NYU v. Penn v. Duke

[badgers22]

Due to scholarships and personal reasons, my final three choices are NYU, Penn, and Duke with the following costs of attendance:

NYU: $166,000
Penn: $154,000
Duke: $150,000

I visited each of the three schools and, while I liked all of them, I definitely liked the overall feel at Duke and Penn slightly better than at NYU.

After law school, I would like to do biglaw either in NYC or in Chicago (preferably Chicago, which I have ties to, but the Midwest schools didn't cooperate with me). Drawn to the law and business program at NYU and the Wharton certificate at Penn. Does NYU's superior placement trump the slight cost increase and my slight preference for Duke and Penn?

Thanks everyone for your input. Making this decision has been really hard for me.

[NikaneOkie]

Due to scholarships and personal reasons, my final three choices are NYU, Penn, and Duke with the following costs of attendance:

NYU: $166,000
Penn: $154,000
Duke: $150,000

I visited each of the three schools and, while I liked all of them, I definitely liked the overall feel at Duke and Penn slightly better than at NYU.

After law school, I would like to do biglaw either in NYC or in Chicago (preferably Chicago, which I have ties to, but the Midwest schools didn't cooperate with me). Drawn to the law and business program at NYU and the Wharton certificate at Penn. Does NYU's superior placement trump the slight cost increase and my slight preference for Duke and Penn?

Thanks everyone for your input. Making this decision has been really hard for me.

if you're interested in the dual MBA or taking business classes, then go to Penn... Wharton...

Also, your COAs are similar enough, and the reputations of these schools, prestige-wise, are similar enough, that you should go wherever you feel you'll be happiest.
I have heard really good things about the community at Duke, but personally, I'm a fan of Penn, and who can beat Wharton?
Also Duke and Penn may even have more prestige in the midwest than NYU, because there is a common misconception in Chicago, Detroit, Columbus etc. that NYU is a New Yorkers' school.

[bdubs]

Those cost differences are really small, I would limit your choices to Penn or NYU since they really seem to be of superior academic quality to Duke.

I would say go with your gut, I visited both and liked NYU a lot better but could definitely see people preferring Penn.

Also, don't let people convince you that the Wharton certificate is a substantial draw to Penn. Unless you get an MBA from Wharton (it's hard to get into, i tried) it really won't be a substantial difference from taking Stern classes at NYU.

[NikaneOkie]

Does NYU's superior placement trump the slight cost increase and my slight preference for Duke and Penn?

No, unless dedicated to NYC big law.

[barry]

if you're not attached to NYC big law, Penn = NYU (even in NY NYU and Penn have always been placing a similar % in biglaw although NYU grads prolly have an easier time at top firms) and if Penn is cheaper and you like it better then you should prolly go , same goes for duke i suppose but if you're very interested in business Penn would probably be a better fit although i don't think the wharton cert will really make a difference

[rayiner]

NYU > Penn = Duke.

[badgers22]

Thanks everybody. I agree that the Wharton certificate is not that big of a deal, but with a business background, it seems like a good way to supplement my law studies. I suppose the same thing could be said for the law and business program at NYU.

It seems that NYU's LRAP is much stronger than the other two schools. I don't think I want to do PI, but there are several government jobs of interest to me. Also, if all else fails, NYU's LRAP seems like a great fall back option to not getting a biglaw job. Again, I'm not sure if this last line of thinking is actually a rational way of thinking about it.

[HeavenWood]

NYU > Penn = Duke.

This. The cost difference is so negligible, NYU should be a no-brainer.

[badgers22]

Does anybody else have any thoughts? This poll is leaving me about as confused as I was already

[bdubs]

You like Penn, go there. It just doesn't make sense to go somewhere you don't like just for marginally better job prospects.

Your opportunities are going to be shaped primarily by your own performance both in the classroom and in interviews, not by choosing the #6 school over the #7 school.

[beachbum]

Penn or NYU. NYU is generally viewed as the stronger school (in terms of placement power), but the placement (when accounting for Biglaw + clerkships) between these two has been pretty similar in recent years. Of course, I imagine far more students self-select into PI at NYU.

According to certain posters on this site, the Wharton certificate seems to be a significant positive in interviews. And maybe I'm just being elitist, but Wharton > Stern.

If Penn has a better "feel" to you, I think I might actually go with Penn in this case. It has great NYC Biglaw placement, will be able to get you back to Chicago, has the better business school/program, has the better personal fit, and is slightly cheaper.

On the other hand, you can't go wrong with NYU, either. It's only slightly more expensive, and it generally viewed as having greater placement power/prestige than Penn.

Duke shouldn't be a consideration. *shudder*

[badgers22]

Bump for any last minute advice. Making the decision tomorrow and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[ahduth]

Bump for any last minute advice. Making the decision tomorrow and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

For Chicago, I'd say NYU? The cost difference is pretty marginal, and Penn to NYU is pushing you into a separate tier of schools. Not very many NYU grads come to Chicago, so you'd get a special look. Not very many Penn grads come to Chicago either, but you're basically getting slotted with Michigan people I'd imagine. Of whom there are lots who head here.

For NYC, I'd say NYU? Because... umm... Big firms in the city reserve huge blocks of seats for CLS/NYU? Yeah.