U. San Diego Dean responds to rankings drop

[Yankees Fan]

I would love to practice in SoCal!  I live in rainy vancouver Canada, so i'm very excited to come down south.

Do you know whether USD grads typically stay in USD or whether chances of employment are high in, say, LA too? I'd like to practice in LA b/c i have family living in alhambra.

BTW Roman, I've read your posts all over this discussion board. You seem to be quite pro USD. Care to share your insights? I've haven't had to chance to visit the school yet, so I don't know much about USD in that regard. Are you planning on living in rez or off campus?

I can't swear to it, but I've heard from both professors and current students that if USD grads were willing to work in LA, they'd have little trouble finding jobs.  (And no, I did not say the top jobs paying 150k.  But certainly respectable ones.)  The thing is, apparently most USD grads don't want to leave SD.

I'm not Roman, but what insights would you like?  I did endless research on USD and SD in general before deciding on it.  It was without question the riskiest school for me to choose due to location and cost (more difficult requirements to keep my scholarship too), yet I couldn't pass up USD.  I visited SD and the school in March, and have never been to a place I thought was more amazing, and I've been a lot of places.

As far as living, word is on campus housing is overpriced and not worth it.  Popular places to live are near USD in Linda Vista, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Mission Valley and some parts of La Jolla.  If you type those locations into Craigslist searches, you can get an idea of what's out there.  Seems to be that you can spend anywhere from $500-$1500 depending on how nice of a place you wish to live and whether you plan to have roommate(s) or not.

Hope that helps.

[vancouvergirl]

Wow Yankees fan, thank you soo much, that was really helpful.

I'm quite sure that i'm going to give up my scholarship to penn state to go to usd b/c it keeps sounding better and better. At first I was going to choose pepperdine over usd, but I feel as if it's only the hype of it's rise in rankings that's making it more popular than the law school itself.

I was afraid the job prospects for usd wasn't going to be good, but if people just don't leave sd b/c of location not b/c they can't find jobs that puts my mind at ease. Even if i don't end up leaving SD, i want to know that even if i did i would find a pretty decent, well paid, job.

When you say near usd campus, is it walkable? or do i need to invest in a car? I kind of want to live near other law students for ease of studying or whatever else, b/c i know absolutely nobody in sd.

I must be killing you with all my questions, but do you know what the students at usd are like? i really don't want to go to a nonsocial school or a school full of snobs and arrogant students. is it a pretty chilled environment?

I would love to practice in SoCal!  I live in rainy vancouver Canada, so i'm very excited to come down south.

Do you know whether USD grads typically stay in USD or whether chances of employment are high in, say, LA too? I'd like to practice in LA b/c i have family living in alhambra.

BTW Roman, I've read your posts all over this discussion board. You seem to be quite pro USD. Care to share your insights? I've haven't had to chance to visit the school yet, so I don't know much about USD in that regard. Are you planning on living in rez or off campus?

I can't swear to it, but I've heard from both professors and current students that if USD grads were willing to work in LA, they'd have little trouble finding jobs.  (And no, I did not say the top jobs paying 150k.  But certainly respectable ones.)  The thing is, apparently most USD grads don't want to leave SD.

I'm not Roman, but what insights would you like?  I did endless research on USD and SD in general before deciding on it.  It was without question the riskiest school for me to choose due to location and cost (more difficult requirements to keep my scholarship too), yet I couldn't pass up USD.  I visited SD and the school in March, and have never been to a place I thought was more amazing, and I've been a lot of places.

As far as living, word is on campus housing is overpriced and not worth it.  Popular places to live are near USD in Linda Vista, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Mission Valley and some parts of La Jolla.  If you type those locations into Craigslist searches, you can get an idea of what's out there.  Seems to be that you can spend anywhere from $500-$1500 depending on how nice of a place you wish to live and whether you plan to have roommate(s) or not.

Hope that helps.

[Yankees Fan]

Wow Yankees fan, thank you soo much, that was really helpful.

You're welcome. 

I'm quite sure that i'm going to give up my scholarship to penn state to go to usd b/c it keeps sounding better and better. At first I was going to choose pepperdine over usd, but I feel as if it's only the hype of it's rise in rankings that's making it more popular than the law school itself.

I gave up 40k over the 3 years at Miami.  Almost 75k if I lose my scholarship.  However, I consider it money well spent. 

And as far as Pepperdine goes, don't let the shift in this year's rankings fool you.  Pepp is a fine law school, but you will not convince me that it went from a relatively far inferior school to USD to better in 12 months time.  USD has tougher admissions requirements, a much better faculty, higher bar passage rate and is about even in all other aspects.  Pepperdine claims like 97% employed within 9 months.  I'd like to know how many of those are at temp jobs photocopying papers and getting coffee for people.  Also, note only 35% of their grads reported salary compared to 75% at USD.  Says something about who's salary statistics to put more faith in.  Rest assured, USD will climb back up next year.

I was afraid the job prospects for usd wasn't going to be good, but if people just don't leave sd b/c of location not b/c they can't find jobs that puts my mind at ease. Even if i don't end up leaving SD, i want to know that even if i did i would find a pretty decent, well paid, job.

Don't expect to make 100k+ coming out of USD.  Is it possible?  Absolutely.  However, it'll require great connections or a very high class ranking (i.e. top 10%).  However, there are many well paying jobs for the taking if you perform well enough.  Don't expect a great job if you place in the bottom of your class.  However, that will be no different at PSU or Pepperdine.

When you say near usd campus, is it walkable? or do i need to invest in a car? I kind of want to live near other law students for ease of studying or whatever else, b/c i know absolutely nobody in sd.

It depends where.  Some yes, some no.  The ones that are walkable are about a 5-15 minute walk.  Some are down a steep hill though, which might deter some people.

I must be killing you with all my questions, but do you know what the students at usd are like? i really don't want to go to a nonsocial school or a school full of snobs and arrogant students. is it a pretty chilled environment?

Well, what really sold me on USD was just how happy and friendly all the USD students were.  It's one of about 4-5 schools I visited, and none of the others compared IMO.  Everyone was genuinely happy and seemed to know everyone.  I've also spoken to many current students online and they couldn't be nicer.  It's definitely as chill an environment you'll find at a law school, from what I can tell.  This was immensely important to me as I too will be moving out there from very far, knowing absolutely no one.  I wouldn't have chosen USD if I wasn't absolutely sure it was a great place to not only study, but make friends.

[sno]

first, i gotta give a shout out to alhambra!

as far as job prospects go, i wouldn't worry about it...i'm not going to lie, career services here isn't the best, but if you take active steps yourself to find work, i doubt you'll have a super hard time...as far as leaving sd...the problem with usd and employment outside of sd is the fact that very few actually want to leave sd once they're here...alums don't leave, people don't know what it's like to work with us which makes it harder for us to get a national rep...that's why the school tries to get some of us to go elsewhere to work...

invest in a car...there aren't that many housing options within walking distance and people live all over the place...as far as ease of studying goes, doesn't matter where you live...it's unlikely you're going to be walking over to someone's place to study...more likely than not, you'll be in the writs or the library...

as far as the students go, like yanks, that was a huge factor for me in deciding which school to go to...when i visited last year, the students seemed the most genuinely happy out of all the schools i visited...i don't regret my decision to come here one bit...

[vancouvergirl]

Thanks guys!

I can tell just by talking to those going to or already in USD vs those at pepperdine/psu, that the usd crowd is much more friendly and laid back.

I'm really excited to go to usd now! it sounds like meeting ppl isn't going to be a problem what so ever.

would you consider usd a commuter school then? is there a sense of community at the school, b/c my undergrad school was a major commuter school so there wasn't really a niche available for socializing with other undergrads outside of class.

sno: you're from alhambra too!!??

[sno]

yea, it's a commuter school...but the law school is basically one giant community...i guess to answer your question easily, i honestly think that to not make friends here, the problem is with you, not the school 

and yes, i'm sort of from alhambra (last place i lived before sd)...didn't grow up there, but parents moved there a few years ago so that's where i end up when i go back to LA

[AZWildcat]

It's a fun place.. we had a giant section E party (and we're second years!) last week. 

[sno]

It's a fun place.. we had a giant section E party (and we're second years!) last week. 

Dude, I've still yet to see that NSX on campus.

[AZWildcat]

It's a fun place.. we had a giant section E party (and we're second years!) last week. 

Dude, I've still yet to see that NSX on campus.

I sold it when I moved to La Jolla. :-/  No room at my new condo for it.  Fear not, I'm working on something else.

[AZWildcat]

Don't expect to make 100k+ coming out of USD.  Is it possible?  Absolutely.  However, it'll require great connections or a very high class ranking (i.e. top 10%).  However, there are many well paying jobs for the taking if you perform well enough.  Don't expect a great job if you place in the bottom of your class.  However, that will be no different at PSU or Pepperdine.

I agree, don't expect it.  However, I know plenty who are not in the top 10% making 100k+.  (Likewise, I know some in the top 10% who are unemployed... at some point, the individual makes the difference.)  My grades are not spectacular, and I'll be paid $2400/week this summer.