Rutgers vs Syracuse Law Schools
- Thread starter Proud NJ Sports Fan
- Start date
Rutgers.
RU is ranked 76
Syracuse 111
I think I know one Cuse law alum in NYC/NNJ.
It was well regarded back in the day. Its reputation slipped in the past few decades.
Now even Buffalo outranks it...and Buffalo is also way cheaper.
Cuse is done in by the fact that law schools outside of the T14 tend to be hyper regional and the economy upstate is shrinking. The NYC schools and RU-N and SHU have a built in advantage.
RU is ranked 76
Syracuse 111
I think I know one Cuse law alum in NYC/NNJ.
It was well regarded back in the day. Its reputation slipped in the past few decades.
Now even Buffalo outranks it...and Buffalo is also way cheaper.
Cuse is done in by the fact that law schools outside of the T14 tend to be hyper regional and the economy upstate is shrinking. The NYC schools and RU-N and SHU have a built in advantage.
Rutgers (by a wide margin) and it's cheaper and better located near jobs in NYC, Philly and obviously NJ. I don't know and haven't come across anyone that went to Cuse Law. I honestly had to look to see if they still had a law school.
Last edited:
Temple and Nova have that as well for Philly and South Jersey.
RU, but not because of the rankings. Law school rankings bear less of a relationship to status in the profession than undergraduate rankings do. RU Law is more highly respected than it’s rankings would indicate. The gap between SU and RU is wider than those rankings indicate.
Syracuse, maybe....if you want to practice law in Canada, that is. And even then it would be a push.
Frankly, what is the point of the existence of the City University of Syracuse in the 21st century?
Frankly, what is the point of the existence of the City University of Syracuse in the 21st century?
Very very true. Nova, my understanding, was also a good law school back in the day. Now I don't see the logic to choosing it over Temple or RU-N.
There honestly isn't much of a difference in terms of prestige. Both are tier 2 schools. You have to look at what else each school offers. I know Syracuse offers many dual degree programs including their Maxwell and Newhouse schools which are both elite. If you do well at either school and push yourself you can do very well for yourself but neither are T14 obviously.
Rutgers also offers many dual degree programs. I doubt that Syracuse's are substantially better, especially in public policy (Bloustein) and in the Newark/New Brunswick business school.
Yeah for sure, RU also offers a dual MD/JD degree. Newhouse and Maxwell are both ranked #1 in their category. Rutgers doesn't have any #1 ranked grad programs.
Prospective students can certainly consider what else each university offers and it may help with differentiation to similar tier universities but I'm not sure dual degree programs are near the top of such consideration unless the student already has in mind that they are looking to pursue an additional course of study beyond the law degree.
If I have no interest in journalism or public affairs, Syracuse having top schools in those fields does not necessarily make its law school more appealing or give it an edge in an otherwise tiebreaking scenario.
Well sure, of course there are many reasons to choose a similar tier university over another, I'm just giving one example if why someone might choose Syracuse over Rutgers. I know this because I know someone who went to Syracuse Law. A good portion of their class did dual degrees. This person did a dual degree in forensics which is also a highly rated program that they have. It was a pretty good thing to put on the resume for criminal law.
Personally I only knew of one of other person in law school who did a dual program because my law school allowed you to take on a masters at no cost. My law school however is part of a university who is best known for its law school, however. Decent MBA and Social Work programs and a pretty good dance/music program, but not much else.
Fair enough, must be a popular option at Syracuse and good for them. I know only one person who did dual advanced degrees...with a Master of Intellectual Property while pursuing a JD (not at Syracuse or Rutgers) and then went into patent law. A powerful combination to pursue a career in that field. He still posts on TKR and was the one who introduced me to the Exit 109 site in the late 90s and then got me onto ScarletNation (then known as Rutgersfan.com) way back in 2001 soon after Schiano's hiring the first time around.
Last edited:
