I am deciding between attending the two law schools. If you have and good/bad knowledge/experience with these schools please advise. UT Austin seems more presitigous but a big, maybe not as pleasant public school. WashU seems a bit less prestigious but possibly a nicer experience? Will I have trouble finding a high paying job in Los Angeles with either school?
Higher Education (University +) - 1 Answers
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1
UT is a big school, but everyone I know that goes there loves it. I personally think that you'll have a better shot getting a job out in LA by going to UT, since its widely recognized as one of the best schools in the country. Plus, living in Austin will get you prepared to living and working in a big, crazy city that has a lot going on. The problem with UT is that the enrollment is very large, so you'd be competing with a lot of students. But, that is something you could use to your advantage when trying to get a job at a big law firm.
2
In general, you want to go to the bigger name school. Of course, even that only matters for getting your first job. And there is an exception to that rule. Consider whether WUSL has a program for a particular specialty you want to study (e.g., maritime law) that UT doesn't have. It would be better to go to a lesser known school that has the courses you want than a better name school that doesn't. All that said, here's the most important thing. There are many, many more people graduating law school every year than there are jobs at law firms. Usually, only about the top 10% of grads will end up working as attorneys. The rest will go into other fields where their degrees are useful but not necessary (e.g., consulting). So, you need to bust your butt in law school to get better grades than 90% of the other students. And while you might have been among the best in your undergrad program, so where all the other law students. So, now you must be among the best of the best. Law school is so competitive that students have been known to go to the library and cut required reading articles out of books just so other students can't get the articles to read for class. Hey, being a lawyer is about doing whatever it takes to win. You better start acting that way now.
