I am interested in public interest and environmental policy, and expect that I will be making around $50K/yr for a long time. No $160,000 salary for me.
Location-wise, I am flexible. I love all of these cities.
I am not necessarily going to go to the best school I can get into. It seems this advice is better for those who want BIGlaw. But I do think that advice is of some important for Public Interest folks as well--a higher ranked school will have more connections, a better reputation, will open more doors, especially for high profile p.i. jobs (EPA, ACLU, etc), and the quality of academics is arguably going to be higher.
Some may say that my choice is obvious--I should cross Temple and BLS off of my list because they are not as prestigious. But I think it is more complicated than that. Because of my interests, I cannot justify the costs of Fordham or GW with a $160K salary upon graduation. I will be deeply in debt if I choose one of these, but perhaps the job opportunities afterward and the quality of education will outweigh the costs. Do people think I can have just as good of a legal education at BLS or Temple? Just as good PI/Environmental/Gov't job opportunities?
Thanks a million for your time and consideration!
