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Law schools in Florida

nouamanm9nouamanm9 Free Trial Member
in Law School Admissions 4 karma

Can I get some feedback on law school in Florida and what you guys think? I'm considering UF's law school and FIU but I'm open to all other options as well. FSU is a great school as well. But what benefits would I have picking one over the other? There are many factors to consider but can someone jump in and throw their two cents of knowledge. All feedbacks are welcome!

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  • jyang72jyang72 Alum Member
    844 karma

    I am also struggling with this question. I think scholarship, job placement rate, city should be the factors that you consider.

  • nessa.k13.0nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐
    edited February 2017 4141 karma

    Hi @nouamanm ! I'm a Floridian too! With Florida schools my main concerns are the rate of employment upon graduation and the ranking.

    According to US News ranking (which is the only one I pay attention to) UF Levin is on top in the state at 48, then Florida State at 50, then FIU at 103. See FL ranked law schools here -http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/search?program=top-law-schools&specialty=&name=&zip=FL&program_rank=ranked&enrollment-min=0&enrollment-max=1000&tuition_and_fees-min=5000&tuition_and_fees-max=50000&sort=&sortdir=
    I care about that ranking because a good amount of each school's score depends upon placement success and selectivity. That matters to me because I want to give myself the best chance for getting hired upon graduation, especially in this super saturated and competitive market.

    If you have a job lined up through personal connections for after law school, then just ignore all of this and go where you want to go. For UF and FSU, I would go with UF simply because they have a higher employment rate (42.7% to FSU's 36.2%). Depending on where you want to work after law school, you can check and see where the first year associates graduated on firm websites. If you want to work at a big firm in Miami or Tampa it may be best to go with UF or a smaller school where you can make connections. Basically at either school depending on what you want to do, be prepared to work as hard as you can to get to the top of the class, so that you will be a competitive applicant for a 1st yr associate position.

    I would consider Stetson (if you can get money to go) over FIU only because I they have stats about their employment rate and they do have a decent alumni network for job opportunities. Both FIU and Stetson are ranked at 103. I would definitely go visit both if you can. It does concern me that FIU doesn't have any stats on employment on their website or reported to US News, but you can check and see if LSAC or Abovethelaw has any reported FIU employment stats. On the other hand, FIU does have the highest rate of students who passed the bar and it seems their prep course is stellar http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article103249897.html

    I made a pro/con list of things to consider on this post and people discussed some other factors to consider here---- https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/10317/georgewashington-law-vandy-or-bu-law

    Check out things like campus culture and climate too. You'll be there for a few years so it would be better to like where you go to school!

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