Duke $75k vs Northwestern $135k vs Boalt/Chicago sticker Forum

[Dominusfiki]

Individual preferences/relevant info:

Duke initial offer of $75k. Northwestern $135k with 1 yr deferral. Boalt/Chicago assumed at sticker. Have not heard from Chicago regarding scholarship decision.

No interest in large markets like NYC and DC.
No interest in IP or academia, do have some interest in clerkship opps.
Interested in Biglaw, most likely in the Midwest or South. Minor interest in Cali Biglaw.
Care most about career prospects and QOL(ie. do not enjoy big city life)
Prestige matters to the degree that I might pursue something outside of law in the future.

Anyone know of successful cases of scholarship negotiation with Duke using NW scholly, how about Boalt matching program using Duke scholly...

Does anyone know if Northwestern lacks collegiality, and if so, to what degree in comparison to Duke?

Thanks!

If it matters, Chicago is about as big a city I would be happy in. When I mentioned big city life, I guess I was really referring to my feelings for NYC, or lack therefor of.

[Herb Watchfell]

Duke seems like a great fit for you.

[cardinalandgold]

Duke seems like a great fit for you.

+1 From what you said, Duke seems to be the best choice based on what you are looking for.

[rayiner]

Northwestern.

[voice of reason]

With those choices and your aims, I'd choose Northwestern, with Duke in second place.

Boalt considers Duke a peer for its matching program, so it seems like there's a good chance you can get $75K from Berkeley. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/6957.htm If you do, you're probably still better off with Northwestern since you want to work in the midwest, and you may like Evanston more than the city of Berkeley.

[cardinalandgold]

If you do, you're probably still better off with Northwestern since you want to work in the midwest, and you may like Evanston more than the city of Berkeley.

NU Law is in Chicago, and is separate from their undergrad in Evanston.

[Z3RO]

I have a bad habit of voting before I even read somebody's post. Classic 0L mistake.

I voted for Northwestern, because that's such a great school, and the scholly is nasty. You don't like city life, though.

Duke.

[hiromoto45]

With those choices and your aims, I'd choose Northwestern, with Duke in second place.

Boalt considers Duke a peer for its matching program, so it seems like there's a good chance you can get $75K from Berkeley. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/6957.htm If you do, you're probably still better off with Northwestern since you want to work in the midwest, and you may like Evanston more than the city of Berkeley.

Northwestern Law is in Chicago not Evanston.

[voice of reason]

If you do, you're probably still better off with Northwestern since you want to work in the midwest, and you may like Evanston more than the city of Berkeley.

NU Law is in Chicago, and is separate from their undergrad in Evanston.

Good to know! Mapping, I see that at least it's in the nice part of Chicago. Still, for the OP, I change my vote to Duke.

[lawduder]

Northwestern.

by a mile

[Lermontov]

I don't think I'd ever heard of a 1 year deferral before. If that's what it sounds like, it seems like it would be a big deal/factor.

[tropskys]

I say Northwestern by a longshot. Though you said you don't like city life, its only 3 years. The fact that you want to practice in the midwest and you are considering pursuing something outside of law later on outweighs 3 years in the city when you factor in law school debt. The scholarship at Northwestern is amazing.

[NayBoer]

Your location preferences minimize the added value of Boalt and UChi, since Northwestern is roughly equivalent to UChi for the Chicago market. It doesn't sound like the extra clerking opportunities are worth $135k to you.

Also, waiting an extra year for the economy to recover is probably a good idea.

[fortissimo]

Northwestern...this shouldn't even be a question.

[cardinalandgold]

I don't think I'd ever heard of a 1 year deferral before.

Northwestern is known to hand those out to people coming straight out of undergrad with great numbers who agree to defer a year to get some work experience.

[98234872348]

Northwestern.

by a mile

[Herb Watchfell]

Duke.

by an infinite amount of metaphorical miles

+1

[soullesswonder]

I voted Northwestern, b/c I believe you can still get Southern BigLaw out of NW (13 ATL firms OCI there) if you really want it. Yeah, Durham might be more your style, and I'm definitely not a Duke basher, but I think you can suck it up for a couple years in order to save 60k minus the difference in COL. I also agree that the deferral will work to your advantage.

[rayiner]

Students admitted to Berkeley Law that have also received a scholarship offer from one of the 12 law schools listed below can apply for a Berkeley Law Matching Scholarship.

Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
New York University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Yale University

Rancid Cornell/GULC/Duke trolling.

[09042014]

I'd take the year to party, travel and do anything you've always wanted to do.

[98234872348]

I'd take the year to party, travel and do anything you've always wanted to do.

I also second this idea. Northwestern is an amazing option for this reason and for the fact that you will be entering into the job market right as the economy begins to grow again. You really can't lose.

[Z3RO]

Just don't enter that job market here in Chicago:

--LinkRemoved--

[AngryAvocado]

The deferral thing should temper the 135k a little bit, but not nearly enough to make Duke worthwhile in this equation. To me, it's between Chicago and NU (assuming Boalt and Duke don't add $$), and I'd probably give the edge to NU (and doubly so if you have something interesting you could be doing during your year off). Definitely try to negotiate before you do anything, though, and good luck!

[Herb Watchfell]

The deferral thing should temper the 135k a little bit, but not nearly enough to make Duke worthwhile in this equation. To me, it's between Chicago and NU (assuming Boalt and Duke don't add $$), and I'd probably give the edge to NU (and doubly so if you have something interesting you could be doing during your year off). Definitely try to negotiate before you do anything, though, and good luck!

Mrs. Angry is just, well, angry that Duke placed her on a waiting list and Boalt handed her a sweet ding, while Chicago and NW accepted her. I smell a biased, if not rotten, fruit.

[AngryAvocado]

The deferral thing should temper the 135k a little bit, but not nearly enough to make Duke worthwhile in this equation. To me, it's between Chicago and NU (assuming Boalt and Duke don't add $$), and I'd probably give the edge to NU (and doubly so if you have something interesting you could be doing during your year off). Definitely try to negotiate before you do anything, though, and good luck!

Mrs. Angry is just, well, angry that Duke placed her on a waiting list and Boalt handed her a sweet ding, while Chicago and NW accepted her. I smell a biased, if not rotten, fruit.

Nah, I never expected to get into either with my GPA and I have a lot of respect for both. I just consider Duke and NU pretty close peers and I think the difference in $$ makes Duke irrelevant here. Berkeley is good, but is a tier (or more) below Chicago in virtually every placement category so I'm not sure why you'd take the former over the latter unless it's a "school feel" type thing. Of course, if one or more school changes their offer, that should obviously play into the decision.

Also, I'm a dude.