Duke or Northwestern? Forum

[strokes788]

Which school has better placement nationally and is more portable, and which one is considered "better" despite the fact that they are tied at 10 currently

[rayiner]

Which school has better placement nationally and is more portable, and which one is considered "better" despite the fact that they are tied at 10 currently

You're asking the wrong question.

[Corsair]

..

[holydonkey]

Which school has better placement nationally and is more portable...

I voted for Duke because their diploma looks slightly smaller and thus will be more portable.

http://www.shopdukestores.duke.edu/ePOS ... design=106#

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[Flanker1067]

I don't really like Chicago style pizza.

[insidethetwenty]

Which school has better placement nationally and is more portable, and which one is considered "better" despite the fact that they are tied at 10 currently

Dude. There's no way to answer this question.

[strokes788]

Okay I guess I'll be more specific. Wanting to go into biglaw, based on NU's rank on that list of placement in top 250 firms, NU did very well, however I do feel that might be because many who go there have WE and good resumes already. I'd essentially be graduating from NU having gone in as a 22 year old with a bachelors/masters but very little WE. I'm waiting to hear if I got money at Duke (they sent their decision on schollies a few days ago but hasn't arrived yet), and hoping or a scholly at NU, so I'm wondering, which one would probably be better, and I want to work in major markets, i.e. LA, San Fran, NYC, Chicago, DC, etc, big cities like that. Which option would you guys say is better? I'm not debt averse but I mean I'd of course prefer say 120K in debt versus like 180-210K or so. Thanks!

[holydonkey]

Okay I guess I'll be more specific. Wanting to go into biglaw, based on NU's rank on that list of placement in top 250 firms, NU did very well, however I do feel that might be because many who go there have WE and good resumes already. I'd essentially be graduating from NU having gone in as a 22 year old with a bachelors/masters but very little WE. I'm waiting to hear if I got money at Duke (they sent their decision on schollies a few days ago but hasn't arrived yet), and hoping or a scholly at NU, so I'm wondering, which one would probably be better, and I want to work in major markets, i.e. LA, San Fran, NYC, Chicago, DC, etc, big cities like that. Which option would you guys say is better? I'm not debt averse but I mean I'd of course prefer say 120K in debt versus like 180-210K or so. Thanks!

Well Northwestern is in a city that you say you'd like to work in and, other than DC, it doesn't sound like you have an interest in the South. You also seem exclusively geared for biglaw. I change my Duke vote to Northwestern. You're in about the same boat either way though.

[Flanker1067]

Ok, I will attempt to seriously answer this. The schools' placement is almost identical with statistically a slight nod to Duke for clerkships and NU for Biglaw, albeit slight and could be explained by self selection. More importantly, go to whichever gives you more money, if it is exactly the same, go where you would rather be. If it is STILL a tie, take Duke because COL is slightly lower.

Edit: See how this post is almost completely useless and doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know? Yes, that is why no one answered before.

[rayiner]

Northwestern is in the major downtown area of a huge midwestern city, while Duke is in a small southern city. Northwestern Law is on a separate graduate campus while Duke Law is integrated into the undergraduate campus. Northwestern is very business-focused while Duke has a somewhat more academic bent. Chicago is cold, while Durham is warm and sunny. Northwestern is full of old people, while Duke is full of babies.

There are lots and lots of differences between the schools that you should be considering --- career prospects is not one of them. Heck, I'd give the same advice between Michigan and NU for that matter...

[Flanker1067]

Uh oh Rayiner, I completely agree with your above post but you better watch what you say about Mich on TLS. *Trolls begin grumbling*

[holydonkey]

grumble

[los blancos]

I think Duke's a lot more portable in that its placement is geographically diverse. NU means you probably have to stay in Chicago. Some of that is probably self-selection, though.

[im_blue]

I think Duke's a lot more portable in that its placement is geographically diverse. NU means you probably have to stay in Chicago. Some of that is probably self-selection, though.

+1. Duke places more graduates in NYC, DC, and the South, while 50% of NU grads stay in the Midwest, so Duke is a bit more portable in that regard. But as Rayiner mentioned above, you should base your decision on many other factors.

[Doritos]

Which school has better placement nationally and is more portable...

I voted for Duke because their diploma looks slightly smaller and thus will be more portable.

http://www.shopdukestores.duke.edu/ePOS ... design=106#

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[strokes788]

I guess I should add a gamechanger factor to this now. Just found out via snail mail right now, 45K to Duke, so one year's tuition, will hear from NU I think by end of the month or early April. One big factor that Rayiner mentioned was the age thing, I'd definitely fit the category as "baby" so to speak as a 22 year old rather than NU where average age is 26, although I've heard there's a ton of people way older than that, in droves, so I guess the visits at both ASW will be big factors in seeing which one I like better

[lakerfanimal]

That's a pretty sizable scholarship.. go visit both and since they are such different environments, assuming NU doesn't give you a scholarship offer, unless you hate Duke go there. If NU gives you an amount that's around the same as what Duke gave you, just see which campus feels better for you because employment prospects wise they're pretty much equal it seems like.

[rayiner]

I think Duke's a lot more portable in that its placement is geographically diverse. NU means you probably have to stay in Chicago. Some of that is probably self-selection, though.

+1. Duke places more graduates in NYC, DC, and the South, while 50% of NU grads stay in the Midwest, so Duke is a bit more portable in that regard. But as Rayiner mentioned above, you should base your decision on many other factors.

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/career/statistics/
http://www.law.duke.edu/career/resources/facts

It's a little hard to compare directly, but as far as I can tell NU's "northeast" is Duke's: northeast + mid-atlantic + south-atlantic. So it comes out to:

Northeast (NYC, DC, etc): NU - 31%, Duke - 67%
Midwest (Chi): NU - 50%, Duke - 6%
South (ATL, TX): NU - 6%, Duke - 10%
West: NU - 12%, Duke - 15%

Now, considering that the three biggest legal markets are: NYC, DC, and Chicago, I don't think you can infer more portability on the part of Duke from the data. Both place primarily in 2 of the 3 big legal markets: NU in Chicago/NYC and Duke in NYC/DC.

Yes, half of NU grads stay in Chicago, but 75% of Columbia grads take the NY bar. That data-point by itself isn't that dispositive as to portability when a school is in a primary legal market. West-coast placement seems similar, which is probably more pertinent to degree portability.