Top Law Schools

Hi all,

Got 20k per year from Mich, but don't really want to go. Waiting to hear back from Penn and Duke re aid. Am also waiting to hear from Stanford, Columbia and NYU, but would probably only go to Stanford over Penn/Duke. I want to clerk straight out of school, work in Big Law DC for a spurt, then transition into a govt agency like DOJ, FCC, or FTC.

Any ideas about placement from Penn/Duke into DC firms, as well as Article III clerkships would be helpful. Also, if I am mid to bottom at my classes, would there be a difference between the two schools?

Slight chance I will take a job in NYC after graduating, though I think that would be the case if I do more poorly in school. (I have ties in NYC.)

Thanks all! Best of luck.

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I imagine there wouldn't be a tremendous difference in the raw employment/clerkship numbers, but I would think Duke would place more into DC? Like, still not a huge amount, because DC BigLaw's insane, but--slightly more.

elbarto wrote:Hi all,

Got 20k per year from Mich, but don't really want to go. Waiting to hear back from Penn and Duke re aid. Am also waiting to hear from Stanford, Columbia and NYU, but would probably only go to Stanford over Penn/Duke. I want to clerk straight out of school, work in Big Law DC for a spurt, then transition into a govt agency like DOJ, FCC, or FTC.

Any ideas about placement from Penn/Duke into DC firms, as well as Article III clerkships would be helpful. Also, if I am mid to bottom at my classes, would there be a difference between the two schools?

Slight chance I will take a job in NYC after graduating, though I think that would be the case if I do more poorly in school. (I have ties in NYC.)

Thanks all! Best of luck.

They're close enough peers on the job/clerkship front that financial aid should be your primary differentiating factor. Until you know cost of attendance at each this is a pointless thing to get yourself stressed about.

Makes sense, thanks!

Why isn't Cornell in play?

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ymmv wrote:

elbarto wrote:Hi all,

Got 20k per year from Mich, but don't really want to go. Waiting to hear back from Penn and Duke re aid. Am also waiting to hear from Stanford, Columbia and NYU, but would probably only go to Stanford over Penn/Duke. I want to clerk straight out of school, work in Big Law DC for a spurt, then transition into a govt agency like DOJ, FCC, or FTC.

Any ideas about placement from Penn/Duke into DC firms, as well as Article III clerkships would be helpful. Also, if I am mid to bottom at my classes, would there be a difference between the two schools?

Slight chance I will take a job in NYC after graduating, though I think that would be the case if I do more poorly in school. (I have ties in NYC.)

Thanks all! Best of luck.

They're close enough peers on the job/clerkship front that financial aid should be your primary differentiating factor. Until you know cost of attendance at each this is a pointless thing to get yourself stressed about.

Um, Penn actually kicks Duke's butt in overall placement....

For DC, you're going to have to be top quarter or third of the class from any school except HYS to get it. Also, you don't need ties for NYC.

If you're mid to bottom from either school you will likely be working for shit pay or unemployed.

BiglawAssociate wrote: Um, Penn actually kicks Duke's butt in overall placement....

That's an exaggeration. Its figures are somewhat better, yes, but are they $20,000 of debt better? $50,000? There's no point trying to figure this out until OP knows what he'd be paying for each.

BiglawAssociate wrote:If you're mid to bottom from either school you will likely be working for shit pay or unemployed.

Another exaggeration, median at either school is a safe place for market paying biglaw, just not in DC.

I made the choice between these schools two years ago. At even money I would have gone with Penn, but when it came down to it Duke offered a lot more money (plus COL is way lower in Durham than in Philly). Placement rates are better from Penn, but not significantly so. If there is more than $20k scholarship difference, then I would vote Duke as long as you dont have a preference for being in Philly. You are going to need good grades to get DC from either school.