Harvard v Chicago ($$) v Duke ($$$) v UT ($$$$) Forum

[carlos_danger]

In case anyone is wondering: NYU offered me that 104/120 scholarship they do, Duke offered me 135k after negotiation, and Chicago bumped up their offer to 105k.

This might be crazy but I ended up taking Duke. I visited Chicago's admitted students weekend and hated it. Got a super intense vibe from the students and the faculty, and the administrators kept insisting that "we're a fun school!" in a way that was entirely unconvincing.

I'm from the south, interested in moving to DC or back to Texas after graduating, and really liked what I heard about Durham quality of life. Plus I know chances are I'll end up in biglaw and I think paying off my loans a year earlier will make a material difference in my career trajectory down the line.

I think I drew some short straws this cycle in terms of timing of aid offers and amount of aid offered, but 75% off at a T14 is something I can live with.

[grades??]

Congrats! You will love duke!

[chargers21]

.

[VeiledProtectorate]

In case anyone is wondering: NYU offered me that 104/120 scholarship they do, Duke offered me 135k after negotiation, and Chicago bumped up their offer to 105k.

This might be crazy but I ended up taking Duke. I visited Chicago's admitted students weekend and hated it. Got a super intense vibe from the students and the faculty, and the administrators kept insisting that "we're a fun school!" in a way that was entirely unconvincing.

I'm from the south, interested in moving to DC or back to Texas after graduating, and really liked what I heard about Durham quality of life. Plus I know chances are I'll end up in biglaw and I think paying off my loans a year earlier will make a material difference in my career trajectory down the line.

I think I drew some short straws this cycle in terms of timing of aid offers and amount of aid offered, but 75% off at a T14 is something I can live with.

Don't think it's crazy at all. If you were DC-or-bust or fedgov-or-bust you could make an argument for Chicago at 30k more but you don't seem to be either. If you'd be happy with Texas biglaw Duke is the right answer. I certainly don't think you had a cycle poor enough to wait a year, unless you were thinking of doing that for some other reason. Probably just a mix of bad YP luck and some meh softs.

[jbagelboy]

I think Duke is a fine choice. I likely would have done Chicago in this matchup, but people exaggerate the differences between these schools.