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Scholarship Question

kmarie7kmarie7 Alum Member
in General 208 karma
I have been offered some very generous scholarships thanks to 7sage helping me improve my score by 12 points.

I was offered about 90% to a tier three school. Comes out to me paying about 7000 a year. I was then offered about 75% from a top 50 school, which comes out to me paying about 14,000 a year.

The tier three is in my state, which I will be practicing law. The top 50 school is in a neighboring state.

I need some advice.

I do not think I am interesting in Big Law, but possibly medium law.
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  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    edited December 2016 23929 karma
    @kmarie7 said:
    I need some advice.

    I do not think I am interesting in Big Law, but possibly medium law.
    Depends on the stats of the T3 school vs the T50. For all intents and purposes, the term T50 law school is a pretty meaningless distinction. After about the T25-30, what school you choose should really hinge on things like: where you want to practice, where you get the most money, and employment/bar passage rates. The reason is, as you can see, after the T25 or so the schools lose national reach and region trumps ranking.

    Also, what do you mean by "medium law" ? I'm assuming you mean working at a mid-sized law firm? If so, you should probably reach out to some midsize firms where you want to practice and see if they recruit from the schools you are looking to attend. They are usually pretty forthright about things of this nature, so getting an answer shouldn't be a problem.

    Good luck!

  • ajcrowelajcrowel Free Trial Member
    207 karma
    Don't go to a T3 law school over a top 50 school for 21K less in tuition, please. Go to a reputable school and just move a state over after graduation. You don't want your resume to be the butt of some hiring manager's joke.
  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    edited December 2016 23929 karma
    @ajcrowel said:
    Don't go to a T3 law school over a top 50 school for 21K less in tuition, please. Go to a reputable school and just move a state over after graduation. You don't want your resume to be the butt of some hiring manager's joke.

    The problem is many schools outside the T14 with reputable names don't have much reach outside of their markets. So it isn't prudent to go to University of Iowa School of Law (Ranked 30th), for example, over a regional T3 in the area in which OP wishes to practice, granting OP doesn't want to work in Des Moines. T50 and T3 are mostly meaningless distinctions in many cases. So it is really going to depend on what T50 vs what T3. There's a big difference between a Fordham Law (T50) alum trying to get a firm job in Newark and a University of Colorado trying to get a job in L.A. So there are certainly cases where an argument can be made to attend the T3 school over a T50.
  • AidoeAidoe Free Trial Member
    236 karma
    Wow 90%! Can I ask what your score was?
  • dennisgerrarddennisgerrard Member
    1644 karma
    Go to Top14 regardless of $$$.
  • kmarie7kmarie7 Alum Member
    208 karma
    Thanks guys. It's Mercer vs university of Tennessee
  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    edited December 2016 23929 karma
    @dennisgerrard said:
    Go to Top14 regardless of $$$.
    I think that is a bit of an overgeneralization, as it ignores other important criteria that needs to be taken into consideration. Sticker at T14 schools are usually upwards of 250k+. If you have scholarship options at other good schools, depending on your goals, you might very well be better off taking the money. For example, there's a great argument to be made that going to UCLA with full scholly trumps Berkley at sticker, or GT sticker vs. GW with a full scholarship, or Fordham full scholly vs. Cornell at sticker. Many people who get into the lower T14s tend to have great options at T20 schools. In short, financing ~300k shouldn't be taken lightly and career goals need to be considered. Though, if big law is your end game, the argument of T14> probably holds.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    edited December 2016 23929 karma
    @kmarie7 said:
    Thanks guys. It's Mercer vs university of Tennessee
    Interesting! I don't really know much about either school. Check out the 509 ABA reports and look at the employment info. See which school sends more students to mid-law firms and what state. Also, look into the mid-sized firms where you want to work and check out the bios on the firms' sites. They will tell you where the attorneys who work there went to law school and when they graduated. I know Vandy/UVA places a good deal of students into many of the mid-law firms in TN, so I would think Mercer might be the better choice if for no other reason.

    The good news is, you have great scholarships at both! Congrats :)
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