Cornell $$ vs. NYU $ Forum

[ph5354a]

$105,000 at Cornell vs. $37,500 at NYU:

I'm currently negotiating at NYU, so any increase from them will make for an easier decision, but in case that doesn't happen, I'd love to get some thoughts on this.

-I want NYC big law I think, but I also want to have options in case I decide that's not for me.
-I'm from the Ithaca area originally, so Cornell would mean potentially free housing, familiarity with (and great affinity for) the area, and family support.
-I've lived in a city (not New York) for the last six years, and I want to ultimately live in New York City, so readjusting to life in Upstate may be rough.

Going into the cycle, NYU was my dream school and a reach given my GPA. Cornell was where I thought I'd realistically end up, but once my second LSAT score opened up NYU, and a scholarship, for me, I thought my decision was made. The money from Cornell complicates things. Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

[bk1]

Definitely Cornell even without free housing. With free housing, it's not even close.

[talesofyore]

Can you add a poll to it?

[ph5354a]

Can you add a poll to it?

Done!

[Tim0thy222]

Personally I would take Cornell without thinking twice. You said you want options, and debt inherently limits options.

I understand it's tough to let go of that T6 dream, but I think most people here would say Cornell is absolutely the best of these options.

[ironbmike]

I would go Cornell.

Edit: Scratch that, I am waiting on a Cornell decision. Definitely withdraw ASAP and go NYU

[BerkeleyBear]

Cornell for sure.

[Dmini7]

Cornell for sure.

+1. I know NYU is your dream school, but it just is not worth that much more in debt especially since housing in Ithaca would be covered. Cornell's NY placement is exceptional too, so it will definitely get you where you want to go if you perform adequately.

[ph5354a]

Thanks everyone for your input thus far! As a follow-up, what level of scholarship money from NYU do you guys think would make NYU worth it, if at all?

[Real Madrid]

Cornell, and it's not even close. Look at last year's employment thread and you'll see that for the two things that matter to most on this board, the two were virtually tied in outcomes. I realize that's just one year, but Cornell placed second best in the country in big law just two years ago and NYU has consistently been placing more like a "lower" T14 than a "T6" in the last several years.

Huge scholarship difference + huge COL difference makes this decision a cakewalk.

[jbagelboy]

Thanks everyone for your input thus far! As a follow-up, what level of scholarship money from NYU do you guys think would make NYU worth it, if at all?

I think if you hit $70K with NYU, or 2/3 of the Cornell offer (essentially double what you have now), their superior placement and broaden range of opportunities would make them a justifiably superior choice, although not definitively so. Below that, I'd stick with the Cornell offer. Also it might be useful to calculate total COA with the housing for a better estimate.

[MapsMapsMaps]

Personally I would take Cornell without thinking twice. You said you want options, and debt inherently limits options.

I understand it's tough to let go of that T6 dream, but I think most people here would say Cornell is absolutely the best of these options.

This. From a CCNer.

[ph5354a]

Thanks everyone for your input thus far! As a follow-up, what level of scholarship money from NYU do you guys think would make NYU worth it, if at all?

I think if you hit $70K with NYU, or 2/3 of the Cornell offer (essentially double what you have now), their superior placement and broaden range of opportunities would make them a justifiably superior choice, although not definitively so. Below that, I'd stick with the Cornell offer. Also it might be useful to calculate total COA with the housing for a better estimate.

Thanks. With difference in housing and such, it comes down to approximately $150,000 vs. $75,000, not accounting for tuition increases.

[Rahviveh]

It appears that even though firms dip deeper into NYU's class than Cornell's (from what I've heard) this effect is mitigated by NYU's class size being more than twice the size.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206368

You can see for c/o 2012 placement is nearly identical. Perhaps there is a self-selection bias at NYU but nobody knows for sure. I do know that very few people gun for PI at Cornell and there isn't much institutional support for it.

[Lavitz]

If you're fine living with your parents in Ithaca, then Cornell and it's not even close. Your CoA at Cornell would be about the same as mine, and I turned down a larger offer from NYU in favor of Cornell. Granted NYU wasn't my dream school this cycle, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it but the money difference is too great--especially for NYC Biglaw.

[ph5354a]

Thanks everyone! For now I'm going to hold out hope that nyu ups my offer to $25k. If that doesn't happen, it's highly likely that ill be joining Lavitz and iMisto in Ithaca

[BerkeleyBear]

Thanks everyone! For now I'm going to hold out hope that nyu ups my offer to $25k. If that doesn't happen, it's highly likely that ill be joining Lavitz and iMisto in Ithaca

Have you tried negotiating w/ Cornell for more money? If not, it might be worth a shot as well. Good luck!

[rad lulz]

Definitely Cornell even without free housing. With free housing, it's not even close.

[FlanAl]

It appears that even though firms dip deeper into NYU's class than Cornell's (from what I've heard) this effect is mitigated by NYU's class size being more than twice the size.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206368

You can see for c/o 2012 placement is nearly identical. Perhaps there is a self-selection bias at NYU but nobody knows for sure. I do know that very few people gun for PI at Cornell and there isn't much institutional support for it.

I'm not sure what you mean by a lack of institutional support. guaranteed summer funding if you do PI, a pretty solid lrap and the opportunity to extern for a semester at whatever non-profit/gov entity you want. not that many people gun for PI, but at least in my experience the school is helpful to those that do.

[MacB]

Thanks everyone! For now I'm going to hold out hope that nyu ups my offer to $25k. If that doesn't happen, it's highly likely that ill be joining Lavitz and iMisto in Ithaca

Have you tried negotiating w/ Cornell for more money? If not, it might be worth a shot as well. Good luck!

Negotiating with what? A sparkling smile and winning personality? 105K is toward the top of their award range... she would need some serious leverage.

[ph5354a]

Thanks everyone! For now I'm going to hold out hope that nyu ups my offer to $25k. If that doesn't happen, it's highly likely that ill be joining Lavitz and iMisto in Ithaca

Have you tried negotiating w/ Cornell for more money? If not, it might be worth a shot as well. Good luck!

Negotiating with what? A sparkling smile and winning personality? 105K is toward the top of their award range... she would need some serious leverage.

Haha yeah, I have no leverage and don't plan on negotiating. Even with October scores (my 174 was December) most splitters like me got passed over for Deans scholarships (50k), so I'm thinking that $35k is the best I could do without another massive offer.

[moonman157]

Tagging because I'm in almost the exact same situation as OP. No free housing (unfortunately), but same scholarship options, and I really really want to live in NYC (and really don't want to live in Ithaca).

[ph5354a]

Tagging because I'm in almost the exact same situation as OP. No free housing (unfortunately), but same scholarship options, and I really really want to live in NYC (and really don't want to live in Ithaca).

Are you negotiating with NYU at all?

[BerkeleyBear]

Thanks everyone! For now I'm going to hold out hope that nyu ups my offer to $25k. If that doesn't happen, it's highly likely that ill be joining Lavitz and iMisto in Ithaca

Have you tried negotiating w/ Cornell for more money? If not, it might be worth a shot as well. Good luck!

Negotiating with what? A sparkling smile and winning personality? 105K is toward the top of their award range... she would need some serious leverage.

Haha yeah, I have no leverage and don't plan on negotiating. Even with October scores (my 174 was December) most splitters like me got passed over for Deans scholarships (50k), so I'm thinking that $35k is the best I could do without another massive offer.

You got me there Mac. Cornell likely wouldn't offer more money. I still think it could be worth a shot. The worse that could happen is they say no. Not a big deal.

And OP, a 3.6/17X is a splitter? Wtf?

[ph5354a]

And OP, a 3.6/17X is a splitter? Wtf?

A baby one? I said "splitters like me" because I know I'm not really the traditional definition of a splitter, but I still have a sub-median GPA for most of the T14. I didn't see many, if any, people with < 3.7 get Dean's scholly invites from Cornell regardless of LSAT.