Franklin & Marshall College or Dickinson College?

Skates76
Mon, 20 Apr 2015 14:31:13 +0000

I have not attended either school, but have visited both and interviewed and hired law clerks who did their undergraduate work at both schools. From what I have seen they both produce excellent quality students. For the sciences I would lean more towards F&M and I think its name makes a slightly bigger impression in a larger area. If you are looking at PSU Dickinson Law (unrelated institutions), either would be great, while F&M might have a slight advantage looking more towards the Philly law schools. You really can’t go wrong at either school if you apply yourself and do well, you will get into a law school of decent caliber.

As a parent and former student I can see the value in getting a little further from home and it sounds like you really have a strong impression of Dickinson, so I would lean towards the place you feel would make you happiest for four years. Everything in this region is really closer than you think, so while Carlisle isn’t a big place, it has a nice college feel and is a county seat, which means the courthouse is there and lots of opportunities for internships and the like since there are always lots of law offices in the county seat, plus you are not far from being across the river from Harrisburg and all of the opportunities there with local, state and federal courts and government (to be fair, F&M isn’t far from Harrisburg either).

The legacy issue is a tough one, I always hoped one of my kids would go to my alma mater when I was younger, but now I am just happy that they are looking for and/or attending places that make them happy and fulfilled. Hopefully your Dad will feel the same way.

The one thing I would note is that I find political science one of those turn offs when I read it as a major on an application for an attorney, law clerk or internship applicant. You will learn all of the law and government you need to know in law school and by taking a few electives in those areas in a good liberal arts college, which both of your choices are. Go with a substantive major like environmental sciences and maybe even add something like economics, human resources or another science as a minor or double major. To most hiring attorneys I know, there is no such thing as pre-law, which is how most people view poli sci, and having something different to bring to the table is a huge advantage in a legal job market that is pretty much flooded with applicants who only took political sciences as a college major. Even if you want to work in government you are better off taking a major like environmental science where your area of study is one that has strong ties to government regulation, legislation and litigation.

My D wanted to go to law school and while I think she has a ton of potential for that, she is going to be pursuing a hard sciences major and possibly working or at least co-oping in another field before going back to law school. I would strongly encourage you to pick an interesting major and one with real world value that you can bring to law school and to future employers. In any case, good luck and I hope to have helped a little. Both are great schools, you have a very nice choice to make, even if it is unnerving you a bit at the moment. (-: