USD vs. Chapman

Avatario43

I am very geographically limited as I know I want to live in California and have been here my whole life. Only applying to USD and Chapman. Love LMU and Pepperdine but cant do locationally / financially. I do not want any pretentious comments or unsolicited advice. Please only respond if you know which law school is worth going to more, I know chapman is a great school but personally know 4 people from USD law who created great success for themselves. Yes, I am also aware stats are available online. I looked things up and am nonetheless confused or feeling ambiguous. Please let me know which school has what pros / cons from any knowledge you have. I need guidance and help, nothing negative please!

Avatario43

I also read that USD and Chapman are all similar to UC Hastings, LMU, Pepperdine, etc. Tier 2?

MinasianLaw

Just hit up SouthWestern real quick, almost every Armenian lawyer in LA went there and is doing just fine haha lol jk but goodluck on figuring out where you wanna go. Id stick to Loyola, Southwestern, Pepperdine just cause they are closer to LA and this is where I was born and raised. Pricing wise everywhere is basically ~65k a year, plus if you go to Southwestern you'll get a 80k minimum scholarship for scoring 155+.

Avatario43

Hey miko! appreciate your effort aper but I did not ask about Armenian - ness! I wanted to know about the schools and I did not say anything about LA

Avatario43

anyone else have any knowledge?

Juan23vr

I went to USD for a few weeks back in 2020, its a great school and SD is great too. I really couldn't rationalize paying so much to do it online because of covid-19 so i decided to drop out and re take the LSAT instead but i think its a good option

trevorNYCgoal

Is there anything within the law programs themselves at either schools that interest you?

ezavila92

Ok I'll put my 2 cents in.

For context, I grew up in Orange County, and plan to say in Southern California for schools. My top choices are LMU, USD, Chapman, Pepperdine in that order. I've spent a ton of time researching specifically USD and Chapman.

To me, the clear choice is USD. They are ranked higher than Chapman, but at this level rankings matter way less that the relationships the schools have with the local job market. Since USD is located in a bigger city, they have a clear edge. They have a good bar passage rate and good employment statistic, but they give out conditional scholarships, so be aware. Anecdotally, the conditional scholarships seem to be easier to retain than at Chapman, and I have read about a few bad experiences with Chapman students ending up in stacked sections, which makes it really tough to beat the GPA median and keep the scholarship.

I have stalked a few Chapman grads on LinkedIn and they still send students to large firms and cool jobs. They are well know for sports law and entertainment law, so if that interests you I definitely recommend checking them out. The main downside of Chapman, at least for me, is where it's located. It is a beautiful campus, but Orange County is not a big city, so job opportunities will probably present themselves differently. If you want to work in SD you'll be competing with USD grads and if you want to work in LA you'll be competing with UCLA/USC/LMU grads. But, if you're looking to practice in Orange County, especially in real estate law, this is the school for you. I see lots of grads working in real estate law coming from Chapman. It'll be a tough market but again, they definitely set some students up for great careers. I even saw someone who was in house council for Apple who was a Chapman alum.

My advice: study hard and get a good LSAT score. If you have a decent GPA and can score above 160, or ideally above 165, you'll most likely be able to choose between either school and get scholarship money for both.

Avatario43

ezavila92 now this is what im talking about. real and thorough advice and insight, this is really helpful! youre the best. sending y'all blessings