USC v. UT

[redacted]

I'll second the question on scholarship matching.  I'd be very interested in more information on how that process works and what schools are considered even for partial matches.

[ElectricalStorm]

Just some random points:

*To my knowledge, a significant majority of out-of-state students are granted in-state tuition (actually can't think of one who isn't right now) so UT may come in cheaper than you expect.

*Around 70% of UT grads stay in Texas, but this is absolutely the result of self-selection. Working in Texas, you can get the same great big-law job with only very slightly ($5k-$10k) less pay, but at a significantly lower cost-of-living (Up to 50+%). If you do decide to go somewhere else, plenty of grads head to DC (Most popular outside of TX), NYC, LA, and Chicago. In addition, 65% of the offices in Fall 2006 OCI were from out-of-state and there are a number of big-city (particularly DC) specific job fairs/programs for Texas students. Plenty of big-name firms, even those without offices in Texas, come down to do cocktails and interviews.

*UT is a big school, but there are advantages such as a greater variety of classes, clinics, etc. To overcome the intimidation of the size factor though, you will be assigned to a 1L mentor group of ~25 people (one of your 1st semester classes will be just this group), have classes with the same ~100 your 1L year, and be a member of a Society Group (all three years). These groups have plenty of events and IM sports to keep you entertained and meeting people. I was skeptical of these programs at first, but they have been pretty beneficial in helping develop a good group of friends.

*UT is the top school feeding into the big law offices in Texas, especially for summer associate positions. In fact, the firm I am working at this summer only hired UT students for their 1L positions. That's $2,600/week in your pocket right there without as much competition as you might face in LA.

*Good number of my friends are from various states across the US and easily got plugged into UT/Austin/Texas, so don't worry about feeling like the odd man out. We are a real friendly bunch, so as long as you're a decent person who likes to have fun, you'll fit right in.

*If you like Political Theory and the like, UT supposedly has very strong faculty in areas such as Constitutional, Jurisprudence / Legal Philosophy, and Political Theory. Also, since you mentioned your private sector interests, there are well known faculty in the Business areas (including one professor who has an exchange-traded index derivative named after him).

These are two great schools and it would be hard to go wrong with either one. Personally, I love it here, and so would say UT, but I'm obviously biased. Good luck with the decision!

I'm a 1L, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to send me a message.

[Funky Cold Hrdina]

Theoretically* I had a really easy time getting "matching" funds from them. I was pretty surprised that they were willing to match the school that I sent in (considering the relative esteem in which I hold both programs) especially since this was "pre-18".

Send it in and hope for the best 

Just for the record, I'm out of state and have not been offered in-state. I'm planning on establishing residency if/when I go, but it hasn't been as easy for me personally as ElecStorm makes it sound.


* I was notified of my award via email but haven’t got the papers in my hand to back it up. I then received my finaid package with no mention of the grant, but I’m confident it’ll get straightened out.

[ElectricalStorm]

Just for the record, I'm out of state and have not been offered in-state. I'm planning on establishing residency if/when I go, but it hasn't been as easy for me personally as ElecStorm makes it sound.

Forgot to add - "Don't hold me to it" haha.

[Funky Cold Hrdina]

Just for the record, I'm out of state and have not been offered in-state. I'm planning on establishing residency if/when I go, but it hasn't been as easy for me personally as ElecStorm makes it sound.

Forgot to add - "Don't hold me to it" haha.

Just an anecdote, not a criticism. 

[ElectricalStorm]

Just for the record, I'm out of state and have not been offered in-state. I'm planning on establishing residency if/when I go, but it hasn't been as easy for me personally as ElecStorm makes it sound.

Forgot to add - "Don't hold me to it" haha.

Just an anecdote, not a criticism. 

Just that Contracts has me thinking too much about detrimental reliance lately and the need to cover one's six haha.

[Life During Wartime]

Just to expand on the self-selection thing for a minute...  I didn't believe it either when I came here.  But it really is true.  Here's one way to think about it - the UT out of state employment numbers are what? around 70% or so.  Remeber those figures are all from the 80/20 instate out of state split days.  So, the school is still sending more people out of state than there are out of state students.  Also, I can tell you that many - if not the majority - of the top in state students elect to stay in Texas.  What's weird is that a significant number of out of state people also stay in Texas - often times in Austin, but sometimes they meet significant others who don't want to leave (if you're worried about getting stuck in Texas, that's what your real concern should be, btw).  A lot of out of state people split between Texas and non-Texas firms over the summer.  At any rate, I don't know any out of state people who someone ended up having to take a job in Texas against their wishes.  I mean, if you make terrible grades it's not going to keep you from getting a job anywhere, it'll just affect the kind of job you can get.

Oh, and as to the bureaucracy, I was definitely worried about that too.  It's actually not bad for big-ass school, even when you have to deal with the University itself (this happens rarely or never).  The law school takes care of its own pretty well.  The financial aid peopel are especially nice - true life savers.

Here's one more (kind of bull *&^%, kind of entertaining) line of reasoning that you should only consider if you have made up your mind to come to Texas, but stil have residual doubts:

In US News for practitioner reputation USC is at 3.7, UT is at 4.3, and Yale is at 4.9 (I think).  So the difference in reputation between USC and UT is that same as the difference between UT and Yale.  Therefore, in terms of reputation Yale is to Texas as Texas is to USC....

[Funky Cold Hrdina]

Therefore, in terms of reputation Yale is to Texas as Texas is to USC....

180. 

[Nasche]

This is a lot of (good) info, which makes the choice between USC and UT even that more difficult. Hopefully visiting the two will also clear the air, but just to jump on one point...

*If you like Political Theory and the like, UT supposedly has very strong faculty in areas such as Constitutional, Jurisprudence / Legal Philosophy, and Political Theory. Also, since you mentioned your private sector interests, there are well known faculty in the Business areas (including one professor who has an exchange-traded index derivative named after him).

The political theory I study sometimes goes by the name philosophy of political science and it's sorta heady stuff, outside the realm of things like constitutional philosophy or the law in general. I'm going to talk to the grad school at UT to see what they've got going on, but I was, at one point of time, considering of pursuing a PhD in it. Right now I'm mulling over a JD/PhD, but at the very least I'd like to still have faculty around that I could discuss some of my ideas with. This is an important factor.

The rest of all this info makes UT sound even more amazing, which is great because the idea of living in the same city as my brother (and not having my family spread across three time zones) is very appealing.

[sladkaya]

I'll second the question on scholarship matching.  I'd be very interested in more information on how that process works and what schools are considered even for partial matches.

I'm a little bitter about UT's scholarship matching right now, but the process itself is pretty straight forward and user-friendly - you send them an e-mail outlining reasons why you like UT, and why the scholarship from the other school makes it difficult for you to make a decision, and scan/attach other school's award letter to the e-mail.  Scholarship committee meets on Fridays, and the Financial Aid Director will e-mail you after the meeting with their decision.

In my situation, UT was willing to match (and slightly beat) Northwestern, but declined to bump it up later when I received an increased scholarship from Vandy.  But that could also be because they gave me one of their higher scholarships already and don't really care that much if I go or not.