UGA v. Vandy v. Emory v. Duke Forum

[papatel]

I want to work in Atlanta, most likely doing PI work so $ is of obvious concern. I want a good QOL during law school but also the possibility of clerkship upon graduation. Scholarship amounts are full. WWYD? (and why?)

[beesknees]

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[papatel]

Thanks! Very helpful Anyone else?

EDIT: Specifically, can anyone offer testament on QOL at these schools?

[im_blue]

UGA makes absolutely no sense on this list, as the worst school with the least money. I'd pick Duke since Vandy and Emory are offering marginally more money.

[iShotFirst]

UGA makes absolutely no sense on this list, as the worst school with the least money. I'd pick Duke since Vandy and Emory are offering marginally more money.

Unless he is a resident and so 30k means he has to pay only 4k per year...

[papatel]

UGA makes absolutely no sense on this list, as the worst school with the least money. I'd pick Duke since Vandy and Emory are offering marginally more money.

Unless he is a resident and so 30k means he has to pay only 4k per year...

This, and I currently live in Athens and know that I'd like 3 more years here. Also, I'm a she

[cardnal124]

UGA makes absolutely no sense on this list, as the worst school with the least money. I'd pick Duke since Vandy and Emory are offering marginally more money.

Unless he is a resident and so 30k means he has to pay only 4k per year...

This, and I currently live in Athens and know that I'd like 3 more years here. Also, I'm a she

Go to Duke unless you want to be in Georgia forever... then still go to Duke

[iShotFirst]

UGA makes absolutely no sense on this list, as the worst school with the least money. I'd pick Duke since Vandy and Emory are offering marginally more money.

Unless he is a resident and so 30k means he has to pay only 4k per year...

This, and I currently live in Athens and know that I'd like 3 more years here. Also, I'm a she

Hah thought so... about the resident part, not the he/she part. Apologies

[papatel]

No worries! It's also on this list because of it's great access to the Atlanta market. Any other opinions out there? Would a better question have been: am I a moron if I don't go to Duke?

[thickfreakness]

No worries! It's also on this list because of it's great access to the Atlanta market. Any other opinions out there? Would a better question have been: am I a moron if I don't go to Duke?

To me it's UGA vs. Vandy vs. Duke. If you're debt averse and want PI then UGA may actually be a stronger option for you. Duke and Vandy's LRAP programs aren't very strong, so you could be saddled with a fair amount of debt when you get out. Obviously, Vandy and Duke are going to give you better clerkship opportunities than UGA.

[papatel]

No worries! It's also on this list because of it's great access to the Atlanta market. Any other opinions out there? Would a better question have been: am I a moron if I don't go to Duke?

To me it's UGA vs. Vandy vs. Duke. If you're debt averse and want PI then UGA may actually be a stronger option for you. Duke and Vandy's LRAP programs aren't very strong, so you could be saddled with a fair amount of debt when you get out. Obviously, Vandy and Duke are going to give you better clerkship opportunities than UGA.

True. Why not Emory? 66g covers tuition, although it would come with a high COL.

And to you Vandy voters: Explain. (Please )

[iShotFirst]

No worries! It's also on this list because of it's great access to the Atlanta market. Any other opinions out there? Would a better question have been: am I a moron if I don't go to Duke?

To me it's UGA vs. Vandy vs. Duke. If you're debt averse and want PI then UGA may actually be a stronger option for you. Duke and Vandy's LRAP programs aren't very strong, so you could be saddled with a fair amount of debt when you get out. Obviously, Vandy and Duke are going to give you better clerkship opportunities than UGA.

True. Why not Emory? 66g covers tuition, although it would come with a high COL.

And to you Vandy voters: Explain. (Please )

If you want to work in Atlanta afterwards Emory may be invaluable as far as its location goes, being able to work during the year doing PI work would be highly beneficial. I am after Atlanta too and its UGA (resident) or Emory if they come in with some money.

[thickfreakness]

No worries! It's also on this list because of it's great access to the Atlanta market. Any other opinions out there? Would a better question have been: am I a moron if I don't go to Duke?

To me it's UGA vs. Vandy vs. Duke. If you're debt averse and want PI then UGA may actually be a stronger option for you. Duke and Vandy's LRAP programs aren't very strong, so you could be saddled with a fair amount of debt when you get out. Obviously, Vandy and Duke are going to give you better clerkship opportunities than UGA.

True. Why not Emory? 66g covers tuition, although it would come with a high COL.

And to you Vandy voters: Explain. (Please )

66K covers about half of Emory's tuition. You'd still be on the hook for the other half and facing a higher COL than Athens. Vanderbilt gave you a better offer so there's no way I think you should take Emory over Vanderbilt. The appeal of UGA is that you could get out of school with almost no debt.

[insidethetwenty]

If you really want the shot to clerk, especially at the Art. III level, you should go to Duke. BTW, 54,000 off of a T10 law school is nothing to sneeze at.

If you want the option of clerking and the access to the "best" PI jobs, you should probably take Duke. A Duke degree, IMO, is definitely worth $18k more than a Vandy degree. And, you never know, you could change your mind and decide you want to work in a firm or be somewhere other than Atlanta. Then you'd be REALLY glad you were at Duke.

[Cestjustemoi]

It's duke? Btw congrats on your offers they are all great schools bit I still think you will get the biggest bang for your buck at duke.

[Grizz]

If you want a clerkship, Duke for slightly more beats out the next best option, Vanderbilt. As much as I love Vandy, Duke is worth the extra money. I love UGA, too, but Duke will give you the best shot at a clerkship.

[timelovesahero]

for what it's worth, at all the UGA visits and receptions I've been to, they have proudly proclaimed that they have had more graduates doing clerkships with the U.S. Supreme Court in the past 5 years than any other school.

[Grizz]

for what it's worth, at all the UGA visits and receptions I've been to, they have proudly proclaimed that they have had more graduates doing clerkships with the U.S. Supreme Court in the past 5 years than any other school.

That's impressive, but 4 clerks out of the last 5 years still isn't very good odds. Also keep in mind that the clerks were 1999, 2005, 2006, and 2008 grads, so it's really more like 4 clerks over 10 classes of student. At 240 a class, that's like 4/2400, or .17% of grads obtaining Supreme Court clerkships. Even at first in the class, these are not odds to go about making decisions by.

[papatel]

Hmm thanks for all the help guys! I think it's between UGA, Vandy, and Duke. And seeing as how I'm stillll unsure, anyone else out there want to pitch in their two cents? Really, anything is appreciated