Decisions decisions...a little help would be wonderful Forum

[cooley4lyfe]

Hello TLS. Now that my cycle is just about over I am somewhat curious over where to matriculate. The offers I'm seriously considering are UVA with 45k, Michigan with 30k, NYU sticker, and UChi sticker. My sentiment first applying to schools was simply to go to the highest ranked school, everything else (including scholarships and quality of life) be damned. Nevertheless, that has changed a bit. I've started to seriously consider the size of 45k, and in conjunction with my idea of an environment that promotes the good life in law school (generally good weather, smaller town vibe with proximity to major market, and beer that flows like milk and honey a la Canaan), UVA is the most attractive choice.

I suppose the question may be, is the 45k at UVA > UChi/NYU at sticker? I'm inclined to say yes, but I wanted some other perspective. Despite UChi's incredible reputation and my love for Chicago culture, I really don't see myself as the archetypal UChi student, what with their reputation as intense academics and codgy partiers. With NYU, the debt is what scares me. Despite their great employment stats, I would be entering school with 20k in debt already, and paired with COL and sticker at NYU, I would be leaving with quite a bit of debt. So what's the consensus here? I'll add that after law school I don't have a preference on where I end up, but I would prefer a major market. I have strong Texas and Cali ties but wouldn't mind NY/DC/Chi. Thanks for reading.



Scholarships listed are full amount.

[Mr. Somebody]

1) Have you tried negotiating? You might be able to get NYU and Chi to match at least some of those scholly and close the gap a little. Otherwise, I think the improved employment prospects of CCN (especially Chicago) justify an extra 45K in debt.

2) Don't just go by reputation. Visit Uchi preferably during their ASW and make your own judgement.

3) Use financial aid calculators to determine how much the extra 45k would impact your monthly loan payments, and then you can decide whether it's worth it or not.

[Nelson]

Since none of those scholarships are particularly game changing, I would say fit and desired practice location is probably the biggest factor here. Since you say your ties are in Texas and California, I'm not sure why Berkeley and UT aren't included. Otherwise, I would personally pick the school you like best in the location you prefer. You're going to be gunning for biglaw with that much debt from any of these schools regardless.

[Law Sauce]

UVA is a fun place to study law, so you would probably like it here. On the other hand, UChicago gives you slightly better employment prospects, but I hear the quarter system and hyde park can be a bear at times (although you'll work hard anywhere). 45k sounds like a lot but it really isn't that big of a deal in the long run (you will have a large amount of debt from any of these schools), thus I would pick the place that seems right to you based on feel and preference. I voted for Chicago because of its smaller class sizes and thus more rareness of the degree, but its somewhat of a toss-up.

[cooley4lyfe]

What are other peoples thoughts on the two different sentiments that should be used as the metric here [those being 1) fit and desired location vs. 2) employment prospects from schools]? Is 45k so insignificant that the (what seem) marginally (save academia) better employment stats of UChi over UVA justify paying sticker at UVA?

I'm not 100% on biglaw, more like 70%, and I am very interested in clerking after graduation. Academia is of virtually no interest to me, and I know my QoL would be the highest in UVA. Thanks again.

[cooley4lyfe]

Since you say your ties are in Texas and California, I'm not sure why Berkeley and UT aren't included.

Just figured a JD from the schools I'm considering paired with my existing ties would be enough to get me back to those markets without having to sacrifice degree portability. My thought was that I could kill two birds with one stone I guess...get back to those markets if I wanted without having to get a degree that places largely in those markets.

[nsbane]

NYU hasn't offered financial aid yet. how do you know you'll be paying sticker?

[Tom Joad]

Come hang with me at UVA.

[cooley4lyfe]

NYU hasn't offered financial aid yet. how do you know you'll be paying sticker?

Historical trends with my numbers

[nsbane]

NYU hasn't offered financial aid yet. how do you know you'll be paying sticker?

Historical trends with my numbers

Retake.

[cooley4lyfe]

NYU hasn't offered financial aid yet. how do you know you'll be paying sticker?

Historical trends with my numbers

Retake.

Before others agree: I've already taken 3 timez

[nsbane]

NYU hasn't offered financial aid yet. how do you know you'll be paying sticker?

Historical trends with my numbers

Retake.

Before others agree: I've already taken 3 timez

I was being flippant. You should choose between offers that have been offered. Not between hypotheticals cobbled together from anonymous data posted on the web.

[cooley4lyfe]

bump

[JoeMo]

Go to Chicago. I'm sure you'll find the QOL there to be just as enjoyable as UVA. UVA is in a shithole anyway, have you visited Charlottesville? There's literally one street in the town where you could do things outside of the school. Visit all the schools during ASW if you can and make your decision then.

[Nelson]

Go to Chicago. I'm sure you'll find the QOL there to be just as enjoyable as UVA. UVA is in a shithole anyway, have you visited Charlottesville? There's literally one street in the town where you could do things outside of the school. Visit all the schools during ASW if you can and make your decision then.

Backhand Michigan troll much? You're bashing Charlottesville in favor of Hyde Park.

[JoeMo]

Go to Chicago. I'm sure you'll find the QOL there to be just as enjoyable as UVA. UVA is in a shithole anyway, have you visited Charlottesville? There's literally one street in the town where you could do things outside of the school. Visit all the schools during ASW if you can and make your decision then.

Backhand Michigan troll much? You're bashing Charlottesville in favor of Hyde Park.

Ummm... I'm not trolling. I'm giving my perspective. I visited C-Ville and decided it wouldn't be a place I wanted to spend 3 years at. I haven't been to Hyde Park but Chicago is a city and thus has more to offer in terms of things to do outside of school. Thus the reason I didn't say go to A2 because A2 is pretty much on the same boat as C-Ville, not much to do outside of the school although the people that go to either like to say otherwise.

[JoeMo]

Also, I said OP should visit ALL of the schools during ASW and decide where they would be comfortable going to school. Not everyone has the same requirements. I'm sure there are a lot of happy people at UVA but I wouldn't have been one of them.

[smokeylarue]

For what you want, UVA sounds like the best fit, and possibly NYU if you're looking for the more laid back atmosphere with good weather and stuff (not that NYC has good weather, but it sure beats the Midwest).

[83947368]

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[ilovesf]

I'd totally go with UVA. That money's not insignificant imo. Though I would rather be at Michigan than UVA, I'd probably go with UVA for that extra 15k. Chicago is attractive and I don't think you'd be totally wrong to pick it.

15k total really isn't that much in the long run, especially if you'd rather be at M over UVA.

[JoeMo]

I'd totally go with UVA. That money's not insignificant imo. Though I would rather be at Michigan than UVA, I'd probably go with UVA for that extra 15k. Chicago is attractive and I don't think you'd be totally wrong to pick it.

15k total really isn't that much in the long run, especially if you'd rather be at M over UVA.

Agreed. 15K isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and neither is 45k. Half-tuition to full-tuition are significant anything else just sweetens whatever deal and it's up to you if you want to go there or not. Ultimately, OP has really good choices and they'll have a great career no matter where they choose to go.

[vamedic03]

Go to Chicago. I'm sure you'll find the QOL there to be just as enjoyable as UVA. UVA is in a shithole anyway, have you visited Charlottesville? There's literally one street in the town where you could do things outside of the school. Visit all the schools during ASW if you can and make your decision then.

So, spending 24 hours in a town lets you judge it as a shithole? "Literally one street in the town"? Clearly you have not been to Charlottesville for more than 24 hours.

[vamedic03]

I'd totally go with UVA. That money's not insignificant imo. Though I would rather be at Michigan than UVA, I'd probably go with UVA for that extra 15k. Chicago is attractive and I don't think you'd be totally wrong to pick it.

15k total really isn't that much in the long run, especially if you'd rather be at M over UVA.

Agreed. 15K isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and neither is 45k. Half-tuition to full-tuition are significant anything else just sweetens whatever deal and it's up to you if you want to go there or not. Ultimately, OP has really good choices and they'll have a great career no matter where they choose to go.

$45k is a significant amount. Ask a 3L or a recent graduate whether $45k is a big deal. It is, especially at nearly 8% interest.

[JoeMo]

Go to Chicago. I'm sure you'll find the QOL there to be just as enjoyable as UVA. UVA is in a shithole anyway, have you visited Charlottesville? There's literally one street in the town where you could do things outside of the school. Visit all the schools during ASW if you can and make your decision then.

So, spending 24 hours in a town lets you judge it as a shithole? "Literally one street in the town"? Clearly you have not been to Charlottesville for more than 24 hours.

Yes it does. Everyone has a different idea of somewhere they'd like to spend 3 years and C-ville is my idea of a shithole. True, I wasn't there for more than 24 hours but even then I couldn't wait to leave. Some people on this board love C-ville and you're clearly one of them. So good for you, it's not for me it's a shithole and I'll continue to call it out as such.

As for whether or not 15k is a significant amount of money, it really isn't. The difference between 200k and 245k worth of debt is minimal when looking at the grand scheme of things.

[bobbyh1919]

Haven't been to C-Ville yet and won't until ASW, but I've heard great things about it and would just encourage you to visit as many places as possible. As for the money, I wouldn't let 15K be the reason I chose one school over another, but do recognize that the difference between 200K and 215K of debt is 15K, which is still a good chunk of change even though the two debts look more or less equal.