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Just looking for some friendly advice. I was accepted to BC, BU, Suffolk, and New England. I was planning on going to BC but New England basically gave me a scholarship where I go for virtually nothing. My dilemma is that I have no interest in going into Big Law or private practice. My career goal is either working for a DA's office or trying to become a JAG officer. With that in mind, New England would appear to be the right choice, correct? The idea of getting a JD with no debt is very appetizing but the only hold up for me is the Tier 4 ranking for New England. I plan on making my choice before the end of the week so any input is greatly appreciated.

I know someone from NESL that graduated top 5% and has basically been shut out of legal jobs. You can't negotiate money from Suffolk? At the very least they have a decent reputation in Boston. Everyone I've talked to sees NESL as a joke.

I don't know that your decision is that easy. I've talked with Navy JAG before (he was from BC actually) and he said rankings are less important than private fields but still considered. If you wanted Navy JAG or a popular branch with a waitlist of applicants seems like you would be much less likely to get a chance from New England since almost every other applicant would be from a better school. If you want Marine JAG on the other hand, that shouldn't be an issue.

BU/BC and take on debt, or don't go.

NELS is a no-go.

Your chances of getting JAG will be higher out of BC/BU. I believe JAG will then qualify you for the federal LRAP- which will nullify the debt.

BU/BC ftw.

Serious question though, did you only apply to Boston area schools? If you were good enough to get into BU/BC, you should have some good $$$ on the table from some lower-T1 and T2 schools. Unless you are tied down to a significant other, I see no reason why any of these schools should be your best option.

I would agree with BU/BC UNLESS you can wrangle the same deal out of Suffolk. If you don't want biglaw and you like Boston, I gather that Suffolk is fairly well respected.

New England not so much. I would say don't go there.

Email the Dean of Admissions at Suffolk (Dean Ellis) that you cannot attend without some sort of aid. They are pretty generous with grants, not scholarships. I did just this, and they gave me $20k per year, no questions asked. I did not get in to BU or BC, so if you could, Im sure they would be even more willing to help you out!