisses me off a lot, that instead of creating one flagship university (like UVA, Umich, Berkeley, etc.), New York chooses to have numerous crappy schools.  They market Binghamton as being the most selective in the system, but let's be honest, it's really not that good a school.  Plus it has by far the ugliest campus that I have ever seen. 

NY could definetely improve its college system.

Absolutely.  NY is one of the few states with a very large population that cannot manage to come up with one good state school.  If I lived in a state like VA, I would almost definitely go to UVA unless I got into HYP. 

I think California has the best Public College system.

[blocke123]

U of I

another reason it seems like you're straight out of undergrad.  No one outside of your state realizes if you're talking about Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, or Illionis.

See above when I reference UIUC which most people in this board refer to as University of Illinois UC... I will take care to repeat specify. 

UIUC is regarded as a great public school not simply because i have stated so but by reputation and rankings.  Whatever your view of USNews rankings UIUC is considered a good school.

I restate my position that it does matter where you graduate undergrad and several corporations have only limited ability to recruit and so would not waste their time at schools without some reputation.  While I admit those reputations may not follow USNews rankings, there definitely is a difference between various schools.

[Mr. Pink]

Just about all undergraduate educations are equal.

Although we can all have only 1 undergraduate education, so we can never REALLY know, I'm gonna call shenanigans.  Personally, I think I would've gotten a very different education if I'd gone to Swarthmore as opposed to UVA, and those are recognized as somewhat comparable schools.  When you compare Yale to Southeast Podunk State, I don't think you get an equal education.

I went to a state school for undergrad and got a great job after graduation as well as being admitted to a T20 law school. 

I have met and spoken to Harvard grads. that are going to 2nd tier law schools.  It doesn't matter where you went, just your GPA and LSAT score.

One thing I have learned throughout my growth process as a person is I will do whatever it takes to get my children to go to a state school.  It simply does not make sense to end up $50-100K in debt for undergrad.

Hmm..I agree for the most part about UG not really mattering.  However, I don't think I would push my kid to go to state school.  It seems unfair to me, because I'm not rich (no where near it) yet my mom paid for me to go to school all my life (parochial school from k-12, and then ivy ug). Thus, I can't see myself telling my future kid, that they should attend a public school.  Plus, in my case, my state school gave me a ridiculous amount of loans, and that school system isn't even that good (NY)

However, if I lived in a state with a good public university system (CA, MI, VA, etc) then I would tell them to think about those schools. 

I'm with you on this one.  It pisses me off a lot, that instead of creating one flagship university (like UVA, Umich, Berkeley, etc.), New York chooses to have numerous crappy schools.  They market Binghamton as being the most selective in the system, but let's be honest, it's really not that good a school.  Plus it has by far the ugliest campus that I have ever seen. 

NY could definetely improve its college system.

Absolutely.  NY is one of the few states with a very large population that cannot manage to come up with one good state school.  If I lived in a state like VA, I would almost definitely go to UVA unless I got into HYP. 

I think California has the best Public College system.

Best system, probably.  In terms of individual schools, however, I'd go to UVA or Umich over Berkeley any day. 

Such a choice depends heavily on your major.  Obviously berkeley is best in the sciences.s