FIU Law School- reputation? (Miami, Tallahassee: construction, university, price)

[Cityseed]

Originally Posted by schiphol

NSU is, from what I have read in the Princeton Review, US News, Business Week, etc., not even worth it for business school or law school. The MBA program is not accredited and the law program is provisionally accredited by the ABA. Seems like a whole lot of money to spend on nothing. Plus it is incredibly easy to gain admission to their graduate programs.

Really? Can you substantiate where those would say "NSU is not even worth it for b-school?" NSU is accredited by the IACBE. I'll agree, however, that it is pretty easy to gain admission. Regionally, NSU's MBA program is taken about as seriously as FIU's, which is considered good, not top tier. However, I'm not sure how that would play out nationally for either school. I had a friend who did her MBA at FIU while I did mine at NSU. The courses were VERY similar...almost as if shadowed by each other. Even the cost of tuition is similar. I attended FIU for my undergrad degree and I must say that you get waaaay better service at NSU. My 2 cents...

[schiphol]

Cityseed:
The IACBE is not the AACSB, which is nationally recognized. The IACBE's members are schools no one has even heard of; I can't believe you would even mention that NSU is a member. NSU is a private school and costs more money. NSU doesn't require the GMAT and carries no weight outside of Florida. I am not from here nor do I plan on staying here, therefore I chose the school I can afford (only other option was UM) and at least has national accreditation. NSU may play well regionally but if one cares even a little about rankings, or moving elsewhere it won't cut it. FIU certainly doesn't have any prestige either but I'll be damn if I pay $40K for some school no one outside of SF has heard of, isn't recognized by the AACSB, and a person who didn't take the GMAT or scored a 350 can easily get into.
The law school is also bottom of the barrel, nationally speaking. While I certainly believe people should go to the best school they can get into and do as well as they can, unfortunately, companies place emphasis on these dumbass rankings and since I want to work in this country I will abide by that logic to a degree.

[piranhaman]

Originally Posted by schiphol

Cityseed:
The IACBE is not the AACSB, which is nationally recognized. The IACBE's members are schools no one has even heard of; I can't believe you would even mention that NSU is a member. NSU is a private school and costs more money. NSU doesn't require the GMAT and carries no weight outside of Florida. I am not from here nor do I plan on staying here, therefore I chose the school I can afford (only other option was UM) and at least has national accreditation. NSU may play well regionally but if one cares even a little about rankings, or moving elsewhere it won't cut it. FIU certainly doesn't have any prestige either but I'll be damn if I pay $40K for some school no one outside of SF has heard of, isn't recognized by the AACSB, and a person who didn't take the GMAT or scored a 350 can easily get into.
The law school is also bottom of the barrel, nationally speaking. While I certainly believe people should go to the best school they can get into and do as well as they can, unfortunately, companies place emphasis on these dumbass rankings and since I want to work in this country I will abide by that logic to a degree.

AACSB is the bible when choosing any school. Something intereting that I learned about this accredation is that many schools that do not have it usually do not apply for it because they know they would not get accepted. It looks better for schools such as Nova to never try to get AACSB then to try to get it and get rejected. FIU, on the other hand, IS AACSB accredited, and has been under the wing of AACSB for quite some time. FIU is a much better school than Nova. FIU's law school is also taking steps to avoid making the same mistakes that Nova's law school made a few years ago. Specifically, FIU Law is not opening its doors to everybody like Nova did after opening. FIU's law school is ABA accredited, I am not sure about Nova's law school, it might have some irrelevant accredation.

[kevinkagy]

FIU is a million times better than NSU will ever be.

[schiphol]

When I was looking into MBA programs last year, I couldn't find any mention at all on NSU's site about accreditation. The law school is provisionally approved by the ABA--I think. But FIU is certainly a lot better and cheaper than Nova. I can't even fathom the fact that people pay tons of money to go to that place for grad school. From what I've read the only things it has going for it are: the only dental school in South Florida, the connections the law school has (according to Princeton Review), and the fact that it lets people who shouldn't be in business school or couldn't get into any other business school have a place to go.
Cityseed: I apologize if I insult you or appear to be attacking you or NSU students in anyway. I seriously considered it for my Master's until I dug deeper than just what their website had to say about themselves. If you received your MBA from there, that's great for you.

[Cityseed]

Originally Posted by schiphol

Cityseed: I can't believe you would even mention that NSU is a member. NSU is a private school and costs more money.

I didn't say they were a member of the AACSB. Just that they were accredited by IACBE. You said they weren't at all. Actually my tuition came in just under 30K. Cheaper than FIU's 33K downtown MBA. Maybe because I'm a Florida resident?

Schiphol, I'm not offended. I just didn't know there was a preferred accreditation agency. I thought if its accredited, what the heck, its accredited. Maybe I should've done some more homework. I don't plan on really going anywhere outside of SF so when I asked employers who they'd hire between an FIU MBA or a NOVA MBA all said it would come down to either experience or the feel of the interview.

And Kevin, I went to FIU. I know the difference. And believe me when I tell you that FIU while it may be accredited and have a selection process, and blah blah blah, it kinda sucks. My opinion, again only my opinion, was that the professors were sub-par and hard to understand since many barely spoke english, NSU had several professors that taught at UM/UF, class sizes were smaller, it was cheaper, it wasn't lock-step which I hear is stupid, registration was a pain, etc.

Additionally, I chose NSU because time was running out and I would have had to wait months before FIU did their admissions in January due to their lock step process. I got to begin NSU in October.

[Eva19]

Originally Posted by MoverandShaker2004

Tallahassee is in the "panhandle". Ewwwww. I bet your cultural learnings at FSU are eating at Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. FIU's law school will continue to swap for first place with FSU's for the forseeable future. I think Miami would be a better environment to study law, simply because of the size of the metro area and the availability for internships and jobs during and after law school. How many law firms are there in Tallahassee? 2? 3?

You say "your" but I didn't go to FSU; I went to UM and I've only been to FSU once. As a UM alum, I'm only giving you our perspective of other schools in Florida. From what I've gathered over the past three years, everyone thinks UF is the best school in the state. No one can believe how high FSU flew up in the ranks (and we took a dive) and since FSU is much less expensive than Miami, I have a lot of friends who have expressed regret they did not go there instead. As someone posted above, all other law schools in the state are literally jokes amongst law students, professors and lawyers alike, with the exception of Stetson, which I heard great things about.
How many law firms are in Tallahassee? I don't know. But considering it is the capital, and the governor is there and the a.g. is there...I'm thinking there just might be one or two opportunities for a lawyer to make a new for him/herself...
My "cultural learnings" didn't revolve around fast food, and I doubt many people's do. However, if that is somehow the standard, I don't doubt that everyone coming out of FIU will be very worldly, what with the choice between the Hooters and the Chilis in the Wal-Mart parking lot...

[intelfan11315]

I personally think UM is going to be ranked above UF soon. Viva Shalala!

To add to the thread a bit, FIU isn't nationally known like FSU is. If you tell someone outside of Florida that you went to FIU, they will not have a clue what you are talking about. Tell them FSU and they will know Bobby Boudin :P I can't say I know much about law school, but I do know for dental school and other residencies such as oral surgery and orthodontics it does not matter where you go, because they are all the same "ranking". Does the ranking of the law school you go to REALLY matter that much when trying to get a job? Instead of worrying about a ranking, I'd be more worried about getting your internships, job experience and some ways to really set yourself apart in an interview, that's what is going to land you a job, not a ranking.

[schiphol]

Apparently FIU dropped to the 4th tier. But according to the logic behind this at USNWR, it's because of a change in how employment after 9 months is reported rather than the quality of the education.
I certainly agree to a degree that rankings don't matter, but somehow the employers have to be convinced of this as well. I find it hard to believe that some whiny ass stuck up rich kid with no real world work experience can just get a six figure salary based on where he or she went to school while someone who probably couldn't afford to go to the same school is SoL. Unfortunately that is the reality.

[MissShona]

UF is the best law school in the state. UM's program is good; but outrageously expensive. They have some pretty unique tracks though (like Entertainment and Sports Law). FIU's program is young and limited. Nova's law program is not regarded as good in any circles it seems.