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Any advice would be appreciated-

I'm planning on going into PI law and would like to eventually live in the South. I still haven't received a financial aid offer from NYU, which I assume means sticker. Duke extended my response deadline and said that they will consider increasing my scholarship after others have responded. Any advice or insights?

Thanks so much!

Duke is giving you a decent scholarship, and if you want to live in the South it's the place to be.

If you want to work in the south, Duke is the best and the cheapest choice. Easy call.

Do you think this applies even for PI jobs? Duke's PI and LRAP programs are weaker than the other two schools, so is it still worth it for the geographic edge?

Thanks so much!

Could you give us the details of how the LRAPs are different? I believe Duke's only applies to PI/govt jobs (i.e. not small firms) and has an income cap, but you'd have to be more specific about the others and how you expect them to apply to you if you want anyone to tell you whether or not that should be important.

Also, are you looking at doing PI in the South, or doing PI in NYC and eventually moving back to the South? If you want to do it in the South, I can't imagine going to NYU would give you a leg up; even if they have more students going into PI than Duke, they're less likely to have those connections (plus, you're paying for NYC cost-of-living, which you'll then have to pay back on a non-NYC salary. I would do that in reverse if I were you). If on the other hand you want to start your career in NYC, then maybe something to be said for NYU.

PR seems to be a top focus area of the new administration at Duke. I've heard that they're revamping the LRAP program to fit well with IBR. Obviously, NYU's calling card is PI work and its great LRAP program, but I think if you want to be in the south after school the networking opportunities from Duke are going to be equally important.

If you are dead set on PI you have IBR anyway. Don't worry about the debt in this case.

A big difference between the LRAPs of these schools is the cap on the amount you can receive. Duke will forgive up to $80k, Penn up to $140k, and my understanding from NYU is that they'll forgive the entire amount borrowed as long as you're under the salary cap. The salary cap is $60k for Duke, $48,000 for NYU, and around $40 for Penn- so my understanding is that although Duke might forgive less, you'll end up being able to get a lot more out of your salary in terms of LRAP benefits, particularly with the lower COL. Please correct me if I've gotten any of this wrong.

Penn, Ivies are hot.

msh0945 wrote:Any advice would be appreciated-

I'm planning on going into PI law and would like to eventually live in the South.

I think the right answer depends on what you mean by "eventually." Do you mean that you'd like to settle in the South after working somewhere else for a few years? If so, then NYU is a great choice. In addition to having the best LRAP of the three schools you mention, there are a ton of great PI opportunities in New York.

If, on the other hand, you'd like to work in the South immediately after leaving law school, then Duke seems like the best option. It's the most affordable school (LRAP notwithstanding), and it's probably more respected in the South than your other two choices.

The good news is that these are all great schools. It's pretty hard to screw this up. Good luck.

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