Top Law Schools

This is what I have it narrowed down to:

BU - more than likely sticker (waiting to hear back from Financial Aid)
UGA - In-state Tuition with possibility of more money (meeting with Dean soon)
Emory - $18k/year scholly (meeting Dean for more)
WUSTL - sticker
Vandy - wait out the waitlist...then if admitted, sticker

I want biglaw...I am flexible on city...preferrably ATL, Boston, DC...maybe Chicago/NYC

What do I do?

UGA for ATL BigLaw or market equivalent job. Maybe WUSTL.

EDIT: Yeah drop WUSTL. I'd just take UGA and ride out Vanderbilt's WL. However, sticker at Vandy is a risky proposition.

If you prefer Atlanta, I'd definitely go with UGA due to the in-state tuition. Even more so if you can negotiate higher scholarship.

outlaw08 wrote:This is what I have it narrowed down to:

BU - more than likely sticker (waiting to hear back from Financial Aid)
UGA - In-state Tuition with possibility of more money (meeting with Dean soon)
Emory - $18k/year scholly (meeting Dean for more)
WUSTL - sticker
Vandy - wait out the waitlist...then if admitted, sticker

I want biglaw...I am flexible on city...preferrably ATL, Boston, DC...maybe Chicago/NYC

What do I do?

i'd say pick uga or emory, and wait it out on the vandy waitlist. going to BU or WUSTL at sticker wouldn't be wise.

UGA. I'd rule out WUSTL instantly, and rule out BU if they don't give you close to Emory. Vandy WL is probably not going to happen, so I'd prob. just go to UGA.

BU unless you get into Vandy. The Boston schools are more national than Emory imo. And St. Louis as an idea kind of rubs me the wrong way.

Vandy, then BU for geographic flexibility
Emory or UGA if you're willing to sacrifice biglaw chances to minimize debt and be stuck in ATL

Ok so say I'm down to UGA and Emory...UGA would cost me about $30k/yr total (with the rumor that tuition may hike in proceeding years) and Emory would cost me about $42k/yr. I'm totally fine with starting my career in ATL...I am from the South. However, part of me would like to know that if I needed to move away from ATL one day, I would have a school that would follow me. So maybe I answered my own question?

outlaw08 wrote:Ok so say I'm down to UGA and Emory...UGA would cost me about $30k/yr total (with the rumor that tuition may hike in proceeding years) and Emory would cost me about $42k/yr. I'm totally fine with starting my career in ATL...I am from the South. However, part of me would like to know that if I needed to move away from ATL one day, I would have a school that would follow me. So maybe I answered my own question?

if you don't mind staying in atl initially after you get your degree it's the job you have (and performance), not your degree, that will determine your geographic mobility. your degree just helps you get your first job. after that it depends on how good on a lawyer you are.

najumobi wrote:

outlaw08 wrote:Ok so say I'm down to UGA and Emory...UGA would cost me about $30k/yr total (with the rumor that tuition may hike in proceeding years) and Emory would cost me about $42k/yr. I'm totally fine with starting my career in ATL...I am from the South. However, part of me would like to know that if I needed to move away from ATL one day, I would have a school that would follow me. So maybe I answered my own question?

if you don't mind staying in atl initially after you get your degree it's the job you have (and performance), not your degree, that will determine your geographic mobility. your degree just helps you get your first job. after that it depends on how good on a lawyer you are.

Emory does pretty well in NY and people know of it nationally. I don't know how many doors it will open but it has been flying up the rankings so you never know 5 yrs down the road.

Najumobi - your head is in the right place but that is not entirely accurate. Your degree will always matter to law firms, just less as you gain experience.

rando wrote:

najumobi wrote:

outlaw08 wrote:Ok so say I'm down to UGA and Emory...UGA would cost me about $30k/yr total (with the rumor that tuition may hike in proceeding years) and Emory would cost me about $42k/yr. I'm totally fine with starting my career in ATL...I am from the South. However, part of me would like to know that if I needed to move away from ATL one day, I would have a school that would follow me. So maybe I answered my own question?

if you don't mind staying in atl initially after you get your degree it's the job you have (and performance), not your degree, that will determine your geographic mobility. your degree just helps you get your first job. after that it depends on how good on a lawyer you are.

Emory does pretty well in NY and people know of it nationally. I don't know how many doors it will open but it has been flying up the rankings so you never know 5 yrs down the road.

Najumobi - your head is in the right place but that is not entirely accurate. Your degree will always matter to law firms, just less as you gain experience.

actually did not know this.

I'm surprised that more people have not recommended BU. It places much higher in the Big Law stats than UGA or Emory. Take BU and ride out Vandy's waitlist if Big Law is your biggest goal.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... 2443758843

J.H.Holliday wrote:I'm surprised that more people have not recommended BU. It places much higher in the Big Law stats than UGA or Emory. Take BU and ride out Vandy's waitlist if Big Law is your biggest goal.

it's b/c most people here don't think BU is a place one should go to at sticker (i agree).

najumobi wrote:

J.H.Holliday wrote:I'm surprised that more people have not recommended BU. It places much higher in the Big Law stats than UGA or Emory. Take BU and ride out Vandy's waitlist if Big Law is your biggest goal.

it's b/c most people here don't think BU isn't a place one should go to at sticker (i agree).

Seconded, I wouldn't even think about paying sticker at BU. It was the first one I eliminated reading the OP.

OP, you just need to decide what your most important considerations are; the answers here will be very different depending on how debt averse you are and how important it is to you to get big law right out of school (see J.H.Holiday's qualifier - BU can only make any sense if big law is your number one goal).

I would say probably Emory with the 18k/year scholly for big law chances in ATL is your best bet here.

Look at the latest placement statistics and the total cost.

BU Tied for #19 at 34.6% placement in NLJ250 firms Total cost $57,234/yr
Emory 23.5% placement in NLJ250 firms Total cost $$65,318/yr minus $18k scholly = $47,318
Vandy 47.1% placement in NLJ250 firms Total cost $66,022/yr

If Vandy at $66k/yr gives a 47.1% shot at Big Law Job and is considered worth it and Emory is +/-$20k/yr less and +/-20%points less chance at Big Law and is worth it, How is BU, which is right in the middle ($10k less and 10% less chance) not worth it if getting a Big Law job is your biggest criteria?

The fact still remains if OP wants the Best Shot so far given to land a Big Law job BU is the choice.

And maybe it's just me, but if getting that Big Law job is the goal, coming out of law school with $180k in debt ain't that much different than coming out with $150k, especially if I get a 47% greater chance of landing that all important Big Law job.

And OP, don't count on getting more $$ from UGA. They just waitlisted a 166/3.6 and a 167/3.7 after getting 500 last minute applications.