Top Law Schools

What would you choose? Penn, Duke or Cornell law?

Pros, Cons?

I received good and pretty much equal aid packages from all of them

Wow, great choices especially with aid. I'd definitely drop Cornell immediately and say it's between Penn and Duke, can't go wrong with either. I'd recommend Penn for a simpleton reason: it's between NYC and DC so it's less of a pain in the rear to interview with a bunch of firms during 2L fall (also I personally could not deal with living in Durham for 3 years, although Philly honestly isn't much better).

With Penn and Duke at a similar price I would have to go with Penn.

it depends what you want penn has more prestige but duke is great for the south has warm weather and prolly and a lower COL

Same price?
Penn hands down (unless you want to work in the south then MAYBE Duke)

It would take about a 50k difference for me to take Duke over Penn, if looking for a job in any other region then the south.

Cornell, to me would take about an 80k difference over Penn for me to go there

You're going to want to stay in the T12, so this is a Duke v. Penn question. If you're dead-set on NYC Penn might be a slightly better choice, but I think the schools will have drastically different atmospheres. Best plan is to visit and see which one appeals more. I'd take Duke in this situation, but entirely for personal reasons revolving around cost/quality of living and the feel of the school.

All the people I have talked to (law school profs and students) treat Cornell and Duke as peer schools. So Penn.

I appreciate the responses. Is there any real difference career wise between Duke and Penn? I'm from atlanta so I'd like to stay close to home when I work. If I went to Penn, could I still interview for a southern law firm?

shane0515 wrote:I appreciate the responses. Is there any real difference career wise between Duke and Penn? I'm from atlanta so I'd like to stay close to home when I work. If I went to Penn, could I still interview for a southern law firm?

If you're aiming for Atlanta and elsewhere in the South, Duke would be the strongest school on your list. Penn's strength is NYC.

shane0515 wrote:I appreciate the responses. Is there any real difference career wise between Duke and Penn? I'm from atlanta so I'd like to stay close to home when I work. If I went to Penn, could I still interview for a southern law firm?

My questions on this topic, in addition to the money/prestige/location considerations, are usually along the lines of:

What do you like?
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to do (for work)?
Have you visited these schools and gotten a feel for them?
Have you learned about how the features of each school correspond with the other questions above?

shane0515 wrote:I appreciate the responses. Is there any real difference career wise between Duke and Penn? I'm from atlanta so I'd like to stay close to home when I work. If I went to Penn, could I still interview for a southern law firm?

Duke should be the obvious choice in this case. Of course you can still get to the South from Penn, but Duke is second to none in the region, so your chances would be even greater coming from there.

underachiever wrote:Same price?
Penn hands down (unless you want to work in the south then MAYBE Duke)

It would take about a 50k difference for me to take Duke over Penn, if looking for a job in any other region then the south.

Cornell, to me would take about an 80k difference over Penn for me to go there

Vault 10 placement (old obviously):

7 Penn 22.6%
12 Northwestern 19.8%
13 Cornell 19.7%
11 Duke 18.1%

Duke does quite well in NYC placement. I don't think Penn is worth $50k over Duke, especially considering the lower COL.

rayiner wrote:

underachiever wrote:Same price?
Penn hands down (unless you want to work in the south then MAYBE Duke)

It would take about a 50k difference for me to take Duke over Penn, if looking for a job in any other region then the south.

Cornell, to me would take about an 80k difference over Penn for me to go there

Vault 10 placement (old obviously):

7 Penn 22.6%
12 Northwestern 19.8%
13 Cornell 19.7%
11 Duke 18.1%

Duke does quite well in NYC placement. I don't think Penn is worth $50k over Duke, especially considering the lower COL.

Why did Cornell dropped so badly, especially comparing to top schools, in the most recent NLJ250 list?

violinst wrote:

rayiner wrote:

underachiever wrote:Same price?
Penn hands down (unless you want to work in the south then MAYBE Duke)

It would take about a 50k difference for me to take Duke over Penn, if looking for a job in any other region then the south.

Cornell, to me would take about an 80k difference over Penn for me to go there

Vault 10 placement (old obviously):

7 Penn 22.6%
12 Northwestern 19.8%
13 Cornell 19.7%
11 Duke 18.1%

Duke does quite well in NYC placement. I don't think Penn is worth $50k over Duke, especially considering the lower COL.

Why did Cornell dropped so badly, especially comparing to top schools, in the most recent NLJ250 list?

All the NYC-focused T14's performed relatively worse (Columbia, NYU, and Cornell).

With Duke I also have the chance of getting a joint degree of a JD/MA in political science for the same price of law school in 3 years. I don't know if a MA in poli sci really means much though.

shane0515 wrote:With Duke I also have the chance of getting a joint degree of a JD/MA in political science for the same price of law school in 3 years. I don't know if a MA in poli sci really means much though.

im not sure that you can get into the joint degree program if you havent been accepted into it from the start because they are usually summer starters i believe

I've been accepted into the JD/MA poli sci program