Hi rekopter,rekopter wrote:I'm a huge CU fan. I love it here and I'm about to graduate. I have told many people to choose DU over CU if they have compelling reasons. Perhaps you do as well, but the reasons you list here make no sense.fundamentallybroken wrote:Hate to say it, but unless I feel some scholly love from CU by the end of the week, I'll probably be withdrawing and sending my seat deposit to DU. I like the idea of CU, but after the 2 month wait time for acceptance, the 4(ish) week wait for scholly info, and the general outlook for CU's treatment by the legislature in balancing their budget, I feel a lot more love from DU right now.
They've surprised me before, but I'm not expecting much at this point.
You want to go to DU because they let you in first and CU made you wait 2 months? That CU hasn't been quicker with scholarships?
Your point about the Colorado budget makes no sense either. It's true that tuition has risen dramatically over the past few years--but it's still cheaper than DU. It's true that the State is in not in great financial shape but Colorado's contribution to CU amounts to less than 4% of our funding. The relevant metric is how much debt you'll have after a degree from CU and how much debt you'll have after a degree from DU.
It's sad that the cost of attendance gap has narrowed so much. When I chose to come here in 2008, CU in-state tuition was $15k+/year cheaper.
Sorry, my post was a bit more 'insidery' than I intended it - there's folks here that I've had discussions with in both the CU and the DU threads, so I understand why you didn't think I was making much sense.
For starters, what I said about the Colorado budget has nothing to do really with the price difference between CU and DU, but only to do with the way Colorado's state higher education facilities are going to fare as revenue projections come in over the next few months. There's very few areas in the state budget that the legislature can cut without running into constitutional challenges, and higher education is at the top of that list. And yes, I know, the law school is fairly separate from needing state money, but the support given CU at large by the legislature definitely does have an effect on the law school, and it should be a real fear that losing a lot of funding and support will be detrimental to the entire CU system.
Second, you're about to graduate from CU - congratulations! You don't say how old you are, but I'll just put a guess out there that you're mid-20s (totally stabbing in the dark there, only because that seems to be the average around here. If you're older, no offense meant!) I've been out of the system a bit longer myself, and have already had what amounts to one fairly successful career, which has led me to pursue law school to further that career, or even launch into a new one. However, that shifts my relevant metrics a bit away from a simple calculation of debt for CU vs. debt for DU. If it was just that, I would have put my seat deposit down at DU a long time ago, since $25k/year there will beat what CU is giving in-staters these days (from what I've seen, it's max $12k 1L, then either 4 or 8 for 2 and 3L. Assuming max, and just looking at tuition, that's a total of $66k for CU, $27k for DU. ish.) However, I know what debt is like, and frankly even $200k doesn't really scare me, as long as I think I'll be working (yeah, even if I'm 'only' making $50k or $60k after school).
What is really driving my decision is what my career trajectories look like from each school. At CU, I don't know anyone. I could probably work hard, try to excel, and hopefully get a clerkship or something else that I could leverage into a position with the feds in DC or elsewhere. This is compelling, as new adventures are exciting. However, I also have a wife, and a 3-year-old son, and a house, and friends in Denver. I know some professors at DU both personally and professionally. I have numerous legal contacts in the Denver midlaw market, as well as some substantial opportunities to 'consult' a few hours here and there while in school to still bring some money in to pay the bills.
Basically, my reasons aren't financial - I can swing the finances either way if I really want to. What it is really coming down to for me is whether I want to gamble on a new adventure that may or may not lead somewhere, or stick to what I know and use my current trajectory to my advantage. I know my post made it sound all financial, but trust me: there's way more involved than that.
(also, tl;dr!)
. SOB's.
