Financially equal to me. Need any opinions on which is better academically. Looking to pursue criminal law.
the stock answer is to retake so you can attend a ‘better’ LS and increase your odds of finding a legal job.
Otherwise, those two are pretty similar.
Can I suggest looking at the employment list and seeing which one does better?
^^employment prospects per Law School Transparency are about the same.
By “about the same” he means, “you have about equal odds going to Vegas and putting it all on black.” [url=<a href=“https://www.lstreports.com/schools/syracuse/%5DSyracuse%5B/url”>https://www.lstreports.com/schools/syracuse/]Syracuse[/url] has an all-in cost of about $250k with a 59.6% employment score. [url=<a href=“https://www.lstreports.com/schools/buffalo/%5DBuffalo%5B/url”>https://www.lstreports.com/schools/buffalo/]Buffalo[/url] is much cheaper, with an all-in cost of about $173k and marginally better employment at 62.7%. That’s any legal employment, mind, not necessarily employment that makes a person capable of effectively paying back their loans.
I second bluebayou’s initial advice. Retake the LSAT. Also, if you want criminal work (presumably blue collar) then spend some time interning on whichever side interests you. Some good friends are public defenders, and they all say that the PDs office doesn’t like to see DAs on the resume. The DAs don’t care so much but do want to see dedication.
Oh, you expect to pay back loans??? Then do not go unless they are paying you to attend. The Big Law placement and big salary (to pay off all of that debt) for either of them is <9%. In other words, to make the big bucks, you need to be in the top decile of your graduating class. Of course, criminal is not considered Big Law (which does White Collar).
btw: while Buffalo indeed has marginally better overall numbers of job-getters, it also has a larger number un-underemployed: 26% vs. 'Cuse at 20%.
Agree that neither will provide a good outcome if you will have huge debt at the end of the day. If not, only choose one of those two schools if you plan to practice in upstate NY. I went to UB Law many years ago, and my classmates who stayed in the area have had varied, long, and productive careers in many different types of law. A very few graduates will get Big Law, if that’s the goal, but it’s limited to the very top of the class. My law school friends include partners at NYC law firms, solo general practice lawyers in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse (and everywhere in between), government lawyers, judges, and the usual variety of non-legal or legal adjacent jobs held by law school grads. I don’t know a lot about Syracuse, but UB has significantly reduced its class size over the years and has focused its program on experiential programs. This decision needs to be well researched and should reflect your financial position and your ultimate goals - practice and location.
I appreciate the responses, but was hoping to not hear about how Buffalo is cheaper to attend as the answer as to which is better academically. I am not retaking the LSAT and do not expect to be accepted at any schools in the top 50 so I am going to make the best of my accepted list. Now does anyone really know which school teaches law better or is that a question that can’t be answered when comparing any 2 schools as I am starting to surmise?
At any decent law school you are going to get good faculty and a fine education. These schools are so similar that there really isn’t any one factor that would “close the deal”other than money. Did you visit both?
Neither teaches law better. Which is to say, neither will teach you law that is really of any value. Law school famously fails to prepare students for actual practice. You’ll spend lots of time on the Coase theorem of tort damages and no time at all on how to file a motion. If you select your classes properly you may get an internship or clinic that will help, a bit.
Syracuse has a much better pass rate on the New York state bar exam (which contrary to rumors is one of the least difficult bar exams in the US).