Stanford (sticker) vs Chicago ($45k) vs Texas (free)? Forum

[El_Bee_Oh]

Thoughts on these options? I'm interested almost exclusively in corporate/M&A biglaw in Texas, with a goal to move in house afterward or into a specialized investing role (long shot/unicorn, but I have a very strong finance background). I have strong ties to Austin, Dallas and Houston. I also have a fair amount saved up, so I probably won't be drowning in $300k of debt at any of the options (expecting to have to borrow ~$100k for Stanford, maybe $50k for Chicago and nothing for UT)

Stanford is my top choice for a variety of reasons, including location, essentially risk-free grading system, faculty and prestige (which may not matter much for firm hirig, but is an even bigger deal in finance than in law and would help with getting an investing role somewhere down the line). I'm just having a hard time justifying spending that much when I'll have a very good shot at getting the same kind of firm job from a lower ranked school.

[Atmosphere]

You want to work in Texas and have UT free? No brainer, in my opinion

[pattonthicke]

Texas.

[rpupkin]

Your thread title is misleading. When I saw "Stanford (sticker)" vs. "Texas (free)", I assumed we were talking about a $270K COA difference. But we're really talking about a $100K difference. I think that makes this choice harder. I suspect that a law student will do very well in Texas who (a) has strong Texas ties, (b) goes to Stanford, and (c) wants to return to Texas. You will likely have more employment options in Texas than a UT law student. And, of course, you would have significantly more mobility if you decided that you didn't want to live and work in Texas after graduation. Is all that worth $100K? Probably not, but I'd think about it.

Also, I've seen others on here post about the "Uchi ---> Texas Big Law" pipeline. I have no idea if this is true or not, but it's something else you should consider.

[twenty]

I think there's still a 270k~ difference between UT and Stanford, it's just that with his savings, OP will only have about 100k of debt from Stanford.

I would try and get Chicago up to 60k at the very least, and would probably pull the trigger on Chicago at 75k+.