I am looking into UNH School of Law. Based on rankings, I believe it would be considered a tier 3 or tier 4 law school. It's highly ranked for its Intellectual Property specialty, but this is not where I would like to specialize. Now, conventional wisdom that I've seen often states, "law school is only worth it if you are going to a top school, i.e. T14, maybe top 30)." However, I am not interested in working in BigLaw. I would be just fine with a smaller firm or on my own, and I'm not concerned with making $160k. Now, as for the primary reason I am interested in UNH (aside from NH being my home state): cost. Students with a GPA over 3.5 (mine is 3.82 and this is my last term of UG) and an LSAT of 160 or above receive a minimum merit scholarship of $30,000. This means I'd be looking at $10,000 a year at most. This is why I'm not concerned with working for a big law firm as I won't be saddled with $100k+ of debt (and I don't like the idea of working 70 hour weeks or living in a big city).
So...my question is, do you think the trade-off of going to a not-so-reputable school is worth the investment, given the lower cost and my goals? Or do you think going to such a school would hamper my ability to work with any firm?
So...my question is, do you think the trade-off of going to a not-so-reputable school is worth the investment, given the lower cost and my goals? Or do you think going to such a school would hamper my ability to work with any firm?