NYU ($$) vs. Harvard ($) Forum

[kumquat3]

Ha, I love your name.

Was cost a question for you? $75k may not be a lot of money in the scheme of things, but it does cover my tuition for an entire year.

Thanks I like it too

Cost was a big concern for me, and the offer from NYU was a bit higher ($120,000). Given my interests (PI/Gov/Fancy Clerking/Academics), my mechanism of loan repayment will be LIPP/LRAP regardless of whether I take out a debt of $120,000 or twice that much. The advantage of NYU, then, would be a smaller debt to claw my way out of should I end up hating (or crapping out with) PI/Gov/Fancy Clerking/Academics. I don't believe, though, that the debt at NYU would be small enough to offer me a quick and easy passage of escape from a career in the Law.

The choice, then, is Harvard or No Law School at All. And, for the time being, I've chosen Harvard. (I have all summer to second-guess and doubt my decision

It was tough to cross out NYC, though. I love that place so, so much. One day, I'll move back...

If you're going into a field where your expected salary would be above the cap of Harvard's LIPP, it may make sense to go to NYU, given your preferences. You also might want to think about how your salary will grow in the ten years beyond law school, as well as the salary of a spouse (should marrying a yuppie or baron be ur thing). Taking that $75,000 scholly would cut a few hundred off the top of your monthly repayment.

And if any TLS interlopers have a different take on my situation, please chime in! I'm interested in a career in environmental regulation and policy. My NYU scholarship expires tonight.

For any other lurkers like me reading this thread, I'll just chime in to say that I have similar career goals and given a slighter lower but comparable NYU scholarship, I will be enrolling at NYU over Harvard. I think my environmental interests (with a particular interest in city-level planning, so NYU obviously has great strength here) will be well-served, that there's no edge that meaningful edge that Harvard would provide in terms of my preferred career interests (non-academic, non-federal, non-impact lit), and that personally I will be happier studying at NYU and living in the city.

Also, for the little it's worth and at risk of diverting the conversation, I would like to chime in to note the frequency with which I have already heard (as a 0L) stories of spousal assets rendering students/alums ineligible for LIPP/LRAP, and how this came as a very unwelcome surprise. Even if you're dead poor, if you marry someone living in a high COL area, it doesn't take a yuppie or baron (haha, to quote the previous poster ) to have purchased a home and have 200K in combined equity (edit: though mortgage liability is also usually included as debt), savings, investments, and retirement by the time they reach their early thirties. It takes a relatively lucrative but not insane salary, or an unexpected death of a grandparent leading to a partial house downpayment, etcetc, and smart financial planning. So say you're a KJD who gets married at 30 to such an individual, you would say have a minimum of 5 years of LIPP/LRAP left, and potentially be on the hook for 150K of still outstanding student loan debt. Obviously, if you're an older student, it becomes more and more likely that you could find a partner with LIPP-complicating assets before you finish the program. Now, you don't have to get married, but I don't like the way that the program can heavily disincentivize that life choice, and I think very few admits understand how possible this complication can be.

I have a partner who will likely render me LIPP/LRAP-ineligible if we get married, so obviously the scholarship (a 60-70K gap over a projection of Harvard's grant aid) became much more important when I realize that these and other loan repayment options could be problematic for my particular situation.

Don't get married

There are practical, visa-related future issues that marriage would resolve, but fundamentally I'm excited about going to NYU and look forward to being LRAP-eligible there if my future allows! OP, hope you're starting to settle into your choice. Great options to have.

[sfoglia]

There are practical, visa-related future issues that marriage would resolve, but fundamentally I'm excited about going to NYU and look forward to being LRAP-eligible there if my future allows! OP, hope you're starting to settle into your choice. Great options to have.

Nopenopenope.

I would like a little more time to consider this than the 9 hours from my receipt Harvard's offer to the NYU deadline.

Maybe I should just go to UChicago...

[Nebby]

There are practical, visa-related future issues that marriage would resolve, but fundamentally I'm excited about going to NYU and look forward to being LRAP-eligible there if my future allows! OP, hope you're starting to settle into your choice. Great options to have.

Nopenopenope.

I would like a little more time to consider this than the 9 hours from my receipt Harvard's offer to the NYU deadline.

Maybe I should just go to UChicago...

No one willingly goes there

[sfoglia]

There are practical, visa-related future issues that marriage would resolve, but fundamentally I'm excited about going to NYU and look forward to being LRAP-eligible there if my future allows! OP, hope you're starting to settle into your choice. Great options to have.

Nopenopenope.

I would like a little more time to consider this than the 9 hours from my receipt Harvard's offer to the NYU deadline.

Maybe I should just go to UChicago...

No one willingly goes there

Awwww. Don't say that. It's a great school! (They're all great schools.)

[landshoes]

There are practical, visa-related future issues that marriage would resolve, but fundamentally I'm excited about going to NYU and look forward to being LRAP-eligible there if my future allows! OP, hope you're starting to settle into your choice. Great options to have.

Nopenopenope.

I would like a little more time to consider this than the 9 hours from my receipt Harvard's offer to the NYU deadline.

Maybe I should just go to UChicago...

ONE OF US

Seriously, though, UChicago is great (and Chicago is much more like NYC than Boston is...) but Harvard with decent aid is a good choice. You really can't go wrong.

[crescentstars]

Ha, I love your name.

Was cost a question for you? $75k may not be a lot of money in the scheme of things, but it does cover my tuition for an entire year.

Thanks I like it too

Cost was a big concern for me, and the offer from NYU was a bit higher ($120,000). Given my interests (PI/Gov/Fancy Clerking/Academics), my mechanism of loan repayment will be LIPP/LRAP regardless of whether I take out a debt of $120,000 or twice that much. The advantage of NYU, then, would be a smaller debt to claw my way out of should I end up hating (or crapping out with) PI/Gov/Fancy Clerking/Academics. I don't believe, though, that the debt at NYU would be small enough to offer me a quick and easy passage of escape from a career in the Law.

The choice, then, is Harvard or No Law School at All. And, for the time being, I've chosen Harvard. (I have all summer to second-guess and doubt my decision

It was tough to cross out NYC, though. I love that place so, so much. One day, I'll move back...

If you're going into a field where your expected salary would be above the cap of Harvard's LIPP, it may make sense to go to NYU, given your preferences. You also might want to think about how your salary will grow in the ten years beyond law school, as well as the salary of a spouse (should marrying a yuppie or baron be ur thing). Taking that $75,000 scholly would cut a few hundred off the top of your monthly repayment.

And if any TLS interlopers have a different take on my situation, please chime in! I'm interested in a career in environmental regulation and policy. My NYU scholarship expires tonight.

That makes sense. I don't think I'll be eligible for LIPP.

Ahhh, NYU, why don't you love me more! I would run with $120. Even $100 would be enough to make NYU my 100% choice.

Harvard has gotten back to me with $14k for the first year. Which makes NYU's scholarship no longer much of a consideration.

I think I'm going to take Harvard. Leaving the city is going to break my damn heart.

Woah, I'm in basically the same situation as both of you!! Dishydiana - I'm also interested in environmental regulation and possibly policy much further down the line. I also received a similar offer from NYU (with a deadline tonight as well), and I did receive aid from Harvard.

This is just another data point for you two, but I will likely be at Harvard in the fall. The cost differential between the two schools will be just under 60k for me, and it has been a tough choice. That said, I am fully committed to PI/LIPP eligible employment and intend to fully utilize LIPP. I also do not trust the feds to keep PSLF in its current form for the next 13 years - I know that's definitely debatable (and I don't want to have that debate here), but I really don't see anything easing those concerns. Those worries combined with the mounting stress I know I'll feel as my loans negatively amortize under NYU's program is making me lean H. After many long discussions with both lawyers and non-lawyers, I've decided that I'm willing to shell out a bit more in LIPP for the added peace of mind from seeing that I'm making progress on my loans. On a less substantial note, I'm from NYC and have spent tons of time around NYU, so I'm dying to go somewhere new for a while. I've been on TLS long enough to know that many people here probably wouldn't agree with that choice. But I'm just writing this to give you both another perspective.

That said, sfoglia, it seems like you're leaning NYU anyway with your interest/desire to be in NYC? If you do really want to stay in New York/that will make you happy, you should think about taking that. I don't think there's a "wrong/bad" decision in your case. Good luck!

[sfoglia]

Woah, I'm in basically the same situation as both of you!! Dishydiana - I'm also interested in environmental regulation and possibly policy much further down the line. I also received a similar offer from NYU (with a deadline tonight as well), and I did receive aid from Harvard.

This is just another data point for you two, but I will likely be at Harvard in the fall. The cost differential between the two schools will be just under 60k for me, and it has been a tough choice. That said, I am fully committed to PI/LIPP eligible employment and intend to fully utilize LIPP. I also do not trust the feds to keep PSLF in its current form for the next 13 years - I know that's definitely debatable (and I don't want to have that debate here), but I really don't see anything easing those concerns. Those worries combined with the mounting stress I know I'll feel as my loans negatively amortize under NYU's program is making me lean H. After many long discussions with both lawyers and non-lawyers, I've decided that I'm willing to shell out a bit more in LIPP for the added peace of mind from seeing that I'm making progress on my loans. On a less substantial note, I'm from NYC and have spent tons of time around NYU, so I'm dying to go somewhere new for a while. I've been on TLS long enough to know that many people here probably wouldn't agree with that choice. But I'm just writing this to give you both another perspective.

That said, sfoglia, it seems like you're leaning NYU anyway with your interest/desire to be in NYC? If you do really want to stay in New York/that will make you happy, you should think about taking that. I don't think there's a "wrong/bad" decision in your case. Good luck!

It's going to be Harvard for me, too. I can't justify NYU when the difference will be negligible. Had NYU give me $90k or more, or had I time enough to negotiate with them, that would be a different story. But if I'm going to basically be breaking even here, I'll take the degree from Harvard and know that if I decide I want to save the world or teach, I won't be prohibited from doing that.

Well, we can all commiserate about how much we miss the city together.

[Dishydiana]

Welcome to the New York Diaspora, friends.

[crescentstars]

It's going to be Harvard for me, too. I can't justify NYU when the difference will be negligible. Had NYU give me $90k or more, or had I time enough to negotiate with them, that would be a different story. But if I'm going to basically be breaking even here, I'll take the degree from Harvard and know that if I decide I want to save the world or teach, I won't be prohibited from doing that.

Well, we can all commiserate about how much we miss the city together.

Welcome to the New York Diaspora, friends.

Well then, see you both at H!

[sfoglia]

I just cried sending my withdraw emailing. Cried.

Cue pity party:

If they had upped my scholarship at all, I would have enrolled. Even if it was just a courtesy $5k.

Why couldn't I have been one of the $100k+ applicants?

If anyone needs me, I'm going to be blasting breakup songs while packing everything in my NYC apartment up.



Okay I promise I'll shut up now.

ETA: Also I realize I'm being ridiculous and I'm super grateful for such a great cycle, just extremely sad to leave home for the next three years.

[somethingElse]

bro

[jbagelboy]

I just cried sending my withdraw emailing. Cried.

Cue pity party:

If they had upped my scholarship at all, I would have enrolled. Even if it was just a courtesy $5k.

Why couldn't I have been one of the $100k+ applicants?

If anyone needs me, I'm going to be blasting breakup songs while packing everything in my NYC apartment up.



Okay I promise I'll shut up now.

ETA: Also I realize I'm being ridiculous and I'm super grateful for such a great cycle, just extremely sad to leave home for the next three years.

you'll be back. most HLS students work in NYC.

[orangered]

most HLS students work in NYC.

You've said that a bunch of times but it just isn't true. 184/572 students went to NY state last year, or less than a third. And I'd wager at least some of them went elsewhere in the state.

http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/recent-employment-data/

[Nebby]

most HLS students work in NYC.

You've said that a bunch of times but it just isn't true. 184/572 students went to NY state last year, or less than a third. And I'd wager at least some of them went elsewhere in the state.

http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/recent-employment-data/

You're dense

[jbagelboy]

most HLS students work in NYC.

You've said that a bunch of times but it just isn't true. 184/572 students went to NY state last year, or less than a third. And I'd wager at least some of them went elsewhere in the state.

http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/recent-employment-data/

Are you really suggesting Harvard students struggle to get back to New York, or are you just nitpicking the questionably relevant distinction you've mastered between 'plurality' and 'majority'? New York is traditionally the most popular destination for HLS students. If OP wants to return to New York, as they evidently do, they certainly can, which is the entire point.

[orangered]

most HLS students work in NYC.

You've said that a bunch of times but it just isn't true. 184/572 students went to NY state last year, or less than a third. And I'd wager at least some of them went elsewhere in the state.

http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/recent-employment-data/

Are you really suggesting Harvard students struggle to get back to New York, or are you just nitpicking the questionably relevant distinction you've mastered between 'plurality' and 'majority'? New York is traditionally the most popular destination for HLS students. If OP wants to return to New York, as they evidently do, they certainly can, which is the entire point.

Mainly just nitpicking the plurality/majority distinction. I agree that OP will have no trouble getting back to NYC.