Moving to JAX? Florida Coastal School of Law? (Jacksonville: 2014, student loans)

[jlb582]

Hello! I have been accepted to Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. I was looking for areas close to the law school which would also be safe areas with good schools... and not terribly expensive. I have two children, ages 3 and 6. I read from other posts that my husband should definitely find a job before moving, so thank you all for that info! Are there alot of activities for children there? Also, if anyone has any thoughts on the law school before I accept their offer? Any info is greatly appreciated!

[904jax]

As the parent of a four year old child, I (we) have found a lot of support and a pro-family attitude in Jacksonville across the entire city.


I am not sure about your price range, but neighborhoods south and east of Florida Coastal School of
Law (“FCSL”) are pretty good. Bartram Springs is a family friendly area about twenty minutes from FCSL. Introducing Bartram Springs....


There has been a substantial discussion about FCSL on this forum. FCSL is one of the lower ranked law schools in the nation. I would not recommend attending unless you're set on becoming a lawyer and have no other options. Please find the link to the discussion below:


//www.city-data.com/forum/jacks...-should-i.html


With regards to finding work, the unemployment rate in Jacksonville is near ten percent. One study has ranked Jacksonville near the bottom of the country in economic performance.

Here are the links to the economic reports:


Study: Jacksonville among weakest-performing areas | Jacksonville.com


Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America̢۪s 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas - Brookings Institution

[jlb582]

Thank you very much for your reply! I have decided to attend a different school based on the information I learned here. Thanks for all of the great information!

[observerpr]

People here are bashing this school. If it is ABA approved, what is the problem?? Not everybody has a lot of $ to attend Harvard, even if they are accepted. Stadistics talk, and this school is above the rest. It is like buying a Nike shirt and paying more money than a Hanes shirt because of the logo. Statistics talk. Their % bar passing rate is above the rest.

[904jax]

It is stating facts, not school bashing. Florida Coastal School of Law ("FCSL") is a fourth tier school.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/rankings/

It is a well known fact that law firms consider school ranking when evaluating prospective associates fresh out of law school.

There has been a complete and thoughtful discussion on FCSL, including insightful comments from alumni.

//www.city-data.com/forum/jacksonville/592815-florida-coastal-school-law-should-i-8.html

Check out FCSL's most recent bar passage rates in comparison to other FL schools:

http://www.sunethics.com/ba-results.htm

In 2/2010, FL law schools averaged a 69.9 percent passage rate while FCSL averaged a 60.9 bar passage rate.

[Deceptionbroken]

I agree with observerpr , there is know need to bash Law Schools that has students that are just as serious about becoming practitioner of Law but for whatever reason was not able to get into some of the Ivy Leagues or some of the other Schools that may have a Greater rating ,they all have to pass the Bar Exam and demonstrate their level of Learning and knowledge of LAW before they are accepted in the arena of LAW. A lot of Schools have develop a Name from the past and their alumni of that School has help them to have great success,but they had to get started somewhere. I wouldn't listen to negative talk, I would take a search for myself and investigate the Schools and their success and follow their alumni's and their Practices of Law and you will find out like Coastal Alumni for instance, they're just as much a part of great Law Firms as others from different other schools and Florida Coastal has even upgraded to the more advance and modern technological Law for the digital cultural, just type in the Florida School of Law in Google and follow the ALUMNI ,not folks that are not Alumni ,you might be surprised and have just as much pride as someone going to the school of their choice and maybe even save some money because you have to pay for the name some schools and their long history of success you know
[url]http://www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine/2014/july-august/teaching-the-technology-of-practice-the-10-top-schools.html?sc8cid=14DCA357[/url]

[thatguydownsouth]

You have to understand the field of Law to appreciate what FCSL is so "bashed" on many websites. The field itself has something like a 50% unemployment rate for those who have PASSED the bar, let alone those who cant even pass. So it is very important that you graduate from one of the best schools that you can in order to pay off those ridiculously high student loans. Speaking of which, youre going to pay just as much to attend FCSL as you would to attend a Tier 1 or 2 law school. That is why it is being bashed.

[seainjax]

I'm not sure if either of the other two responses are from lawyers or people with experience in the legal arena, but I myself am a graduate of FCSL. I have heard all the talk about the school and I can say my experience was profoundly different than all the "trash talk" that is floating around about the school.

My only serious complaint was that the Bar prep program needed some work, which apparently has been changed significantly since I graduated in 2012. I am now a practicing attorney in the exact area of law I wanted to get into and I had no difficulty finding a job after graduation. Everyone I know that graduated with me has a job although some of them had a difficult time finding a job for a few months after graduation, others did not start out making as much money as they would have liked, and very few of them are not practicing law. As far as I am aware, all of the ones who decided not to practice did so of their own volition. Many of them moved to other cities to practice as well.

Just like at every other law school, students should expect to get out of the experience what they put into it. If you don't do internships or otherwise try to gain legal experience during law school, you will find it very hard to get a job after graduation, no matter what law school you attend. A top tier law school may look nice on a resume, however your success as a student and as a lawyer lies predominantly on your shoulders, not on the law school you choose to attend. Good luck!

[tacosman]

Young people should only go to law school today under the following circumstances:

1) you get into a t14(preferably a t6) with money so that your student loans will be less than 100k
2) you don't have great other options
3) you really want to be a lawyer

Only about 0.5 percent of current law school students meet all those. These days smart people who go to good law schools are in bad shape. So people going to schools like this tttt are truly clueless. The whole thing is just really one big federal student loan scam

[thatguydownsouth]

Originally Posted by seainjax

I'm not sure if either of the other two responses are from lawyers or people with experience in the legal arena, but I myself am a graduate of FCSL. I have heard all the talk about the school and I can say my experience was profoundly different than all the "trash talk" that is floating around about the school.

My only serious complaint was that the Bar prep program needed some work, which apparently has been changed significantly since I graduated in 2012. I am now a practicing attorney in the exact area of law I wanted to get into and I had no difficulty finding a job after graduation. Everyone I know that graduated with me has a job although some of them had a difficult time finding a job for a few months after graduation, others did not start out making as much money as they would have liked, and very few of them are not practicing law. As far as I am aware, all of the ones who decided not to practice did so of their own volition. Many of them moved to other cities to practice as well.

Just like at every other law school, students should expect to get out of the experience what they put into it. If you don't do internships or otherwise try to gain legal experience during law school, you will find it very hard to get a job after graduation, no matter what law school you attend. A top tier law school may look nice on a resume, however your success as a student and as a lawyer lies predominantly on your shoulders, not on the law school you choose to attend. Good luck!

If you look at the un-manipulated statistics from your alma matter its very clear that youre an outlier.