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I just heard from Hamline law school and they offered me a half scholarship which is great but still the question being is it even worth going to this school? USnews shows that their Alternate Dispute program (ADR) is ranked 3rd in USA.
I am interested in ADR but my story is that I am an international student
(almost a lawyer in my country in fact) and I carefully have to think before coming to USA cz the economy is bad and the legal field is saturated. So the main question is, what kind of a job would I be getting after graduating from this school or would I be even getting a job? They don't write anything about 2011 graduates so it is hard to know or believe.
I would love to know more about this school because I am still investing the other half of the fees+living which, as a student is a lot.
I think going to law school is still a good investment. The 2 I know (who are both just a few years out of law school) are both District Attorneys. They make around $70,000 a year. I know 1 for sure is trying to get into corporate law. Good luck!
Law is really a gamble right now. The market is filled with recent grads and just last year the student newspaper ran a special on how a huge number of lawyers are working minimum-wage jobs with $150,000-200,000 worth of debt. Of course, if you're getting a scholarship, that's great.
What it really comes down to is if you're interested in law or not. If it's truly your passion, go for it! You'll be able to find a job, especially once the job market picks up.
I'm an attorney working here in the Twin Cities. Let me be frank, most recent law graduates are still having a very tough time finding legal employment. Don't trust the law schools' employment statistics. They do all sorts of tricks to manipulate their employment statistics. For examples, at least one law school was recently caught telling their recent grads to respond to their employment survey only if they have a job. Some law schools count all employed grads, even ones working at McDonald's, as employed in their employment statistics. Some law schools give recent grads menial jobs at the law school that just happens to run though the reporting period for reporting employment statistics.
As you're an international student, I'm not sure if you completely understand how law schools work here in the U.S. If you look at the US News and World Report law school rankings, only the top 14 or so are schools that have a national reputation, meaning that people that graduate from those schools have the best chance at finding work around the country. Here, in the twin cities market, the highest ranked school is the University of Minnesota. Students who do well there can expect a very good chance at finding work here in the Twin Cities, and the few who do exceptionally well can have a decent chance of finding work around the midwest, such as in Chicago, and a small chance at landing work in other big cities outside of the midwest such as New York City or Los Angeles.
For a Hamline graduate, you are going to be pretty much limited to trying to find work in the Twin Cities, and only the very best handful of students will have a shot at landing a job in the Twin Cities office of a large national law firm. Plus you will be competing with University of Minnesota grads, who are graduating from a much more reputable law school.
It looks like Hamline isn't ranked very highly in he USNWR rankings. Law is a very prestige based business, and the rankings generally correlate with the school's relative prestige in the legal world. Specialized rankings, such as the ADR ranking you mentioned, doesn't mean a thing.
I may sound overly pessimistic, but even with a half scholarship you will still rack up a lot of student loans going to Hamline, and I want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into before you decide to commit to taking on such a financial burden.
I'm an attorney working here in the Twin Cities. Let me be frank, most recent law graduates are still having a very tough time finding legal employment. Don't trust the law schools' employment statistics. They do all sorts of tricks to manipulate their employment statistics. For examples, at least one law school was recently caught telling their recent grads to respond to their employment survey only if they have a job. Some law schools count all employed grads, even ones working at McDonald's, as employed in their employment statistics. Some law schools give recent grads menial jobs at the law school that just happens to run though the reporting period for reporting employment statistics.
As you're an international student, I'm not sure if you completely understand how law schools work here in the U.S. If you look at the US News and World Report law school rankings, only the top 14 or so are schools that have a national reputation, meaning that people that graduate from those schools have the best chance at finding work around the country. Here, in the twin cities market, the highest ranked school is the University of Minnesota. Students who do well there can expect a very good chance at finding work here in the Twin Cities, and the few who do exceptionally well can have a decent chance of finding work around the midwest, such as in Chicago, and a small chance at landing work in other big cities outside of the midwest such as New York City or Los Angeles.
For a Hamline graduate, you are going to be pretty much limited to trying to find work in the Twin Cities, and only the very best handful of students will have a shot at landing a job in the Twin Cities office of a large national law firm. Plus you will be competing with University of Minnesota grads, who are graduating from a much more reputable law school.
It looks like Hamline isn't ranked very highly in he USNWR rankings. Law is a very prestige based business, and the rankings generally correlate with the school's relative prestige in the legal world. Specialized rankings, such as the ADR ranking you mentioned, doesn't mean a thing.
I may sound overly pessimistic, but even with a half scholarship you will still rack up a lot of student loans going to Hamline, and I want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into before you decide to commit to taking on such a financial burden.
I really appreciate your detailed response to my question. I am aware of the fact that I will probably working locally cz this is a regional law school and plus as you mentioned I will have University of Minnesota grads competition.
I am a lawyer in my home country and I wanted to originally pursue LLM in USA but I wanted to gain work experience so I changed my plans to JD and boom the economy crashed so kinda bad luck there....but still with this half scholarship I will have a debt of about 60-65K.
I am in a confused state of mind because the scholarship looks very tempting but at the same time I have to really make sure that I will get a job to pay off my debt otherwise I am gonna be homeless haha
I went to one of the top 14 schools I mentioned. I just wanted to layout some of the pitfalls of the U.S. legal education system that you might not be aware of, but obviously it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons. Have you been accepted to any other U.S. law schools besides Hamline?
I am not really sure about the kind of opportunities I will have as an international student after grad. So I am trying to get more information on that. I am accepted to New Englands, no biggie. Waiting for other schools to respond.
With my law studies here I couldn't give my best on LSAT and hence, I am stuck with regional schools.
I am really gonna think a lot because I should be able to repay my debt as well.
I'm an attorney working here in the Twin Cities. Let me be frank, most recent law graduates are still having a very tough time finding legal employment. Don't trust the law schools' employment statistics. They do all sorts of tricks to manipulate their employment statistics. For examples, at least one law school was recently caught telling their recent grads to respond to their employment survey only if they have a job. Some law schools count all employed grads, even ones working at McDonald's, as employed in their employment statistics. Some law schools give recent grads menial jobs at the law school that just happens to run though the reporting period for reporting employment statistics.
As you're an international student, I'm not sure if you completely understand how law schools work here in the U.S. If you look at the US News and World Report law school rankings, only the top 14 or so are schools that have a national reputation, meaning that people that graduate from those schools have the best chance at finding work around the country. Here, in the twin cities market, the highest ranked school is the University of Minnesota. Students who do well there can expect a very good chance at finding work here in the Twin Cities, and the few who do exceptionally well can have a decent chance of finding work around the midwest, such as in Chicago, and a small chance at landing work in other big cities outside of the midwest such as New York City or Los Angeles.
For a Hamline graduate, you are going to be pretty much limited to trying to find work in the Twin Cities, and only the very best handful of students will have a shot at landing a job in the Twin Cities office of a large national law firm. Plus you will be competing with University of Minnesota grads, who are graduating from a much more reputable law school.
It looks like Hamline isn't ranked very highly in he USNWR rankings. Law is a very prestige based business, and the rankings generally correlate with the school's relative prestige in the legal world. Specialized rankings, such as the ADR ranking you mentioned, doesn't mean a thing.
I may sound overly pessimistic, but even with a half scholarship you will still rack up a lot of student loans going to Hamline, and I want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into before you decide to commit to taking on such a financial burden.
I have no clue what you are talking about but your answer seemed very helpful to the OP. +1
I am not really sure about the kind of opportunities I will have as an international student after grad. So I am trying to get more information on that. I am accepted to New Englands, no biggie. Waiting for other schools to respond.
With my law studies here I couldn't give my best on LSAT and hence, I am stuck with regional schools.
I am really gonna think a lot because I should be able to repay my debt as well.
With a law degree and, clearly, a great work ethic, can a law student transition well into a career in business finance or something? There's ALWAYS availability for Analysts and they make great income (usually) and have an almost limitless ceiling.
I just heard from Hamline law school and they offered me a half scholarship which is great but still the question being is it even worth going to this school? USnews shows that their Alternate Dispute program (ADR) is ranked 3rd in USA.
I am interested in ADR but my story is that I am an international student
(almost a lawyer in my country in fact) and I carefully have to think before coming to USA cz the economy is bad and the legal field is saturated. So the main question is, what kind of a job would I be getting after graduating from this school or would I be even getting a job? They don't write anything about 2011 graduates so it is hard to know or believe.
I would love to know more about this school because I am still investing the other half of the fees+living which, as a student is a lot.
Thanks in advance!
I'd take the scholarship but only give them a half-hearted effort in return.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cgy1
...Some law schools count all employed grads, even ones working at McDonald's, as employed in their employment statistics...
I'm sure the lawyers at McDonald's appreciate that, and besides...free Big Macs!
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