No idea what to do: NYU vs Columbia Forum

[jbagelboy]

COL isn't necessarily higher if you go to NYU. That is because there is no requirement that you live in the Village. Lots of people saved by living in either Brooklyn or Jersey City. I myself lived in Jersey City and was able to really minimize my COL.

But those same NYU students can't exactly turn around then and say "NYU has so much better QoL cause west village > morningside"

[kaiser]

COL isn't necessarily higher if you go to NYU. That is because there is no requirement that you live in the Village. Lots of people saved by living in either Brooklyn or Jersey City. I myself lived in Jersey City and was able to really minimize my COL.

But those same NYU students can't exactly turn around then and say "NYU has so much better QoL cause west village > morningside"

Jersey City was pretty much only a bed to sleep in. West Village was where I was during all hours unless I wanted to head to bed. I very much got to enjoy the West Village as part of the school experience and was there pretty much all the time, even though I didn't technically live there.

[OMAR_COMIN_YO]

COL isn't necessarily higher if you go to NYU. That is because there is no requirement that you live in the Village. Lots of people saved by living in either Brooklyn or Jersey City. I myself lived in Jersey City and was able to really minimize my COL.

That's what I meant about moving to Brooklyn.

[TheColonel]

CLS student here.

As people are mentioning above, one thing to consider when people talk about NYU having the better neighborhood (which it does, particularly if you want a very "NYC" experience) is that CLS has 3 years of guaranteed housing in nice big apartments within walking distance of campus for ≤1000. I'm fairly certain NYU only has one year and then most people move to other parts of the city or pay out the ass for rent for a tiny apartment. But, I guess that difference would be mitigated by the NYU scholarship money.

I'd also mention that CLS has consciously reduced their class size in the past few years. From a small sample size (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=221586) it appears that we are still putting more students in the top firms with the reduced class sizes, meaning better outcomes for a higher percentage of the class. If that's the route you're looking to go, it seems to me that the gap for biglaw placement may be widening a bit. They just gave us data from last years EIP which largely paralleled the year before, which is available here: https://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/defa ... s-2012.pdf.

Feel free to PM me with any more specific questions.

[lecsa]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

[jbagelboy]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

this hasn't been my experience, but you're probably right that it just depends on where they went to school.

[Power_of_Facing]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

this hasn't been my experience, but you're probably right that it just depends on where they went to school.

I'm currently at a west coast firm, and I recently sent in my deposit to attend NYU. Though it pains me to do so, I can attest to the truth of the bolded -- some partners are surprised to find that NYU is a T6. There is a caveat, however, in that this is definitely NOT true of hiring committee partners/associates.

[kaiser]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

this hasn't been my experience, but you're probably right that it just depends on where they went to school.

Nor has it been mine. Many of the top partners at the top firms in NYC went to NYU, and the firm is extremely well represented in the city. Even when it wasn't as highly ranked as it was now, it still placed into the NYC firms quite well. So I don't buy at all that biglaw parters are surprised about NYU's rank. Perhaps that may be true in CA or someplace where far fewer NYU grads work. But in NYC, not at all.

[jbagelboy]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

this hasn't been my experience, but you're probably right that it just depends on where they went to school.

I'm currently at a west coast firm, and I recently sent in my deposit to attend NYU. Though it pains me to do so, I can attest to the truth of the bolded -- some partners are surprised to find that NYU is a T6. There is a caveat, however, in that this is definitely NOT true of hiring committee partners/associates.

Columbia definitely has a bigger name on the west coast (this may be partly because their undergrad is so prestigious/competitive), but NYU is an institution in the city. It's a much bigger deal out here than it was in California. I haven't spoken to any NYC partners who consider NYU substantially differently than they view CLS.

ETA: basically what kaiser just said

[lecsa]

Columbia. It's probably slightly better respected in biglaw in New York and I think it's much more respected outside of New York. Some (if not most) partners at biglaw firms don't keep up with rankings and are surprised NYU is highly ranked (some of recruiting has to do with what partners think and where they went to school). Columbia has more partner placement in biglaw firms generally. Plus CLS has had much better placement in biglaw and clerkships recently. And if you live around the area, you can save a lot on COL.

this hasn't been my experience, but you're probably right that it just depends on where they went to school.

I'm currently at a west coast firm, and I recently sent in my deposit to attend NYU. Though it pains me to do so, I can attest to the truth of the bolded -- some partners are surprised to find that NYU is a T6. There is a caveat, however, in that this is definitely NOT true of hiring committee partners/associates.

Columbia definitely has a bigger name on the west coast (this may be partly because their undergrad is so prestigious/competitive), but NYU is an institution in the city. It's a much bigger deal out here than it was in California. I haven't spoken to any NYC partners who consider NYU substantially differently than they view CLS.

ETA: basically what kaiser just said

NYU is well known in New York, but not really elsewhere in my experience. The school is not highly regarded in most other fields, is not highly ranked in most grad programs, and its undergrad is just okay. Columbia is a much better institution overall (undergrad, other grad programs).

[EnormousCheese]

Hiring partners at top firms nationwide know what the top schools are. Choosing Columbia over NYU because of lay prestige is usually a bad idea. They are the definition of peer schools.