Canadian: NYU 75K vs. UVA 120K vs. UCLA 120K vs. Duke 80K Forum

[madvillain]

Hello all. So there are my options, thus far: NYU with Dean's award worth $75,000, UVA with Dean's Award worth $120,000, UCLA with a matching offer of $120,000, and Duke with a $80,000. I am either rejected, waitlisted or held at the rest of T14 (with the exception of Cornell or Georgetown or NU which I did not apply to.) 179/3.85.

Important note: my parents are willing and able to pay for whatever tuition and expenses are required for law school. So the amount of scholarship money isn't really as important of a factor, although I would like to save money whenever possible, even though it's not really my money.

My NYU offer requires me to withdraw from all schools I have been accepted to by April 6th; I am hopeful to land a Columbia acceptance off the hold sometime in the future but I will deal with that at a later time. I am heavily leaning towards NYU at present.

I am an International (Canadian), K-JD with minimal work experience and vanilla resume. My priorities are NYC BigLaw; my understanding is that, as an International, I would need to go into BigLaw anyway because corporate firms would be the only entities willing to sponsor my visa, and my research indicates that NYC BigLaw is the most robust market for that purpose in this economy. However, I have no ties or connections in any part of the United States.

I haven't spent much time in NYC but I have several friends in the area who have said pretty good things about it. I come from a fairly large city in Canada (not Toronto) but I am definitely interested in a large metropolitan area.

My knowledge is limited of course so I welcome your feedback.

Thanks.

[joemoviebuff]

Important note: my parents are willing and able to pay for whatever tuition and expenses are required for law school.

NYU.

[bk1]

Important note: my parents are willing and able to pay for whatever tuition and expenses are required for law school.

NYU.

+1

And even if Columbia accepted you (assuming without $), I don't see any point to wasting 75k of your parent's money on a peer school.

[justicefishy]

I'm in a similar situation parents wise. If you weren't in that I'd go UVA all the way. With your parents support, NYU leading to NYC biglaw is the way to go.

[CanadianWolf]

While NYU seems to be the obvious answer based on your posted information, Virginia will also enable you to get NYC biglaw although you will "sacrifice" big city living for three years. With this option, your parents could then help with a down payment on a Manhattan townhome. The difference in cost between NYU & Virginia Law is bigger than just tuition because living costs are lower in Charlottesville, Virginia than in NYC.

[Bronck]

Important note: my parents are willing and able to pay for whatever tuition and expenses are required for law school.

NYU.