NYU Law ($$$$) vs. GW Law ($$$) Forum

[BigZuck]

Sometimes I love TLS

This is not one of those times

OP-if you can wade through all this and give us a better understanding of what it is you want to get out of law school (job wise) then we can help you here.

[POTUSorSCOTUS]

Retake, get more scholly$$$, attend NYU for public interest, win

[aclang24]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. At the moment, I am certain that I want to do public interest--as certain as one can be without having gone to law school yet. I interned for two summers at Legal Aid and it seemed very interesting and rewarding. So at the moment that's probably what I would be interested in, ideally. I also interned at the AG's office in Massachusetts when I was in college. It's true that at the moment I am not entirely sure what I want to do within PI, but I am pretty certain that that is the field I want to work in. Obviously this could change if I come across something else while I'm at law school, but for the moment, that's where I've set my sights. What I don't want to do is work in real estate or transactional law, or work at a large firm where I have to sleep under my desk because I'm up working all night.

As for cost of attendance, I would be getting some support from my family, but I don't want to necessarily count on that. As for skipping this round the reapplying/retaking the LSAT next year, that's a good point, but I don't really want to go through all of this again.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but another concern is the fact that I probably wouldn't do as well academically at NYU as I would at GW. Would placing in the middle of the class at NYU leave me substantially worse off career-wise than placing higher up at GW?

[POTUSorSCOTUS]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. At the moment, I am certain that I want to do public interest--as certain as one can be without having gone to law school yet. I interned for two summers at Legal Aid and it seemed very interesting and rewarding. So at the moment that's probably what I would be interested in, ideally. I also interned at the AG's office in Massachusetts when I was in college. It's true that at the moment I am not entirely sure what I want to do within PI, but I am pretty certain that that is the field I want to work in. Obviously this could change if I come across something else while I'm at law school, but for the moment, that's where I've set my sights. What I don't want to do is work in real estate or transactional law, or work at a large firm where I have to sleep under my desk because I'm up working all night.

As for cost of attendance, I would be getting some support from my family, but I don't want to necessarily count on that. As for skipping this round the reapplying/retaking the LSAT next year, that's a good point, but I don't really want to go through all of this again.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but another concern is the fact that I probably wouldn't do as well academically at NYU as I would at GW. Would placing in the middle of the class at NYU leave me substantially worse off career-wise than placing higher up at GW?

1.) "Not really wanting to go through all of this again" is not a valid excuse for objecting to a retake
2.) You can't assume that lower-ranked school necessarily means stupider people (whom you will be smarter than). Also, you're barely receiving $ from GW, and I think, grossly underestimating COA.
3.) NYU likely has a better LRAP program

[Kinky John]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. At the moment, I am certain that I want to do public interest--as certain as one can be without having gone to law school yet. I interned for two summers at Legal Aid and it seemed very interesting and rewarding. So at the moment that's probably what I would be interested in, ideally. I also interned at the AG's office in Massachusetts when I was in college. It's true that at the moment I am not entirely sure what I want to do within PI, but I am pretty certain that that is the field I want to work in. Obviously this could change if I come across something else while I'm at law school, but for the moment, that's where I've set my sights. What I don't want to do is work in real estate or transactional law, or work at a large firm where I have to sleep under my desk because I'm up working all night.

As for cost of attendance, I would be getting some support from my family, but I don't want to necessarily count on that. As for skipping this round the reapplying/retaking the LSAT next year, that's a good point, but I don't really want to go through all of this again.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but another concern is the fact that I probably wouldn't do as well academically at NYU as I would at GW. Would placing in the middle of the class at NYU leave me substantially worse off career-wise than placing higher up at GW?

Would you be ok with working all night and "sleeping under your desk" if it's for a PI job?

You should retake and reapply. Apply again from NYU down and to specific schools in your region - BC, BU, Northeastern (which offers full + stipend) come to mind for New England. Use whatever money you get from T14's to negotiate with these schools and with each other. Then reassess your options March/April of next year.

Going to school now means leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. The AG's office that you interned at will be able to give you great advice on where to go and what to do, btw.

[BigZuck]

I think I would just go to the best school that offers you a full ride and places in your target region. NYU seems to be overkill for those career goals.

You don't really sound like a PI diehard though just based on what you have said so far. If you're going to be like a lot of PI-minded 0Ls and just going to try to do the big law thing anyway when OCI rolls around then I think you should retake/reapply and go to a T14 at an appropriate cost.

[twenty]

Even if OP doesn't know what he/she wants to do, taking out huge loans for a top school seems like unquestioningly not-TCR when OP says:

What I don't want to do is work in real estate or transactional law, or work at a large firm where I have to sleep under my desk because I'm up working all night.

So regardless of whether OP ends up in a public interest gig, a government position, or with a small firm that clocks their people out at 5:30 so the janitors can clean the building, it seems like regional school with a full ride in the region OP wants to work in is probably the best option.

That aside, OP, it seems like you have a much better idea of what you don't want to do rather than what you do. Please do yourself a huge favor and squeeze as much money out of your school as you can so that if you decide three years from now that nothing really appeals to you, you can bail entirely.