New York Law School (NYLS) Any Opinions Good or Bad?

[mbabek]

I know there are many attorneys on this site, maybe you girls (or guys) can give me some advice. I have to decided to attend NYLS but I have heard many mixed reviews about the school. Did any of you go there or know anyone who went there? What are the employment prospects (during school and after graduating)? please help I am scared I won't get a good enough paying job to pay off my debt......I am starting to second guess my decision....

 

[diamond_lover]

Well, I am not in the law profession or anything but I know two close friends who went there. For them, NY Law School was the only one they got into and my BF who is a prospective law student does not think well of it at all. Anyways, the two people ( law students who went there ) got in after goign to Rutgers. They both dropped out because one of them was offered a job in a publishing company, the tuition was really expensive, and she decided it wasn't worth it for her to stay in law. The other person couldn't pass the yearly exam and gave up. He dropped out to become a teacher. They both dropped out after their 2nd year.... I think law school is expensive and very difficult no matter where you go. But if you are really looking for a great "name" like NYU or Columbia Law, maybe you should wait and take the LSAT again? Tuition is just so expensive that I think you should go to the school you really want. But GOOD LUCK wherever you do decide to go. The last hurdle will be the Bar exam lol.

 

[mbabek]

thanks for your reply...its basically what i've heard..the thing is they are giving me a $20,000 scholarship, so that is what influenced my decision the most. The better ny schools did not give me any money, (Brooklyn, and st johns) and their cost is comparable to nyls $40,000. I guess if its really bad I will try to transfer out, I was just hoping maybe someone had something good to say about the school. I graduated college a year early..so I don't want to waste that accomplishment by losing a whole year to do lsats again..I didn't do thaaat bad 158..oh well

 

[katheryn]

Did they put any stipulations on the scholarship? If so, be wary. You don't want to be stressed about your class standing and losing your scholarship.

 

[Aslan]

St. John's Law is the most competitive. If you haven't already decided that it's out of reach, reconsider.

 

[Coldplaylover]

I know someone at NYLS and she started last August...she is content but had trouble with finding housing and has a 45 minute commute.

 

[bubbleliciousis]

have you tried talk to the other schools you got into and seeing if they could match the scholarship?

it's a tad tought since NYLS isn't as competitive as brooklyn or st johns but it's no harm trying

and yes, check out the and ask the fin aid/admissions office abt conditions of scholarship.some are contingent on passing with a certain GPA etc etc

Were your LSAT scores high? wuld you consider maybe working as a paralegal and then retaking ur LSAT if your scores weren't high and reapplying again this round for better schools like NYU, Columbia etc?

thanks for your reply...its basically what i've heard..the thing is they are giving me a $20,000 scholarship, so that is what influenced my decision the most. The better ny schools did not give me any money, (Brooklyn, and st johns) and their cost is comparable to nyls $40,000. I guess if its really bad I will try to transfer out, I was just hoping maybe someone had something good to say about the school. I graduated college a year early..so I don't want to waste that accomplishment by losing a whole year to do lsats again..I didn't do thaaat bad 158..oh well

 

[Blair Waldorf]

Dude, you're still really young. If you're not happy about your prospects now, just take a year off and study for the LSAT or find a job, whatever. The LSAT is a learnable test, and an extra 5-10 points will get you into a lot more schools. If you're ok with NY, then go for it, but you're too young to hop to it just because it's there.

 

[amanda]

don't think of it as wasting your accomplishment of getting into law school early, think of it as your golden opportunity to take a year off, study, and get into the law school that you REALLY want with a score high enough to get you financial aid. when you get in, you'll be right on time with your same-age classmates. law school is a big commitment and a big cost even with a scholarship, so taking the time to get into the one you really want shouldn't be considered wasting anything.

 

[titania029]

The job market is hard enough, I think you should go to the best school that accepted you. If you can't afford it right now, then wait and reapply. In that year, do something meaningful to add to your resume. It will help you to get into a better school, as well get a better job later on. I went straight through from undergrad to law school, and I also graduated a year early from college. I was also having anxiety attacks all through my first-year. Take the time.

 

[shoulderache]

I also graduated from college early and went straight to law school--I sorta wished I hadn't. I'm WAY younger than anyone else and sometimes that is aggravating. Finding a job is difficult because among other things, I don't have as much life experience as my classmates. My advice is that if you have a school that you like much more, take a year off and work and retake the LSAT. Go somewhere where you are happy! Don't really worry about the tuition--if there ever was a degree where you could pay off your loans, it would be your JD. If when you visit the school you aren't THRILLED by it, you may want to consider taking some time off and looking elsewhere.

Don't worry about "wasting" the fact that you finished college early. As my boyfriend pointed out, "you could go and work at 7-11 for the next 4 years and still be ahead of everyone else."

 

[mbabek]

Thank you for all of your replies. When I actually went to the open house I really was impressed by the school. They have a lot of great professors that I got to talk to and even sit in on a class. Also they invited back many many alumni to talk with the students. I could go to st. johns, I got in, but they didn't give me a scholarship, and taking that many loans is not something I am concidering. I truly liked NYLS from my own impression, its just I've heard soooo much bad stuff about them, I wanted to know if it were true. In the end we are all taking the same bar and competing within the same market..is it better grades/better job..or better school name/better job? Oh also hofstra was another option but NYLS has a much better location...oh well..I think I will take the plunge and we'll see what happens.. thanks again everyone

 

[bubbleliciousis]

i'm glad u liked the school! that's a good start!

the school you go to plays a big part in the opportunities you have when recruiting comes along. i don't know what you intend to do. but if you want to go into litigation and big corporate stuff, they are very selective about the schools they recruit from. i'd suggest you ask the school to give you a list of companies that recruit at NYLS and see if those companies are acceptable to you.

if they are not, you need to seriously think about going there.

 

[katheryn]

You should really go to LSAC.org and check out the employment statistics for the schools. There is data on % employed and average salary. You may also want to ask career services about OCI (on-campus interviews) and which firms and how many come to your school. If you want a good job, you are probably going to have to get really, really good grades to compete. New York has a ton of law schools, plus the NY firms recruit from all the other top schools in the country. It's a tough market.

On another note, my boyfriend (an attorney) and I ran into someone he knows. He graduated from college early and was going to law school at St. Johns. I think he finished one or two years of law school and is currently taking a year off. Judging by the way he said this, it seemed like he wasn't doing well in school. After he left, I wondered aloud why he didn't take some time off, retake the LSAT, and go to a better school. My boyfriend agreed that that's what he should have done, especially in a market like New York. Remember, a higher LSAT doesn't just mean a better school, it also means more scholarship money.

 

[ksed]

heyyyyyyy do you start there this fall?


...cause I do! Anywho--I know exactly how you feel [I have the exact same thoughts myself] but really... it's still law school and you'll still get to take the bar and you'll still probably get a great job [assuming you do well, just like at any other law school]

I read some thing on top-law-schools.com or whatever and basically nyls' low ranking is mostly due to the other big names in NY, it kind of gets over shadowed and people think it's worse than it really is, whereas if it were in VT or Louisiana or a state that doesn't really have a bunch of t1 schools in it, it would probably be more respected.

I'm planning on toughing it out, working my ass off first year and then maybe transferring if I hate it. Where are you living, do you know yet?