Choosing between IU McKinney and Boston College Forum

[Pghanta]

Hi! I just got off the wait list for Boston College and have to make a decision whether I attend or not in a couple days. I've already been accepted to IU McKinney not to be confused with Maurer and received a full ride from them so it's a difficult decision to make.

BC said that they do not have any money for scholarships left so I would be paying sticker there and using loans to fund it.. What should I do?? Any advice is appreciated!! Thank you!!

[CanadianWolf]

Are you referring to IU-Indy ?
Do you want to practice in Indiana or in the Northeast ?

[DELG]

Let me guess you looked at the employment data but don't care because you don't want biglaw anyway

[CanadianWolf]

Between the two, without more info., take the full tuition scholarship if you want to practice in Indiana or retake the LSAT & reapply next cycle.

[Pghanta]

Yes IU Indy.

And I actually want to be in a city, but Indy does not excite me at all.

[Pghanta]

Let me guess you looked at the employment data but don't care because you don't want biglaw anyway

I don't mind biglaw

[Pghanta]

Are you referring to IU-Indy ?
Do you want to practice in Indiana or in the Northeast ?

Yes in IU Indy

And I would like to practice in a city.. But Indy is not a preference to me.

[Mullens]

In order to receive the best feedback in this forum, please provide as much of the following information in your original post as possible:

-The schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

[CanadianWolf]

A law degree from IU-Indy is not likely to travel beyond Indiana & the bordering states. Don't pay full tuition at BC; retake the LSAT & reapply next cycle to generate better options.

[isuperserial]

Indiana or don't go/retake. Boston College is a great school, but it's not worth sticker or even close to it. Going to BC would be foolish. Indiana is definitely worth free. Only go though if you're cool with working somewhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe take a quick visit to the area if you have the time, I haven't been there in a while but I recall being pleasantly surprised.

Also, if you want Biglaw, don't go. It's not going to happen from Indiana.

TL;DR - If you want to work in Indiana and don't want Biglaw, go to Indiana. If not, retake.

[Pghanta]

A law degree from IU-Indy is not likely to travel beyond Indiana & the bordering states. Don't pay full tuition at BC; retake the LSAT & reapply next cycle to generate better options.

The only place I would like to be is in Chicago after Indy for a little while.

[Johann]

Yep, take the money.

[ManoftheHour]

Let me guess you looked at the employment data but don't care because you don't want biglaw anyway

I don't mind biglaw

What DELG probably meant is that you better not want big law in any way because you most likely aren't going to get it. Only 7% of IU McKinney grads got big law last year.

Full ride to a regional for small firm/public interest work is okay.

[Pghanta]

Indiana or don't go/retake. Boston College is a great school, but it's not worth sticker or even close to it. Going to BC would be foolish. Indiana is definitely worth free. Only go though if you're cool with working somewhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe take a quick visit to the area if you have the time, I haven't been there in a while but I recall being pleasantly surprised.

Also, if you want Biglaw, don't go. It's not going to happen from Indiana.

TL;DR - If you want to work in Indiana and don't want Biglaw, go to Indiana. If not, retake.

So BC is really not worth the sticker price? But wouldn't the prospects of getting a Biglaw job out of schools outweigh the debt you take on?

[eriedoctrine]

Indiana or don't go/retake. Boston College is a great school, but it's not worth sticker or even close to it. Going to BC would be foolish. Indiana is definitely worth free. Only go though if you're cool with working somewhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe take a quick visit to the area if you have the time, I haven't been there in a while but I recall being pleasantly surprised.

Also, if you want Biglaw, don't go. It's not going to happen from Indiana.

TL;DR - If you want to work in Indiana and don't want Biglaw, go to Indiana. If not, retake.

So BC is really not worth the sticker price? But wouldn't the prospects of getting a Biglaw job out of schools outweigh the debt you take on?

Yes, if BC placed in biglaw like a T6.
Unfortunately it's only 1/2 that, so no.

[ManoftheHour]

Indiana or don't go/retake. Boston College is a great school, but it's not worth sticker or even close to it. Going to BC would be foolish. Indiana is definitely worth free. Only go though if you're cool with working somewhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe take a quick visit to the area if you have the time, I haven't been there in a while but I recall being pleasantly surprised.

Also, if you want Biglaw, don't go. It's not going to happen from Indiana.

TL;DR - If you want to work in Indiana and don't want Biglaw, go to Indiana. If not, retake.

So BC is really not worth the sticker price? But wouldn't the prospects of getting a Biglaw job out of schools outweigh the debt you take on?

No because BC doesn't place well in big law. I mean, it places okay, about 34% (if you include fed clerks) but that means that there is a 66% chance you won't get it. How will you pay off sticker debt then?

[Pghanta]

Let me guess you looked at the employment data but don't care because you don't want biglaw anyway

I don't mind biglaw

What DELG probably meant is that you better not want big law in any way because you most likely aren't going to get it. Only 7% of IU McKinney grads got big law last year.

Full ride to a regional for small firm/public interest work is okay.

What if I did JD/MBA from IU McKinney? Do you think that would help the chances of getting a Biglaw job then?

[eriedoctrine]

Let me guess you looked at the employment data but don't care because you don't want biglaw anyway

I don't mind biglaw

What DELG probably meant is that you better not want big law in any way because you most likely aren't going to get it. Only 7% of IU McKinney grads got big law last year.

Full ride to a regional for small firm/public interest work is okay.

What if I did JD/MBA from IU McKinney? Do you think that would help the chances of getting a Biglaw job then?

No. A MBA may actually hurt you if looked at in the wrong context.

[Pghanta]

Indiana or don't go/retake. Boston College is a great school, but it's not worth sticker or even close to it. Going to BC would be foolish. Indiana is definitely worth free. Only go though if you're cool with working somewhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe take a quick visit to the area if you have the time, I haven't been there in a while but I recall being pleasantly surprised.

Also, if you want Biglaw, don't go. It's not going to happen from Indiana.

TL;DR - If you want to work in Indiana and don't want Biglaw, go to Indiana. If not, retake.

So BC is really not worth the sticker price? But wouldn't the prospects of getting a Biglaw job out of schools outweigh the debt you take on?

No because BC doesn't place well in big law. I mean, it places okay, about 34% (if you include fed clerks) but that means that there is a 66% chance you won't get it. How will you pay off sticker debt then?

That makes a lot of sense!

[DELG]

You'd get an MBA to avoid retaking the LSAT?

[ManoftheHour]

What if I did JD/MBA from IU McKinney? Do you think that would help the chances of getting a Biglaw job then?

I don't have stats for that, but the fact that only 7% (those include the JD/MBAs) got big law means you shouldn't be banking on it. Only go if you are okay with NOT practicing big law. I'm not saying you have 0% chance of getting big law. Who knows? You might be a special snowflake and be one of those in the 7%. But statistically, it's unlikely. If you are okay with not practicing big law and are okay with working in Indy, a full ride is not a terrible deal. If you are okay with hedging your bets and gunning for big law but and are okay with failing and are happy with a small firm job, then go. If you really want big law, you gotta retake.

The reason why everyone is saying not BC is because if you fail to land big law at Indy, you're still okay because you have no tuition debt and you can make a livable wage and survive. If you go to BC at sticker and you fail, you're totally f@#$ed.

[Pghanta]

You'd get an MBA to avoid retaking the LSAT?

I've already taken it 2 times and received the same score.

[ManoftheHour]

You'd get an MBA to avoid retaking the LSAT?

I've already taken it 2 times and received the same score.

I took it 3 times and got the same score, then took it a 4th and it was worth it.

How are you studying? Did you drill questions by type or did you just read the books and do PTs? That's the most common mistake (it was definitely mine).

http://www.cambridgelsat.com/problem-se ... reasoning/

[Pghanta]

You'd get an MBA to avoid retaking the LSAT?

I've already taken it 2 times and received the same score.

I took it 3 times and got the same score, then took it a 4th and it was worth it.

How are you studying? Did you drill questions by type or did you just read the books and do PTs? That's the most common mistake (it was definitely mine).

http://www.cambridgelsat.com/problem-se ... reasoning/

I studied with all the manhattan books, did some kaplan books as well, did every single PT from 30 onwards. I know that there is pretty much not an easy fix to making my score higher. I am also a bad test taker, so that is a large issue for me.

[ManoftheHour]

I studied with all the manhattan books, did some kaplan books as well, did every single PT from 30 onwards. I know that there is pretty much not an easy fix to making my score higher. I am also a bad test taker, so that is a large issue for me.

As I suspected, you did what I did and it's not enough. You need to drill. You need to do questions by type. You need to do each question and take as much time as you need to figure out why each wrong answer is wrong and why each right answer is right.

(See above for Cambridge series)