Michigan ($$$) vs. Chicago ($$) - Now with extra confusion!! Forum

[AngryAvocado]

Chicago does indeed give out full rides. Although it's the most rare of any of CCN. I believe one person who has posted in this thread was a recipient of one.

Ah, I stand corrected. Oh well.

He's right. According to my finaid email, 100% of my expenses will be covered...


...by loans.

[kurla88]

Have you considered not living in AA? You could live in the burbs somewhere between Detroit and AA (probably in a nice place for cheap), you drive to AA, SO drives to Detroit to work? Detroit and AA are approx 45 minutes apart.

[Fancy Pants]

Have you considered not living in AA? You could live in the burbs somewhere between Detroit and AA (probably in a nice place for cheap), you drive to AA, SO drives to Detroit to work? Detroit and AA are approx 45 minutes apart.

This post does nothing to help the cause of emma going to Chicago. I declare it void.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Have you considered not living in AA? You could live in the burbs somewhere between Detroit and AA (probably in a nice place for cheap), you drive to AA, SO drives to Detroit to work? Detroit and AA are approx 45 minutes apart.

This post does nothing to help the cause of emma going to Chicago. I declare it void.

The prospect of him telling his wifey to work in Detroit helps us.

[Olive]

If you went to Chi, would your wife be able to cover CoL with her job and maybe alleviate some of the debt/cost differences?

[Slimpee]

TTC chat fail

[Olive]

TTC chat fail

Oh, was my question already answered there (or somewhere else)? No one is ever there anymore.

[Emma.]

Jesus. My decision just got more complicated. 135k from Boalt as well.

[lawduder]

Jesus. My decision just got more complicated. 135k from Boalt as well.

no, hipsters suck tbqh

[JollyGreenGiant]

Great offer from Boalt! However, I'd go with Michigan over Boalt if it is about money. Boalt's tuition is gonna hover near 52-55k isn't it?

[motiontodismiss]

My recommendation still stands. It's still between Michigan and Chicago.

The People's Republic is too expensive.

[soullesswonder]

I would have voted for Boalt over Chicago @ 60k, but not now. Congrats on the additional offer, though.

[cavebat2000]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

[awesomepossum]

hahaha....impending doom.

[Emma.]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

If it were just me I'd totally agree, but my wife's happiness is a huge factor in this decision as well.

[cavebat2000]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

If it were just me I'd totally agree, but my wife's happiness is a huge factor in this decision as well.

Give her the stipend! LOL

How about the financial freedom a full-ride offers? It's only three years. Three years of being somewhat unhappy can easily be made up after law school when you graduate with no debt from MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL.

[adrib]

emma, you need to fix your poll. It is missing Texas.

[Great Satchmo]

Berkeley.

[fortissimo]

Has she been looking for jobs? I'd look to see where she can get a nursing job first. Michigan's medical school is ranked 6 and Chicago's med school is ranked 13. (Berkeley doesn't have a medical school nor hospital so you'd have to look off campus.) Both Michigan and Chicago have large, top ranked medical centers/hospitals, but you should see what places are hiring.

[cavebat2000]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

If it were just me I'd totally agree, but my wife's happiness is a huge factor in this decision as well.

Also, if her supposedly extreme unhappiness (she will get over it) is making this decision SO LOPSIDED to pass up a full-ride + stipend at darrow, then it sounds like your basically letting her decide anyway. If that's the case, then let her pick and wash your hands of it.

[Great Satchmo]

Has she been looking for jobs? I'd look to see where she can get a nursing job first. Michigan's medical school is ranked 6 and Chicago's med school is ranked 13. I think they both have large, top ranked medical centers/hospitals, but you should see what places are hiring.

I don't know a LOT about nursing, but how does a ranking for a medical school correlate with nursing jobs?

I can tell you the Bay Area has a lot of hospitals to work at including Stanford, UCSF, California Pacific Medical Center, then all the places like Kaiser, etc.

[ipaik]

I think all of these are excellent options.. and having been a student at both Chicago and Michigan (not both for law school), I would say that Chicago has a higher cost of living for sure. Gas is super expensive. Public transportation is also expensive. Sales tax is over 10%. If you're thinking of having a car, paying for parking all over the city is expensive. Apartment prices may be about the same. So if your primary concern is money, I'd go with Michigan. But I suppose this could be offset by the prospect of your SO finding a job. And also another point to consider... that you haven't really mentioned here... is the atmosphere of the two schools. Every school attracts a certain type of personality. This could have a huge impact on how happy you are.

Also, I'm a married law student so I understand how important it is to make your SO happy. Your SO not having a job might be a major problem (As I was for my SO when I was unemployed) so I guess ultimately it's a trade-off!

[motiontodismiss]

I think you need to put yourself first here. If she hates Ann Arbor so much, nothing's stopping her from living and working elsewhere while you're in law school. Full ride to Mich is a lot of money.

[AngryAvocado]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

If it were just me I'd totally agree, but my wife's happiness is a huge factor in this decision as well.

Also, if her supposedly extreme unhappiness (she will get over it) is making this decision SO LOPSIDED to pass up a full-ride + stipend at darrow, then it sounds like your basically letting her decide anyway. If that's the case, then let her pick and wash your hands of it.

This is an over-simplified way of looking at it. He's saying his SO's happiness is important, but it's obviously not the only important factor in this decision.

Also, Michigan is a great school, but Chicago does have it's advantages. During the boom days, Chicago was placing about double the percent of graduates (~65-70% to ~30-35%) in Vault 50 firms, and the disparity grows as you look at even more selective firms. Granted, those were the boom days, but if OCI information for 2009 is correct, there's still a substantial gap between CCN and MVP for V100 and above. Chicago's smaller class size is also something that shouldn't be overlooked ITE (just look at how Stanford has done relative to HLS this year), especially since firms may be cutting back summer class sizes but still want to maintain hiring relationships with top schools.

[JollyGreenGiant]

What could you possibly want out of a law school that Michigan couldn't provide? It's not like this is between full ride at Michigan v YHS. Go to Michigan with a full ride, enjoy your time there, graduate with no debt and laugh at those around you who have to begin paying back $67k x 3 years.

There is nothing Chicago or Berkeley is going to give you, no possible advantage worth passing up that Darrow + stipend. In my opinion this is an easy choice.

If it were just me I'd totally agree, but my wife's happiness is a huge factor in this decision as well.

Also, if her supposedly extreme unhappiness (she will get over it) is making this decision SO LOPSIDED to pass up a full-ride + stipend at darrow, then it sounds like your basically letting her decide anyway. If that's the case, then let her pick and wash your hands of it.

This is an over-simplified way of looking at it. He's saying his SO's happiness is important, but it's obviously not the only important factor in this decision.

Also, Michigan is a great school, but Chicago does have it's advantages. During the boom days, Chicago was placing about double the percent of graduates (~65-70% to ~30-35%) in Vault 50 firms, and the disparity grows as you look at even more selective firms. Granted, those were the boom days, but if OCI information for 2009 is correct, there's still a substantial gap between CCN and MVP for V100 and above. Chicago's smaller class size is also something that shouldn't be overlooked ITE (just look at how Stanford has done relative to HLS this year), especially since firms may be cutting back summer class sizes but still want to maintain hiring relationships with top schools.

I'm guessing we're both biased as hell, but I agree with AA.

Btw, cya next year AA.