UF free vs Cornell Sticker Forum

[Nucky]

Even as a man saddled with debt, no one will ever be able to strip you of the fact that you went to Cornell Law. Do well enough your first year, and scholarships, transfers, and opportunities will be abound. If after first semester/year you're the runt of the pack you can always drop.

you could do the same thing at UF for $0 instead of like $80k

Fair point, but median at Cornell =/= median at UF.

Runt of the pack anywhere and drop without prejudice...

[rwhyAn]

Even as a man saddled with debt, no one will ever be able to strip you of the fact that you went to Cornell Law. Do well enough your first year, and scholarships, transfers, and opportunities will be abound. If after first semester/year you're the runt of the pack you can always drop.

you could do the same thing at UF for $0 instead of like $80k

Fair point, but median at Cornell =/= median at UF.

Runt of the pack anywhere and drop without prejudice...

Median at UF for free > median at Cornell paying sticker. At UF, you may just be wasting three years of your life. Median Cornell at sticker is potentially life ruining. If you spend a quarter million dollars to get a degree (not including interest), you better be damn well sure you're going to get a positive return on your investment, but you can't be. What if he gets halfway done and decides he hates law? Now he's $125k in the hole with nothing to show for it. In this case, Cornell severely limits your options, which is big law, and if you strike out, you're fucked.

[TooOld4This]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=226797

UF may not be the right choice, but Cornell is a wrong one.

Retake unless you really like the options at UF and can stomach COL loans that could still leave you $60k in debt.

[Nucky]

Even as a man saddled with debt, no one will ever be able to strip you of the fact that you went to Cornell Law. Do well enough your first year, and scholarships, transfers, and opportunities will be abound. If after first semester/year you're the runt of the pack you can always drop.

you could do the same thing at UF for $0 instead of like $80k

Fair point, but median at Cornell =/= median at UF.

Runt of the pack anywhere and drop without prejudice...

Median at UF for free > median at Cornell paying sticker. At UF, you may just be wasting three years of your life. Median Cornell at sticker is potentially life ruining. If you spend a quarter million dollars to get a degree (not including interest), you better be damn well sure you're going to get a positive return on your investment, but you can't be. What if he gets halfway done and decides he hates law? Now he's $125k in the hole with nothing to show for it. In this case, Cornell severely limits your options, which is big law, and if you strike out, you're fucked.

Another great point I'll cede too --- I'm operating under the assumption OP has done enough research to know this is what he wants to do. He could also break a leg and not get to class on time in Ithaca given ice build-up

But point taken... Clear this up for us OP, and PROVIDE NUMBERS!

[Law Sauce]

If almost guaranteed a job out of FL, I would definitely take that route. Its free and you've just taken away the downside. Further, in the short term, 60k with no debt in FL is living like a king compared to 160k with 300k of debt in NYC.

I would think that down the road far enough the name value of the degree starts to melt away. Yea if you do big law you could end up with a strong resume and some opportunities down the line that you would not have from FL, but, by year 7 or 8 is it not clear what you would be doing from either school. With hard work and some luck you may be making a great salary doing something that you cannot imagine now from FL as well. Especially since you seem to have connections in FL, having no debt will allow you to be more flexible and take advantages of opportunities that you would have to ignore from Cornell (like transitioning to business side of something, starting a firm with some colleagues several years down the line, or taking advantage of some investment that arises through your connections). You will have no capital to work with or room for error from Cornell, thus, you could make an argument that your upside chances of doing really well (in net worth terms) at actually higher at FL than they are at Cornell (stuck being a lawyer on the traditional route), but such an argument would only be speculation and would deal with low probabilities on both sides.

[applyinglate]

PMed everyone who requested numbers. Thank you all for the help.

[acc123]

Similar decisions right now for me, here is my point of view:

Florida has no state income tax, so even if you make $160,000/year in NYC you really take home $100,000/year after taxes since you'll be in a high bracket. You can also assume a very high COL in NYC and once you consider that and debt repayment which if you finance all of Cornell is about $3,500/month over 10 years you'll be living much nicer in Florida.

If you save early, you will be able to retire much earlier, which is my goal.

Check the graphic: http://wealthwednesday.files.wordpress. ... 9/am-4.jpg

[HBBJohnStamos]

It's all free with PAYE

[Nomo]

Cornell at sticker is so expensive that even if you get Biglaw there is still a very serious chance that you'll have made a terrible financial decision. Tuition could easily be 70k by the time you graduate.

[applyinglate]

Similar decisions right now for me, here is my point of view:

Florida has no state income tax, so even if you make $160,000/year in NYC you really take home $100,000/year after taxes since you'll be in a high bracket. You can also assume a very high COL in NYC and once you consider that and debt repayment which if you finance all of Cornell is about $3,500/month over 10 years you'll be living much nicer in Florida.

If you save early, you will be able to retire much earlier, which is my goal.

Check the graphic: http://wealthwednesday.files.wordpress. ... 9/am-4.jpg

Yes, but there are other factors such as having more upfront capital to invest on your first few years, that could lead to a very big disparity on your analysis. My family is big on investing, so that’s definitely something that I’m considering doing. Also, tax deductibles should be a factor.

[applyinglate]

It's all free with PAYE

I’m failing to see your point.