jdfiulaw (2014-2015)

Part of staff on multiple campaigns ranging from Council races, a County Mayor's race, and a State Representative race.

Involved in student government through high school.

Dean's list Spring 2012, 2013 and Fall 2012.

Chair of a city committee and a member of another.

Board member in a local political club.

2/10/14 - Just joined the site. Accepted into St. Thomas already. Waiting on Nova and FIU. FIU is my preferred school. Went into "Committee Review" at Nova on Friday and FIU says "Under Review".

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2/13/14 - Accepted into NSU law today. Was notified around lunchtime by text with a link to a Youtube video welcoming me into the law school. FIU rendered a decision, but they sent it by mail. Still waiting on that one and on the admissions packet to St. Thomas.

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2/14/14 - Received the decision letter from FIU. Rejection. Soft put down with an option to submit a Request for Reconsideration within 30 days. I plan to wait out the period and then submit toward the end with a strong personal appeal. Not sure if this will work but it's worth taking a shot at it to me. I actually like the school (FIU) a lot. I went there for undergrad and it's my preferred school if I stay in Miami- which I plan to do.

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2/21/14 - Finally received the acceptance letter today from St. Thomas with a $7,000 scholarship offer. With this scholarship, as well as others I'm working on obtaining from outside sources and potential donor scholarships, St. Thomas would be cheaper than Nova. I also would save money on the drive because it's not too far from my house compared to Nova.

Having said all that, I'm still leaning toward Nova for a few reasons:

1) A review of the job numbers from the required ABA reports shows FIU and Nova are almost on par in terms of job prospects. Nova actually had a few more big law job placements than FIU. St. Thomas is behind both those schools in big law jobs and in overall job placement.

2) The curves are pretty tough at both Nova and St. Thomas. Remember that in law school it's not only about answering questions right like undergrad, but going the extra mile in terms of applying legal concepts to beat the curve. So, by going to St. Thomas I run the risk of losing my scholarship because of the tough curve and paying more than I would at Nova for the 2nd and 3rd years AND face diminished job prospects. But, before I can continue talking about diminished job prospects.....

3)... Nova's bar passage rate is considerably higher than St. Thomas's and has been consistently better than the state average for the last few years (July test takers). If I can't pass the bar, well there's no point in discussing attorney job prospects.

4) The tough grading curves at each school make achieving honors status at graduation difficult. But, I would be inclined to take my chances at Nova where the curve is slightly better and where placement at jobs requiring bar passage are better.

5) My totally unscientific "randomized teacher test" where I select random names from the faculty list and checked out their credentials was more favorable to Nova. Nova simply has more professors that attended what we would all consider highly regarded law schools than St. Thomas.

It's tougher to get a scholarship at Nova if you didn't score at or above their median (which I just missed). If you hope to get a scholarship in the second year, you need to reach a GPA of 3.2 at the end of your first year. For first year scholarship recipients, you need to maintain a 2.8 GPA for your first year in order to renew in full. At that, 77% of first year scholarships are renewed (in full or at a reduced amount). This means that there is less money to go around for second year recipients and you (and potentially me) are doing hand to hand combat to reach the top of the curve to get to that 3.2 GPA (which is also the threshold for cum laude status at the law school). St. Thomas requires you fall within the top 20% of the class for renewal which based on their curve does not seem too difficult. But again, it's all about the job prospects.

In summation: I'm not knocking down St. Thomas. I know many financially successful (and AV rated) attorneys in a variety of practice areas from there. However, in most of those cases they built up their own firms from scratch. I also know two people who could not pass the bar after attending there. Nova seems to be more in line with what I am looking for, even if I won't receive a scholarship there.