DC vs. CHICAGO Forum

[BigZuck]

Oh c'mon now. Howard vs. DePaul AND you want Big Law? You need to stop deceiving yourself. I know your parents are probably telling you not to listen to people who tell you it's impossible, live your dreams, you can do anything, etc. It's time to take a rational, adult look at your situation and let go of cliches. Do you know how rough the legal market is right now?

DC is saturated with lawyers. There are plenty of people from Georgetown and George Washington that are struggling to find work. Why would you think a JD from Howard would be a good investment, particularly at sticker price?

Same thing for Chicago. Why would a big firm choose you over a University of Chicago or Northwestern grad? You realize barely 1 in 3 DePaul grads are actually employed?

Howard is the less bad option here, but ONLY if you are fine with doing something besides Big Law AND you can go for free/very cheap. If Howard at sticker is your best option, you should not go to law school.

What is your LSAT/GPA?

nowhere in this post did I mention those schools.

Of course you're asking about the Chicago and DC area TTTs. You were just hoping to outsmart TLS and get them to not tell you to retake.

You were waitlisted at Howard, we are not going to assume this is a Georgetown vs Northwestern thread.

Straight talk- very, very few people should be considering both of these markets because its a rare person who would have ties to both. From what I understand, DC doesn't place so much of an emphasis on ties as they do grades (from top schools, mind you) and Chicago cares a lot about ties. Regardless though, attending any one of the area TTTs has a very, very high probability of ruining your life. Your life. Ruined.

Retake until you can get George Washington or the University of Illinois for cheap (like, no more than 60ishk total) at the very least.

Good call ^^^^^ I actually got into both. Straigh talk. Outsmart TLS geeez you guys are intense in these forums. Good think no one is paying you all to think

O rly?
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6#p7382166

[20141023]

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[AntipodeanPhil]

All you guys have done is to alienate OP. She's going to want to go to Howard/DePaul even more now just for the chance to prove you all wrong.

People seem to take these threads seriously - let's act like we're trying to help them, instead ridiculing them and rubbing the truth in their faces.

[BigZuck]

All you guys have done is to alienate OP. She's going to want to go to Howard/DePaul even more now just for the chance to prove you all wrong.

People seem to take these threads seriously - let's act like we're trying to help them, instead ridiculing them and rubbing the truth in their faces.

Teach us how to act. What should we have done differently?

[20141023]

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[09042014]

Chicago >> DC

[brotherdarkness]

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[09042014]

Chicago >> DC

It's impossible to make a blanket statement like that. Each city has its pros and cons.

And Chicagos pros and cons >> DC

[lawschool22]

See this thread would be interesting if it ended up being about what the title says it's about. I wouldn't mind getting some DC folks and Chicago folks together to talk about what they love and hate about their cities.

[20141023]

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[nebula666]

I'd rather be unemployed and facing insurmountable debt in DC than Chicago. At least I won't be freezing to death.

[rickgrimes69]

--ImageRemoved--
It is completely possible to graduate Howard and have a successful legal career.

top kek

[jbagelboy]

Trick question: Neither. Los Angeles ftw: West coast is the best coast.

[Ambi-Turner]

I'd rather be unemployed and facing insurmountable debt in DC than Chicago. At least I won't be freezing to death.

Yeah but COL is WAY lower in Chicago

[worldtraveler]

DC pro:

free museums

And I can't think of anything else. We can take a bus/train to NY?

[Ambi-Turner]

See this thread would be interesting if it ended up being about what the title says it's about. I wouldn't mind getting some DC folks and Chicago folks together to talk about what they love and hate about their cities.

I'm from Chicago, but have lived in DC for the past 4.5 years. Happy to answer any questions if you've got some. As an 0L, I can't really speak to the legal market, but if you've got cultural/whatever questions, I'd be happy to take a swing at them.

[lawschool22]

See this thread would be interesting if it ended up being about what the title says it's about. I wouldn't mind getting some DC folks and Chicago folks together to talk about what they love and hate about their cities.

I'm from Chicago, but have lived in DC for the past 4.5 years. Happy to answer any questions if you've got some. As an 0L, I can't really speak to the legal market, but if you've got cultural/whatever questions, I'd be happy to take a swing at them.

What are your thoughts on public transportation in both cities? What about nightlife for single twenty-something's? How different is the weather year-round? What's the housing market like in each (ie how easy is it to get a desirable apartment)? Traffic? Which city seems more walkable? Which city has better entertainment options? Which city do you feel is improving more each year and has the brighter future?

[TheSpanishMain]

I've lived in DC for years, and my Chicago experience is limited to a few weekends, so take this with a grain of salt.

Chicago has better entertainment, and better people in general. The self important striver in a seersucker suit* population of DC is notably absent in Chicago. People still work hard, but seem to take themselves a lot less seriously. I do like the DC metro over the Chicago subway system, though, but that could just be because I'm a lot more familiar with it.

* Self important despite usually being like a 24 year old GS-9.

[Ambi-Turner]

See this thread would be interesting if it ended up being about what the title says it's about. I wouldn't mind getting some DC folks and Chicago folks together to talk about what they love and hate about their cities.

I'm from Chicago, but have lived in DC for the past 4.5 years. Happy to answer any questions if you've got some. As an 0L, I can't really speak to the legal market, but if you've got cultural/whatever questions, I'd be happy to take a swing at them.

What are your thoughts on public transportation in both cities? What about nightlife for single twenty-something's? How different is the weather year-round? What's the housing market like in each (ie how easy is it to get a desirable apartment)? Traffic? Which city seems more walkable? Which city has better entertainment options? Which city do you feel is improving more each year and has the brighter future?

Public transportation in both cities have their pros and cons. The L (elevated train...it's like an above-ground subway) is kind of shitty because most of the lines make a go in a circle around downtown and can take forever, which sucks if you're taking the L to the middle of downtown and can't avoid the loop. Look at this map if what I'm saying doesn't make sense: http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/ ... 013oct.pdf. Most bus terminal have digital trackers saying when the next bus will arrive which is HUGE.
DC's metro is ok...some lines (ahem Red Line) really suck. And track maintenance can be a total bitch. And it closes at 12 during the week and 2 AM on the weekends. Also the buses suck here.
Nightlife for twenty-somethings is good in both cities, although DC's millennial population is growing ridiculously fast.
The weather is crazy variable in both cities. Winter sucks in Chicago, but you get used to it pretty fast, unless you've lived in the south your whole life. Summer in DC is the worst, and I still haven't gotten used to it. It's hot and sticky, and the nearest beach is 1.5 hours away. Summer in Chicago is the best, the weather's nice, there are a ton of beaches, both in the city and outside. You can get to some nice, quieter beaches in Indiana on the train. Plus the festivals are fun, but the city's big enough that if you don't want to deal with them, you can just avoid those areas and be fine.
With the housing market...it's easy to get an apartment in both cities, but they're way more expensive in DC. My brother is paying less for his 2 bedroom in Chicago than I am for my 350 square foot studio in DC. And I got a relatively good price on my studio.
You can live in DC if you don't have a car. It's possible, but harder, to do the same in Chicago. DC is just so much smaller.
Entertainment in both cities is pretty good. There are really good concert venues in both places, and they both have good theater scenes. Free museums in DC are a plus though. Both cities have a ton of free outdoor entertainment in the summer.
DC is definitely improving faster than Chicago, but that's mostly because of the massive gentrification here.
One thing that you didn't ask about, but I'm going to speak to anyway is food. The food options are 100000x better in Chicago. There's a lot more variability in cuisine and it's a lot cheaper. Also, in DC to get good pho and good Korean food, you have to trek out to the suburbs. That's not the case in Chicago.

[PepperJack]

There is no way she got into GWU and got waitlisted at Howard. I'm calling it straight up. This did not happen.

I also don't appreciate her condescending tone towards people trying to help her.

I will say Howard is the better bet, assuming you are attractive and not fat. There are many wealthy political types in the Northern VA suburbs who may pay you to sleep with them. The going rate is higher there than it is in Chicago, and assuming you will be living on the streets, DC is much safer than many parts of CHI.

[PepperJack]

I've lived in DC for years, and my Chicago experience is limited to a few weekends, so take this with a grain of salt.

Chicago has better entertainment, and better people in general. The self important striver in a seersucker suit* population of DC is notably absent in Chicago. People still work hard, but seem to take themselves a lot less seriously. I do like the DC metro over the Chicago subway system, though, but that could just be because I'm a lot more familiar with it.

* Self important despite usually being like a 24 year old GS-9.

Chicago also has better food and sports teams. Both these cities have huge social class divisions within walking distance. I don't care for this personally, because it depresses me, and I don't like seeing cities where it seems one race gets a fairer shake than another. In LA and Miami there's a lot of distance between big variations. In NYC, it's the same as Harlem is a cultural epicenter full of pretty sweet hot spots.

[lawschool22]

I will say Howard is the better bet, assuming you are attractive and not fat. There are many wealthy political types in the Northern VA suburbs who may pay you to sleep with them. The going rate is higher there than it is in Chicago, and assuming you will be living on the streets, DC is much safer than many parts of CHI.

Come on, lets keep this on topic please. I don't think we need that.

Edit: Well your next post kept it on topic, so thanks lol.

[Ambi-Turner]

I've lived in DC for years, and my Chicago experience is limited to a few weekends, so take this with a grain of salt.

Chicago has better entertainment, and better people in general. The self important striver in a seersucker suit* population of DC is notably absent in Chicago. People still work hard, but seem to take themselves a lot less seriously. I do like the DC metro over the Chicago subway system, though, but that could just be because I'm a lot more familiar with it.

* Self important despite usually being like a 24 year old GS-9.

Chicago also has better food and sports teams. Both these cities have huge social class divisions within walking distance. I don't care for this personally, because it depresses me, and I don't like seeing cities where it seems one race gets a fairer shake than another. In LA and Miami there's a lot of distance between big variations. In NYC, it's the same as Harlem is a cultural epicenter full of pretty sweet hot spots.

Haha, it's not hard to beat DC in terms of sports teams. Not that Chicago does much better, especially since we're now stuck with Cutler for seven more years. The Blackhawks are a lot of fun to watch though. I think the fact that the Cubs still have dedicated fans despite the fact that their last World Series win was when the Ottoman Empire still existed says a lot about the resilience of Chicagoans.
It's also a lot easier to get to Soldier Field (where the Bears play) than it is to get to FedEx Field (where the Redskins play.) Not like any of us will be able to afford tickets to the games while we're in law school...

[sighsigh]

Completely possible.