For this edition of "The Choice" I would like to start with a discussion of how I choose the schools I was applying to.
First of all, I am going to have to start with personal details. I was, at the time, in a very committed relationship. She was applying to graduate programs herself (though not for Law) and her schools all had much earlier application deadlines. We reasoned that we had been together long enough, and were committed enough, to include each other in our professional choices. Our way to solve the dilemma was to each identify a few schools or cities where we would like to pursue our educations. We then would each apply to two or three schools in each area, and then when he had all the acceptances, we could make informed decisions together.
She picked Miami, where we both found University of Miami and Nova Southeastern. I jumped on Philadelphia as a place I would like to reside, but found only Drexel with a suitable law program. She picked Long Island, noting several top schools in her field. I did apply to Hofstra. I reasoned New York City might not be a bad idea, and applied to St John's and CUNY. We both stated Baltimore as an obvious choice, as we had been residing in the city for the past two years, attended four years of undergraduate school there as well, and her family was about 20 minutes outside the city. Plus, I had all of Maryland's law school, University of Baltimore and University of Maryland, right within walking distance.
Ultimately, I think this was a good strategy. Although I am almost never one to make a "life" decision based on someone I am dating, at the time we were seriously looking ahead to engagement and beyond. Still, she is equally as pragmatic (pessimistic, maybe?) and always said that we should choose something that would satisfy us without the relationship if it ever came to that.
As for locating schools by area, I think that it is a good measure to start your search. I was able to get a handle on all the information out there. Another good way to start is to rank the schools by relative strength, and see what is at the top. Although I ended up at a "4th tier" school, I was accepted by "#42."
Speaking of strength, I always think it is a good idea to make sure you have some guaranteed acceptances as well as to get rejected by some schools. Once you take your LSAT, if you choose to have your information reported (highly recommended), schools will get your UGPA and LSAT score. Florida Coastal emailed me with acceptance and scholarship offers if I completed a one page application with no fee. It was great to know, well, at least I can get a JD somewhere! The University of Maryland (usually top 30) rejected me. So I felt I knew about where I stood. It would be a shame to only apply to top 10 schools and get no degree, but I think it is equally wasteful to not shoot high. That way you will always know it wasn't meant to be, and you never know, something on your application may strike someone in admissions and you may have a great chance.
This has been a very brief introduction. How did you decide where you were going to apply to school?
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