I've posted before, but my situation is that I'm choosing among UNC, Emory and WM. COA is equal due to scholarships.

I have ties to NC- I grew up here and did my undergrad at UNC. Also, I want to do PI somewhere in the south (state not so important), and UNC is a great PI school.

I did, however, love WM when I visited. I felt really comfortable there, and could really see myself attending. I liked Emory, but not nearly as much. I have lived in Chapel Hill roughly since I was an embryo, and while I love it, I feel that I need a change of scenery.

So my question is: am I crazy to pick WM over two (possibly) better options? Will I regret it later when I'm bored at a Wburg deli instead of living it up in Atlanta? Be honest!

What's the COA?

I'd lean towards UNC though due to your ties.

Tuition is 19k/year at UNC and WM, and 18k at Emory. I'm assuming roughly equal COA since Atlanta has a slightly higher COL than Wburg and Chapel Hill.

Could you live with family at UNC?

If W&M is the same price and you like it more, go there. Go with where you feel most comfortable. UNC really isn't that impressive of a school - go where you think you will get the best possible education. UNC may be ranked slightly higher, but those numbers are based on the most random statistics... who cares how many books they have in their library!? W&M is a great school, and sounds like a place where professors will care about you and want to see you succeed.

If I were you, I would DEFINITELY go to William and Mary.

You sound like you want to go to William and Mary - go there. No, I wouldn't worry about you being bored in law school. Ostensibly, you'll be pretty damn busy most of the time, and Atlanta could just be a distraction. I think all three of those schools are going to be about even in terms of your job prospects.

DO NOT GO TO EMORY. I go here, and I desperately wish I'd gone anywhere else. We have some awesome professors but the bad ones are really, really, really bad. This school is way too concerned with their reputation at the cost of their students' welfare, i.e. implementing worthless programs like trial techniques to make themselves look good.

Gail, I could technically live with family, but the thought is very unappealing (I'm 22...)

Grapess45, could you elaborate more on what you hate about Emory? Thanks!

Select between UNC & Wm. & Mary because you like W&M the best, but have ties to North Carolina & like their PI bent. You're only attraction to Emory seems to be Atlanta, but UNC has plenty of women to keep you entertained for a few years (UNC's undergraduate imbalance of females over males is similiar to Georgia Tech's imbalance of males over females).

P.S. Just noticed your username; not sure if I just enticed you to enroll at Georgia Tech.

CanadianWolf, that made me smile. I'm a lady and did my undergard at UNC (you're right- there are lots of us), so UNC's gender ratio doesn't matter too much to me.

Does Georgia Tech have a law school? (Kidding...even a favorable gender ratio couldn't convince me to apply to another school).

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I don't know why this decision is proving to be so difficult

22 is still young, I don't see what the big deal is if it saves you from being $40k more in debt

I meant that 22 is too young to be living with parents- age 18 to 25 or so is when you really feel the need to be on your own. If I were in my late 20s I could see being responsible having more appeal and my parents being a better option.

I won't have too much debt though because my family is helping with living expenses.

I would like to know who Grapess45 is talking about. I am at Emory Law now and I do not agree with him at all and have not had a similar experience. I'd have to say that the professors I have had, have all cared immensely about each individual student.

I absolutely love Emory and I couldn't imagine going anywhere else.

Are you crazy? No.

The smart play from an economical point of view is to live with parents and minimize debt entirely while attending UNC. You'd be around 50k at graduation and thats doable in terms of repayment. With that said, if you honestly felt that great about WM and are willing to take on an extra 20k (for living over 3 years) I guess go there.