College suggestions. Where should I go? (Penn: good schools, live, law)

[toobusytoday]

Most of the colleges in Philadelphia are private schools so it doesn't matter if you are a resident of the state or not.

[mltimes]

It's not clear if you are looking for undergrad or grad, but since you indicated "possibly for law" I'll assume grad school.

Law school isn't really something to consider as a "possibly." It's too difficult and too expensive to be a fall back because people don't know what else to do after college. It's not uncommon to graduate with $100K or more in debt. You don't want to finish 1L and realize you spent tens of thousands of dollars and hate what you're doing because you'll either have wasted a lot of cash or, worse and much more common, you'll stick it out and never be happy.

That said, a few points about law schools in Philadelphia:

1. Temple's law school is usually ranked #1 in the country for its Trial Advocacy program. If you have any interest in being a civil or criminal trial lawyer, Temple trumps all area schools including Penn.

2. Temple's out of state tuition may be lower than a private law school. In state tuition is far less. If you can secure NJ residency, Rutgers is the same way.

3. Drexel Law is very new but acheived its ABA accredidation years faster than expected so they are clearly doing something right.

4. Big law in Philadelphia will probably only seriously consider hiring you if you are in top 20% from Temple and Villanova, and top 10% from Widener, Rutgers and Drexel.

5. St. Joe's doesn't have a law school.

6. You would be foolish to have a car if you are attending Penn, Drexel or Temple Law. You might want a car at Villanova or Rutgers. Not sure about Widener.

[Finger Laker]

Drexel law is very, very new - not sure if you are looking for undergraduate or graduate - i do know that if you plan to live in the philadelphia area there are a lot of connections to be made at drexel and the university carries a lot of respect for turning out good workers/leaders

UPenn is definitely the best school in the city, however many of their students are not locals and many move away after graduation ..... obviously their name stretches anywhere

with sports temple/'nova will have more name recognition in other parts of the nation

if you move away from the philadelphia area you'll be hard pressed to find a lot of connections or recognition for Drexel

Part of the reason drexel helps with networking is the amount of work you do in companies while still in school

[Finger Laker]

as far as campuses - drexels is very urban and has improved greatly over the past 5 years ....... it's still definitely a city school

UPenn touches drexel to the south and goes a little further west - despite still being in the city it still has a college atmosphere feel to it complete with some buildings you'd expect from an Ivy

temple is kind of on an island in a not so nice part of town - they keep their campus pretty safe and you can see the bright lights up broad street from most places in the city ......... that's temple

all 3 campuses have great access to the trains - drexel definitely and even penn to a degree are an easy and safe walk to center city ............ temple is right off the broad street line, although some of the stops inbetween are definitely sketchy

'nova isn't really close to center city at all ......... neither is St. Joes - i don't know about public transport from 'nova, but I know St. Joes is right off a bus line that will get you to 30th street station - both their campuses are a little more traditional and not really urban at all

[Tone509]

The R5 Regional Rail train to/from Thorndale/Paoli stops right on campus at Villanova. It also stops at Overbrook which is a convenient stop for St. Joe's students. However, the last train leaves around midnight, give or take, on weekends. So if you're planning to let off some steam in the city, you would have to invest in a hotel room to crash in or a designated driver. That may be changing in the near future, though, as SEPTA is finally(!) considering adding late night weekend trains to accomodate suburban visitors who want to stay out until the 2:00am last call.

Good luck with your decision!

[clickclack]

Penn is the best and most-respected one, but if you're grades aren't the best, Drexel, Villanova, Temple, St. Joe's...the basics

[DTO Luv]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to try to get out there around Thanksgiving so I'll try to check some things out while I'm there.

[thesixth]

Please remember that Saint Joseph's doesn't have a law school - your only options are Temple, Penn & Villanova.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by thesixth

Please remember that Saint Joseph's doesn't have a law school - your only options are Temple, Penn & Villanova.

And Delaware Law school, which is really in PA (Widener).

[mltimes]

Originally Posted by thesixth

Please remember that Saint Joseph's doesn't have a law school - your only options are Temple, Penn & Villanova.

And Drexel and Rutgers-Camden.

Originally Posted by Pilot1

And Delaware Law school, which is really in PA (Widener).

To be completely accurate, Widener has two campuses: one in Wilmington, DE and one in Harrisburg, PA. Also, if our list is going to expand outside of the Philadelphia area, I would argue that Dickenson (Penn State) in Carlisle should also be included.