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Hey guys I have the option of attending either Duke at sticker (no word of financial aid yet) or sticking with my Tier II school and the substantial scholarship they gave me and its located in my home town so basically no loans needed whatsoever. Opinions on whether I should accept or not? Thanks!

Honestly need to know the t2 school, your COA at each, your goals, etc to answer.

Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

This.

You shouldn't be stuck in a dichotomy between a bad school for free and a great school for $300k.

cavalier1138 wrote:

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

This.

You shouldn't be stuck in a dichotomy between a bad school for free and a great school for $300k.

While I wold normally agree, I would assume in this case OP probably was set on attending this mysterious t2 and Duke probably just let OP in off the waitlist. My assumption here.

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

I actually got into Fordham but not with a large amount of scholarship even after negotiations, and as for the other T20's they either rejected me or waitlisted me. When I got waitlisted by some of the T14 (NYU, UChicago, Duke and Columbia) I decided that I'd rather take the amount of debt out for one of those than the T20's who waitlisted me (if I magically got in). Also I'm not embarrassed by the school I got into which was Miami and the amount of debt I would be graduating with after all 3 years would be around $20,000 which is still a lot but much more manageable than the over $200k I'd have to take out for Duke. As for my goals I'm unsure but like most I'm drawn to the large salaries of big law but I'm actually interested in human rights.

Nero21 wrote:

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

I actually got into Fordham but not with a large amount of scholarship even after negotiations, and as for the other T20's they either rejected me or waitlisted me. When I got waitlisted by some of the T14 (NYU, UChicago, Duke and Columbia) I decided that I'd rather take the amount of debt out for one of those than the T20's who waitlisted me (if I magically got in). Also I'm not embarrassed by the school I got into which was Miami and the amount of debt I would be graduating with after all 3 years would be around $20,000 which is still a lot but much more manageable than the over $200k I'd have to take out for Duke. As for my goals I'm unsure but like most I'm drawn to the large salaries of big law but I'm actually interested in human rights.

Well you aren't getting biglaw unless you are top 10-20% from Miami and you certainly not doing anything in human rights from Miami. At least at Duke, you will have an 80%+ chance at biglaw.

Edit: given your goals and choices, I do think a retake is worth it. Getting into Duke is great, but you should do so with money.

sparkytrainer wrote:

Nero21 wrote:

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

I actually got into Fordham but not with a large amount of scholarship even after negotiations, and as for the other T20's they either rejected me or waitlisted me. When I got waitlisted by some of the T14 (NYU, UChicago, Duke and Columbia) I decided that I'd rather take the amount of debt out for one of those than the T20's who waitlisted me (if I magically got in). Also I'm not embarrassed by the school I got into which was Miami and the amount of debt I would be graduating with after all 3 years would be around $20,000 which is still a lot but much more manageable than the over $200k I'd have to take out for Duke. As for my goals I'm unsure but like most I'm drawn to the large salaries of big law but I'm actually interested in human rights.

Well you aren't getting biglaw unless you are top 10-20% from Miami and you certainly not doing anything in human rights from Miami. At least at Duke, you will have an 80%+ chance at biglaw.

Edit: given your goals and choices, I do think a retake is worth it. Getting into Duke is great, but you should do so with money.

I agree I'd much prefer to go to Duke as a Mordecai scholar but I don't want to lose a year of my life just for 3 or 4 points on the LSAT. The other possibility I'm considering (though not a good one) is try my best and then transfer out after 1L. Obviously not a good plan but it also saves me about $80 grand if I do get into Duke again.I think what I'm mostly looking for is to know if I'm crazy to take out over $200k for Duke? I know people who are doing it for Miami so I can't imagine its the worst investment.

Nero21 wrote:

sparkytrainer wrote:

Nero21 wrote:

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:Any sort of middle ground? I'd assume someone in this situation could be looking at a T20 with some $$, which would be preferable to a T2 and Duke at sticker in most circumstances.

I actually got into Fordham but not with a large amount of scholarship even after negotiations, and as for the other T20's they either rejected me or waitlisted me. When I got waitlisted by some of the T14 (NYU, UChicago, Duke and Columbia) I decided that I'd rather take the amount of debt out for one of those than the T20's who waitlisted me (if I magically got in). Also I'm not embarrassed by the school I got into which was Miami and the amount of debt I would be graduating with after all 3 years would be around $20,000 which is still a lot but much more manageable than the over $200k I'd have to take out for Duke. As for my goals I'm unsure but like most I'm drawn to the large salaries of big law but I'm actually interested in human rights.

Well you aren't getting biglaw unless you are top 10-20% from Miami and you certainly not doing anything in human rights from Miami. At least at Duke, you will have an 80%+ chance at biglaw.

Edit: given your goals and choices, I do think a retake is worth it. Getting into Duke is great, but you should do so with money.

I agree I'd much prefer to go to Duke as a Mordecai scholar but I don't want to lose a year of my life just for 3 or 4 points on the LSAT. The other possibility I'm considering (though not a good one) is try my best and then transfer out after 1L. Obviously not a good plan but it also saves me about $80 grand if I do get into Duke again.

80k less in tuition to study for a year of your life or potentially more? Yeah thats worth it. Also, Duke takes like 3 transfers a year. Usually top 5% kids from UT for example. So transferring isn't happening. Honestly Miami doesn't give even anything close to your goals. Duke would at least give you biglaw, but 200k+ is a lot.

Nero21 wrote:I agree I'd much prefer to go to Duke as a Mordecai scholar but I don't want to lose a year of my life just for 3 or 4 points on the LSAT. The other possibility I'm considering (though not a good one) is try my best and then transfer out after 1L. Obviously not a good plan but it also saves me about $80 grand if I do get into Duke again.I think what I'm mostly looking for is to know if I'm crazy to take out over $200k for Duke? I know people who are doing it for Miami so I can't imagine its the worst investment.

How about losing three years of your life for a degree that won't get you what you want? How does that sound?

Also, "I know people who are doing [x]," is not a good rationale for doing [x]. It just means that there will never be a shortage of idiots in this world.

What are your stats? Did you withdraw from the t20 waitlists? Because if you did, you shouldn't have. Many are willing to give substantial money off the waitlist. Also, don't attend Miami with a plan to transfer, it likely won't happen.

Duke at sticker.

If you want to build a career in Miami AND are not biglaw or bust, then I'd say Miami with $$$ is a safer bet than Duke at sticker. They have a great network of alumni and pretty good placement numbers in Miami. Expect a more modest outcome, don't fall below the median and you should be fine

Nero21 wrote:Hey guys I have the option of attending either Duke at sticker (no word of financial aid yet) or sticking with my Tier II school and the substantial scholarship they gave me and its located in my home town so basically no loans needed whatsoever. Opinions on whether I should accept or not? Thanks!

"No loans whatsoever" and you're even asking?

chargers21 wrote:What are your stats? Did you withdraw from the t20 waitlists? Because if you did, you shouldn't have. Many are willing to give substantial money off the waitlist. Also, don't attend Miami with a plan to transfer, it likely won't happen.

I didn't but Emory, Vandy, Washington in St. Louis have yet to get back to me, as well as UChicago and NYU.

Nero21 wrote:

chargers21 wrote:What are your stats? Did you withdraw from the t20 waitlists? Because if you did, you shouldn't have. Many are willing to give substantial money off the waitlist. Also, don't attend Miami with a plan to transfer, it likely won't happen.

I didn't but Emory, Vandy, Washington in St. Louis have yet to get back to me, as well as UChicago and NYU.

Quite frankly, at this point, everyone's classes are probably full. Most of the above schools, save UChicago, start in a week or two. Personally, I'd attend Miami for free, if you want to stay in the Miami/FL area. Otherwise, you should sit out, retake if that would help your application, and apply again at the earliest time possible. Don't go $300,000 in debt for Duke.

If you want to work in Miami, UMiami is a great deal for free if you're not too picky about the type of work you'll do.

But on another thread you started, you said you want to work anywhere BUT Miami or Florida...which of course makes UMiami a bad option at any cost.