Columbia vs. Chicago...OH GOD PLS HELP! Forum

[Dany]

I love absolutely everything about Chicago, but if Columbia was $60,000 cheaper I would go to Columbia in a heartbeat. I say take the money.

[camelcrema]

I voted Columbia because:

a) I also have a 0L giddiness for Columbia
b) the prospect of spending 3 years wondering what you would be doing if you had gone to CLS seem unpleasant. If you're that kind of person.

[09042014]

TLS is full of a bunch of morons who've never seen 6K on a W2 let alone 60K. Anyone hand waving away that kind of money is crazy.

[almightypush]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I still don't know what I'm going to do but hearing both sides is at least calming me down a little =)

I'm making the same decision and it is killing me.

Suck it up and take the $$ vs. giddiness is tough.

yeah...and maybe giddiness is the wrong word, but when i look at columbias course offerings and externship opportunities (oh god, the UN!) i just feel so passionate and excited to go an learn! and then Chicago is more like 'well this is a good school I'm sure I'll get through it. law school is law school'

OP, you really sound as if you want Columbia. go.

despite what some of the naysayers are suggesting, you will eventually pay down that 60K... but that Columbia degree will stay with you for the rest of your life.

[Sentry]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I still don't know what I'm going to do but hearing both sides is at least calming me down a little =)

I'm making the same decision and it is killing me.

Suck it up and take the $$ vs. giddiness is tough.

yeah...and maybe giddiness is the wrong word, but when i look at columbias course offerings and externship opportunities (oh god, the UN!) i just feel so passionate and excited to go an learn! and then Chicago is more like 'well this is a good school I'm sure I'll get through it. law school is law school'

OP, you really sound as if you want Columbia. go.

despite what some of the naysayers are suggesting, you will eventually pay down that 60K... but that Columbia degree will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Anything you can do from Columbia you can do from Chicago. Does lay prestige make people retarded?

[camelcrema]

Anything you can do from Columbia you can do from Chicago. Does lay prestige make people retarded?

Is it really that retarded to forfeit 60k over 3 years to go to a school at which you'd be happier, and have some opportunities you otherwise wouldn't (like the UN externship OP pointed out)?

[hiddenfist]

I'm making the same decision and it is killing me.

Suck it up and take the $$ vs. giddiness is tough.

yeah...and maybe giddiness is the wrong word, but when i look at columbias course offerings and externship opportunities (oh god, the UN!) i just feel so passionate and excited to go an learn! and then Chicago is more like 'well this is a good school I'm sure I'll get through it. law school is law school'

OP, you really sound as if you want Columbia. go.

despite what some of the naysayers are suggesting, you will eventually pay down that 60K... but that Columbia degree will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Anything you can do from Columbia you can do from Chicago. Does lay prestige make people retarded?

but...but... it's only 60k!

(yes)

[jpk5372]

Ok- just so people don't get confused, the ACTUAL difference is about 40k, but the 60k is assuming I pay it back over 10 years. If I pay it back more quickly, it will be less than 60k.

Also, I have been working for a few years and have painstakingly saved up some money for law school. I know how hard I work for that money and I know how hard it was to save it on my meager salary. I paid off my undergrad loans by myself. I am not a complete moron about money and I do understand what 60k is which is why I am having such a difficult time with this decision.

[sonervous88]

yeah i'm sorry but as someone who HAS seen more than $60K on a W2 i'm still voting with GO BE HAPPY. again. i'm not waving money away. but i'm still a firm believer of being happy. just saying. OP go to columbia. you'll be fine. i have faith in you.

[jpk5372]

yeah i'm sorry but as someone who HAS seen more than $60K on a W2 i'm still voting with GO BE HAPPY. again. i'm not waving money away. but i'm still a firm believer of being happy. just saying. OP go to columbia. you'll be fine. i have faith in you.

aww ... this makes me feel better. Thank you

[sonervous88]

yeah i'm sorry but as someone who HAS seen more than $60K on a W2 i'm still voting with GO BE HAPPY. again. i'm not waving money away. but i'm still a firm believer of being happy. just saying. OP go to columbia. you'll be fine. i have faith in you.

aww ... this makes me feel better. Thank you

Good. that was my intention. now go outside and frolick. it's a beautiful day and you're going to a great law school!

[camelcrema]

yeah i'm sorry but as someone who HAS seen more than $60K on a W2 i'm still voting with GO BE HAPPY. again. i'm not waving money away. but i'm still a firm believer of being happy. just saying. OP go to columbia. you'll be fine. i have faith in you.

aww ... this makes me feel better. Thank you

Good. that was my intention. now go outside and frolick. it's a beautiful day and you're going to a great law school!

This makes me happy. And yet, kind of upset that I won't be going to law school with you

[ahduth]

You make good points, but I guess I'm really nervous about Chicago because I really don't have much experience with it having only been there for ASW. I'm much more familiar with New York and thus can pretty much know I'll be happy there whereas I really don't know that with Hyde Park...

1) You aren't going to have all that much time in law school to enjoy your surroundings.

2) When you do have time, Chicago is a great city.

Chicago is pretty awesome, but Hyde Park is terrible.

OP: Your gut is telling you'd feel better at Columbia, so go to Columbia.

What kind of weird bullshit trolling is this. His gut feeling isn't some universal spiritual truth. 60K is a lot of money. OP needs to suck it up.

You have to admit Hyde Park is some weird suburb of hell though.

[WhirledWorld]

Also, I have been working for a few years and have painstakingly saved up some money for law school. I know how hard I work for that money and I know how hard it was to save it on my meager salary. I paid off my undergrad loans by myself. I am not a complete moron about money and I do understand what 60k is which is why I am having such a difficult time with this decision.

Two things, then:

1) Is the idea of working ~10,000 hours to go to Columbia over Chicago worth it in your mind?

2) Are you confident enough that what you project your law school experience will be at each school correlates with what your experience will actually be?

[616rewind]

TLS is full of a bunch of morons who've never seen 6K on a W2 let alone 60K. Anyone hand waving away that kind of money is crazy.

[Muenchen]

Also, I have been working for a few years and have painstakingly saved up some money for law school. I know how hard I work for that money and I know how hard it was to save it on my meager salary. I paid off my undergrad loans by myself. I am not a complete moron about money and I do understand what 60k is which is why I am having such a difficult time with this decision.

Two things, then:

1) Is the idea of working ~10,000 hours to go to Columbia over Chicago worth it in your mind?

2) Are you confident enough that what you project your law school experience will be at each school correlates with what your experience will actually be?

I mean, this is a little extreme, if still accurate, characterization. But I don't think putting it in terms of what will have the most sticker shock is the best way for OP to look at it. The way this is going to affect your real day-to-day life is just the amount/length of your loan repayment. Are you willing absorb the slightly higher monthly payments, possibly for another 5 years or so? Putting it in terms of all the extra work they will have to do is a little strange.

[thecilent]

yeah i'm sorry but as someone who HAS seen more than $60K on a W2 i'm still voting with GO BE HAPPY. again. i'm not waving money away. but i'm still a firm believer of being happy. just saying. OP go to columbia. you'll be fine. i have faith in you.

Faith in him in what. What are you even talking about

[Sentry]

I feel like a lot of you are creating a false dichotomy with Columbia=happy Chicago=miserable. OP you really think it would be impossible for you to be happy at Chicago?

[ahduth]

TLS is full of a bunch of morons who've never seen 6K on a W2 let alone 60K. Anyone hand waving away that kind of money is crazy.

Yeah, it's a lot of money. If they weren't direct peers it'd be different. But you can do a lot with 60k.

Although 60k on a W2 is kinda depressing in its own way.

[bhan87]

Also, I have been working for a few years and have painstakingly saved up some money for law school. I know how hard I work for that money and I know how hard it was to save it on my meager salary. I paid off my undergrad loans by myself. I am not a complete moron about money and I do understand what 60k is which is why I am having such a difficult time with this decision.

Two things, then:

1) Is the idea of working ~10,000 hours to go to Columbia over Chicago worth it in your mind?

2) Are you confident enough that what you project your law school experience will be at each school correlates with what your experience will actually be?

10,000 hours to pay back 60,000?? Yeah right...

Also, the OP decision is not only based on perceived fit, but an interest in international programs, which is a field that Columbia is more than marginally ahead of Chicago in. There are several objective reasons why this is the case:

1. More permanent faculty studying international / comparative law (which also means more courses offered)
2. More adjunct faculty and substantially more visiting scholars from abroad
3. Proximity to international organizations based out of NYC (notably the UN)

[jpk5372]

1) Is the idea of working ~10,000 hours to go to Columbia over Chicago worth it in your mind?

2) Are you confident enough that what you project your law school experience will be at each school correlates with what your experience will actually be?

1) well I don't really mind living on 6,000 less per year, for 10 years. but what I am having a tough time considering is the different LRAP programs should I decide to flip back to the gov't side after a few years working at a firm. Chicago's LRAP caps at 80,000 and if you work for a few years experience before going into the gov't you start at GS14 which in DC is over 100,000. with columbia's lrap its a percentage of what I make over 50,000, but it is completely forgiven only after 5 years or so of working in the gov't and takes your spouse into account (not that I know if I'll be married, but hopefully I can find a nice, generous rich guy to take on all my debt right?)

2) No, I don't think anyone can be sure of this because people only ever go to one law school. But my experiences with the students at Chicago weren't so great. I got kind of attacked for even considering other schools. Also, three sets of finals sounds terrible. But there are good things about Chicago too, like wine and coffee mess and the small size. So I don't think you can ever really know what the better choice would be. Maybe I should flip a coin?

[Sentry]

Also, I have been working for a few years and have painstakingly saved up some money for law school. I know how hard I work for that money and I know how hard it was to save it on my meager salary. I paid off my undergrad loans by myself. I am not a complete moron about money and I do understand what 60k is which is why I am having such a difficult time with this decision.

Two things, then:

1) Is the idea of working ~10,000 hours to go to Columbia over Chicago worth it in your mind?

2) Are you confident enough that what you project your law school experience will be at each school correlates with what your experience will actually be?

10,000 hours to pay back 60,000?? Yeah right...

Also, the OP decision is not only based on perceived fit, but an interest in international programs, which is a field that Columbia is more than marginally ahead of Chicago in. There are several objective reasons why this is the case:

1. More permanent faculty studying international / comparative law (which also means more courses offered)
2. More adjunct faculty and substantially more visiting scholars from abroad
3. Proximity to international organizations based out of NYC (notably the UN)

OOOOHHHH We're talking international law? I didn't realize that. OP go to HYS.

[09042014]

You have to admit Hyde Park is some weird suburb of hell though.

I do in fact considered it to be a suburb of Gary Indiana.

[09042014]

I feel like a lot of you are creating a false dichotomy with Columbia=happy Chicago=miserable. OP you really think it would be impossible for you to be happy at Chicago?

I'm guessing these people are people who have never left NYC.

[jpk5372]

You have to admit Hyde Park is some weird suburb of hell though.

I do in fact considered it to be a suburb of Gary Indiana.

but midwesterners seemed nice? I got called 'hon' a lot...that was kind of weird but friendly I guess?