POLL: What have you decided? T14 or Tier 1 w/$$$? Forum

[sundevil77]

This is one of the most commonly debated topics on TLS. Should someone take T14 at a higher cost, or a regional Tier 1 with a full-tuition scholarship? I'm curious to know how most people are dealing with this dilemna. Bascially, I'm looking for responses from people that have been had to decide between T14s and Tier 1 schools. Please vote and give us a bit of your reasoning!

[BenJ]

It completely depends on which T14, which T1 and which region you're talking about. A full scholarship at UCLA is better than sticker at GULC for SoCal, but a full scholarship at American is far inferior to sticker at Columbia for DC.

[itsirtou]

This question is the reason I'm in agony! UCLA with half scholarship v. UVa at sticker...at least I have a few weeks left to decide, I guess.

[r6_philly]

This question is the reason I'm in agony! UCLA with half scholarship v. UVa at sticker...at least I have a few weeks left to decide, I guess.

UVA! I don't think it's worth $70k to give up what you get from UVA. UCLA full v. Cornell may be different but UVA > half tuition.

[r6_philly]

To the original question: I will only take T10 or full/half ride at the rest of T14 if I don't have choice at T10. I only planned to apply to T14 from the beginning, before I even got the LSAT score.

[doinmybest]

Every person is different and decides for different personal reasons. I was torn between T1s with full scholarship and stipend vs. T10 at sticker. But then I got a scholarship to the T10 school I was considering, and that pretty much was the push I needed.

[umichgrad]

T30 without a whole lot of $$, and happy with it.

[ChaotiCait]

Choosing T6 over T20 with about 2/3 tuition. With T6, I can practice anywhere, and do anything I want to do. I went to a state school for UG just so I would be debt free coming into law school, and wouldn't have to feel as bad about this choice.

[Kiersten1985]

T14 w/less than half. Was between T14 at sticker v. T20 with $$ but after the offer of $ from T14, couldn't turn it down. Not as much as the T20 was offering, but maybe I'm more of a prestige whore than I thought.

[ihurtmyselftoday]

Still undecided between GULC vs GW$$$.

Although an acceptance off of Penn's WL will be a game changer.

[itsirtou]

This question is the reason I'm in agony! UCLA with half scholarship v. UVa at sticker...at least I have a few weeks left to decide, I guess.

UVA! I don't think it's worth $70k to give up what you get from UVA. UCLA full v. Cornell may be different but UVA > half tuition.

It's actually gonna come out to about $100k at UCLA...which is why it's such a hard decision.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Leaning towards choosing UT with instate+20k/yr over UVA with 20k/yr. Going back and forth though. Is it worth 45k more if I want to come back to TX anyway? Will need to decide soon.

[imisscollege]

at the moment I have money at all the schools I'm into and seriously considering besides GW (BC, Fordham, UT) but getting off Gtowns or UCLA's WL would make me have to debate this question and i'm not sure what i'd do

[BenJ]

Leaning towards choosing UT with instate+20k/yr over UVA with 20k/yr. Going back and forth though. Is it worth 45k more if I want to come back to TX anyway? Will need to decide soon.

I think, so long as you have Texas roots, UVA will place better than UT in Texas (otherwise, Texas is a tough market to break into). $45k better? Maybe, maybe not. But the UVA degree will give you some flexibility if you change your mind a couple of years from now and want to work somewhere other than Texas. (Maybe you get an job in DC for your 1L summer and love it and decide DC is better than Texas, for example.)

[r6_philly]

I know many people are thinking, short term there is no need for a national degree. But you never know what you would want in a few years. Having that option may be worth the money. $100k is $1150 a month for 10 years... you decide if it is worth it for 30-40 years of having more options.

[sundevil77]

I know many people are thinking, short term there is no need for a national degree. But you never know what you would want in a few years. Having that option may be worth the money. $100k is $1150 a month for 10 years... you decide if it is worth it for 30-40 years of having more options.

Correct me if I'm wrong, r6_philly, but I was under the impression that your degree granting institution matters less and less the further removed you are from law school. The degree obviously matters the most right out of school when trying to land your first job. However, 30 yrs. down the road people aren't going to care what school you graduated from, rather they'll care about what you've done as a practicing attorney.

I agree with you, though, that there are certain opportunities only available to top law school graduates.

[r6_philly]

Correct me if I'm wrong, r6_philly, but I was under the impression that your degree granting institution matters less and less the further removed you are from law school. The degree obviously matters the most right out of school when trying to land your first job. However, 30 yrs. down the road people aren't going to care what school you graduated from, rather they'll care about what you've done as a practicing attorney.

I agree with you, though, that there are certain opportunities only available to top law school graduates.

Your experience does become more important the further you are removed from graduation. However, should want to change your career focus to try something new, or if you want to move to a different region, you will need to open new doors which may be inaccessible by a lesser/regional degree. Also, consider the degree as having a cumulative effect, that the sum of your better opportunities will translate into better career experiences which may afford you more options down the road, maybe even 30 years down the road. Perhaps it doesn't matter, perhaps a T14 degree, or even T6 degree will never come into play in your career. But if you don't have it, it will never be an option. It's nice to have options when you want them, even if you don't see it right now.