Besides UT Austin, what would you guys say is the best law school in TX? I was looking for some information regarding the following three schools. I have been to their website and studied them, but I would like to hear from a natives perspective, if possible. I thank you in advance for the help. Schools: University of Houston Baylor SMU My questions were pretty general, so you can throw whatever you want in your post. I want to know how do Texans look at these schools. Is one considerably better than the other? What are your personal views? How is the living situation near the schools? Any one have any idea on rent (say 1bedroom apt) or prices for a 1 or 2 bedroom small condo? Just looking at general info. Any recommendations on the school/lifestyle would be appreciated. Are there big cities near these schools? Are they more urban/suburban setting? Any of you guys attended either one? Would you do it again? **Only concerned about Academic quality, not sports** Thanks for the help, -Ryan
BigTex308 is right, South Texas is very good, especially in the litigation department. UH is also very good. But keep in mind you must do very well at either of those schools to get a good job. Our best candidates from Texas schools are usually from UT, but the top people at UH and STCL are usually great also. In choosing a school I wouldn't consider Baylor, SMU or St. Mary's over those two unless you knew you wanted to work in the cities where those schools are located. Both UH and STCL are centrally located, and Houston is a great place to live. Why not UT?
There is a "good" Law school in Nigeria. They guarantee everyone to graduate with honors. I just sent in $100.00 for the application. You see I got this e-mail and..... ..... >>>>>>>>>>. I got my bags packed and I am going to Lagos. My sis graduated from S. Texas (1981).
Ryan, if you want to be a street fighter, go to South Texas. Otherwise, go to UT. The only reason to go to one of the other schools would be if you can't get in to UT. Dale
I went to Jr High School with Fred Levin. Tobacco has been berry berry good to Fred... Despite that, UF's LLM in tax is one of the best. You can't go wrong. Dale
Thanks Dale. You have not only been very kind to me, but extremely generous in answering all the questions over time. They have been much appreciated, and I will indebted for a long time to come. One of these days when I am in Houston, I will look forward to meeting you. -Ryan
If you get into UT and are choosing only among Texas schools, I think you would be remiss not to take them up on their offer. It sounds like you feel you already have a job lined up in CA regardless of where you go to school. If this is not the case and you are set on a CA firm job, I would not bother with any school in TX other than UT. Rankings are important if you need to open doors. I agree that your success in law school and which school you go to could have little to do with how successful you are in your career. Also, law school pretty much sucks regardless of where you are. To some people Austin is the greatest city in the world. To me, it's that hellhole where I went to law school. Dale is a brilliant guy and his advice is invaluable. Trust me, he has Houston lawyers washing his cars in their free time. LOL
Well the offer was there! You just didn't want to make the drive down! BTW, I did end up detailing Taek's Spider in my driveway that day. Hilarious.
I dont much about their law program, but Rice is one of the most prestigious schools in the state. www.rice.edu
You might check this page out. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1039054565705 I will toss out a plug for Tech's Law School. They have won quite a few national championships in student advocacy competitions and have a very high pass rate on the bar exam.
Ryan: My sister had four kids. That put a professional career on hold. - She is not alone. I have heard of a few female CPA's and attorneys who gave it up (for a family). I actually know of one pediatrician, (after having children) that never practiced medicene again. My sister helped her husband in business later on. Good luck
I am an SMU law grad. Here is my 2 cents. If you plan on practicing law outside of Texas, but you want to go to a Texas law school, you must go to UT. If you are an out-of-state student with no prior work experience, you must score very very high on the LSAT to get a UT spot. When I applied to UT as an out of state student (I got in, but chose SMU instead) only about 15% of the spots were set for out of staters. SMU, Houston, Baylor, Tech, South Texas, Texas Weslyan, and St. Marys are all regional law schools and you will find it more difficult to find legal employment outside of Texas. You might be able to find a job out of state if you go to SMU, Baylor or U of H. If you go to Tech, St. Mary's, South Texas, or Texas Weslyan, it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to get a job out of state. If you plan to stay in Texas, UT is still the best bet, but SMU, Houston, and Baylor are also good choices and if you do well, you will find a very good job. Your choice of law school also depends on what type of lawyer you want to be. If you want a big firm with a six figure starting salary, forget South Texas, Texas Weslyan, or St. Mary's unless you graduate at the top of the class. I know lawyers from South Texas and St. Mary's and they are very, very good lawyers, but these days, the larger firms will not grab anyone from those schools who is generally not right at the top of the class (i.e., the #1 or #2 student). Also, if you want to be a trial lawyer, then schools like South Texas and St. Mary's that have well know trial advocacy classes may be what you are looking for. However, if you are going into corporate law, the fact that South Texas and St. Mary's have great trial ad reputations will not overcome their generally poor rankings. If you are into IP law (which is my background), then UT and U of H are the places to go, followed by SMU. SMU is an excellent law school, but overpriced for what you get - IMHO. But, if you do well, a big firm, six figure salary job with a major Texas firm will be no problem. The general rule of thumb is that you should go to the highest ranking law school that you can get into. Dont worry about tuition. Take Stafford Loans if you have to. The expense of a great legal education will pay off inthe long run and with student loan rates as low as they are right now, money for a top law school education is very inexpensive.
I went to Texas A&M for my undergrad degrees in engineering. (MIT for Masters) and as anyone from Texas knows--No one from A&M would ever say anything good about that trade school in Austin. However--facts being what they are-The University of Texas has always had a very good reputation as a law school-country wide. No way you can dispute that--also Austin is one of the top fivish places in the country to live-IMHO-Which is saying alot from an Aggie! Bur remember-it's not what the school brings to you-it's what you come away with that matters in the end. Find a place you feel comfortable in, study hard, never fall behind in the assignments-and you will succeed. Good luck what ever your choice.
Well, you can't go wrong with Austin, Houston or Dallas in that respect. Obviously there are bad parts of all of the three of those cities, but you can live in really nice areas that are convenient to any of the schools. I mostly do business transactions and securities work. These days general business law would be a better description.
A month ago, we picked up a special copy of US News & World Report which lists America's Best Graduate Schools... for MBA, Law, Medicine, Engineering, etc. It lists UT Austin Law School very high at a national rank of 15. And you'd know every school listed higher. SMU is listed at 47th and Baylor at 50th. Then they broke it down further by the Top 10 in Dispute Resolution, Trial Advocacy, International Law, Healthcare Law, etc. UT Austin is listed #5 in Tax Law. Interesting, although not listed in the overall top 50, South Texas College of Law is listed as #9 in Trial Advocacy. UT Austin and Texas A&M are tied for the 23rd ranking in MBA schools. Broken down again, UT Austin is #2 in Accounting (I have a niece finishing up her Masters in Accounting at UT - cool!).
You will definately need a Ferrari crew Tommy Hilfiger 2 piece winter testing jacket, with full tobacco logos, to go up to CT! *rummaging in closet* Here it is!!!!!! See, it has this nice zip out vest, inside....... You know Lake Travis, outside Austin is a clothing optional lake...you knew that, right? And New Bransfels, to the south, has a major public nudity problem....City Council is deliberating taking action....... Yea...LOOONNNNNNG winters in CT....LOL!
Top 25 university in all functions and colleges. I have an BBA '74 and MBA '83. An A & M degree will open doors in all industries.
Texas A&M does not have a law school, but South Texas School of Law is affiliated with A&M. There are a few programs at A&M where you study undergrad for 3 years, then head to South Texas Law for another 3. In the end, you've earned both an undergrad degree and JD. Unfortunately, that system hasn't been extended to any other law programs (i.e. higher ranked or more well known if you don't want to stay in Texas).
