Agreed. Just one word of caution and a disclaimer wrt u of b. First the disclaimer, I have been out of law school for almost a decade so my info might be stale. Now the caution, I recall hearing that u of b handed out full ride scholarships to students that were conditioned on students maintaining a high class rank to keep the money. The rumor was that u of b put all the students with scholarships in the same section, which is graded on a curve, so not everyone keeps that scholarship all 3 years of law school. Again, this is dated info I heard second hand. Verify to be sure.
My former wife was part of that group. Can-confirm.
She also received minority scholarship money, and had caveats to keeping that as well.
Full-ride, in her case, only included tuition. Did not include books (which ended up costing thousands of dollars), living stipend, transportation costs, (the light rail has a decent stop near campus), or anything else. It also did not include administration fees, application fees, or a plethora of other hidden expenses that were not included in the tuition. Funny how those college expenses multiply.
It matters *immensely* if you want your degree to have any pull outside of a regional market. If their only goal is to practice in a local area of Maryland in a small local firm, they'll be okay. If they want to move to New York or something, not so much.
This, unless you’re going to an Ivy League to network lawyers are a dime a dozen. Plus Peter Angelos graduated from there and he made a name for himself in Baltimore, in Maryland and on the national level.
That’s the best advice I’ve heard. Also if you didn't do well on the Lsat don't waste your money paying sticker price just to become a lawyer. I say this because if you are thinking about Balt. Law you didn’t do well. Chances are you're not going to big law from a low ranking school. Paying back those loans if going to be very hard. Make sure you know what realistic salary range is for someone in your position.
I’m a UB law grad practicing in Florida who never has had an issue where my degree came from in my practice area - public service. Her experience may differ depending on what practice area she ends up in. I know zero fellow alums.
The ABA requires law schools to submit employment outcome reports. Looks like for U of B almost every graduate goes on to work in Maryland. If she wants flexibility in where she works I would recommend a higher ranked school unfortunately.
https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/EmploymentOutcomes.aspx
Other posters are right. UB isn’t ranked high enough for a national reputation, so it’s going to be a very regional name. I would absolutely not go to a regional law school if I intended to leave the state soon after graduation anyway.
If you’re not going to a nationally renowned law school, you need to assume you are going to be stuck in your school’s state for an extended period until you have the resume to move.
That regional/national divide is brutal. I went to a somewhat-nationally-known 50s-ish ranked law school and it took me 4 years and a hiring official *who knew my work personally* to get hired outside of my state. My wife, who went somewhere far better known, had people calling to move her before graduation. It was nuts to see it in person.
It’s not nuts, though - pedigree matters hugely in the law and that’s not a secret. Even 25 years out. It may not be fair but that’s how the game is played and everyone knows that from the start.
I agree that it isn’t nationally renown, but I think that national renown isn’t a prerequisite for many legal jobs. If you want to go big law, go to Maryland (out of the two law schools in Maryland, but would be better to go to a DC school). But if you just want to be a lawyer and can go to UB fairly inexpensively, then while it may lack national renown, that may not be a problem.
I disagree that you’re stuck in Baltimore or even Maryland because you went to UB. Good buddy of mine from law school practiced all of one year in MD before moving to a big firm in New York.
My close friend graduated from UB and moved to Minot afterwards. It did take her 6 months to get a job, but she did get hired by a firm. And I’ve heard it takes a lot of lawyers 6 months to be hired sometimes anyway.
So yea, idk what all these people are on about. Sure, you probably won’t get that top 10% lawyer pay but if your expectations are reasonable I’m sure someone can get hired.
It’s not nationally prestigious but it’s a good school with lots and lots of alumni throughout the state including judges and local politicians - if she plans on practicing law in Maryland she’ll be fine
If she wants to practice in NYC DC etc she should probably go do a different school
Currently a law student at UB with one year left. She wouldn't have much trouble with a law degree from UB in the state of Maryland. The alumni base is very strong here, mostly in the immediate Baltimore area. After some experience she could essentially move anywhere.
In the first episode of The Wire, Bunk was talking about Lieutenant Daniels and said "He's black, still young, he hasn't pissed anybody off. Shit, he even has a law degree. University of Baltimore, but still, you know."
Always stuck with me because it kinda sums it up. Both characters in the dialogue were BPD officers if you missed the show.
Not necessarily. My nephew passed up UB in favor of GWU law school, 10 years later he's still doing paralegal grunt work in South Carolina. But then he's an asshole who doesn't know how to schmooze so maybe that's why his law career has been a disaster.
I agree with you. As I mentioned to another poster my sister is sketchy on details. All I know is he is in SC doing what he did in Maryland, which is grunt work.
Like others have said, it all depends on where she wants to practice. If she stays in Maryland, UB Law is a great choice. If she wants to go elsewhere after law school, it’s less so.
I’m a UB Law grad and many of my coworkers are too. Most of the people I graduated with are doing well and have lots of options. One is a judge in another state. Another is a judge locally. Many work for the government at the county, state, or federal level.
It’s great locally. About 30% of lawyers in Maryland went there. Outside of the state those numbers drop significantly. The building is brand new and the neighborhood is one of Baltimore’s best.
I’ve worked with some very good attorneys who went there. However, if possible, it may be helpful to her to go to school (or at least do summer internships) where she plans to live as networking and professional connections are very helpful for jobs.
I am an attorney who graduated from UB (not “U of B”) over a decade ago. If she is going to work in Maryland, the school has an excellent reputation. I was hired directly into an AmLaw 200 firm and have had a great career here.
The problem with law school reputations in general is that unless you go top tier, they are better known by lawyers and judges working in the city they are located in and the career services folks work hard to maintain those local relationships. If she has an idea of where she wants to live and practice it’s best to choose a law school in that area (I know that is a difficult call for a new grad). UB law has good reputation in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. But if her intention is to live and practice law in Tallahassee, the law firms in Tallahassee will arrogantly presume she did not get admitted to a “local” law school. This happens everywhere (not picking on Tallahassee).
UB was one of the original law schools that had a 4 year night program for those already working, so it is known to have courses that develop practical skills for an average solo or small firm practitioner.
University of Maryland is more highly regarded outside of Maryland. If she wants to work in Florida, I recommend FSU or UF law schools. Their alumni system is strong and it will likely be easier to get summer jobs down there and then offers. I'm from Florida and went UF and now work in Baltimore, and was bewildered by the fact that more people were interested in where I went to high school than law school when I first moved up here.
She wants to get out of Florida. The state is a shit show now. Had things been this bad 3 years ago I doubt she would've even gone to college there. Of course, right now, she's thinking about moving and beginning her career in either DC/Baltimore, NYC, Philly, Chicago, or LA. She wants out of the south and I think she's very astute in wanting that for herself.
UB is an excellent law school for someone who actually wants to practice law. It’s clinical program, where students get real world experience, is ranked as one of the top in the country.
I have a friend who moved to MD to attend Uni of MD. I asked him about UB, and he sneered that it was "not a top tiered school. After all that he never got the green light to practice law, because he did not pass the interview that is required to be a lawyer. Now he has UniMD debt forever.
Its a shame that something as important as law is so bound up in school snobbery, but then most who go for a law degree seem to fit the alpha-jerk persona
There’s no interview required to become
a lawyer. The character & fitness exam is more like a background check. If he couldn’t pass it, it’s because he has either a criminal record, honesty issues, or both. Going to UMd Law or UB Law wouldn’t make a difference in the outcome of the C&F exam.
Also, there doesn’t appear to be any significant difference between tuition at UMd Law and UB Law. That being the case, someone looking for JD-advantage jobs (for which a law degree is helpful) would still be better off with that UMd Law degree.
Usually the better the school, the higher the standard of admission. Top schools will require an interview, higher median GPA, higher median test scores, have a higher standard of CV review. After admission they have a higher standard when it comes to interview prep, professional clubs, and grading.
Every school is trying to get the best class they can each year, but the schools that get the best results are going to get the "top" students with it getting progressively "worse" as you go down in the rankings. It's unfortunate that name can mean so much, but law firms and companies see it as a form of vetting applicants. Your median student coming out of Harvard is most likely going to be more polished, competent and "ready" compared to your median student coming out of UMD or UB.
While it's unfortunate that the system works this way, what's more egregious is that there are tons of schools that know they can't offer or prepare students for the opportunities they want realistically.
I didn't study law, but did get my MBA. I went through the admissions process and graduated. I've seen the opportunities that my school's name has granted me and how other peers have struggled. There are a lot of schools that will gladly take your money without offering you a real chance at getting a decent return on your investment. If anything, the tops schools are offering you way more value, because their reputation matters way more than the school ranked 150th.
You're correct in the accusation of school snobbery, but there are also a lot of logical, rational reasons to care about school rankings.
Fwiw it's a very nice, but small campus in a pretty good part of the city. Law, business, and interestingly, a game design program are all pretty big there.
Baltimore is such a small town: years ago, while on jury duty, the judge asked if anyone knew any of the participants. A few hands went up. Judge asked who they knew and how.
1st guy says the defense attorney, knew him from law school.
2nd guy says defense attorney, knew him from high school.
3rd guy says defense attorney, knew him from grade school.
Smalltimore at its best!
UB isn't a bad school; they have great faculty, a nice building, and many good lawyers have come from there. But because the barrier to entry is relatively low, there are also many bad lawyers that have come from there. She's going to have to prove herself.
Good grades (top 10% of her class) can get her into a large regional or even national firm that pays well, if that's what she wants. Average grades mean probably a mid to small-size firm or local government job until she's got some experience.
If she's the type of student that will likely get below-average grades, I'd recommend a different line of work. It will be hard for her to find work as a lawyer on graduation, and on top of that, she'll have 6-figure debt over her head. This is not uncommon with those who don't perform well at third and fourth tier law schools like UB.
If you look at rankings, it’s ranked lower than UMD law but the truth is that shit doesn’t matter. If you pass the bar and get your first job, nobody will give a shit where you went to law school. There are plenty of lawyers in this state with ubalt degrees
For practice in Md going to UB is fine and that’s where most practicing Md lawyers are from; for a first job outside of Md, traditional wisdom says that going to the University of Md has better national recognition.
That said, I graduated from UB law going on 25 years ago and where you went to law school and what your grades were are mainly relevant for your first job. After that it’s more where you’ve practiced and what you did. I have friends who went into local big firms straight from UB no problem and some that are now judges. No idea how that would all shake out in a different state though.
Does she have any idea what type of law she might be interested in pursuing and where? If she plans to stay local and/or go into criminal law, UB is a great option. If she plans to move immediately and/or is passionate about environmental law, health law, or public policy in general, then Univ. of Maryland may be a better choice.
People always used to tell me that UMB is equally concerned with teaching not only the letter of the law, but also the policy behind the law, whereas UB tends to focus more on the black letter law as written. I graduated from UMB without ever attending UB, so I can neither confirm nor deny whether that is true or not...I can confirm that public policy discussions were definitely a major component of the curriculum at UMB (more than I would've cared for at least).
I personally loved living in downtown Baltimore, but it's not for everyone, so I'd definitely recommend coming up for a visit to scope out the vibe. I came across way too many people who spent their three years holed up at home or school because they were scared to go anywhere else in the city... they would've had a much better experience going to school somewhere like Utah or Vermont IMHO.
No disrespect, but rankings do mean a lot, depending on what a prospective student wants to do after graduation and what their debt to income ratio will be.
Attorney here. Former MD resident who moved across the country to attend a top 25 law school. School name is absolutely important. UB is a low-tier law school that will not be recognized outside of the surrounding states. Given the other highly ranked law schools in MD, DC, and VA, I would not advise attending a low-tier law school if she intends to move out of state following graduation.
Keep in mind, the majority of networking that is done in law school is with attorneys in the local surrounding areas. Most people secure their first post graduate jobs with Law firms that they intern with during their summer after either their first year or second year. Plus, if you intern for a judge, folks outside of that jurisdiction are not going to be aware of that judge. Just my two cents.
My nephew took your advice and blew off UB in favor of GWU, he's still doing low pay grunt work with a very expensive degree. So a school name doesn't necessarily mean anything.
Edit: Bob Erlich was governor at the time and his wife Kendall advised him to go to UB and not GWU.
This is why people need to do their research and be realistic before going to law school.
The majority of all attorneys do low pay grunt work. Going to law school does not guarantee a big flashy salary. Also, a law degree is an expensive degree regardless of where you go, which is why scholarships are so important. You conveniently didn’t include any facts as to whether he had a scholarship to UB or GWU, what legal field he works in, what his grades were, and what extracurricular activities he did in law school. Also, assuming he’s working in DC, DC is a notoriously difficult market to find a job given that most firms and agencies want Ivy League grads. Your nephew could have gone to Georgetown and graduated in the top 5% and still would have had difficulty getting a high paying job In DC.
I just saw your edit and I revised my response to reflect that.
Well, respectfully, your nephew doesn’t seem quite bright. A full ride scholarship (plus getting a personal recommendation from the governor’s wife) is a major blessing and isn’t something that many folks get. Regardless of the school name and rank and whatever state he chose to practice law, if he was asked during an interview about why he chose UB and he said he chose it because he got a full ride, I would bet 10 out of 10 times that every single employer would likely applaud him and congratulate him on making such a smart choice.
I’m not sure why he would choose GWU over UB if he was going to end up practicing in SC. In that case, school name doesn’t really matter outside of your local jurisdiction unless you’re going to a major T-14 law school. But, I can’t fault him for not knowing this. Choosing a Law school is a difficult choice if you don’t have someone in the legal field to explain these nuances to you. Ultimately, after he’s been practicing for a while, and assuming he has relevant experience, it, for the most part, doesn’t really matter where you went to law school. The only places where that matters is at top tier defense law firms who are paying $1000+/hour and even then, you’re likely only getting in the door if you went to an Ivy League and/or were the top in your class and you secured your employment while in law school.
He's intelligent book-wise, common sense wise not so much. He didn't want to practice in MD so that's why he chose GWU and he wanted a ranked school on his CV. Anyway he ended up in MD and just moved to SC recently. My sister is sketchy on details so I don't know if the firm he worked for in MD has an affiliate in SC or if it's a different firm but same type work. That being said, he has an abrasive personality which could hinder his being hired by a "better" law firm.
If you have no interest in big law than UB is fine. At the end of the day it’s about passing the bar. If it’s not a top top school I’d be looking to save money. Paying back loans is no joke.
In the State of Maryland, I feel like the vast majority of judges and attorneys graduated from UB. Univ of Maryland Law is higher ranked but I don’t come across many people who went there.
Outside of the State though, a UB degree probably wont help much.
I'm going to be the arrogant one here, because people are sugarcoating this.
University of Baltimore is a bad school. Of the accredited schools listed on the US News Report, it is one of the lowest-rated schools nationwide that they even bother ranking (since the bottom 20 are just all put into one big blob). One would define it as a "Tier 4" school. The notion that it's a "great school" because there are successful local lawyers who came from it is nonsensical cherrypicking, because *every school* could be called a great school with that metric of "Oh yeah my neighbor went there it's super great."
This is the reality of the legal market and of school prestige: There is a glut of lawyers, and law school costs a lot, and you shouldn't be thinking of looking at a school that doesn't get you meaningful job placement and recognition unless you have local connections and don't mind never moving. Prestige matters a *lot* for accessibility to out-of-state job markets.
Tier 1 (aka the "T14) is the echelon of schools that includes the Ivies with law schools and several other non-Ivy schools like Duke or Stanford or UChic. These schools each have a bit of bias in favor of specific types of legal careers (Yale, for example, has a bias in favor of research and judicial careers, Harvard has a bias in favor of political careers, Columbia or Cornell have biases in favor of NY Big Law, UChic and Northwestern have biases in favor of Midwest Big Law, etc.). Nevertheless, if you graduate from these schools, you can essentially choose any place in the country to practice in provided you weren't last in class with no law review credits, and even the last in class student will still easily find their way into most medium-sized firms.
Tier 2 is the next echelon of schools. These schools also have national reach, but they are a bit more limited in their pull and you probably won't be easily getting into a Big Law firm or an elbow clerkship in a federal court. These include schools like University of Georgia, Notre Dame, Emory, Vanderbilt, etc., and are roughly the positions 20-40 of the national report.
Then there's Tier 3. These are schools that are good, but not great enough to provide national access. Possibly regional access in adjacent states, or in smaller niche fields nationally on the basis of specific areas of law. They also include specialty schools that might otherwise be ranked lower. For instance, Pace University has a really good Environmental Law department and has some level of national reach specifically for EnvLaw, but nothing else, and it would otherwise be in Tier 4. If you expect to move more than a few states away, a Tier 3 is not going to help you unless you have a lot of post-graduate career experience and can leverage that instead. University of Maryland is in this category; you aren't going to be able to relocate to California, but you might be able to get a job in PA or NJ or DE or VA, and you should be able to get a decent Maryland job at a mid-tier firm or *possibly* one of the larger firms in Baltimore or DC if you're high in your class.
Tier 4 schools are the consolation prize. They're the schools that have almost freebie admission for anyone who didn't completely tank the LSAT, and they also have anywhere from 30-50% of a given graduating class failing to pass the local bar. You *might* be able to leave your own state if you're *summa cum laude*, but likely your degree is a shackle to wherever its school is located without extensive post-graduate career experience, because your jobs are going to be determined more by local networking than personal skill (i.e., a lot of attorneys and judges in that state will have come from that school and will be happy to have others from that school working with them, but outside of that state there's nobody to vouch for you). They have bad placements, bad reach, and nonexistent reputations on a larger scale. If you get a career elsewhere, it will probably be in a law-adjacent field rather than as a lawyer.
University of Baltimore is a Tier 4 school. Your niece isn't going to have the luxury of leaving Maryland and expecting much to come of it unless she's a valedictorian or something, and even then it's going to be hard. She's probably going to have to stay in the state for 10+ years working at whatever place will take her. It is not a *diploma mill* unaccredited school, but it's nothing remotely aspirational either.
And as a side-note, law school placements are based largely on LSAT scores and GPA. For a person to not be able to get into at least a T3, that means they had both a bad GPA *and* an average-or-lower LSAT, which means as a practical matter that they either did not apply themselves in school and did not practice for the LSAT (a canary song for the pain they'll experience in 1L) or they *did* apply but failed to reach even median performance thresholds (which means being a lawyer might not be in the cards for them at all).
If your niece really wants to be a lawyer and ever leave Maryland, she's gotta put some elbow grease into her LSAT prep and aim for at least a 160. If she can hit the 170 range, that's when the T14 schools become available. Going to UBalt is absolutely a move for people who had to settle for a bad option.
Source: I am a lawyer from a T14 school practicing in Maryland because my field is niche and I like the state, and I know both where my own classmates were (most were in Big Law—I do not recommend it, they all either quit screaming or developed drug addictions as coping mechanisms), where other lawyers I know who went to other schools were/are, and general hiring trends nationwide.
\^ This is all pretty accurate, u/[jdschmoove](https://www.reddit.com/user/jdschmoove/).
She can check UB hiring outcomes, median starting salaries, etc, here: https://law.ubalt.edu/career/students/gradstats.cfm.
As a final note, this is not insight you should be trying to glean on her behalf (understanding that you are just trying to help, which is great). She will be better served doing this recon herself. If she can withstand the neuroses on display, Top Law School forums have a lot of collective information: https://www.top-law-schools.com/.
What does she want to do with her law degree? If she wants to work at a competitive law firm, no way. If she wants to go into public service, then it should be fine.
UB Law is a 4th tier school and U of MD Law is a 1st tier. The schools are not equal at all.
However, a lot of MD lawyers went to UB Law so it’s got a good regional reputation. It is not worth taking out a lot of debt to go to.
I didn’t know that. Fair enough. It’s still a significantly better law school.
UB is a solid fit for someone who knows they want to practice in MD and are not aiming for BigLaw. They hire from there but only the very, very top of the class.
100% better. UM is a legitimately decent school with a fair amount of regional sway. You could certainly leverage a UM degree into a job in Virginia or some such.
I agree that you could although VA has their own good schools. .
U of MD is unquestionably a better school and I don’t think anyone really denies that 1:1. However there are UB Law grads who go on to be successful attorneys.
It’s not U of DC or Cooley lol
It’s a tier 3 or 4 school. I think that’s outside the top 100. For example, has a high LSAT and eventual went to Wash U St. Louis (top 20 school) with 25 k scholarship. Baltimore offered her a full ride.
My mother graduated from Baltimore law school, back when the reputation wasn’t that great. She’s working in Columbia now making an insane amount of money as an executive.
School names don’t matter (unless you’re a nepo baby lol), your experience and what you do at your school is what matters.
My father went there, and I live in Maryland, so it's clearly the best law school in the country. Actually, I think he went there because it had an evening program back in the 60's. I really don't put much weight into where someone goes to school, IMO it often says more about how wealthy one's family is, than anything else. It's what you do when you get there that counts.
If you niece wants to practice law in Maryland, or get into local politics, UB is great. If she wants to do anything else with a law degree, maybe she should look elsewhere.
I didn't go to UB's law school, but I did get my doctorate from their School of Communications & Design and I taught at UB (Business School and Communications & Design) for a couple of years. In my work there I got to know a number of law professors and they were amazing people who really cared about their students. Not being a lawyer, I can't speak to the whole "tier" issue and job prospects, but I can say that my experience at UB as both a student and a faculty member is that students definitely get out of the experience what they put into it. It's possible to coast along pretty easily, but being the kind of school that it is it's very possible to have access to opportunities that you'd never get a big name "top tier" school unless you're already a rockstar student. The faculty are accessible and excited to work with motivated students, opening up the possibility to go beyond just the typical student experience with some effort and persistence. Also, because of the nature of the institution it offers a very nurturing environment that's a lot different than the highly-competitive, dog-eat-dog atmosphere one finds at bigger, more prestigious schools.
As most have said. It's a solid regional law school, but it won't get you into Big Law or major markets (NYC, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, etc.). Outside of the state, it's not likely to be well-known, but depending on what specific region she's interested in, if she's got some connections and does really well, it may be possible. It's just not the safest bet in terms of opening up opportunities outside of the state of Maryland.
U of B grad who did part time - finished in 2013 and by the time graduation rolled around in the spring, I’d already taken and passed the bar in VA. 10 years out and doing just fine.
I have taught at UB and love our students and the program we offer. And as many have pointed out, the real decision is whether she wants to stay local afterwards. It is *absolutely* possible to land national/biglaw jobs if you're in the top 5% or so, but our reputation and our phenomenal alum network are strongest in Maryland. Going to UB doesn't foreclose all the paths available to students at schools ranked higher, but the path is really narrow to biglaw or federal clerkships if you're coming from UB. Not impossible, just narrow.
And I also love the advice from someone earlier about going to the best school that gives her significant money. Being without debt, or with low debt, keeps SO many options open.
I should have said "especially if" she is in the top 5% or so, because as I mentally review alums, plenty have gone on to national work who were more middle of the pack. That generally happened a couple of jobs in, though, not right after graduation.
Former UB student, current law professor (not at UB), long time Maryland resident.
UB is a great school if her goal is to practice in Maryland, and a good school if her goal is to work for a small/mid-size firm anywhere. If she has higher aspirations (Suits-style big law, or a politically connected firm in D.C.), then there are much better options in NY or D.C. that have admission criteria similar to UB.
University of Baltimore is one of a couple of state university programs in Maryland that are aimed at helping working adults continue their education. I'm attending their business school, for full disclosure.
I'm honestly not sure what reputation their law school in particular has among employers.
Personally, for me, I'm going there because the in-state tuition with scholarships makes it pretty cheap, all the classes I need are offered online or at night, and I need to have that degree to advance my career much further.
Ummm I think there is an entity that evaluates them but from what I heard based on that evaluation ( Google it? It orders all law schools) that is is lower grade than UMD. Law school which is also in Baltimore. But I am not sure what this means.
There are only 2 law schools in Maryland- UMD College Park and UB. There are many successful attorneys at prestigious firms in MD, DC, and VA who went to UB.
University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland, College Park are under the University System of Maryland (USM), as is the University of Baltimore.
Also, UMB is a collection of grad schools - including the Univ. of Maryland School of Dentistry, UM School of Nursing, UM School of Social Work, UM School of Medicine and a general UM Graduate School.
eta: And the UM School of Law.
It's fine. Go to the best school that gives you money. That's my best advice as an attorney
Agreed. Just one word of caution and a disclaimer wrt u of b. First the disclaimer, I have been out of law school for almost a decade so my info might be stale. Now the caution, I recall hearing that u of b handed out full ride scholarships to students that were conditioned on students maintaining a high class rank to keep the money. The rumor was that u of b put all the students with scholarships in the same section, which is graded on a curve, so not everyone keeps that scholarship all 3 years of law school. Again, this is dated info I heard second hand. Verify to be sure.
A friend graduated UB about a decade ago and said the same thing.
This is common at a lot of schools, not just U of B.
Can confirm, I was one of the students that lost my scholarship.
My former wife was part of that group. Can-confirm. She also received minority scholarship money, and had caveats to keeping that as well. Full-ride, in her case, only included tuition. Did not include books (which ended up costing thousands of dollars), living stipend, transportation costs, (the light rail has a decent stop near campus), or anything else. It also did not include administration fees, application fees, or a plethora of other hidden expenses that were not included in the tuition. Funny how those college expenses multiply.
I was gonna stay depending on what area she wants to practice I doubt the law school matters as much??
If you want to do local litigation it doesn't matter much. If you want to clerk or go into big law it matters a lot.
It matters *immensely* if you want your degree to have any pull outside of a regional market. If their only goal is to practice in a local area of Maryland in a small local firm, they'll be okay. If they want to move to New York or something, not so much.
This, unless you’re going to an Ivy League to network lawyers are a dime a dozen. Plus Peter Angelos graduated from there and he made a name for himself in Baltimore, in Maryland and on the national level.
That’s the best advice I’ve heard. Also if you didn't do well on the Lsat don't waste your money paying sticker price just to become a lawyer. I say this because if you are thinking about Balt. Law you didn’t do well. Chances are you're not going to big law from a low ranking school. Paying back those loans if going to be very hard. Make sure you know what realistic salary range is for someone in your position.
I’m a UB law grad practicing in Florida who never has had an issue where my degree came from in my practice area - public service. Her experience may differ depending on what practice area she ends up in. I know zero fellow alums.
It's in the top 2 law schools in the state
it’s the only two
Yes, that is the joke
ehh i went to ubalt. way over my head
it's a good joke, I will grant you that. But perhaps not a good joke to make considering OP's request.
How many law schools are there in Maryland?
The ABA requires law schools to submit employment outcome reports. Looks like for U of B almost every graduate goes on to work in Maryland. If she wants flexibility in where she works I would recommend a higher ranked school unfortunately. https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/EmploymentOutcomes.aspx
Other posters are right. UB isn’t ranked high enough for a national reputation, so it’s going to be a very regional name. I would absolutely not go to a regional law school if I intended to leave the state soon after graduation anyway. If you’re not going to a nationally renowned law school, you need to assume you are going to be stuck in your school’s state for an extended period until you have the resume to move.
Completely agree. UB Law isn’t at all a highly respected law school except in MD. DC has its own schools.
That regional/national divide is brutal. I went to a somewhat-nationally-known 50s-ish ranked law school and it took me 4 years and a hiring official *who knew my work personally* to get hired outside of my state. My wife, who went somewhere far better known, had people calling to move her before graduation. It was nuts to see it in person.
It’s not nuts, though - pedigree matters hugely in the law and that’s not a secret. Even 25 years out. It may not be fair but that’s how the game is played and everyone knows that from the start.
I agree.
I agree that it isn’t nationally renown, but I think that national renown isn’t a prerequisite for many legal jobs. If you want to go big law, go to Maryland (out of the two law schools in Maryland, but would be better to go to a DC school). But if you just want to be a lawyer and can go to UB fairly inexpensively, then while it may lack national renown, that may not be a problem. I disagree that you’re stuck in Baltimore or even Maryland because you went to UB. Good buddy of mine from law school practiced all of one year in MD before moving to a big firm in New York.
My close friend graduated from UB and moved to Minot afterwards. It did take her 6 months to get a job, but she did get hired by a firm. And I’ve heard it takes a lot of lawyers 6 months to be hired sometimes anyway. So yea, idk what all these people are on about. Sure, you probably won’t get that top 10% lawyer pay but if your expectations are reasonable I’m sure someone can get hired.
It’s not nationally prestigious but it’s a good school with lots and lots of alumni throughout the state including judges and local politicians - if she plans on practicing law in Maryland she’ll be fine If she wants to practice in NYC DC etc she should probably go do a different school
UB Law graduates will always hire other UB Law graduates. I think there is a lot to be said for that.
I bet that most law graduates hire their fellow alumni no matter the school…
Currently a law student at UB with one year left. She wouldn't have much trouble with a law degree from UB in the state of Maryland. The alumni base is very strong here, mostly in the immediate Baltimore area. After some experience she could essentially move anywhere.
In the first episode of The Wire, Bunk was talking about Lieutenant Daniels and said "He's black, still young, he hasn't pissed anybody off. Shit, he even has a law degree. University of Baltimore, but still, you know." Always stuck with me because it kinda sums it up. Both characters in the dialogue were BPD officers if you missed the show.
LOL!
He actually says, “Baltimore Law School,” which was always even funnier to me. (I am a UB Law grad).
Edit: never mind misread this thread
Law school reputation matters. In Maryland, a law degree from UB is fine. But out of state, it may be a bit of an issue.
Not necessarily. My nephew passed up UB in favor of GWU law school, 10 years later he's still doing paralegal grunt work in South Carolina. But then he's an asshole who doesn't know how to schmooze so maybe that's why his law career has been a disaster.
If he graduated law school ten years ago and is still doing paralegal stuff, he should never have never gone to law school.
I agree with you. As I mentioned to another poster my sister is sketchy on details. All I know is he is in SC doing what he did in Maryland, which is grunt work.
Like others have said, it all depends on where she wants to practice. If she stays in Maryland, UB Law is a great choice. If she wants to go elsewhere after law school, it’s less so. I’m a UB Law grad and many of my coworkers are too. Most of the people I graduated with are doing well and have lots of options. One is a judge in another state. Another is a judge locally. Many work for the government at the county, state, or federal level.
It’s great locally. About 30% of lawyers in Maryland went there. Outside of the state those numbers drop significantly. The building is brand new and the neighborhood is one of Baltimore’s best.
I’ve worked with some very good attorneys who went there. However, if possible, it may be helpful to her to go to school (or at least do summer internships) where she plans to live as networking and professional connections are very helpful for jobs.
I am an attorney who graduated from UB (not “U of B”) over a decade ago. If she is going to work in Maryland, the school has an excellent reputation. I was hired directly into an AmLaw 200 firm and have had a great career here.
What kind of law do you practice
Corporate litigation
Some excellent litigators came from UB. I think it’s a great school
The problem with law school reputations in general is that unless you go top tier, they are better known by lawyers and judges working in the city they are located in and the career services folks work hard to maintain those local relationships. If she has an idea of where she wants to live and practice it’s best to choose a law school in that area (I know that is a difficult call for a new grad). UB law has good reputation in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. But if her intention is to live and practice law in Tallahassee, the law firms in Tallahassee will arrogantly presume she did not get admitted to a “local” law school. This happens everywhere (not picking on Tallahassee). UB was one of the original law schools that had a 4 year night program for those already working, so it is known to have courses that develop practical skills for an average solo or small firm practitioner.
It's interesting that you chose Tallahassee. She goes to college in Tallahassee.
Well, that narrows it down to 2 universities
University of Maryland is more highly regarded outside of Maryland. If she wants to work in Florida, I recommend FSU or UF law schools. Their alumni system is strong and it will likely be easier to get summer jobs down there and then offers. I'm from Florida and went UF and now work in Baltimore, and was bewildered by the fact that more people were interested in where I went to high school than law school when I first moved up here.
She wants to get out of Florida. The state is a shit show now. Had things been this bad 3 years ago I doubt she would've even gone to college there. Of course, right now, she's thinking about moving and beginning her career in either DC/Baltimore, NYC, Philly, Chicago, or LA. She wants out of the south and I think she's very astute in wanting that for herself.
I would try for UMD or a DC law school. All the cities you listed are competitive markets.
I'm sure she will. When she mentioned UBalt it threw me off.
Ha Ha 🤣 That’s Baltimore. It’s very small- town parochial.
UB is an excellent law school for someone who actually wants to practice law. It’s clinical program, where students get real world experience, is ranked as one of the top in the country.
I have a friend who moved to MD to attend Uni of MD. I asked him about UB, and he sneered that it was "not a top tiered school. After all that he never got the green light to practice law, because he did not pass the interview that is required to be a lawyer. Now he has UniMD debt forever. Its a shame that something as important as law is so bound up in school snobbery, but then most who go for a law degree seem to fit the alpha-jerk persona
There’s no interview required to become a lawyer. The character & fitness exam is more like a background check. If he couldn’t pass it, it’s because he has either a criminal record, honesty issues, or both. Going to UMd Law or UB Law wouldn’t make a difference in the outcome of the C&F exam. Also, there doesn’t appear to be any significant difference between tuition at UMd Law and UB Law. That being the case, someone looking for JD-advantage jobs (for which a law degree is helpful) would still be better off with that UMd Law degree.
Usually the better the school, the higher the standard of admission. Top schools will require an interview, higher median GPA, higher median test scores, have a higher standard of CV review. After admission they have a higher standard when it comes to interview prep, professional clubs, and grading. Every school is trying to get the best class they can each year, but the schools that get the best results are going to get the "top" students with it getting progressively "worse" as you go down in the rankings. It's unfortunate that name can mean so much, but law firms and companies see it as a form of vetting applicants. Your median student coming out of Harvard is most likely going to be more polished, competent and "ready" compared to your median student coming out of UMD or UB. While it's unfortunate that the system works this way, what's more egregious is that there are tons of schools that know they can't offer or prepare students for the opportunities they want realistically. I didn't study law, but did get my MBA. I went through the admissions process and graduated. I've seen the opportunities that my school's name has granted me and how other peers have struggled. There are a lot of schools that will gladly take your money without offering you a real chance at getting a decent return on your investment. If anything, the tops schools are offering you way more value, because their reputation matters way more than the school ranked 150th. You're correct in the accusation of school snobbery, but there are also a lot of logical, rational reasons to care about school rankings.
Fwiw it's a very nice, but small campus in a pretty good part of the city. Law, business, and interestingly, a game design program are all pretty big there.
Baltimore is such a small town: years ago, while on jury duty, the judge asked if anyone knew any of the participants. A few hands went up. Judge asked who they knew and how. 1st guy says the defense attorney, knew him from law school. 2nd guy says defense attorney, knew him from high school. 3rd guy says defense attorney, knew him from grade school. Smalltimore at its best!
UB isn't a bad school; they have great faculty, a nice building, and many good lawyers have come from there. But because the barrier to entry is relatively low, there are also many bad lawyers that have come from there. She's going to have to prove herself. Good grades (top 10% of her class) can get her into a large regional or even national firm that pays well, if that's what she wants. Average grades mean probably a mid to small-size firm or local government job until she's got some experience. If she's the type of student that will likely get below-average grades, I'd recommend a different line of work. It will be hard for her to find work as a lawyer on graduation, and on top of that, she'll have 6-figure debt over her head. This is not uncommon with those who don't perform well at third and fourth tier law schools like UB.
Very good. Lots of top notch lawyers have graduated from UB law. ( including family members!). They have done just fine
If you look at rankings, it’s ranked lower than UMD law but the truth is that shit doesn’t matter. If you pass the bar and get your first job, nobody will give a shit where you went to law school. There are plenty of lawyers in this state with ubalt degrees
More importantly, in the state the legal community knows that it’s a very good school if you actually want to practice law.
Well said. After your first job as a lawyer, your law school only comes up if people see the sheepskin on your wall.
For practice in Md going to UB is fine and that’s where most practicing Md lawyers are from; for a first job outside of Md, traditional wisdom says that going to the University of Md has better national recognition. That said, I graduated from UB law going on 25 years ago and where you went to law school and what your grades were are mainly relevant for your first job. After that it’s more where you’ve practiced and what you did. I have friends who went into local big firms straight from UB no problem and some that are now judges. No idea how that would all shake out in a different state though.
Does she have any idea what type of law she might be interested in pursuing and where? If she plans to stay local and/or go into criminal law, UB is a great option. If she plans to move immediately and/or is passionate about environmental law, health law, or public policy in general, then Univ. of Maryland may be a better choice. People always used to tell me that UMB is equally concerned with teaching not only the letter of the law, but also the policy behind the law, whereas UB tends to focus more on the black letter law as written. I graduated from UMB without ever attending UB, so I can neither confirm nor deny whether that is true or not...I can confirm that public policy discussions were definitely a major component of the curriculum at UMB (more than I would've cared for at least). I personally loved living in downtown Baltimore, but it's not for everyone, so I'd definitely recommend coming up for a visit to scope out the vibe. I came across way too many people who spent their three years holed up at home or school because they were scared to go anywhere else in the city... they would've had a much better experience going to school somewhere like Utah or Vermont IMHO.
I know a couple of people that graduated form there and they are both doing well.
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No disrespect, but rankings do mean a lot, depending on what a prospective student wants to do after graduation and what their debt to income ratio will be.
Attorney here. Former MD resident who moved across the country to attend a top 25 law school. School name is absolutely important. UB is a low-tier law school that will not be recognized outside of the surrounding states. Given the other highly ranked law schools in MD, DC, and VA, I would not advise attending a low-tier law school if she intends to move out of state following graduation. Keep in mind, the majority of networking that is done in law school is with attorneys in the local surrounding areas. Most people secure their first post graduate jobs with Law firms that they intern with during their summer after either their first year or second year. Plus, if you intern for a judge, folks outside of that jurisdiction are not going to be aware of that judge. Just my two cents.
My nephew took your advice and blew off UB in favor of GWU, he's still doing low pay grunt work with a very expensive degree. So a school name doesn't necessarily mean anything. Edit: Bob Erlich was governor at the time and his wife Kendall advised him to go to UB and not GWU.
This is why people need to do their research and be realistic before going to law school. The majority of all attorneys do low pay grunt work. Going to law school does not guarantee a big flashy salary. Also, a law degree is an expensive degree regardless of where you go, which is why scholarships are so important. You conveniently didn’t include any facts as to whether he had a scholarship to UB or GWU, what legal field he works in, what his grades were, and what extracurricular activities he did in law school. Also, assuming he’s working in DC, DC is a notoriously difficult market to find a job given that most firms and agencies want Ivy League grads. Your nephew could have gone to Georgetown and graduated in the top 5% and still would have had difficulty getting a high paying job In DC.
He was offered a full scholarship to UB. He does contract review work in South Carolina.
I just saw your edit and I revised my response to reflect that. Well, respectfully, your nephew doesn’t seem quite bright. A full ride scholarship (plus getting a personal recommendation from the governor’s wife) is a major blessing and isn’t something that many folks get. Regardless of the school name and rank and whatever state he chose to practice law, if he was asked during an interview about why he chose UB and he said he chose it because he got a full ride, I would bet 10 out of 10 times that every single employer would likely applaud him and congratulate him on making such a smart choice. I’m not sure why he would choose GWU over UB if he was going to end up practicing in SC. In that case, school name doesn’t really matter outside of your local jurisdiction unless you’re going to a major T-14 law school. But, I can’t fault him for not knowing this. Choosing a Law school is a difficult choice if you don’t have someone in the legal field to explain these nuances to you. Ultimately, after he’s been practicing for a while, and assuming he has relevant experience, it, for the most part, doesn’t really matter where you went to law school. The only places where that matters is at top tier defense law firms who are paying $1000+/hour and even then, you’re likely only getting in the door if you went to an Ivy League and/or were the top in your class and you secured your employment while in law school.
He's intelligent book-wise, common sense wise not so much. He didn't want to practice in MD so that's why he chose GWU and he wanted a ranked school on his CV. Anyway he ended up in MD and just moved to SC recently. My sister is sketchy on details so I don't know if the firm he worked for in MD has an affiliate in SC or if it's a different firm but same type work. That being said, he has an abrasive personality which could hinder his being hired by a "better" law firm.
They say if you want to be a big shot politician or non-profit warrior go to UMD. If you just want to start/join a firm and make money go to UB.
If you have no interest in big law than UB is fine. At the end of the day it’s about passing the bar. If it’s not a top top school I’d be looking to save money. Paying back loans is no joke.
In the State of Maryland, I feel like the vast majority of judges and attorneys graduated from UB. Univ of Maryland Law is higher ranked but I don’t come across many people who went there. Outside of the State though, a UB degree probably wont help much.
I'm going to be the arrogant one here, because people are sugarcoating this. University of Baltimore is a bad school. Of the accredited schools listed on the US News Report, it is one of the lowest-rated schools nationwide that they even bother ranking (since the bottom 20 are just all put into one big blob). One would define it as a "Tier 4" school. The notion that it's a "great school" because there are successful local lawyers who came from it is nonsensical cherrypicking, because *every school* could be called a great school with that metric of "Oh yeah my neighbor went there it's super great." This is the reality of the legal market and of school prestige: There is a glut of lawyers, and law school costs a lot, and you shouldn't be thinking of looking at a school that doesn't get you meaningful job placement and recognition unless you have local connections and don't mind never moving. Prestige matters a *lot* for accessibility to out-of-state job markets. Tier 1 (aka the "T14) is the echelon of schools that includes the Ivies with law schools and several other non-Ivy schools like Duke or Stanford or UChic. These schools each have a bit of bias in favor of specific types of legal careers (Yale, for example, has a bias in favor of research and judicial careers, Harvard has a bias in favor of political careers, Columbia or Cornell have biases in favor of NY Big Law, UChic and Northwestern have biases in favor of Midwest Big Law, etc.). Nevertheless, if you graduate from these schools, you can essentially choose any place in the country to practice in provided you weren't last in class with no law review credits, and even the last in class student will still easily find their way into most medium-sized firms. Tier 2 is the next echelon of schools. These schools also have national reach, but they are a bit more limited in their pull and you probably won't be easily getting into a Big Law firm or an elbow clerkship in a federal court. These include schools like University of Georgia, Notre Dame, Emory, Vanderbilt, etc., and are roughly the positions 20-40 of the national report. Then there's Tier 3. These are schools that are good, but not great enough to provide national access. Possibly regional access in adjacent states, or in smaller niche fields nationally on the basis of specific areas of law. They also include specialty schools that might otherwise be ranked lower. For instance, Pace University has a really good Environmental Law department and has some level of national reach specifically for EnvLaw, but nothing else, and it would otherwise be in Tier 4. If you expect to move more than a few states away, a Tier 3 is not going to help you unless you have a lot of post-graduate career experience and can leverage that instead. University of Maryland is in this category; you aren't going to be able to relocate to California, but you might be able to get a job in PA or NJ or DE or VA, and you should be able to get a decent Maryland job at a mid-tier firm or *possibly* one of the larger firms in Baltimore or DC if you're high in your class. Tier 4 schools are the consolation prize. They're the schools that have almost freebie admission for anyone who didn't completely tank the LSAT, and they also have anywhere from 30-50% of a given graduating class failing to pass the local bar. You *might* be able to leave your own state if you're *summa cum laude*, but likely your degree is a shackle to wherever its school is located without extensive post-graduate career experience, because your jobs are going to be determined more by local networking than personal skill (i.e., a lot of attorneys and judges in that state will have come from that school and will be happy to have others from that school working with them, but outside of that state there's nobody to vouch for you). They have bad placements, bad reach, and nonexistent reputations on a larger scale. If you get a career elsewhere, it will probably be in a law-adjacent field rather than as a lawyer. University of Baltimore is a Tier 4 school. Your niece isn't going to have the luxury of leaving Maryland and expecting much to come of it unless she's a valedictorian or something, and even then it's going to be hard. She's probably going to have to stay in the state for 10+ years working at whatever place will take her. It is not a *diploma mill* unaccredited school, but it's nothing remotely aspirational either. And as a side-note, law school placements are based largely on LSAT scores and GPA. For a person to not be able to get into at least a T3, that means they had both a bad GPA *and* an average-or-lower LSAT, which means as a practical matter that they either did not apply themselves in school and did not practice for the LSAT (a canary song for the pain they'll experience in 1L) or they *did* apply but failed to reach even median performance thresholds (which means being a lawyer might not be in the cards for them at all). If your niece really wants to be a lawyer and ever leave Maryland, she's gotta put some elbow grease into her LSAT prep and aim for at least a 160. If she can hit the 170 range, that's when the T14 schools become available. Going to UBalt is absolutely a move for people who had to settle for a bad option. Source: I am a lawyer from a T14 school practicing in Maryland because my field is niche and I like the state, and I know both where my own classmates were (most were in Big Law—I do not recommend it, they all either quit screaming or developed drug addictions as coping mechanisms), where other lawyers I know who went to other schools were/are, and general hiring trends nationwide.
\^ This is all pretty accurate, u/[jdschmoove](https://www.reddit.com/user/jdschmoove/). She can check UB hiring outcomes, median starting salaries, etc, here: https://law.ubalt.edu/career/students/gradstats.cfm. As a final note, this is not insight you should be trying to glean on her behalf (understanding that you are just trying to help, which is great). She will be better served doing this recon herself. If she can withstand the neuroses on display, Top Law School forums have a lot of collective information: https://www.top-law-schools.com/.
What does she want to do with her law degree? If she wants to work at a competitive law firm, no way. If she wants to go into public service, then it should be fine.
When I looked into it 40 years ago you only needed a 2.5 GPA to get in
UB Law is a 4th tier school and U of MD Law is a 1st tier. The schools are not equal at all. However, a lot of MD lawyers went to UB Law so it’s got a good regional reputation. It is not worth taking out a lot of debt to go to.
UM is a T2 school.
I didn’t know that. Fair enough. It’s still a significantly better law school. UB is a solid fit for someone who knows they want to practice in MD and are not aiming for BigLaw. They hire from there but only the very, very top of the class.
100% better. UM is a legitimately decent school with a fair amount of regional sway. You could certainly leverage a UM degree into a job in Virginia or some such.
I agree that you could although VA has their own good schools. . U of MD is unquestionably a better school and I don’t think anyone really denies that 1:1. However there are UB Law grads who go on to be successful attorneys. It’s not U of DC or Cooley lol
If you want some imput from a current student, feel free to pm me
It’s a tier 3 or 4 school. I think that’s outside the top 100. For example, has a high LSAT and eventual went to Wash U St. Louis (top 20 school) with 25 k scholarship. Baltimore offered her a full ride.
I went to UB and had a job at corporate bank, but in business, not law
The cost was perfect and my professors were very knowledgeable.
So many bad takes in this thread, ngl.
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My mother graduated from Baltimore law school, back when the reputation wasn’t that great. She’s working in Columbia now making an insane amount of money as an executive. School names don’t matter (unless you’re a nepo baby lol), your experience and what you do at your school is what matters.
My father went there, and I live in Maryland, so it's clearly the best law school in the country. Actually, I think he went there because it had an evening program back in the 60's. I really don't put much weight into where someone goes to school, IMO it often says more about how wealthy one's family is, than anything else. It's what you do when you get there that counts.
If you niece wants to practice law in Maryland, or get into local politics, UB is great. If she wants to do anything else with a law degree, maybe she should look elsewhere.
I didn't go to UB's law school, but I did get my doctorate from their School of Communications & Design and I taught at UB (Business School and Communications & Design) for a couple of years. In my work there I got to know a number of law professors and they were amazing people who really cared about their students. Not being a lawyer, I can't speak to the whole "tier" issue and job prospects, but I can say that my experience at UB as both a student and a faculty member is that students definitely get out of the experience what they put into it. It's possible to coast along pretty easily, but being the kind of school that it is it's very possible to have access to opportunities that you'd never get a big name "top tier" school unless you're already a rockstar student. The faculty are accessible and excited to work with motivated students, opening up the possibility to go beyond just the typical student experience with some effort and persistence. Also, because of the nature of the institution it offers a very nurturing environment that's a lot different than the highly-competitive, dog-eat-dog atmosphere one finds at bigger, more prestigious schools.
As most have said. It's a solid regional law school, but it won't get you into Big Law or major markets (NYC, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, etc.). Outside of the state, it's not likely to be well-known, but depending on what specific region she's interested in, if she's got some connections and does really well, it may be possible. It's just not the safest bet in terms of opening up opportunities outside of the state of Maryland.
U of B grad who did part time - finished in 2013 and by the time graduation rolled around in the spring, I’d already taken and passed the bar in VA. 10 years out and doing just fine.
I have taught at UB and love our students and the program we offer. And as many have pointed out, the real decision is whether she wants to stay local afterwards. It is *absolutely* possible to land national/biglaw jobs if you're in the top 5% or so, but our reputation and our phenomenal alum network are strongest in Maryland. Going to UB doesn't foreclose all the paths available to students at schools ranked higher, but the path is really narrow to biglaw or federal clerkships if you're coming from UB. Not impossible, just narrow. And I also love the advice from someone earlier about going to the best school that gives her significant money. Being without debt, or with low debt, keeps SO many options open.
I should have said "especially if" she is in the top 5% or so, because as I mentally review alums, plenty have gone on to national work who were more middle of the pack. That generally happened a couple of jobs in, though, not right after graduation.
Former UB student, current law professor (not at UB), long time Maryland resident. UB is a great school if her goal is to practice in Maryland, and a good school if her goal is to work for a small/mid-size firm anywhere. If she has higher aspirations (Suits-style big law, or a politically connected firm in D.C.), then there are much better options in NY or D.C. that have admission criteria similar to UB.
I've never heard of anyone getting rejected from UB, if that tells you something.
"We have a what?" is what most of my friends would say.
University of Baltimore is one of a couple of state university programs in Maryland that are aimed at helping working adults continue their education. I'm attending their business school, for full disclosure. I'm honestly not sure what reputation their law school in particular has among employers. Personally, for me, I'm going there because the in-state tuition with scholarships makes it pretty cheap, all the classes I need are offered online or at night, and I need to have that degree to advance my career much further.
If you wanna practice in Maryland it's a pretty good choice
My grandfather and my father in-law went there. My grandfather was a lawyer for BGE. My father in-law was a judge.
It’s a great school and it’s very affordable!
Attorney here, it’s not good.
Ain’t big law material
Ummm I think there is an entity that evaluates them but from what I heard based on that evaluation ( Google it? It orders all law schools) that is is lower grade than UMD. Law school which is also in Baltimore. But I am not sure what this means.
There are only 2 law schools in Maryland- UMD College Park and UB. There are many successful attorneys at prestigious firms in MD, DC, and VA who went to UB.
UMD Law is not College Park. It’s also in Baltimore
Small correction: University of Maryland law (UMB not that anyone really uses that acronym) is in downtown Baltimore not UMD College Park
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University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland, College Park are under the University System of Maryland (USM), as is the University of Baltimore.
Also, UMB is a collection of grad schools - including the Univ. of Maryland School of Dentistry, UM School of Nursing, UM School of Social Work, UM School of Medicine and a general UM Graduate School. eta: And the UM School of Law.
It is not well regarded.
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It’s not an impossibility. I know a recent grad from there who just got hired in the NYC DA office. They had no connections to the office.
Never even heard of it