Cincy or Philadelphia for law school?

[ECB]

My husband is at UC Law, after an MA at Harvard and time spent living in Boston and DC. We love the slower life and he loves his professors and fellow students. Plus, we can have a house here - something we probably couldn't afford in Philly!

[Igor1977]

Assuming you are paying out of pocket for law school, this is an easy decision.

UC all the way. Why would you drop over $100K to attend Villanova? Penn I could see, but not Villanova.

Do not listen to posters who think you have better job prospects coming out of Villanova. They are wrong. UC is higher ranked and rules in the region.

Unless you some strange burning desire to live in the Philly area, do not go to Nova.

A question to consider: Do you want to go to the best school in its city or the third best?

And always remember the 3 Ps when picking a law school:

Prestige: Top 14-15 law schools in the USA

Public: self explanatory or

Paid For. Trust Fund, scholarship etc...

Cheers

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by dmoore01

Hi,
I'm considering moving to my hometown of Cincinnati for law school but I'm having a hard time deciding between Villanova (in Philadelphia) and UC.

I'd really appreciate your advice on everything from places of interest to (especially) places to live. I've filled out a questionarre to help you help me.

I grew up and graduated from high school in the city of Cincinnati but never got to experience all of what the city really has to offer. I'm hoping to get a feel for everything that many inner-city people don't take advantage of.

When areyou planning on moving? August 2008
Where are you coming from? St. Louis, MO
Why are you moving to Philly? Law School
Where will you work? Summer employment
Have you been here yet? For two days to visit schools
Are you here short term or long term? 3 years, at least.

Will you buy or rent? rent
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? $500-$650/month
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? I prefer a community of apts where everyone has their own entrance. Not a building.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? single
Do you have pets? Cat
Do you want or need a yard? Want to be close by a park with walking/running trails and preferably a lake.
Are you keeping a car? yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? prefer to live in relatively calm area with the city close by. I need to live in a place where there's a considerable amount of grass, rather than concrete.

What do you want to be closest to?

• School - Univeristy of Cincinnati
• Shopping & Dining - would like to be near some clothing stores and restaraunts
• Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) Clean, bright, grocery store is a must. The kind where they'll cook seafood for you. (groceries like the Kroger in OTR are out of the question. I'm not really fond of the one in Clifton, either.)

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? I'd like to live in a diverse area but it's not absolutely necessary. I want to live in a place with quite a few 20 and 30 somethings.

I enjoy things like theatre, museums, jazz lounges, eclectic restaurants, etc. I'd like to have easy access to these things as well. However, living in a place where there's a lot of grass takes precedence.

I'd appreciate whatever advice you can offer. Thank you so much!

Speaking as a lawyer, this is the #1 question you need to ask yourself by far: where do you want to work after you graduate? What I've learned after going to law school is that after the top 10 to 15 national law schools in the US News rankings, pretty much all other law schools are very regional in terms of where they place graduates. If you want live in Cincinnati, then go to UC. If you want to live in Philly, then go to Villanova. If you want to live somewhere else, then I strongly suggest that you find a law school that has a real track record of feeding into that market. Unless you're going to one of those very top law schools, be prepared to live in the region where you went to law school for the long haul. It sounds simple, but a lot of people only get caught up in the rankings - I would say that the tiers may matter somewhat (first tier vs. second tier in the rankings), but the fact that one school might be 5 spots higher than another school is pretty inconsequential. At the end of the day, like politics, all law schools are local (outside of those top 10 or 15 schools).

[Humlermw]

UC definitely, I'm a current student and have an apartment in the area and I have plenty of free time to enjoy the myriad of options Cincinnati has to offer. Plenty to do if you're willing to look.

[cincyUK]

NKU - NORSE FORCE. Don't overlook it - cheap and up and coming in the Cincinnati area. UC is on it's way down unfortunately.

Philidelphia is a totally different region / way of life.... polar opposite.

If you want to work in Cincy, stay here for school.

[Igor1977]

Originally Posted by cincyUK

NKU - NORSE FORCE. Don't overlook it - cheap and up and coming in the Cincinnati area. UC is on it's way down unfortunately.

Philidelphia is a totally different region / way of life.... polar opposite.

If you want to work in Cincy, stay here for school.

You're kidding right... Attend a 4th Tier law school with regional at best prospects over the best law school in the metro area?

[Humlermw]

Originally Posted by cincyUK

NKU - NORSE FORCE. Don't overlook it - cheap and up and coming in the Cincinnati area. UC is on it's way down unfortunately.

Philidelphia is a totally different region / way of life.... polar opposite.

If you want to work in Cincy, stay here for school.

Are you kidding? UC on it's way down? You must not have visited the campus in 10 years. Just got finished with an extensive building program and has posted its three largest enrollments in the past three years. If its on the way down I can't imagine what up would be.

[sfs08]

[quote=cincyUK;3281347] UC is on it's way down unfortunately.

quote]

Bull. Pure bull. How do you figure that? Because they're accepting better kids then they ever have? Because they just got done putting together one of the best campuses nationwide? Because they're getting more students then ever? Because prestige is increasing?

Give me something to somewhat validate that.