Brooklyn Law vs. Emory vs. Fordham vs. GWU vs. WUSTL Forum

[kimi_6454]

Yes. I know. There are tons of these on this site but now I understand why so many people have done it. I thought making this decision would have been way easier.

Brooklyn Law
129,000 over 3 years (class rank stipulation, top 40% to get scholarship renewed 100 percent and top 60% to get scholarship renewed by 85%)

Emory
60,000 over 3 years (no stipulations except stay in school)

Fordham
no $$. sticker.

GWU
105,000 over 3 years (30,000 per year and 16,500 for free first year housing in school-owned building; 3.0 gpa stipulation to get scholarship renewed)

WUSTL
149,000 over 3 years (no stipualtions except to "mantain residency at the law school"? idk what that means if anything. basically sounds like, stay in school)

A few points to note:
1) Ultimately I want to live and work in New York (along w/ most people). I do not necessarily want "biglaw", in fact, not really, but if I incurred the debt I would be willing to do so.
2) I am.. for lack of a better phrase, "super liberal" in most, if not all areas of my life.
3) I'm international and black for those interested

Ultimately, I am torn between extreme debt aversion and location (both for the duration of my time in law school and after).
Any thoughts?

(oh, and I suppose people will want to know my "stats". 3.2 (t12 liberal arts college) and 169 lsat. applied in mid to late January to all schools)

[romothesavior]

Hmm... tough decision. A couple of things I'd respond with...

1. Definitely try to negotiate with Fordham. You have big offers from higher ranked schools, so its pretty pathetic if they end up offering you $0.

2. My gut instinct was to go with Fordham for NYC, but how far into debt are you willing to go for a mid-range tier 1? Full rides or big schollys in much cheaper areas of the country will result in 100-150k difference in debt. That's a LOT of money. Is being in New York really worth that much to you? Its a personal question you have to answer for yourself.

3. Finally, I would say that you have to ask yourself, "Am I solely interested in NYC, and would not want to work elsewhere?" If so, then I'd say Fordham or maybe Brooklyn, although I would be concerned about being at the low end of the pecking order for NYC at Brooklyn. Keep in mind that these other schools (WUSTL, GW, Emory) will give you a decent shot at NYC, if you end up near the top of your class. But I wouldn't go to one of them if your sole goal is to end up in New York, because the odds of being at the top of your class are small. Still, if you think you would be okay ending up in Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, D.C., etc... then you should take the money and run at one of these other schools.

[romothesavior]

And as an aside, why is Cornell not in your list? Did you not get into there with those numbers?

[84Sunbird2000]

Yes. I know. There are tons of these on this site but now I understand why so many people have done it. I thought making this decision would have been way easier.

Brooklyn Law
129,000 over 3 years (class rank stipulation, top 40% to get scholarship renewed 100 percent and top 60% to get scholarship renewed by 85%)

Emory
60,000 over 3 years (no stipulations except stay in school)

Fordham
no $$. sticker.

GWU
105,000 over 3 years (30,000 per year and 16,500 for free first year housing in school-owned building; 3.0 gpa stipulation to get scholarship renewed)

WUSTL
149,000 over 3 years (no stipualtions except to "mantain residency at the law school"? idk what that means if anything. basically sounds like, stay in school)

A few points to note:
1) Ultimately I want to live and work in New York (along w/ most people). I do not necessarily want "biglaw", in fact, not really, but if I incurred the debt I would be willing to do so.
2) I am.. for lack of a better phrase, "super liberal" in most, if not all areas of my life.
3) I'm international and black for those interested

Ultimately, I am torn between extreme debt aversion and location (both for the duration of my time in law school and after).
Any thoughts?

(oh, and I suppose people will want to know my "stats". 3.2 (t12 liberal arts college) and 169 lsat. applied in mid to late January to all schools)

What is $149k at WUSTL!? That sounds like Full Tuition plus...6 or 7k? If so, I'd go there. I'm no WUSTL partisan, but WUSTL is portable enough to land you a job in NY, and with better job options than you'd get at Brooklyn. PLus, since you aren't drawn to BigLaw, having no debt at all upon graduation will make it very easy for you to take any job, no matter how low the pay.

St. Louis is liberal enough (I'm an anarcho-communist, and I wouldn't be afraid at WUSTL), WUSTL attracts a lot of international students, and it's very cheap to live there.

[hiromoto45]

Don't go to any of the schools and wait until next year are apply early to HYS and the rest of the t-14.

[kimi_6454]

Thank you for the responses so far. Some of them are allaying my fears while others are exacerbating my deepest concerns. Anyway, to answer your question Romo I did apply to Cornell I just haven't heard back from them which is hardly surprising given that I applied in late January. Quite honestly, I am waiting for them to reject me.
Your first two suggestions are right on the....money. I've been hesitating with the negotiation because, as silly as this sounds, I have no idea how to approach it b/c as far as i'm concerned I want them more than they want me. Do I send an email or phone in? Do I make mention of the other offers i've received? etc. etc.

and honestly.. I don't know that nyc is worth 150,00 times as much as wustl. I would be much more willing to take the risk of trying to be at the top of my class and failing at that.
... I'm starting to see where your questions are helping me to move towards a decision. Thanks alot.

At 84Sunbird, yes, this is pretty much full tuition (I believe I would have to come up wit a 500 dollars to cover the rest). The problem I'm having is the conflicting reports on the portability of a wustl degree. Some days I will hear that I should have no problem and on other days I hear that going there is pretty much nyc-career suicide. So i'm not really sure what to believe and unfortunately am not savvy enough to know where to go to find the most reliable answers to this question.

And at Hiro, I responded to you via PM but let me reiterate that the only thing that sounds more frightening than moving to Missouri to me, at this point, is staying at home for another year. I am also just not sure that I would make it into any of these top schools and I don't know if the risk of giving up these secured spots is worth the unlikely possibility of securing a spot at these other schools come next cycle. But what do I know? This is probably a foolish stance....

I do thank you all for the quick responses and great suggestions. Hopefully some more will be forthcoming. . .

[bernie shmegma]

So I happen to have heard really good things about Wash U this week at the ASD. First of all COL is STL is supposedly very low. Second of all, their career services are EXTREMELY impressive and proactive. Thirdly, the campus has an IVY feel according to my source. Finally, it is one of those schools that has connections at the places that say "we only hire T14" only they say "T14 + Wash U" I mean all schools may say that, but keep in mind the person I spoke to at length sharing this with me is extremely cynical and skeptical.

If you want to go to school for free and have the benefits of a T20 school, have a good time, don't mind the midwest, have no family or significant others keeping you from going, and still want to go to New York after school, I would say take the $149,000. I mean, even if Fordham gave you money, they are not going to give you that much, nor are they going to provide cheap COL. Additionally as regional as people may think Wash U is, its top cities are Chicago, STL, NY, DC, LA respectively. NY connections are strong and the only reason it is #3 is because people generally don't have an interest in moving to the east coast.

PLUS, not having a stipulation on your scholarship is HUGE. You cannot look past that. I mean, this is truly a hard choice to dispute, I have to be honest.

Don't worry Wash U is plenty Liberal too. I have several friends who went undergrad. One huge crunchball and three plain liberals. No Pinkos though...

[romothesavior]

So I happen to have heard really good things about Wash U this week at the ASD. First of all COL is STL is supposedly very low. Second of all, their career services are EXTREMELY impressive and proactive. Thirdly, the campus has an IVY feel according to my source. Finally, it is one of those schools that has connections at the places that say "we only hire T14" only they say "T14 + Wash U" I mean all schools may say that, but keep in mind the person I spoke to at length sharing this with me is extremely cynical and skeptical.

If you want to go to school for free and have the benefits of a T20 school, have a good time, don't mind the midwest, have no family or significant others keeping you from going, and still want to go to New York after school, I would say take the $149,000. I mean, even if Fordham gave you money, they are not going to give you that much, nor are they going to provide cheap COL. Additionally as regional as people may think Wash U is, its top cities are Chicago, STL, NY, DC, LA respectively. NY connections are strong and the only reason it is #3 is because people generally don't have an interest in moving to the east coast.

PLUS, not having a stipulation on your scholarship is HUGE. You cannot look past that. I mean, this is truly a hard choice to dispute, I have to be honest.

I am biased because I'm almost positive I'll be matriculating to WUSTL in the fall, but I second everything your friend has told you. WUSTL is very impressive. I think the huge scholarship total, coupled with the possibility of getting back into the NYC market, should make it your top choice. In addition, you may end up really liking the midwest. I personally think it is the best region in the country, but again, I'm biased.

OP, if you want some personal insight on WUSTL, I'd be happy to give you some. Just PM me.

[bernie shmegma]

So I happen to have heard really good things about Wash U this week at the ASD. First of all COL is STL is supposedly very low. Second of all, their career services are EXTREMELY impressive and proactive. Thirdly, the campus has an IVY feel according to my source. Finally, it is one of those schools that has connections at the places that say "we only hire T14" only they say "T14 + Wash U" I mean all schools may say that, but keep in mind the person I spoke to at length sharing this with me is extremely cynical and skeptical.

If you want to go to school for free and have the benefits of a T20 school, have a good time, don't mind the midwest, have no family or significant others keeping you from going, and still want to go to New York after school, I would say take the $149,000. I mean, even if Fordham gave you money, they are not going to give you that much, nor are they going to provide cheap COL. Additionally as regional as people may think Wash U is, its top cities are Chicago, STL, NY, DC, LA respectively. NY connections are strong and the only reason it is #3 is because people generally don't have an interest in moving to the east coast.

PLUS, not having a stipulation on your scholarship is HUGE. You cannot look past that. I mean, this is truly a hard choice to dispute, I have to be honest.

I am biased because I'm almost positive I'll be matriculating to WUSTL in the fall, but I second everything your friend has told you. WUSTL is very impressive. I think the huge scholarship total, coupled with the possibility of getting back into the NYC market, should make it your top choice. In addition, you may end up really liking the midwest. I personally think it is the best region in the country, but again, I'm biased.

OP, if you want some personal insight on WUSTL, I'd be happy to give you some. Just PM me.

Nah, I appreciate it, I'm tied to the NY/NJ area. I just saw the poll, which I don't mind taking because they interest me and I figured I would share the recent info I had on the school. Rave reviews from a tough critic and you seem to confirm them as well.

[romothesavior]

So I happen to have heard really good things about Wash U this week at the ASD. First of all COL is STL is supposedly very low. Second of all, their career services are EXTREMELY impressive and proactive. Thirdly, the campus has an IVY feel according to my source. Finally, it is one of those schools that has connections at the places that say "we only hire T14" only they say "T14 + Wash U" I mean all schools may say that, but keep in mind the person I spoke to at length sharing this with me is extremely cynical and skeptical.

If you want to go to school for free and have the benefits of a T20 school, have a good time, don't mind the midwest, have no family or significant others keeping you from going, and still want to go to New York after school, I would say take the $149,000. I mean, even if Fordham gave you money, they are not going to give you that much, nor are they going to provide cheap COL. Additionally as regional as people may think Wash U is, its top cities are Chicago, STL, NY, DC, LA respectively. NY connections are strong and the only reason it is #3 is because people generally don't have an interest in moving to the east coast.

PLUS, not having a stipulation on your scholarship is HUGE. You cannot look past that. I mean, this is truly a hard choice to dispute, I have to be honest.

I am biased because I'm almost positive I'll be matriculating to WUSTL in the fall, but I second everything your friend has told you. WUSTL is very impressive. I think the huge scholarship total, coupled with the possibility of getting back into the NYC market, should make it your top choice. In addition, you may end up really liking the midwest. I personally think it is the best region in the country, but again, I'm biased.

OP, if you want some personal insight on WUSTL, I'd be happy to give you some. Just PM me.

Nah, I appreciate it, I'm tied to the NY/NJ area. I just saw the poll, which I don't mind taking because they interest me and I figured I would share the recent info I had on the school. Rave reviews from a tough critic and you seem to confirm them as well.

I said OP could PM me, I wasn't talking to you. But I'm glad to hear your friend liked it!

[lawschooliseasy]

St. Louis is liberal enough (I'm an anarcho-communist, and I wouldn't be afraid at WUSTL), WUSTL attracts a lot of international students, and it's very cheap to live there.

Lol! An anarchist going to law school? The irony....

[bernie shmegma]

Wait a minute how the hell does an anarho-communist work anyway? Isn't that a huge oxymoron? You would have to have small tribes of communitarian persuasion in a completely ungoverned land I'm guessing? Which if that is the case would inevitably lead to Hobbesian developments whereby one tribe would govern the others and the law of the land would be ruled by force in a communist society, thereby negating the idea of anarchy. What else could describe anarcho-communism? I mean that's my guess just from the terms, I am unfamiliar with this ideology and I'm not googling because that's no fun...