Top Law Schools

Hey everyone,

Assuming I want to stay in PA (although DC or Maryland would be nice), which school would you select. I'm pretty flexible about where in the state I want to practice/work.

Pitt- 12k/yr scholarship (3.0 requirement)
Penn State- 20k/yr scholarship (top half requirement)
Duquesne- Full ride (top half requirement)
Drexel- 30k/yr scholly (2.8 requirement)

Btt

Although I'm obviously biased, I say you should go to Pitt.

It dominates Pittsburgh, has a semester in DC program, and with in state tuition, would be cheapest aside from Duquesne's full-ride.

Penn State is in State College and Carlisle, not exactly booming legal markets.

Drexel isn't fully accredited.

Duquense is T-4 = Stay away.

Why no Temple or Nova? While Philly has more competition, it's a bigger legal market.

If you would want to live in/near Pittsburgh, or really anywhere in the western half of PA, I'd say Pitt's the best choice.

If you're looking more in the central PA/State College/Harrisburg area, PSU could be slightly better.

If you're looking at eastern PA, you don't really have any great options listed... but I assume you don't have your heart set on Philly based on your post and the schools you're deciding between.

amyLAchemist wrote:

pantherfan wrote:Hey everyone,

Assuming I want to stay in PA (although DC or Maryland would be nice), which school would you select. I'm pretty flexible about where in the state I want to practice/work.

Pitt- 12k/yr scholarship (3.0 requirement)
Penn State- 20k/yr scholarship (top half requirement)
Duquesne- Full ride (top half requirement)
Drexel- 30k/yr scholly (2.8 requirement)

I would think. However, what is the curve at Pitt? (i.e. what does a 3.0 mean)

3.0 is top 50%.

So then it's pretty much top 50% everywhere, giving you roughly that same chance of hanging on to the money. I'm sure if you take the average of the scholarship price and the full-tuition price, Pitt's gonna end up being the cheapest.

If you like Pittsburgh, that seems to be the obvious answer. Even if you lose the scholarship, you won't be getting killed by debt.

Unquestionably Pitt. And this is coming from someone who turned them down. I wish I wanted to live in Pittsburgh, because I really liked their school (and they have a nice pipeline to DC)

I assume you're in state? Pitts in state tuition is 24k, versus PSU's 33K

12K or 13K and if you lose your scholly, its 24K vs 33K...

Going East, I really believe PSU vs Pitt is almost even. Neither will beat the Philly triumvirate in that city, but that doesn't seem to be your plan

amyLAchemist wrote:

pantherfan wrote:Hey everyone,

Assuming I want to stay in PA (although DC or Maryland would be nice), which school would you select. I'm pretty flexible about where in the state I want to practice/work.

Pitt- 12k/yr scholarship (3.0 requirement)
Penn State- 20k/yr scholarship (top half requirement)
Duquesne- Full ride (top half requirement)
Drexel- 30k/yr scholly (2.8 requirement)

I would think. However, what is the curve at Pitt? (i.e. what does a 3.0 mean)

The curve at Pitt is a B/B- I believe.

Also, I agree with going to Pitt. In state tuition is cheap, and Pittsburgh is a great place to live.

Pitt for Pittsburgh market. Outside that pitt is virtually unknown. Penn State will give you more options out of state. Since PSU grads have no good market to feed into, you have a better and more regional/national alumni base as opposed to all of the other schools you mentioned. Pitt and Duq are all very local.

PoliticalJunkie wrote:Pitt for Pittsburgh market. Outside that pitt is virtually unknown. Penn State will give you more options out of state. Since PSU grads have no good market to feed into, you have a better and more regional/national alumni base as opposed to all of the other schools you mentioned. Pitt and Duq are all very local.

I don't know that I agree that PSU will give you "better regional/national" sway. Pitt is known to place extremely well in DC and is better ranked than PSU. (I think)

klmnumbers wrote:

PoliticalJunkie wrote:Pitt for Pittsburgh market. Outside that pitt is virtually unknown. Penn State will give you more options out of state. Since PSU grads have no good market to feed into, you have a better and more regional/national alumni base as opposed to all of the other schools you mentioned. Pitt and Duq are all very local.

I don't know that I agree that PSU will give you "better regional/national" sway. Pitt is known to place extremely well in DC and is better ranked than PSU. (I think)

T2 school at the top of a decent market >>> T2 school with no market

pantherfan wrote:Hey everyone,

Assuming I want to stay in PA (although DC or Maryland would be nice), which school would you select. I'm pretty flexible about where in the state I want to practice/work.

Pitt- 12k/yr scholarship (3.0 requirement)
Penn State- 20k/yr scholarship (top half requirement)
Duquesne- Full ride (top half requirement)
Drexel- 30k/yr scholly (2.8 requirement)

As represented by the avatar, I am originally from the Keystone State and grew up around a lot of lawyers. Pittsbugh has a really good reputation within the state; I have a friend who graduated from there last year (and not at the top of her class), who managed to find a job, in her desired field, in her desired region (greater Philadelphia; she's in Wilmington, DE). Out of the options above, I would say pick Pittsburgh. It's really well respected.

That said, I do second the question of, why not Temple or Nova? Not options? I ask because of the Drexel scholly you mention. If you want to stay in PA, I'd say that Temple and Nova are probably your best bets.

But, that said... if I were in your shoes, I'd pick Pitt. Great city, too!

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UPenn of course.
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