Duke vs. Vanderbilt (50k scholly) Forum

[jcdjgd]

I'll keep that in mind, but it seems like given equal ties and grades, Duke should have a substanital edge for Charlotte over Vandy?

substantial is definitely an overstatement. it will probably give you more room to breath, but Vandy is right up there too, especially if you want law/biglaw in the south.

[TMC116]

I'll keep that in mind, but it seems like given equal ties and grades, Duke should have a substanital edge for Charlotte over Vandy?

substantial is definitely an overstatement. it will probably give you more room to breath, but Vandy is right up there too, especially if you want law/biglaw in the south.

If I remember correctly, Duke places roughly 37% of its class in biglaw, Vandy is about 22%. Obviously that isn't location specific. But with respect to biglaw jobs and placemt overall it's a huuuuge difference

EDIT: Duke actually placed just over 40% of grads in NLJ250 firms for 2011, Vandy 22%

[lawyerwannabe]

I'll keep that in mind, but it seems like given equal ties and grades, Duke should have a substanital edge for Charlotte over Vandy?

substantial is definitely an overstatement. it will probably give you more room to breath, but Vandy is right up there too, especially if you want law/biglaw in the south.

If I remember correctly, Duke places roughly 37% of its class in biglaw, Vandy is about 22%. Obviously that isn't location specific. But with respect to biglaw jobs and placemt overall it's a huuuuge difference

EDIT: Duke actually placed just over 40% of grads in NLJ250 firms for 2011, Vandy 22%

If you have really strong ties and are top of your class at Duke, you will of course be able to get whatever you want (including Charlotte). However, Duke's substantial edge is in the major markets (NYC, DC), not as much in most of the southern markets as far as I can tell.

Also, Duke has placed about 55% of its class into the V100 the last two summers. NLJ250 numbers are lower because people take Art. III clerkships. Realistically, about 60-70% of Duke's class gets really good jobs (V100 + Art. III Clerkships).

HTH.

[BruceWayne]

ALSO, Duke gave me $42k total, so I'm absolutely thrilled about that. Going to tell Vandy about the acceptance/scholarship Monday and see what they say but unless I get a pretty substantial offer from them I'll be at Duke. I figure even if I'm at/slightly below median at Duke, I have a decent shot at Charlotte biglaw with strong ties.

Advice: do not bank on NC BigLaw out of law school; regardless of ties, it still generally takes really strong grades (getting it from median would be an aberration) and even with both, is still not a given.

I will second this. Currently a biglaw SA in Charlotte. Have not met one Dukie, but a few Vandy. Seems Charlotte likes kids from the more regional SE/Mid-Atlantic schools (Vandy, GW, Wake, UNC) with top grades over a median T14 student (Duke, UVA). Just my very limited observation though.

I.e it's just like Atlanta. That really sucks. I honestly think the strong regionals (UGA, Bama, UNC) are better for Southern biglaw than any top 14 except HYS. Really Vanderbilt isn't substantially worse off than Duke or UVA for the South. Yeah you often have to be top 10 percent at those schools to have a good shot but that's really not that different from having to be top 20 or 30 percent at UVA/Duke. And those schools (except Vandy) are WAY cheaper.