As other's have said, Chapman is a great school if you want to work in OC. You can still find employment outside of the area (looking at SD and LA), but Chapman doesn't participate in as many of the job fairs and isn't quite in the USC-Loyola-UCLA ring. Additionally, you would be competing with USD grads if you went south, and if you went west you're competing with grads from at least FIVE other schools (Loyola, USC, Pepp, UCLA, SW) and then the grads from the smaller non-ABA schools. However, keep in mind that a good mount of these students in the LA basin also go south/southeast to OC and find many jobs in OC... Chapman doesn't quite dominate the 714/949 but it does have a presence in the area.
USF would be your better bet. The school has a strong reputation in norcal as well as throughout the state. This rep. is important especially when you look for your 1L/2L jobs, since that will give you some ammo when start looking for permanent employment. Many firms in NorCal also have offices in SoCal, so being able to get in as a summer extern would monumental, especially since they may place you in SoCal if they want to hire you after you're done. You'll do much better with job placement throughout the state, which is an option I'd prefer to have given that CA is such a big state.
Perhaps you can talk to USF about some $$? I know it's pretty late in the game, but getting something would be better than nothing.
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