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Related Discussions
2nd deposit decision!
FritoLaws
Member
Help me decide which school to put a second deposit down to.
My background: I’m almost 15 years out of undergrad. Worked a little over half that time as an electrical engineer and international project manager for a global company on oil & gas projects. Travelled / ran a few businesses including a physical location business for the remainder. Now have a wife and almost 2-year-old toddler and live in Houston. Have a house with a mortgage here. Applied to 15 schools, didn’t get into the 3 ivys I applied to, but got in to remainder (including a couple of top 20s) and waitlisted at a couple of top 15s. Have narrowed it down to 4 options, mostly based on practical considerations. Most of my immediate family lives around Texas (Austin, Houston, and Dallas). Am contemplating IP law, but am not 100% sure if that’s what I’ll end up in. Wife is a school teacher.
In alphabetical order:
• Emory with $36k/yr scholly with ’19-20 tuition ~$59.5k/yr full-time. Requires relocation to Atlanta.
• Houston with $11.5k/yr scholly with ’19-20 tuition ~33.2k/yr full-time. I live about 15 minutes drive from the school.
• Seton Hall with full-tuition scholly for their weekend part-time program (requires 8 alternative weekends of classes and 1 weekend for finals per fall & spring semester over 4 years). Will have some travel costs associated with it such as flights and 2 nights of hotels 9 times per semester, but will allow me to make a living while I go to school. (Night part-time programs don’t work as well for me for other reasons, so I didn’t consider them).
• Texas …. Currently wait-listed with ’19-20 tuition ~$36.8k/yr full-time. I believe my chances of getting in are decent. For this exercise, give me an opinion assuming I did AND didn’t get in. I’m assuming that there would also be some minimal scholarship provided even if being accepted off of waitlists based on various online sources. I grew up in Austin and my parents and sister’s family still live there – so Austin is also another ‘home’ for me.
Struggling with this decision and could really use some opinions / insights. Thank you!
- If I do get an offer off the Texas wait-list?32 votes
- Emory (full-time)9.38%
- Houston (full-time)12.50%
- Seton Hall (part-time weekend)9.38%
- Texas (full-time)68.75%
- If I do not get an offer off the Texas wait-list, where should I go?32 votes
- Emory (full-time)31.25%
- Houston (full-time)59.38%
- Seton Hall (part-time weekend)9.38%
Comments
An important question not answered above: where do you want to live and practice after law school? Are you planning on coming back to Texas?
A couple more questions: are you wanting to work in big law? And are you paying for tuition and cost of living through savings, wife’s income, or are you taking everything out in loans?
Good questions. I'll likely be in Texas after law school because my family and our business are here, but long term I can see my self in different places.
I like the money of big law (who doesn't?), but don't like what seems to be the work culture around such jobs. I think I'd be able to use my engineering degree and work experience along with a JD to get into Intellectual Property law, and I think that would be my ideal type of job, in house counsel for a company or IP specialist for a firm.
Plan is to pay for things out of savings and spouse income for the full time options, and thru ongoing income for part time weekend program. Maybe some loans will be needed for the full time options, but not part time option at Seton Hall.
Thanks for the response!
Where you want to live after law school is the real question here. I chose Houston over Emory for you because of you see yourself staying in Texas, Houston almost certainly has a better network. For example (I went to Emory for undergrad) a lot of lawyers in Atlanta will tell you if you plan on staying in Atlanta Georgia State is often the better option. Obviously these decisions are never that black and white but definitely consider where you want to live afterward! Good luck with UT!
Thank you. I do hope UT comes through...
Houston does seem the 'easy' decision thinking of where I want to stay, but the reason Seton Hall stays in the picture for me is that I would be able to continue to make money (while be covered financially with SHU's full tuition scholarship), will get to stay in Houston, and travel to Newark every other weekend for school. Neither of these two options will require me to move from Houston.
And I am not sure how difficult it would be to land a job in the field of intellectual property law. Being an engineer, I'm assuming that is not as common-place in law school, and I think my prior work experience may make that job search not as difficult with Seton Hall or Houston... but I could be mistaken. My hopes would be to network at law related events in Houston while I went to Seton Hall part-time... that's why I've had a difficult time getting them off my list.
Emory was on the list for me because it was the most scholarship relative to reputation, and when I visited I did like the vibe of the school and Atlanta. Plus my wife has an job opportunity lined up in Atlanta if we move there.
Thank you to the people that voted in the poll.
The results are kind of confusing though... for instance, in the "if I get an offer from the Texas waitlist" poll, 3 of 15 people have voted for Seton Hall, but "if I do not get an offer from the Texas wait list", then 2 of 15 people have voted for Seton Hall.
I'm wondering why that may be, and I wonder if people can give reasoning as to why they chose what they chose...?
Hi there! So after your updated info, I just voted for UT if you get an offer, and Houston if you do not.
I can understand your argument for Seton Hall, but I just don't see it as being the best option for you. They won't do nearly as good of a job helping you with networking and making employment connections in Houston. It's great that you already live there, so maybe you won't need as much help. But I also think that working, traveling for weekend law school, and trying to build a network in Houston on your own is just a lot on your plate. I think going to Houston makes more sense, will be less stressful, and helps you make better legal connections in your community.
Emory is the slightly better overall school here, but I don't see the relocation to Atlanta as being all that worth it. If you'd like to stay in TX, I think Houston or UT make the most sense. If, however, you just think a relocation to Atlanta would be really attractive (and it does help that your partner has a job lined up) and would be a net positive for your family, then it might make sense. But unless you have a burning desire to be there, I think staying in TX and attending either UT or Houston make the most sense for you.
I think you should first consider whether law school is the right move for you. You mentioned IP law but the impression I got from your post is that you do not know much IP jobs. Make sure you want to be a lawyer before you give up three years.
As for job options, if you're open to patent prosecution you will have a much easier time finding a job than the rest of your classmates. Even if you don't go to a LS in Texas, I don't think you'll struggle to return after law school. You have strong ties to Texas and the general trend of a school really doesn't speak for patent folks.
Thank you guys for the recommendations and insight... it is very useful to read the different perspectives.