SMU, Iowa, SLU, or Loyola-Chicago?

[ari20dal7]

SMU vs. Iowa is about location and debt.  All things being equal, Iowa is an easy choice.  The only way I pick SMU is if I've got to be in Dallas and it's nearly free.  The only way I pick SLU is if I've got to be in St. Louis and it's totally free.

[General2010]

How many times have you taken the LSAT? If you retook it and improved just two or three points, you'd have a lot more options.

[stlnative]

I took the test after practicing on the free LSAT in the registration booklet. I went to a commuter college while raising my daughter and was rather uninformed about this stuff until I found this website. I would prefer to stay in the midwest or south.

That's strange that even the top of Loyola's class has trouble finding jobs in Chicago. Is chicago a very competitive legal market? What about St. Louis or Dallas?

[ilsox7]

That's strange that even the top of Loyola's class has trouble finding jobs in Chicago. Is chicago a very competitive legal market?

The top of the class doesn't struggle to find jobs, they struggle to find big law jobs.  As for the couple of people I know in the top of the class who don't have anything, it's for reasons other than grades.

And Chicago is extremely competitive.

[lawboy81]

I'd visit Iowa and SMU and see which I like better.  If you have to pay full price at SMU then I'd go with Iowa, but if you're paying about equal I'd say it's a toss up.  Iowa probably gives you more options over a greater geographic area, but you probably also have to do well there.  If you get a JD from SMU you have great job prospects in Dallas, and to some extent in the rest of Texas.  SMU probably places a little better than its rank indicates while Iowa probably places a little worse than its rank suggests so I'd reccommend making your decision based on which school you like better and how much you have to pay.

[wustl3l]

St. Louis is fairly competitive because you have SLU, Mizzou, and WUSTL all in the immediate area who are trying to place people in the area. Also, as you probably know, St. Louisians love St. Louis so there are also a fair amount of people who have left the area to go to school who want to come back to practice. It's pretty common to see locals who went off to T14s coming back.

That having been said, there are a lot of SLU alums in town so really like to hire their own. If you do well, you will be able to get a pretty good local job. I would say that your $60K threshold would be pretty easy to obtain unless your grades are bad.

I think what is important to remember is that your debt load will have a significant impact on where/what you can practice. It just may be impossible to live on $60K if you have $100K in debt in Chicago.

I took the test after practicing on the free LSAT in the registration booklet. I went to a commuter college while raising my daughter and was rather uninformed about this stuff until I found this website. I would prefer to stay in the midwest or south.

That's strange that even the top of Loyola's class has trouble finding jobs in Chicago. Is chicago a very competitive legal market? What about St. Louis or Dallas?

[General2010]

I took the test after practicing on the free LSAT in the registration booklet. I went to a commuter college while raising my daughter and was rather uninformed about this stuff until I found this website. I would prefer to stay in the midwest or south.

That's strange that even the top of Loyola's class has trouble finding jobs in Chicago. Is chicago a very competitive legal market? What about St. Louis or Dallas?

So wouldn't you have a high chance of scoring higher with some more preparation (doesn't have to be a class--maybe just working through some books from Barnes and Noble)?

In reference to the Loyola statement, remember that maybe those top 5-7 percenters in question don't interview well, aren't from Chicago originally, etc. Being in a certain rank of your class is never a guarantee wherever you are, because there are a lot of other factors that weigh in besides grades.

[ilsox7]

I think what is important to remember is that your debt load will have a significant impact on where/what you can practice. It just may be impossible to live on $60K if you have $100K in debt in Chicago.

It wouldn't be that difficult to live here in that situation.  Hell, I know folks who make 25K per year (not JD's) and make due in Chicago.

[wustl3l]

I think what is important to remember is that your debt load will have a significant impact on where/what you can practice. It just may be impossible to live on $60K if you have $100K in debt in Chicago.

It wouldn't be that difficult to live here in that situation.  Hell, I know folks who make 25K per year (not JD's) and make due in Chicago.

So after taxes and such you would have $1,800 a month of $25K/year. $100K in student loan debt is around another $800. So that leaves you with about a grand for everything else (rent, food, transportation, etc.). Yes, that's doable but that's not much of a life, is it? 

[botbot]

Let us not forget that SMU out places Iowa in BIGLAW with a higher student quality...