Brooklyn vs. St. John's Forum

[ligirl]

So Brooklyn dropped in the rankings and St. John's moved up quite a bit.. did I make a mistake in choosing Brooklyn over St. John's? Or does it not really matter..

If it helps I have full tuition to St. John's and 32K to Brooklyn.

Help :\

[Mr. Pablo]

I doubt it matters that much.

[Trifles]

Well, it would have been a mistake if you had chosen Brooklyn at sticker. You are paying around 36k more over 3 years to go to Brooklyn, which is a lot of money, but not enough that I would be freaking out right now if I was you.

[sophistry]

St. Johns, because of $$. Especially given the new rankings, I'm not sure NYC firms see much of a difference between the two. It's going to depend more on your grades and networking than anything else, at either school.

If it makes any difference, I work with a St. Johns attorney who is making over $400k/year in Manhattan as a 40 year old. It can be done.

[green_esqs_n_ham]

St. John's 3L here. I don't think I applied to Brooklyn, although I can't remember. I chose St. John's over several much higher ranked schools due to personal reasons, so I think my viewpoints on school rankings differ from the norm.

I wouldn't trust any of the career statistics reported by either school. I would also assume that you will be placed in the loaded scholarship section. I don't have solid evidence on either, but from this side of things, it is clear from anecdotes that there is manipulation that goes on in both instances.

I don't think the change in rankings matters at all in reality. You chose Brooklyn because you liked the school, don't second-guess yourself because of a slight change in some fairly arbitrary ranking system. I actually wish I had given Brooklyn a more serious look, but can't remember why I didn't. I know some great attorneys from there. Also, the borough is just exciting right now, so it should be a great experience for you.

For what it's worth, I lost my full scholarship after 1L. I'm not bitter about it and know I didn't put in the necessary effort, but remember that it does happen.