Yet another....Berkeley vs Columbia vs Cornell vs NYU

[ek5dn]

Hi all! Like everyone else in this sub, I'm looking for advice on making the decision.

In the interests of full honesty, I originally applied to cornell because it's a T14 and they gave me a fee waiver. I figured that I would most likely get in, but it wouldn't be a real choice for me for various reasons, (family in berkeley/nyc) and that the amount of money they would have to offer me to make it a real contender was very unlikely to happen. I ended up getting in with a full tuition scholarship (Charles Evan Hughes - 170/3.9, u of m Ann Arbor undergrad). Right now I'm realistically considering Columbia (?) Berkeley (?) Cornell ($$$) and NYU (VERY long shot scholarship that I'm a finalist for).

I'm looking for some advice/opinions about the real differences between these options. How much does top 5 vs top 10 vs top 14 really matter? I know that it of course matters what you want to do post law school, and I'm honestly not really sure. I have no financial info from the other schools which is also obviously going to be a huge factor. I applied for Berkeley's matching but as everyone knows they don't match very many offers so I'm not holding my breath for any money. If neither Berkeley nor Columbia give me any money, Berkeley will be much cheaper since my parents live on the west coast which would eliminate many if not all of my living expenses. At the end of the day, I'm looking at about $150,000 of debt for Berkeley w/o $ vs $250,000 for Columbia (at least b/c of the 60k/yr tuition plus living expenses.)

I have family/friends on the west coast (from LA originally, want to ultimately practice on the west coast). But I also want to live in NYC at some point and kind of feel like if not now when, since I ultimately want to practice on the west coast. I'm probably not interested in academia, but do have an interest in possibly pursuing a judicial clerkship.

Final note - I'm not incredibly debt averse but do want to minimize debt if possible.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice - honestly any opinions will be appreciated.

I don't think wanting to live in NYC for some time is a good reason to attend Columbia at sticker, ESPECIALLY because you want to practice on the west coast. Just use the $ you would save by attending Berkeley or Cornell and take a few vacations in NYC lol
But congrats on your options! My personal vote goes to Cornell full ride

[BigZuck]

I feel like I'm in the god damn matrix with this meta trolling

I don't think there was really any meta-trolling beyond "Sucks to suck NYU" which is like a pretty common thing in the on topics cuz it's part of the unwashed <<<<< T5 grouping of schools.

But I'll say this for the benefit of lurkers (and by lurkers I mean Brut):

Hey, lurkers. You listen to me. Your love of "prestige" and numbers that sound good in your mind is dumb. There is no T5 or T10. Cut it out. Look at cost and likelihood of getting the job you want where you want it. That's all that matters. The bloated corpse of a defunct news magazine shouldn't be guiding such an important decision. Stop it.

[Tiago Splitter]

unwashed <<<<< T5