Ford.ham/BLS/Cardozo? Forum

[sdf13]

Could use some help here...

Just got my acceptance to Fordhm today. Got accepted to BLS (with 40k/year). Have not heard from Cardozo yet, but will hopefully get in there with some decent $$$.

I know there are a million threads like this on this board, but i could use some help.

Hoping to get some money from Ford, but resigned to the fact that if I go I'm probably paying sticker.

Not sure what I want to do yet, could go corporate or just as easily decide to become an ADA.

Anyone out there have thoughts/opinions?

[andreea7]

Could use some help here...

Just got my acceptance to Fordhm today. Got accepted to BLS (with 40k/year). Have not heard from Cardozo yet, but will hopefully get in there with some decent $$$.

I know there are a million threads like this on this board, but i could use some help.

Hoping to get some money from Ford, but resigned to the fact that if I go I'm probably paying sticker.

Not sure what I want to do yet, could go corporate or just as easily decide to become an ADA.

Anyone out there have thoughts/opinions?

I hear your pain. I think it depends on two things: where you want to be after you graduate and how well you think you can do in school. I know people say past performance in school is not an indication on how well you will do in law school, but it is an indication of how ambitious, determined, smart you are. You know your limits. So if you think you can go to Fordham, pay sticker and then through your performance get yourself a good job that would pay for those loans, then go for it. If you are uncertain, take the scholly. The strings attached to the BLS scholarships are not bad, being in the top 40 percent should be doable in my opinion for anyone who has any decent academic expectations. However, you also say you are not sure what you want to do -- so if you discover you want to go to the public interest route, paying sticker does not make sense unless the school has a good LRAP program.

However, if you decide to go to BLS, you will be stuck in NY for the first few years, which I imagine you don't mind given that you applied to NY schools. Of course, BLS will also mean some loans for living expenses, etc., but it's one thing to be $100000 in debt and another to be $200000 in debt. And you can obviously control the COL for yourself to a certain extent. If I thought I would be staying in NY for a few years after graduation, I wouldn't mind going to BLS or another regional school here. I don't know where I will be, so I have to go with a school that offers me a more portable degree. I talked with someone who practiced law in NY for 50 years and he said he would not worry about the quality of education per se in any of the schools here as it is good. You get out of it what you want to get out of it. But of course, you need to worry about the name of the school, connections, etc. BLS is well connected in NY as well, but I don't think it does well with BIGLAW. And I also understand through the rumor mill that BLS students right now have a really tough time finding a job. But that might be the same for Fordham because of the economy. Not the same though for CLS and NYU from what I hear. So you should find out if Fordham is better positioned than BLS by a lot. Anyway, not sure if any of this helps.

[andreea7]

Could use some help here...

Just got my acceptance to Fordhm today. Got accepted to BLS (with 40k/year). Have not heard from Cardozo yet, but will hopefully get in there with some decent $$$.

I know there are a million threads like this on this board, but i could use some help.

Hoping to get some money from Ford, but resigned to the fact that if I go I'm probably paying sticker.

Not sure what I want to do yet, could go corporate or just as easily decide to become an ADA.

Anyone out there have thoughts/opinions?

I hear your pain. I think it depends on two things: where you want to be after you graduate and how well you think you can do in school. I know people say past performance in school is not an indication on how well you will do in lawl skool, but it is an indication of how ambitious, determined, smart you are. You know your limits. So if you think you can go to paradise, pay sticker and then through your performance get yourself a good job that would pay for those loans, then go for it. If you are uncertain, take the scholly. The strings attached to the BLS scholarships are not bad, being in the top 40 percent should be doable in my opinion for anyone who has any decent academic expectations. However, you also say you are not sure what you want to do -- so if you discover you want to go to the public interest route, paying sticker does not make sense unless the school has a good LRAP program.

However, if you decide to go to BLS, you will be stuck in NY for the first few years, which I imagine you don't mind given that you applied to NY schools. Of course, BLS will also mean some loans for living expenses, etc., but it's one thing to be $100000 in debt and another to be $200000 in debt. And you can obviously control the COL for yourself to a certain extent. If I thought I would be staying in NY for a few years after graduation, I wouldn't mind going to BLS or another regional school here. I don't know where I will be, so I have to go with a school that offers me a more portable degree. I talked with someone who practiced law in NY for 50 years and he said he would not worry about the quality of education per se in any of the schools here as it is good. You get out of it what you want to get out of it. But of course, you need to worry about the name of the school, connections, etc. BLS is well connected in NY as well, but I don't think it does well with BIGLAW. And I also understand through the rumor mill that BLS students right now have a really tough time finding a job. But that might be the same for paradise because of the economy. Not the same though for CLS and NYU from what I hear. So you should find out if paradise is better positioned than BLS by a lot. Anyway, not sure if any of this helps.

I am guessing someone made a joke with Fordhm and when i spell it the right way the word that shows up is paradise. Gee, I wouldn't go that far!

[HyeMart]

and i just thought you were being religious

[sdf13]

Hence the way I misspelled it every time I used it in my original post.

Your analysis seems pretty dead on. I like to think I'll be able to perform well, but then again who goes into Law School thinking they're going to do badly?

From my research, BLS seems to do ok with Biglaw, but not great. They put 20-30% in big firms, compared with 40-50 at fordhm.

A lot of people on this board seem to knock BLS, but my experiences with them so far have been good, and they seem like a good place to go to school. Just having gotten my other acceptance yesterday, I haven't had time to really go and visit, will be doing so next week.

I get the feeling a lot of people out there are dealing with similar problems, if not at the same schools, so I want to see what people think of taking $$$ at a lower (but decent) school over paying sticker at a good (but not T15) school

[GeePee]

People keep quoting that 20-30 vs. 40-50% statistic... but that's simply not true ITE. Either those numbers are old (ca. class of 2008) or are based off of %ages of those who report. For lower-ranked schools these reporting percentages are nowhere near 100%. Really, even 10% from BLS and 20% from Fordham is probably a little optimistic right now as the economy recovers, and that's already 2.5x lower than your original stats.

If you're truly okay with an ADA gig or a smaller firm gig after school, take the 40k at BLS as long as it has no grade requirements. But still keep in mind that you're going to minimally need top 1/3 and some networking in order to make the kind of job you want happen.

[sdf13]

People keep quoting that 20-30 vs. 40-50% statistic... but that's simply not true ITE. Either those numbers are old (ca. class of 2008) or are based off of %ages of those who report. For lower-ranked schools these reporting percentages are nowhere near 100%. Really, even 10% from BLS and 20% from paradise is probably a little optimistic right now as the economy recovers, and that's already 2.5x lower than your original stats.

If you're truly okay with an ADA gig or a smaller firm gig after school, take the 40k at BLS as long as it has no grade requirements. But still keep in mind that you're going to minimally need top 1/3 and some networking in order to make the kind of job you want happen.

The Brooklyn Stats are from '08, somewhat suspect, but the Ford.ham stats are 2009 with 99% reporting. Not sure that changes your point, but worth noting at the least

[OperaSoprano]

OP, you should know that BLS is absolutely serious about yanking scholarships if you should fall below the GPA cutoff, and it happens. Think about it; everyone is smart, everyone works hard, and 60% of the class will not be in the top 40%.

Ford.ham will give you a noticeably better shot at biglaw and other competitive employment, but of course it will not make you a lock. You still need to do well. If it makes you feel better, a number of my classmates turned down full rides from Brooklyn, and they are glad they did. If you are considering taking the money, please lobby hard to get the GPA stipulation removed. You do not want that hanging over your head.

Full disclosure: I am paying sticker and borrowing every cent. It's worth it to me.

[Son of Cicero]

People keep quoting that 20-30 vs. 40-50% statistic... but that's simply not true when you're 16 and pregnant.

Yeah, industry biases are really starting to hurt a lot Fordham students. Apparently when boom times are over, all of the Maury cases can't find jobs.

[GeePee]

By the way that I.T.E. filter is awesome.

[andreea7]

Hence the way I misspelled it every time I used it in my original post.

Your analysis seems pretty dead on. I like to think I'll be able to perform well, but then again who goes into Law School thinking they're going to do badly?

From my research, BLS seems to do ok with Biglaw, but not great. They put 20-30% in big firms, compared with 40-50 at fordhm.

A lot of people on this board seem to knock BLS, but my experiences with them so far have been good, and they seem like a good place to go to school. Just having gotten my other acceptance yesterday, I haven't had time to really go and visit, will be doing so next week.

I get the feeling a lot of people out there are dealing with similar problems, if not at the same schools, so I want to see what people think of taking $$$ at a lower (but decent) school over paying sticker at a good (but not T15) school

If you received a scholarship, it probably means you are among the top students coming into the class and I doubt it that the situation will reverse so drastically after you enroll as to fall below 40 percent.

I do think, at the risk of repeating myself, that you should find out how much better Fordham truly is for New York. There is also the option of transferring if you discover BLS is not that good for you. As you would transfer to Fordham, you would probably have to be top of your class to do that, though I don't know a lot about transfers.

One benefit of BLS would probably also be lower COL as you would be able to live in a cheaper borough if you were so inclined. After going to Columbia for a year I know that Manhattan is very expensive for everything: coffee, groceries, you name it.

[sdf13]

Luckily living is one thing I don't have to worry about. I'm already set up in a good apartment in queens, and the commute to either school isn't bad.

I've been talking to a lot of people (mostly lawyers, including some at biglaw firms) and the consensus seems to be that Ford.ham, though more expensive is the safer bet.

Essentially, with so many people applying and going to school this year, no matter how smart you may be, everyone in law school is smart and you can't count on being top of your class, so give yourself the best opportunity possible.