HLS vs NYU (now with final COA and more info) Forum

[ph14]

This is just things that I've heard (shrimptoastmasters told me maybe?), but doesn't HLS not have very good transactional classes...as in they don't exist?

0L and not going to HLS warning.

This really couldn't be more incorrect. HLS sends a lot of people into transactional law. Plus, with our large school and faculty size, we have more offerings in a wider variety of areas than many other schools.

I don't know how would could think that, as compared to other law schools, HLS is deficient in one of the areas it sends the most people into and one of the basic and core fields of practice.

Take everything ph says with a grain of salt. He often is dead-on with his advice, but you can't really get a bigger Harvard homer on this site. lol. Not anything wrong with it, Harvard's Harvard, but just so you know.

If you were aspiring to a top clerkship or Academia, Harvard would clearly be the way to go. That said, since your goal is NYU biglaw, you need to follow the money here. NYU places every bit as well as Harvard in New York Biglaw (it's their specialty), why spend an extra 80 grand for the exact same outcome?

You should take what I say with appropriate skepticism (as with everyone), but Scoober's post about HLS and transactional law was just plain objectively wrong, and it turns out to be because he misremembered what someone else had said.

Disclaimer.

[jingosaur]

For all the people who would still pick HLS over NYU here, I want to know why.

I chose HLS over NYU this cycle and I'm business oriented and want to do transactional law. I had less of a $$ gap than you, but I would still easily choose HLS in your situation. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. I have a management consulting background in some very specialized areas of finance and as a lawyer, I want to be able to leverage this experience on a transactional level. Only a small group of law firms have a large presence in this space so I want to maximize my chances of getting hired by one of them.
2. Long term, I want to go in-house at a specialty finance firm or start my own specialty finance firm. The Harvard brand gives people much more credibility in this space than NYU. It's really more about the network that each school has rather than the prestige.
3. I put a lot of value in academic experience. NYU has a great business and law program, but HLS has a lot more resources for it. Since I have fairly specific career goals, HLS's expanded course offering will give me more access to what I want to study during 2L and 3L.
4. I initially intended to pursue a JD/MBA so I cared a lot about the business schools at which law school I attend and HBS and Stern aren't even close. I don't think it's necessary for me to get the MBA at Harvard or NYU because of the business programs at their law schools, but I still want to take cross-listed classes. Without getting the MBA, I can't take the core 1st year MBA classes, but I have an UG business degree so these aren't super important to me.
5. On a long term scale, I don't think the difference in money will be that significant. I've paid back significant student loan debt while living in NYC and I will hopefully be making a lot of money long-term. I'm also fairly conservative with my day-to-day spending so I'm fine with not having a lot of money left over after taxes and student loan payments.

First, you're giving advice about how the financial gap is worth it for HLS, but you haven't yet attended LS or felt the postgrad weight of that debt. Second, you're basically just explaining why HLS was right for you (and it may well be), but none of your points were tailored to OP.

You want a very specific type of transactional law tailored to your background in finance, but OP doesn't. You want to be able to take some cross-listed classes and have the resources of HBS, but OP doesn't. You want to be able to start a specialty finance firm where the lay prestige of Harvard will probably help, but OP doesn't. You don't seem to be debt averse, it sounds like OP is.

NYU will not help you meet your goals quite as well as HLS (and your cost gap is smaller), but NYU will serve OP about as well HLS for significantly less money. Leave your own experience/goals at home. Good luck at HLS btw

I wasn't necessarily trying to sway OP one way or the other. I was just giving him/her my reasons for choosing HLS over NYU. For OP's case, NYU is probably the better option.

[jbagelboy]

First, I'll say that's a very good price for Harvard, and I think this could totally go either way. Congrats on two amazing options.

I would personally go to NYU since it's placement is only just shy of Harvard/Columbia at top transactional shops, and $60K debt is a dream. However, I can see very reasonable and compelling arguments for Harvard; although jingosaur's reasons aren't particularly convincing IMO (when I see "academic experience" and "Harvard brand" my eyes start to glaze over).

[MistakenGenius]

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