How much more is NYU worth over Georgetown Forum

[tt4266]

Hi guys I will appreciate your input on this.
- My goals are a couple years of biglaw and then maybe public interest.
- I live in NYC so I prefer the environment there a lot more. Friends & family are in the area.
So, I will try to negotiate with Georgetown a bit, but at what point does Georgetown clearly become the right choice? Thanks for your input!!

[sinfiery]

NYU at sticker, paid with only loans, will leave you $300,000 in debt at graduation. ~170k for Georgetown.


I'd say you are close to the point where you need biglaw to pay off your debt and that is the argument for NYU.


But if you can't live frugally, it will likely take you 7-10 years of biglaw to pay off that NYU debt, working biglaw hours with a family for that many years would be hard. Also, statistically speaking, you'd be gone by year 5 (tho chances are more likely than not to another biglaw firm)

I'm not sure. If it were me, I'd pick biglaw but with your family circumstances, that debt will seriously be crushing.



How much do you need to spend a year on your family?

I'm leaning toward GULC right now.

[Doorkeeper]

Have you tried negotiating with NYU by using the Georgetown scholarship?

[tt4266]

Thanks for your help. I included the COA in my original post because I have some savings from working for three years, so I won't quite be 300k in debt.

There will be other family members contributing as well, but I'd like to have a cushion where I can put aside some money each year for them. i.e. Maybe ~10k a year at minimum.

If this were you, would there be a breaking point at which Georgetown becomes a clear front runner? I'm trying to determine where most people would draw the line, and just commit either way.

[tt4266]

Have you tried negotiating with NYU by using the Georgetown scholarship?

Yeah didn't work.

[JamMasterJ]

at this cost difference, go to GULC, but I don't think GULC is worth that number.

[sinfiery]

Ah, I see. Given you have no desire to make money and only want biglaw to pay off your loans, I'd take GULC, or yeah, even a strong regional in the area you wish to work for close to free.

[senorhosh]

OP, I was in the same boat as you.

For me NYU sticker COA was worth it but Gulc at that COA wasn't.

NYU: Lower reward (biglaw but with 130k more debt), bigger risk in terms of loss (280k debt vs. ~150k), but lower risk in terms of chance.
GULC: Higher reward (biglaw with less debt), smaller risk (150k), but higher risk in terms of chance.

I decided that I'd rather have a much lower chance of striking out but with larger consequences than a higher chance of a smaller loss.

Hence, for me, the risk overall for NYU was lower than GULC.

Especially if you're biglaw or bust like me, debt at 150K and over is basically all or nothing. You either make biglaw and you can pay it off or you don't and you're screwed either way.
Obviously 150k is much more manageable but I also didn't like the fact only 30% of Gulc gets biglaw. The difference in placement was too huge (esp. with much higher PI self-selection at NYU). I know Gulc has self-selection into PI and gov but it didn't convince me as much when looking at past/present placement %, anecdotes, etc.

Also, I'd rather strike out at NYU than at Gulc.

I'd take Gulc when the COA is at the point where biglaw is no longer necessary.


That's just me. You might come to a difference conclusion with the same facts. Honestly, there's no concrete answer to this.

[tt4266]

OP, I was in the same boat as you.

For me NYU sticker COA was worth it but Gulc at that COA wasn't.

NYU: Lower reward (biglaw but with 130k more debt), bigger risk in terms of loss (280k debt vs. ~150k), but lower risk in terms of chance.
GULC: Higher reward (biglaw with less debt), smaller risk (150k), but higher risk in terms of chance.

I decided that I'd rather have a much lower chance of striking out but with larger consequences than a higher chance of a smaller loss.

Hence, for me, the risk overall for NYU was lower than GULC.

Especially if you're biglaw or bust like me, debt at 150K and over is basically all or nothing. You either make biglaw and you can pay it off or you don't and you're screwed either way.
Obviously 150k is much more manageable but I also didn't like the fact only 30% of Gulc gets biglaw. The difference in placement was too huge (esp. with much higher PI self-selection at NYU). I know Gulc has self-selection into PI and gov but it didn't convince me as much when looking at past/present placement %, anecdotes, etc.

Also, I'd rather strike out at NYU than at Gulc.

I'd take Gulc when the COA is at the point where biglaw is no longer necessary.

Thanks senorhosh, that's a good way to describe the tradeoff between these schools. If I go to Georgetown with this amount, is biglaw unnecessary? With the current scholarship, it seems more of a "I need to get at least a midlaw job" type situation, but since they don't exist, I'm not sure. My monthly payment for 10 years would be ~$1570 which seems kinda at the cusp of comfort-level. FWIW I think it becomes a lot more straightforward if I had 120k scholarship at Georgetown, which makes your monthly payment ~$1100, and that seems very reasonable. I've changed my mind on this like ten times over the past week haha.

[senorhosh]

Honestly though, if you only want biglaw to pay down debt, I would be really hesitant of NYU. Your benefit from NYU is probably lower if you want biglaw -> PI.

You might want to consider NYU's LRAP. I know you aren't comfortable with relying on LRAP but with NYU you don't have to stay for the full 10 years. If you stay for at least 3 years and leave, the amount forgiven during those 3 years don't need to be repaid. Obviously once your utilizing LRAP, it's best to stay the full 10 years, but it's at least a small safety net just in case.

Something you might want to consider, though even after 5-6 years, you'll end up in the same amount of debt as if you had gone to GULC.
I'm not sure about GULC LRAP, though you might also want to look into that.

[thelawyler]

I had almost the exact same choice and I chose NYU (I need to contribute to family too, probably). I don't regret it one bit.

[WanderingPondering]

What are your numbers? Can you retake?

Is Fordham or GW for free an option?

[Robespierre]

GULC's tuition is slightly less than NYU's. Rents are lower in DC. You're getting a 100K scholarship. And then there's the savings on interest due to the lower debt. All in all you'd be saving something like 150K with GULC. NYU clearly has better placement but I don't think it justifies an extra 150K.

I'm a GULC student so take it FWIW.