Chicago $$ vs Cornell $$$ Forum

furrrman · Post by **furrrman** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 9:41 pm

BigZuck wrote:
furrrman wrote:OP, are you SF biglaw -> any biglaw or SF biglaw -> any CA biglaw -> any biglaw?

There was a poster taking questions at one point (can't remember the thread) who worked in SF biglaw, and basically said you needed HYS or Berk to make it realistic. This would lead me to assume that the chance at SF biglaw from either school isn't great, and that you should probably take the money and go to Cornell. However, if you really want to stay in CA and will take SF or LA, then I think the extra 100k at Chicago would be worth it. The past two years Chi has placed 2x the % of grads in CA than Cornell. Posters here also seem to verify that CA is well within reach for Chi students. Its hard for me to believe its just as easy for Cornell students, although I have no way to verify this. I'd like to see some Cornell folks chime in with anecdotal stuff about people targeting CA from there.
Lavitz' anecdote should be as good as any IMO

Glossed over that on first read.

Lincoln · Post by **Lincoln** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 10:18 pm

Cornell c/o 2013 grad here. I had an offer in SF big law but ultimately decided on NYC. I had some ties to both. At least 5 people in my class got Bay Area big law, and that was before there was a "California Club" or whatever that thing is called that Lavitz mentioned. SF is very doable, but obviously more competitive than NYC from Cornell. There may be some difference in CA placement from Chicago, but not $100k worth, so I would take Cornell in a heartbeat with your aspirations.

WheninLaw · Post by **WheninLaw** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 3:41 am

Lincoln wrote:Cornell c/o 2013 grad here. I had an offer in SF big law but ultimately decided on NYC. I had some ties to both. At least 5 people in my class got Bay Area big law, and that was before there was a "California Club" or whatever that thing is called that Lavitz mentioned. SF is very doable, but obviously more competitive than NYC from Cornell. There may be some difference in CA placement from Chicago, but not $100k worth, so I would take Cornell in a heartbeat with your aspirations.

Not that I disagree with you on outcome (I would choose Cornell), but I did focus on at "at least 5 people in my class got Bay Area big law." I can think of triple that at Chicago off the top of my head. The difference is real, though not worth 100K

Lincoln · Post by **Lincoln** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:37 pm

WheninLaw wrote:
Lincoln wrote:Cornell c/o 2013 grad here. I had an offer in SF big law but ultimately decided on NYC. I had some ties to both. At least 5 people in my class got Bay Area big law, and that was before there was a "California Club" or whatever that thing is called that Lavitz mentioned. SF is very doable, but obviously more competitive than NYC from Cornell. There may be some difference in CA placement from Chicago, but not $100k worth, so I would take Cornell in a heartbeat with your aspirations.
Not that I disagree with you on outcome (I would choose Cornell), but I did focus on at "at least 5 people in my class got Bay Area big law." I can think of triple that at Chicago off the top of my head. The difference is real, though not worth 100K

I'm sure it's real, just like Chicago's placement is better than Cornell's in almost any area, except perhaps NYC corporate. I have no idea whether the five people I know reflect a tiny portion or the majority of the people who were bidding for SF, or if there are more people there that I just don't know about. (I wasn't very social in law school, so I don't really know where people are or what they're doing.) I was just illustrating that it's doable.

MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:47 pm

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NYSprague · Post by **NYSprague** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:56 pm

MistakenGenius wrote:Unfortunately, TLS's debt adversity sometimes ventures from good financial sense to pure insanity. Cornell is an incredible school, if you want to be in New York upon graduation. If you go to Cornell, you will very likely end up in New York. However, you want to avoid that. I don't blame you, NYC is a shit hole (That's right Ymmv and other NYC homers, come at me). In this situation, I feel Chicago is a no brainer. Yes, it is 100k more, but It gives you a better chance at San Francisco and pretty much guarantees you non-NYC work. My basic philosophy is go wherever will help you achieve your goals as cheaply as possible. In your situation, Cornell is likely not to fill your goals, and so you have to bite the bullet.

If he wants transactional, I wouldn't write off NYC. He will get the best experience there, IMO.
Repaying an extra $100,000 is going to be tough.

Up to OP to figure out if it is worth it.

I think Chicago is a great school, it's the debt plus interest that I think will be a waste. But I'm not the one who will have to pay the loans, so I can't decide for OP.

MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 12:05 am

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ymmv · Post by **ymmv** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 1:56 pm

MistakenGenius wrote:Unfortunately, TLS's debt adversity sometimes ventures from good financial sense to pure insanity. Cornell is an incredible school, if you want to be in New York upon graduation. If you go to Cornell, you will very likely end up in New York. However, you want to avoid that. I don't blame you, NYC is a shit hole (That's right Ymmv and other NYC homers, come at me). In this situation, I feel Chicago is a no brainer. Yes, it is 100k more, but It gives you a better chance at San Francisco and pretty much guarantees you non-NYC work. My basic philosophy is go wherever will help you achieve your goals as cheaply as possible. In your situation, Cornell is likely not to fill your goals, and so you have to bite the bullet.

I am not a NYC homer - not presently anyway. My advice, which I stand by, is that Chicago is not worth $100,000 more than Cornell for a possible increased chance at practicing in a certain regional market. OP's ties to SF (if they are real) will give him an edge in his applications there in either case. And even if he does end up receiving only offers from NYC firms, he we still be better off spending a few years with $100,000 less debt in NYC before lateraling over to SF at some later date than he would be starting in SF from UChi with an additional $100,000 chain attached to his leg.

And if you honestly believe that qualifies as "pure insanity," then I would stipulate you have a truly warped notion of sanity.

If we were talking about $100,000 more to attend Stanford, where OP would have a strong if not near certain chance of employment in SF, my advice might be different. But we are not talking about Stanford vs. Cornell; we are talking about UChi vs. Cornell.

rayiner · Post by **rayiner** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 2:22 pm

MistakenGenius wrote:In your situation, Cornell is likely not to fill your goals.

You have presented absolutely zero evidence that this is the case. Especially taking into account the fact that OP has strong ties to the Bay Area.