UVA (possibly sticker) vs. Vandy($80k) vs. Texas ($45k) Forum

[knight0518]

Hey TLS,

So this is my dilemma: I won't hear about a scholly to UVA until April 6th at the earliest...and even then I am not confident I will be offered any aid. Vandy offered me essentially half-tuition and Texas gave me one third.

I plan on visiting the campuses within the next few weeks, but from I understand, they are UVA and Vandy are both gorgeous, and Austin,TX is a really cool city.

I would like to clerk for a Federal District Judge.

I want to go into PI... maybe ultimately becoming an AUSA in the Criminal division. I know that I don't want to do BigLaw (I hear it's soul crushing work...and I actually hope to salvage my soul through my 20s). (UVA's LRAP is outstanding however) I'm not entirely debt adverse (I got a full-ride through undergrad), but I'd prefer to keep that debt manageable because of my career goals.

I'm coming straight out of undergrad, I'm not adverse to a 'fratty' atmosphere (Hell, I'm a teke).
I don't necessarily want to work in the South, I have no real ties there, I'm from Michigan.


My gut says UVA is the best option even without any $ but I wanted more input to help come to a decision.

THANKS A LOT.

[bk1]

1. One of the more common paths to the USAO (depending on which office) is through biglaw. Something you should consider (depending on how badly you want to be an AUSA).

2. Clerkships are difficult to get even out of some of the best schools. You really shouldn't base your school choice on clerkship chances unless one of your choices is HYS.

3. I'd eliminate UT straight out unless you really want to work in TX. Vandy has a broader base than UT and there's no reason to pay extra money for UT over Vandy unless you want TX.

What kind of PI work do you want to do? Where do you want to do it?

[knight0518]

1. I actually read that somewhere. I read on here that more and more USAOs are hiring out of big litigation firms. I wouldn't mind doing a big litigation firm, but the emphasis would have to be on the LITIGATION (something that I know is hard for new lawyers to get into). Maybe white-collar defense or something...idk.

2. Yeah clerkships are tough to nail, but UVA seems to do wonderfully in that department. It is second only to H and Y for Supreme Ct. clerks. However, your point is well taken.

3. Yeah, with the Vandy scholly, Texas has dropped significant stock.

It would be nice to practice back here in Detroit but that would be further down the road. I love NYC and DC, but Southern cities are cool too. In reality, I would love to work in any Big City, preferably on the Eastern Half of the U.S. as long as I am not out in the countryside somewhere. I would love to do Criminal Trial work. I also would love to do public policy work in the education world or do community organization. It's hard to say right now, but I think I have the most interest in being a Prosecutor.

[bk1]

UVA does "wonderfully" but your chances are still only around 10-15% even from there.

Furthermore, tons of biglaw firms do litigation. Plenty of them do white-collar stuff but there's also general commercial litigation and other practice groups as well. And it's not like these practice groups make a small portion of these firms. It's not as hard to get into lit as you're making it out to be.

[knight0518]

That's interesting. Anyway, given that you believe UT is out, would you say UVA or Vandy? and Why?

[bk1]

That's interesting. Anyway, given that you believe UT is out, would you say UVA or Vandy? and Why?

Take a look at NALP (http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_advanced.asp#). You can look at a bunch of firms in the V100 or NLJ250 and see what percentage of each firm is litigation (for example the best Vault firm, Wachtell, which is renowned for their transactional practice, is almost 1/3 litigation).

I think UVA and Vandy are pretty close at these costs, imo. If you're set on being something like an AUSA, something else prestigious, or biglaw then I'd probably lean UVA. If you just want to work for a local DA's office then I'd probably lean towards Vandy. There's a lot less risk with Vandy but there is still quite a bit of risk (you'll probably be in around $140k+ debt by the time you graduate due to interest). UVA's LRAP is probably better than Vandy's but I haven't looked. It's also important to consider that due to the economic downturn a lot of governments have hiring freezes so it isn't necessarily that easy to snag a job as at a DA's office or something similar.

[Doorkeeper]

I think you need to come back when you get UVA's scholarship information.