CLS($50k), NYU($87.5k), UVa($150k) Forum

[kaiser]

If people do try and retroactively justify their choices, why do you have so many students who attend CCN urging OP to take the $$?

Because CCN students get BigLaw, assume they could have gotten BigLaw from anywhere now that they have it, and wish they had taken a cheaper route.

Or maybe, given what they now know about how students did at other lower-ranked schools, they realize that the extra 5-10% cushion wasn't worth the additional 6 figures of debt.

[chasgoose]

With no locational preferences, CLS/NYU are worth about $50k more than UVA. Since you do have locational preferences, it's not crazy to pay $62.5k more to go to NYU, but CLS is definitely not worth $100k more than UVA. If this were just a comparison between CLS and NYU, I would still say that CLS isn't worth $37.5k more, but it wouldn't be insane to choose it. The problem is that you would already be paying a little more than NYU is worth re: UVA so to make the extra jump to CLS is not a good idea.

Your decision should only be between UVA and NYU. My unbiased advice would be to take UVA, but as someone who would go crazy living in Charlottesville, I personally probably would have taken NYU in your position...

[sfreuden]

Thanks to everyone who voted and chimed in about the relative merits of the three schools. I really appreciate all the advice. I just wanted to let everyone know that I just put my seat deposit down at NYU.

[kaiser]

Thanks to everyone who voted and chimed in about the relative merits of the three schools. I really appreciate all the advice. I just wanted to let everyone know that I just put my seat deposit down at NYU.

Congrats. There was no bad choice to be made.

P.S. You are gonna love NYU

[sfreuden]

Thanks to everyone who voted and chimed in about the relative merits of the three schools. I really appreciate all the advice. I just wanted to let everyone know that I just put my seat deposit down at NYU.

Congrats. There was no bad choice to be made.

P.S. You are gonna love NYU

Thanks, I'm glad you think so.

P.S. I really liked it this weekend when I visited, and I'm excited to be joining the NYU Law community in August.

[keg411]

If people do try and retroactively justify their choices, why do you have so many students who attend CCN urging OP to take the $$?

Because CCN students get BigLaw, assume they could have gotten BigLaw from anywhere now that they have it, and wish they had taken a cheaper route.

There isn't THAT much of a difference between CCN and MVPB. Especially if the 5-10% BigLaw difference comes with a cushion of not needing BigLaw.

ETA: OP, congrats on your choice. If you really think you couldn't be happy in Charlottesville, I think you made the right one... since being comfortable at your law school definitely isn't meaningless.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Good decision. That's a ton of money at UVA, but picking up and moving to the middle of Virginia for three years is definitely not for everyone.

[Dany]

Well you didn't pick the worst choice, at least.

[soj]

60K + CoL difference is a pretty big but entirely defensible premium to go to NYU over UVA, IMO. Congrats!

[Bronck]

If people do try and retroactively justify their choices, why do you have so many students who attend CCN urging OP to take the $$?

Because CCN students get BigLaw, assume they could have gotten BigLaw from anywhere now that they have it, and wish they had taken a cheaper route.

There isn't THAT much of a difference between CCN and MVPB. Especially if the 5-10% BigLaw difference comes with a cushion of not needing BigLaw.

ETA: OP, congrats on your choice. If you really think you couldn't be happy in Charlottesville, I think you made the right one... since being comfortable at your law school definitely isn't meaningless.

That ~10% difference between CCN and MVP is both statistically significant and tangible. Yes, it's not huge, but it's not small either. For many people, that cushion is very important. Plus, you don't have to live out in the boonies either.

I agree, UVA free tuition is hard to pass up. But it's not like choosing NYU here was a bad decision either.