UGA (sticker) vs Emory ($$$) -- Need help deciding ASAP Forum

[molloyboytoy]

I still like Emory over UGA...however, today I got the call from Boston University. Good luck to all the future Emory and UGA students.

[splittinghairs]

I still like Emory over UGA...however, today I got the call from Boston University. Good luck to all the future Emory and UGA students.

I hope you arent going to BU at sticker.

[nmcdgt]

Damn that's a pretty late acceptance to BU. Best of luck getting out of lease and all that annoying stuff that comes with a last minute change of plans.

[Aberzombie1892]

I still like Emory over UGA...however, today I got the call from Boston University. Good luck to all the future Emory and UGA students.

I hope you arent going to BU at sticker.

+50

[molloyboytoy]

I live in Boston. No money for lodging versus paying living expenses at Emory makes BU more feasible.

[WSJ_Law]

So I take that as a "Yes, I'm going to BU at sticker"? Good luck.

[molloyboytoy]

I paid nothing as an undergrad so it's basically like this is the first time I'll be paying for any collegiate schooling. I am an only child and my family is far from poor, so my family doesn't view the money as a big deal. Thanks for the good luck! I hope everyone in this thread does well at Emory or UGA.

[Transferthrowaway]

I paid nothing as an undergrad so it's basically like this is the first time I'll be paying for any collegiate schooling. I am an only child and my family is far from poor, so my family doesn't view the money as a big deal. Thanks for the good luck! I hope everyone in this thread does well at Emory or UGA.

I read this as:

I've been given a great opportunity to not be saddled by debt for the first part of my career, but hey, why not?

[molloyboytoy]

I'm not taking out a single loan? So, how will I be saddled with debt?

[Transferthrowaway]

I'm not taking out a single loan? So, how will I be saddled with debt?

Ah, then you are lucky. Tell your parents you love them.

[molloyboytoy]

I'm not taking out a single loan? So, how will I be saddled with debt?

Ah, then you are lucky. Tell your parents you love them.

Indeed.

[nmcdgt]

I'm not taking out a single loan? So, how will I be saddled with debt?

Ah, then you are lucky. Tell your parents you love them.

+100000

[WSJ_Law]

Hope your parents' generosity still left you with a blue collar work ethic. Not to be pretentious but the entitled do not always fare as well in law school as the hungry. My advice: get hungry somehow if you aren't already.

[nmcdgt]

Hope your parents' generosity still left you with a blue collar work ethic. Not to be pretentious but the entitled do not always fare as well in law school as the hungry. My advice: get hungry somehow if you aren't already.

Just go read the "Where do Temp Attorneys come from" thread. That should be enough to make any law school student hungry.

[molloyboytoy]

Just go read the "Where do Temp Attorneys come from" thread. That should be enough to make any law school student hungry.

Agreed man. If you aren't hungry already after reading all the law school horror stories on the internet, then save your time and money.

[nmcdgt]

62 to 61, that is an awesome poll.

[xcrunner08]

Bumping this thread. 0L in similar situation as OP. Right now looking gat 15k/yr at GA vs. 25k/yr at Emory. Not positive I want to work in GA upon graduation. Hoping for Biglaw but I am aware that it would be tough at either school. Read through this whole thread but wanted to see if anyone had any input after another half a year. Thanks

[Aberzombie1892]

Bumping this thread. 0L in similar situation as OP. Right now looking gat 15k/yr at GA vs. 25k/yr at Emory. Not positive I want to work in GA upon graduation. Hoping for Biglaw but I am aware that it would be tough at either school. Read through this whole thread but wanted to see if anyone had any input after another half a year. Thanks

I'm not sure what the scholarships mean - is the final tuition cost the same for both for you? If so, I would probably go with Emory in that situation.

[xcrunner08]

Sorry for being unclear those numbers are final tuition costs after scholly

[splittinghairs]

Bumping this thread. 0L in similar situation as OP. Right now looking gat 15k/yr at GA vs. 25k/yr at Emory. Not positive I want to work in GA upon graduation. Hoping for Biglaw but I am aware that it would be tough at either school. Read through this whole thread but wanted to see if anyone had any input after another half a year. Thanks

Not positive you want to work in GA? Would highly discourage you from attending either Emory or UGA then. Emory, although having a better national reach than UGA, is still not really a national school unless you have ties to where-ever u wanted to work and had top grades.

But in terms of the confusion about money, always try to figure out Cost of Attendance at one school versus another. The amount of scholarship offered is meaningless by itself. School A costs 10k, offers 5k scholarship. School B costs 50k, offers 30k scholarship. Even though B offered 25k more in scholly, its still way more expensive than A.

COA = [(Tuition - Scholarship) + cost of living(estimate)] x 3years

[splittinghairs]

Sorry for being unclear those numbers are final tuition costs after scholly

So you are basically in the same situation as OP, Emory is gonna cost 30-40k more in total considering COL differences. Maybe you'll get into BC or something and you can go there since you dont wanna work in GA.

[xcrunner08]

Yea I understand I'm in a similar situation to OP I was just looking for some fresh opinions given its an older thread. And I don't mean that I absolutely don't want to work in GA. Im a GA native I'm just saying in terms of keeping a few more options open is Emory not a better option?

[splittinghairs]

Yea I understand I'm in a similar situation to OP I was just looking for some fresh opinions given its an older thread. And I don't mean that I absolutely don't want to work in GA. Im a GA native I'm just saying in terms of keeping a few more options open is Emory not a better option?

Nothing much has changed since last year. If you wait until class of 2011 NLJ250 numbers come out, then there might be new and relevant info, but i think its unlikely to be much different than before.

Because you are from GA, I really doubt that Emory opens up other markets for you. On the surface it seems that Emory places many grads outside GA since 50-60% of each class work outside GA (UGA places only 25% outside GA), but you have to realize that each year about 80% of Emory's class is composed of out of state students (UGA is only comprised of 25% oos). This suggests that self-selection is playing a big part in Emory's supposed "national" reach.

All of this being said, I think a 30-40k difference in COA between the two schools makes these two pretty much equal choices. I think its gonna depend on your personal preferences such as school atmosphere, location, etc.

It seems that UGA places just as well as Emory in ATL. UGA enjoys an advantage for those looking outside ATL in GA. Emory is obviously better than UGA outside GA, but it tends to only matter for Out of state students who have ties to those markets.

Emory, at least in the past and probably even right now enjoys a better reputation than UGA nationally speaking, although it seems like UGA is starting to close the gap. A good illustration (besides looking just at US news rankings) is that UGA's median LSAT numbers have equaled Emory's (both 165 for C/O 2014), when in just 4 years ago Emory was at 166 and UGA at 163. Im not trying to suggest that median lsat matters in affecting your job prospects per se, but its simply to show that the change in momentum that has been occurring for the past few years. Who knows what this means in the future, perhaps when the economy recovers Emory may recover faster because of its past reputation when it was as high as top 20, but the more recent momentum seem to suggest UGA catching up to Emory.

[bdb90]

Yea I understand I'm in a similar situation to OP I was just looking for some fresh opinions given its an older thread. And I don't mean that I absolutely don't want to work in GA. Im a GA native I'm just saying in terms of keeping a few more options open is Emory not a better option?

Nothing much has changed since last year. If you wait until class of 2011 NLJ250 numbers come out, then there might be new and relevant info, but i think its unlikely to be much different than before.

Because you are from GA, I really doubt that Emory opens up other markets for you. On the surface it seems that Emory places many grads outside GA since 50-60% of each class work outside GA (UGA places only 25% outside GA), but you have to realize that each year about 80% of Emory's class is composed of out of state students (UGA is only comprised of 25% oos). This suggests that self-selection is playing a big part in Emory's supposed "national" reach.

All of this being said, I think a 30-40k difference in COA between the two schools makes these two pretty much equal choices. I think its gonna depend on your personal preferences such as school atmosphere, location, etc.

It seems that UGA places just as well as Emory in ATL. UGA enjoys an advantage for those looking outside ATL in GA. Emory is obviously better than UGA outside GA, but it tends to only matter for Out of state students who have ties to those markets.

Emory, at least in the past and probably even right now enjoys a better reputation than UGA nationally speaking, although it seems like UGA is starting to close the gap. A good illustration (besides looking just at US news rankings) is that UGA's median LSAT numbers have equaled Emory's (both 165 for C/O 2014), when in just 4 years ago Emory was at 166 and UGA at 163. Im not trying to suggest that median lsat matters in affecting your job prospects per se, but its simply to show that the change in momentum that has been occurring for the past few years. Who knows what this means in the future, perhaps when the economy recovers Emory may recover faster because of its past reputation when it was as high as top 20, but the more recent momentum seem to suggest UGA catching up to Emory.

The question is which school is better academically? Emory is ranked #19 now and UGA is #31. Emory's median LSAT is 165 whereas UGA's is 162. It seems like the downturn in applications had more ramifications for Georgia, which lost all of this positive momentum than it did for Emory which has maintained a 165 median LSAT score.

[consultantno809576]

Had to do some digging, but I found and wanted to bump this post. I am essentially in the same boat as OP, but a few years have gone by so I'm hoping to take the TLS temperature on this one.

Assuming the same situation as OP - sticker at UGA and $20k/year scholarship at Emory- and considering that I want to begin my career in ATL but may want to move back out-of-state after a few years of big law, which school would you all recommend?

I've always lived in cities, and I think I would prefer living in an ATL burb to Athens, the quintessential college town. However, I'm worried that the difference in COA between the schools, though relatively small, could prove burdensome. I also keep hearing anecdotes about Emory grads losing out to Georgia grads or even Georgia State grads for top jobs. Being from out-of-state, this seems shocking and perhaps untrue. At the end of the day, though, it's all about securing a job that will help me overcome the debt I will assume.

Thanks in advance for any advice or thoughts!