HELP! Cornell/Fordham/BU Forum

[NeedsAdvice]

Don't know what to do!

I was born and raised in NYC, but I've been to Ithaca, and I actually kind of like it there. It's quaint. Either way, I think I'd wanna come back to NYC. Not sure if I wanna do government work or a clerkship or biglaw. I know that Cornell's LRAP makes it easier to do public interest stuff, so I guess that's sort of a plus. Does it even the playing field as far as award grants are concerned?


BU is offering me 75K
Fordham is offering me 60K
Cornell is offering me a big hug, but no money


Just about every practicing attorney I've spoken to has told me to go to Cornell and not look back. Even some Fordham students (who tell me they LOVE the school) have advised me to go there because it's a safer choice and has a better national reputation.

Is there an obvious choice? I've snooped around these forums and have noticed some similar posts where people knock Cornell in favor of Fordham or BU. What's the reasoning there? I just need to d

Thanks!

N.A.

[lsat_fear]

cornell no doubt. if BU were offering a full ride or 100k+, I'd say BU, but 75k just doesn't have the same Ivy clout and geographic portability that Cornell does, even though they'll offer substantially the same quality education.

[acdisagod]

I was in almost the same situation in terms of acceptances and scholarship offers and I decided to go with Cornell.

I liked Fordham and their offer, but I didn't really want to live at home and I like the experience of being away. I don't have set career goals and Cornell gives me the most flexibility in terms of both geography and career options. Cornell may mean some extra debt but if your are in law for the long haul an extra 70k in debt over a 30-40 year career is pretty insignificant. FWIW everyone I talked to also said Cornell and don't look back.

That being said, BU didn't offer me money, only Fordham did but even in your situation I would go with Cornell.

[dominkay]

Cornell.

[NeedsAdvice]

Thanks for the advice, guys. One thing that I forgot to mention is that everybody talks about the "Fordham network." Does it hold more weight than the school you graduated from? ie - if a firm had two identical candidates in front of them, but one was from Cornell and one was from Fordham and there happened to be some Fordham grads hiring, then would the Fordham grad get the job over the Cornell grad?

[dominkay]

Thanks for the advice, guys. One thing that I forgot to mention is that everybody talks about the "Fordham network." Does it hold more weight than the school you graduated from? ie - if a firm had two identical candidates in front of them, but one was from Cornell and one was from Fordham and there happened to be some Fordham grads hiring, then would the Fordham grad get the job over the Cornell grad?

Maybe. But if anyone other than a Fordham grad was hiring, the one from Cornell would get the job.

[MJMD]

One thing that I forgot to mention is that everybody talks about the "Fordham network." Does it hold more weight than the school you graduated from? ie - if a firm had two identical candidates in front of them, but one was from Cornell and one was from Fordham and there happened to be some Fordham grads hiring, then would the Fordham grad get the job over the Cornell grad?

Just about every practicing attorney I've spoken to has told me to go to Cornell and not look back.

It seems that you have your own network, and they're telling you to go to Cornell. Try reversing the names of the schools in the first quote. I know which network I'd rather be in.

[Informative]

Cornell is significantly better than either of these schools. Go Ivy!

[najumobi]

Don't know what to do!

I was born and raised in NYC, but I've been to Ithaca, and I actually kind of like it there. It's quaint. Either way, I think I'd wanna come back to NYC. Not sure if I wanna do government work or a clerkship or biglaw. I know that Cornell's LRAP makes it easier to do public interest stuff, so I guess that's sort of a plus. Does it even the playing field as far as award grants are concerned?


BU is offering me 75K
Fordham is offering me 60K
Cornell is offering me a big hug, but no money


Just about every practicing attorney I've spoken to has told me to go to Cornell and not look back. Even some Fordham students (who tell me they LOVE the school) have advised me to go there because it's a safer choice and has a better national reputation.

Is there an obvious choice? I've snooped around these forums and have noticed some similar posts where people knock Cornell in favor of Fordham or BU. What's the reasoning there? I just need to d

Thanks!

N.A.

well fordham with 60k beats bc with 75k since you'd like to work in nyc regardless of kind of job you're pursuing, so you should just be choosing between fordham and cornell. i think the 60k difference is worth the greater flexibility you'll having coming out of cornell. also cornell's lrap is another advantage you'll have by choosing cornell over fordham.

[kryptix]

Depends on your situation but I'd say that you should go for Cornell in general. I ended up taking slightly less money than you from Fordham over going to Michigan (Had other T14 as well lower down) because I'm established in NYC, my wife works here, and I'm going to go for Fordham's part-time program keeping my day job. The way I see it, I'm making close to big law money already, so if I quit, I give up on money that will take many years to make back, and since I'm planning on staying in NYC for the long haul, Fordham should give me a decent chance for either big law or moving over to the legal department at my current employer...

Also, not being in debt is a huge plus for me...

[D.Wilde]

I go to BU. BU is awesome. You want to work in NY. You should go to Cornell. Fordham is still too expensive, even with $60k, to justify turning down Cornell.