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Hi everyone,

Soo as late in the process as it is, i'm having a hard time Vanderbilt vs BU.

Any money from either? Also, how comfortable are you with the South? How comfortable are you with Boston? Any connections to secondary markets anywhere?

You have talked a lot about rankings and T14 (ugh) and barely at all about what really matters.

Neither of these schools has good prospects in the markets and jobs you are targeting. Moreover, neither will jump into the t14 within the next decade, and even if they were to, it would not at all affect your job prospects in either market. I dunno, maybe you can get NY or Chi biglaw from these schools if you are top 10% - 15%. Anyone else know any better?

sumus romani wrote:Neither of these schools has good prospects in the markets and jobs you are targeting. Moreover, neither will jump into the t14 within the next decade, and even if they were to, it would not at all affect your job prospects in either market. I dunno, maybe you can get NY or Chi biglaw from these schools if you are top 10% - 15%. Anyone else know any better?

Best stats I have from Vanderbilt is 22 people got firm jobs in NY (c/o 2009). NY was 2nd after TN for states where the class of 2009 ended up. 22 is a little over 10% of the class.

I recognize 16 or so of those 22 being V100 (there may be more).

11 got firm jobs in Chi. I'm not as familiar with the Chi firms, but DLA, Kirkland (3), and Sidley (2) are represented.

I think all of this data is on LST. Again, keep in mind this was 2009.

Rad Law, i really appreciate those statistic, im trying to find as much information as i can before i have to make my final decision...which is not far away. thanks again.

boston13 wrote:Rad Law, i really appreciate those statistic, im trying to find as much information as i can before i have to make my final decision...which is not far away. thanks again.

No problem. Also keep in mind these stats don't take into account people who could have gotten NY or Chi but didn't want those cities. No way to know how many that is, but since this is Vanderbilt we're talking here, I'm willing to bet that many want TN, GA, DC, etc. And we don't know this info for BU either. That's why it's so hard to just compare end results.

Any answers the the questions I posed above?

Out of curiosity, what made you withdraw from Fordham if you wanted NY? I don't mean to suggest that the chances for NY biglaw from there are great in this economy, but I would've thought that they'd place at least as well as BU or Vandy, if not somewhat better, and you probably could've gotten some money from Fordham.

sumus romani wrote:you probably could've gotten some money from Fordham.

Maybe, maybe not. Fordham is fairly stingy, because they don't have a ton of cash.

OP really needs to provide more info. You can't just make decisions like these in a vacuum.

rad law wrote:

boston13 wrote:Rad Law, i really appreciate those statistic, im trying to find as much information as i can before i have to make my final decision...which is not far away. thanks again.

No problem. Also keep in mind these stats don't take into account people who could have gotten NY or Chi but didn't want those cities. No way to know how many that is, but since this is Vanderbilt we're talking here, I'm willing to bet that many want TN, GA, DC, etc. And we don't know this info for BU either. That's why it's so hard to just compare end results.

Any answers the the questions I posed above?

Do you suppose that all of those NY jobs are biglaw jobs? I'm just interested, and I don't really know.

rad law wrote:

sumus romani wrote:you probably could've gotten some money from Fordham.

Maybe, maybe not. Fordham is fairly stingy, because they don't have a ton of cash.

OP really needs to provide more info. You can't just make decisions like these in a vacuum.

I didn't know that Fordham was stingy, or at least fairly so.

sumus romani wrote: Do you suppose that all of those NY jobs are biglaw jobs? I'm just interested, and I don't really know.

Define biglaw.

If it's salary, you could look up the list on LST and look up how much they pay on NALP.

If it's size, you could look up the NLJ250 list and compare.

But the 16 or so V100 out of the 22 are certainly biglaw.

rad law wrote:

sumus romani wrote: Do you suppose that all of those NY jobs are biglaw jobs? I'm just interested, and I don't really know.

Define biglaw.

If it's salary, you could look up the list on LST and look up how much they pay on NALP.

If it's size, you could look up the NLJ250 list and compare.

But the 16 or so V100 out of the 22 are certainly biglaw.

Thanks. I was thinking more in terms of salaries of, say, $140 and up for NY biglaw. But I admit that I don't have a great definition of the term. I'm waiting out a thunderstorm (I bike commute) and just curious about this!

sumus romani wrote:

rad law wrote:

sumus romani wrote: Do you suppose that all of those NY jobs are biglaw jobs? I'm just interested, and I don't really know.

Define biglaw.

If it's salary, you could look up the list on LST and look up how much they pay on NALP.

If it's size, you could look up the NLJ250 list and compare.

But the 16 or so V100 out of the 22 are certainly biglaw.

Thanks. I was thinking more in terms of salaries of, say, $140 and up for NY biglaw. But I admit that I don't have a great definition of the term. I'm waiting out a thunderstorm (I bike commute) and just curious about this!

For salaries, I would guess upwards of 16, but I don't really want to look them all up.

I am having a hard time seeing how Vandy is not the obvious question here. It does not matter if Vandy will ever get into the T-14, it will always be ranked ahead of BU, and it will always be more respected by employers. The only reason I can think to go to BU is if you are set on Boston.

In the vanderbilt profile --LinkRemoved-- ... chool.html did Todd take that photo with his phone? How does that make you feel about vanderbilt? Does he not have a secretary?

sophia.olive wrote:In the vanderbilt profile --LinkRemoved-- ... chool.html did Todd take that photo with his phone? How does that make you feel about vanderbilt? Does he not have a secretary?

fail at teh funny.

sophia.olive wrote:In the vanderbilt profile --LinkRemoved-- ... chool.html did Todd take that photo with his phone? How does that make you feel about vanderbilt? Does he not have a secretary?

You're still at this? It wasn't funny the first time.


OP: Go to Vandy. It's simply the stronger school overall. And if there's no difference in money, and you love Nashville, then I don't see how this is even a question.

Thanks all who responded. Sorry haven't gotten back to you...no money at either...have loads of family & friends in NYC & Chgo, lots of friends in Nashville, no friends in Boston (could be a plus for studying tho!). Any more takers?? Thanks again!

pardon my ignorance, but what is "LST"?

DOOM wrote:pardon my ignorance, but what is "LST"?

Law School Transparency.

boston13 wrote:Thanks all who responded. Sorry haven't gotten back to you...no money at either...have loads of family & friends in NYC & Chgo, lots of friends in Nashville, no friends in Boston (could be a plus for studying tho!). Any more takers?? Thanks again!

Vanderbilt isn't worth full price, but it certainly is worth it more so that BU.

See you next year.

Definitely go to Vandy. Although both don't have great biglaw stats on the whole, you're soo much safer coming out of Vandy. BU is third in an already small market. Vandy is pretty much third to the entire south. When you're staring at median, it starts to look really nice to have options in smaller markets. With southern ties already from going to school in Vanderbilt, you should have no problem convincing employers in Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, Charleston, Miami, et al. that you intend to practice in the south. Unless you are from Boston (I didn't catch whether you are), it will be harder to convince Boston firms that you're going to stick around.

Plus, Vanderbilt is a better school, Nashville is fun, and southern girls are charming. Congrats.

como wrote:Definitely go to Vandy. Although both don't have great biglaw stats on the whole, you're soo much safer coming out of Vandy. BU is third in an already small market. Vandy is pretty much third to the entire south. When you're staring at median, it starts to look really nice to have options in smaller markets. With southern ties already from going to school in Vanderbilt, you should have no problem convincing employers in Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, Charleston, Miami, et al. that you intend to practice in the south. Unless you are from Boston (I didn't catch whether you are), it will be harder to convince Boston firms that you're going to stick around.

Plus, Vanderbilt is a better school, Nashville is fun, and southern girls are charming. Congrats.

. If you want to work outside Boston, Vandy is the choice here.

The schools are pretty comparable, but given no scholarship from each, and the fact that you love Nashville, I'd def lean toward Vanderbilt.

dakatz wrote:The schools are pretty comparable, but given no scholarship from each, and the fact that you love Nashville, I'd def lean toward Vanderbilt.

Pretty sure the employment stats would not support the contention that the schools are "pretty comparable." Vanderbilt is better.