Vanderbilt 20k scholarship/yr vs. Northwestern sticker Forum

[Bobushka22]

I want to do international law with the hopes of going into diplomacy at some point in the future... I am very flexible, however, on this aim and could fathomably see myself changing my focus once in law school. Additionally, I am very open as far as the location. I do like that Vanderbilt is actually a campus whereas Northwestern is a bull---- commuter campus that on its own I don't see being worthy of the expense. However, I know that in terms of ranking and location in a city like Chicago, Northwestern would likely lead to better career prospects. Help me out people. What would you do? Also note that I am signed up to do the JD-LLM program at Northwestern in Human Rights and International Law

[odiero]

Hey Bobushka,

I'm in a similar situation:
NU JD-LLM-HR, no $
v.
Emory, 25k/yr

Is NU worth the extra expense?

Two factors that seem significant to me: 1) our career prospects might be better post-NU, and 2) NU's loan repayment program is better than either Emory's or Vandy's.

Some thoughts on career prospects:
-Leiter ranked NU at 10 for int'l and comp law in 2003. Emory was at 20; Vandy was not on the list.
-None of the three appear in the US News int'l law top 10.
-NU is clearly making a push to develop its int'l law offerings -- hence the one-year-old LLM program we're considering.
-In the sort of international work we hope to do (diplomacy for you, lowlier PI work for me), I think name-recognition can be rather important. Thing is, on this front, I'm not sure NU fairs much better than Vandy or Emory. Maybe it does if you're planning on working for US organizations (and maybe you are); but I don't think any of the names mean much to non-Americans.
-It certainly seems sensible to assume that there would be greater... career-preparation opportunities? in Chicago than in either Nashville or Atlanta.

Some thoughts on loan repayment programs:
-If you haven't already, check out this excellent thread on T14 LRAPs: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 15&t=62094 Note that the NU info is a year old, and NU has recently revamped their program.
-My understanding is that both NU's and Emory's programs work by supplementing the federal IBR program -- helping eligible graduates make their monthly payments. But Emory's program is inferior to NU's in at least these ways:
> Emory's program only helps you out for three years.
> Emory has an adjusted gross eligibility cap of 42k/yr. NU offers less support the more money you make, but they don't appear to have any cap.
-From what I've heard, Vandy's LRAP isn't any better than Emory's.

I will try to come up with a more intelligent comparison of the NU and Emory programs. Still working on understanding the LRAP basics If I've mischaracterized either of the LRAP programs, please let me know.

So, NU appears to have a superior LRAP; but then NU would cost a hellofalot more in the first place. NU has a better reputation in the US, but that may not affect our career prospects, given our interest in international work.

Of course, career and financial prospects aren't the only relevant factors. Maybe we would enjoy NU more because the students and faculty are smarter (rather dubious proposition there); maybe we would be better attorneys post-NU because we would be better trained (equally dubious). I've also heard that the top programs are more theoretical and less focused on a specific region's black letter law -- and advantage, supposedly -- but Vandy (maybe even Emory) may already be in that group.

In any case, these programs are all great, and we'll be able to do cool stuff after graduation. Just to end on a preachy note: it's a mark of various kinds of privilege that we have these opportunities at all.

Good luck!

[09042014]

Vandy.

[holydonkey]

Maybe we would enjoy NU more because the students [strike]and faculty are smarter (rather dubious proposition there)[/strike] have lower gpas.