Alabama or UCLA? HELP ME CHOOSE!!!

College Search & Selection
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<p>Sorry to burst your bubble of assumptions but here’s the data from the UA School of Law Class of 2012. Within 9 months of graduation 79% were employed in jobs requiring bar passage, 9% in jobs for which a J.D. provided advantage (e.g. government policy positions), 1.74% in non-law professional positions (e.g. teaching), 2.33% in non-professional positions. 4% were in graduate school, either working on advanced degrees directly related to a specific specialty in law or studying abroad in a country in which they intended to practice law.</p>

<p>Only 3 students were employed by the law school or university.</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.law.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-ABA-Placement-Summary.pdf[/url]”>http://www.law.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-ABA-Placement-Summary.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I reviewed all of this on the phone with an administrator in UA Law admissions. He pointed out that while 90% of UA Law graduates end up working somewhere within an arc from D.C. to Dallas, recruiters from both coasts routinely recruit at UA. See map: [Prospective</a> Students | The University of Alabama | School of Law](<a href=“http://www.law.ua.edu/career-services/prospective-students/]Prospective”>http://www.law.ua.edu/career-services/prospective-students/)</p>

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<p>UCLA has a rich sports tradition for sure, but in case you didn’t know, Alabama is reigning national champion in 4 sports. No other college can make such a claim.</p>

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<p>Alabama is better at sports. Of course, I am pretty sure the OP is looking for a degree. While it has tradition in being a good sports school, it also has tradition of being a sub-par academic institution in the deep south. But I agree, if the OP is a student athlete, he should consider Alabama.</p>

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<p>First of all, I’m a girl. I don’t know if it changes things but I though I should put it out there.</p>

<p>Second of all, would it be considered impressive to a law school if I were to apply after having had received both my bachelors and masters in only four years?</p>

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<p>Some folks live life through the rear view mirror, others through the windshield. The Alabama of today is outstanding, both academically and athletically. My son just got hired for a summer internship that will pay him $16.50/hr + overtime. He’s a junior and already has two national companies virtually assuring him he’ll have a job waiting when he graduates. I guess these employers didn’t get the memo that the University of Alabama was allegedly a sub-par academic institution once upon a time. ;)</p>

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<p>If you plan on moving back to California, then you want a degree from UCLA. If you plan on living in the South then go to Alabama.</p>

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<p>“If you plan on moving back to California, then you want a degree from UCLA. If you plan on living in the South then go to Alabama”</p>

<p>For the Law degree, a little bit. For undergrad, not so much. Not even a Masters is going to make a difference in ones location for residence after school. America, and this country are way too transient nowadays for this to play much part like it once did years ago. People move to change jobs, climates, spouse got a better job or offer, etc. If where one received their degree played that huge of a role in where they could land the best jobs… no one would leave the state they attended school in, hardly ever. Look at the current census data. I know attorneys from almost all over the country and world in my area alone.</p>

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<p>“Second of all, would it be considered impressive to a law school if I were to apply after having had received both my bachelors and masters in only four years?” </p>

<p>Don’t have a kid looking at law but with the stiff competition out there now, it pays to be ahead of the masses. Just look at the stiff competition now to get into half decent colleges in this country. It is not like it used to be 30 years ago when I was going thru the process. After the last 2 years of going thru the process with my own D, holy moly is it ever competitive. Back then if you graduated from high school, had a pulse, etc. you got in to a good amount of schools. With the increased competition globaly a always helps to have a leg up. Graduating in 4 years w/ a bach and masters with a great GPA and great lcat scores… far ahead of any avg joe with just the bach. </p>

<p>I touched on something in that paragraph that I think everyone needs to realize. Alabama is not a terrible school. Nowhere near being “terrible” or “the worst”. It is far and above many of your average state schoools in every state out there. There are how many college applicants per year? There are how many colleges? Your “average” high school graduate can not even get into a tier 1 school in their own state. Even many “above average” hs grads do not get accepted. It takes a far superior high school grad to get into the top 200 schools in this country. Just sayin, we really should not be knocking any school that a student will be attending to further their education. It sure beats the alternative. No college at all.</p>

<p>sorry for any typo’s :frowning: I hope to get this cast off my thumb next week. Over 25 years skiing and first ever injury and it stinks!</p>

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<p>OK Besides Football @womenz Golf @womenz Softball @womenz Gymnastics
All Natl Championz NCAA! Now I am impressed bcuz investing in sports programs for everyone is awesome! After looking that up incl the T shirt collection in the extensive A shop, I salute you and those athletes who run in that formidable summer heat! BTW a fishing shirt? UCLA needs that bcuz we have Great White Sharks off the pier in Santa Monica & well my dad only has a Hawaiian Ucla shirt for summer…</p>

<p>OP - Alabama has a beautiful crimson color to rival Stanford’s Cardinal if you are attached in any way to color palettes, so I say Y not since $$$ being equal and all! Tuscaloosa YaY</p>

<p>Bruin Day Preparations under way for this weekend! 99,000 applicants, so some pplz bound to show up here next fall! 8 Clap!</p>

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No bubble was burst, 79% is significantly lower than the 97% number posted.
You also forgot to mention that ~2% of that 79% are only employed part-time or short term. An additional ~2% are working at the school as you stated, and of course ~8% are working in a solo firm. In fact most of them are working in small firms (11-25 person) in Alabama.</p>

<p>Contrast that with UCLA whose employment statistics seem to be about the same until you see that they had far far far more people employed at law firms of 100+ and 500+ people. And that they almost as many people employed in New York alone than Alabama had employed out of state total.</p>

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<p>Even when accounting for graduating class size there is still a large discrepancy between the two school’s OOS and large firm employment statistics</p>

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<p>Lol! Since when are ‘top tier’ schools regional?</p>

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<p>I would laude UASOL on its low tuition, but i suspect UA trying to do the same thing with its SOL that it’s doing with its undergraduate students: attract top students (in particular, with low tuition.) That low tuition comes at a price, however, which is, likely terrible job prospects outside the south. This is just more evidence that UA’s a very regional school.</p>

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<p>You neglected to mention that, according to the link on the class of 2012 above, that of the 158 employed graduates, 63% are employed by Alabama, and 77% are employed by Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. I’m not going to make a claim on whether UA receives recruiters from both coasts, but i won’t believe it without any evidence.</p>

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<p>@Hipkittyz Wait what???</p>

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<p>Actually, a good strategy in times of bad employment prospects, provided one has good monetary support (read: parents’ bank accounts, with liberal doling out of funds within them), would be to go to grad school immediately, and wait out the bad times while gaining a graduate degree.</p>

<p>Now back to mom2collegekids, wrt the supposed 85% acceptance rate of Bama’s premed majors to m-school:</p>

<p>I think you have to realize that most colleges’ administrators which present such stats are out to promote their schools. There is no naturally derived 85-90% acceptance rate to m. (Actually my using of the word “derived” implies/states that it is not natural, but is indeed manipulated.)</p>

<p>So if Bama had 121 applicants to m in 2012, and by my using some of the national statistics, we’d have this:</p>

<p>First time applicants (about 3/4), 91 students
Reapplicants (1/4), 30 (Obviously graduated in a prior year)</p>

<p>Of the first-time applcants, 91:</p>

<p>No. of students who graduated earlier year, but deferred and applied in later year as first-time applicants: 30</p>

<p>No. of students who graduated in same year applied to m: 61</p>

<p>I used 1/3 of students who deferred applying and 2/3 who applied in year of receiving bac degree. I assume such because the more time passes, the lesser amt. of those from previous years who do apply. Also, the more time spent in m, the four years along with years of post-grad training, would push students’ professional timeclocks faster to try to gain acceptance immediately instead of deferring.</p>

<p>So what does Bama do with the current (2012) graduates who apply to m, the 61?</p>

<p>If they are promoting 85%, then they will parse through this no., and try to defer those who don’t have the most viable stats to be accepted to m. Perhaps this letter of which you speak is the U’s ins to try to control the denominator no. to try to artificially raise the no. to the 85% acceptance. So consequently, the 61 could be whittled down to, say 30-40, which would give them 26-34 acceptances with this reduced bottom no.</p>

<p>One sees various private schools which promote their high 90% and + statistics all the time. Again, it is not a naturally attained or obtained no. </p>

<p>Wrt UCLA, the U doesn’t care to promote its %'s of acceptances to m-school. The U and its administration is extremely indifferent to such. The pathetic attempt by the U, and its 55% acceptance rate were for those applicants which were UC-m-school intensive. This will naturally push down the acceptance rate because UC med schools are extremely hard to which to gain acceptance.</p>

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<p>LOL at 16.50 an hour. That wouldn’t even pay rent in a major market.</p>

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<p>^ $16.50 an hour for an internship is pretty good, no?</p>

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<p>It depends to some degree on where the internship is occurring. 16.50 for Alabama is probably pretty good. For NYC? Maybe not.</p>

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<p>informative: You have just disdained EVERY college kid who has landed an internship paying 16.50 (or less) an hour. Nice.</p>

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<p>I’ll be sure to tell my son to try to feel bad about not paying a fortune to live in a shoe box. He’ll be able to sock away over $5k in 10 weeks, live in a great apartment, get a fabulous educational experience, set himself up for employment with a national firm upon graduation, have free access to unparalleled athletic facilities, and do the things he loves in his free time this summer. What a dreadful turn of events.</p>

<p>No amount of self-serving ridicule about the University of Alabama will change the fact that its top scholars will have successful careers, wonderful lives, and national mobility. Peace, y’all. ;)</p>

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<p>GO Bama… Rolllllllllll Tide… :)</p>