Law School Decision Making

Comments

• dennisgerrard Member

  February 2017 edited February 2017 1644 karma

  First, Congrats to you!!
  I assume you are from same country like I am:). Check the social net work(alumni) and visit school if possible(3 years or + is a long time). I would choose USC(or Northwestern) since California has many firms(IP). Yet, giving the government policy, it's tough to get work VISA though even you are in T14. So, focus on the big cities in your country(for me,it's HK). Be prepared for long-term is a good thing anyway.
• JustDoIt Alum Member ⭐

  February 2017 edited February 2017 3112 karma

  First of all, congrats on those acceptances! Every school that you mentioned is great.

  What I would say is that it comes down to two things: what do you want to do when you graduate and the cost of attending. Really narrow down what you need to do in order to get to where you want to be. If you are able to do it from every school you have been accepted to, then go to the school that gave you the most money. But I would argue that more doors are going to open the higher you climb in the rankings. So if you have very ambitious goals, you may want to attend the best school that you get into.

  If it was up to me, my vote would be for Michigan. Great school, great career opportunities, in a collegiate and fun environment. Is it expensive? Obviously. But I kind of feel that if you are at all uncertain of what you want to do, going to the best school you can get into open more doors for you.

  Hope this helps!
• danielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  February 2017 4181 karma

  For me, it depends on how much you're getting from those other schools. Financial/need-based aid could be a big factor. If you can get it and end up with money anywhere near what the others are giving you, Michigan would almost have to be number one, provided you really, really don't want to be at Michigan or really want to be in California for school.
• 1 Like

  stgl1230 Member

  February 2017 edited February 2017 821 karma

  @"abby.lu2017" Congrats!! And Go Blue!

  Michigan is going to give you the best national job prospects, period. And they place well in Asia. From a purely jobs perspective, Michigan is your best choice. No question about that.

  But you have a somewhat unique situation, so in your case, I'm not entirely sure that Michigan is the right choice without a scholarship and without knowing what your international financial aid numbers are going to be. I'm not entirely familiar with how commercial loans work for international students, but I think @dennisgerrard is onto something.

  If you don't end up with a considerable amount of international financial aid at Michigan, you're looking at $200k+ in debt (although from what I understand it's hard for international students to get certain kinds of loans, so you might end up with a really bad loan, which really puts on more pressure to do well and score a good job). You'll be competing for a top legal job with everyone else in the T14 (and all other law school graduates, for that matter) and you will need to secure a visa. Obviously, I don't know how all companies work, but I would imagine that all other things being equal, they would prefer to hire someone that is a US citizen or permanent resident, and there is no shortage of American lawyers to hire.

  I don't know how feasible it is to move back to your country of residence right after law school. Do they hire a lot of American grads right out of law school? Or are you expected to have American law firm experience first?

  Also, I think that you need to be realistic about what kind of job you want. I'm not sure what "decent employment prospects" entails. Are you thinking Biglaw? Because if you accept your Michigan offer with no scholarship/aid, you will be absolutely forced to work big law, and then you run into the issue of visas again. If you're interested in smaller law (I'm assuming PI is out of the picture since you are not a US citizen), you need to consider what kind of income you'll be looking at. If you strike out with big law, you can easily end up making under $100k and then it will be very difficult to pay back your loans.

  If your scholarship to USC is over $150k, I'd consider taking it. I have family in Asia and USC is regarded quite well. USC also seems to place well at firms in Southern California, so you can get big law with SC if you need it (assuming visa stuff works out), and with its reputation you should be able to move home if you wanted.
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  February 2017 27902 karma

  Lots of great advice already. Michigan, Duke, and Northwestern would definitely provide you with the best national and international job prospects. The amount of debt you take on will further limit/prohibit your options, so it's a balance between the two. T14 schools will provide you with increased opportunities, but debt burden could potentially limit your ability to take advantage of those. Tough call, but it really is the kind of situation where you're deciding between the best of great options. Congrats, and good luck with your decision!
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  February 2017 edited February 2017 23929 karma

  @"abby.lu2017" said:
  I know most of you are still preparing for the LSAT, so I apologize if this post is stressing you out/distracting!

  Soooo, the time has come.... I have to decide where to attend law school now. So far, I've narrowed it down to Michigan Law, USC Gould, and WUSTL. I'm still waiting for decisions from Duke, Northwestern, and UCLA.

  USC and WUSTL gave me the same amount of scholarship, but the net cost is lower @WUSTL. I didn't get any merit scholarship from Michigan, but I think I will try my luck with their international student financial aid (I am an international student!)

  My priority is to have decent employment prospect post-grad around the country and internationally.

  Please share your experience/thoughts with me! I'd really appreciate any insight/advice you are willing to give!

  My thoughts are Michigan having the best international/national reach and best employment prospects. USC/WUSTL are great schools, but you can find some scathing reviews of students who did well (median) and ended up getting the ol' barista job at Starbucks. Duke and Northwestern are also great options, but again, what type of law you are interested in and where you'd like to practice should also place a significant role in decision. Along with money.

  For example, I don't recommend going to USC or WUSTL if I wanted to work in NYC big law or be able to have the ability and mobility to travel and find jobs the way a school like Duke/Mich can. WUSTL has fallen out of favor as a feeder into big law over the past decade and I don't know much about USC except I don't see many alums with them listed on their firm bios.

  Either way, it seems you have some great options! Just gotta decide where you wanna live for 3 years, what you are more interested in (NW is more business oriented) and you'll be set.

  Congrats