Want your opinions on these options Forum

[Bildungsroman]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

[Knock]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

How debt averse are you?

[TheFactor]

If your primary goal is to maximize your chances at biglaw, I think you could flip a coin between C and GULC. Given your goals, I would go ahead and eliminate WUSTL and Illinois - they don't compare to the other options you have when it comes to getting biglaw.

Personally, it would be hard for me to turn down Vandy with that scholly , but I'm more debt-averse than most.

Looks like you've got a tough choice, but congrats on a great cycle!

Oh, and looks like I'll see you at the epic TLS gathering at Vandy's April ASD.

[dabbadon8]

Sticker at Cornell or GULC sounds pretty scary to me. I think if you are willing to hustle to get your job and not rely completely on OCI you'd be better off at Vandy or UCLA. I'd post the differences in the total COA for all the schools rather then the scholly money. Personally with those options I'd go to Vandy.

[Jack Smirks]

All of your law school dreams will come true.


See you in Chicago

[Bildungsroman]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

How debt averse are you?

I'm pretty debt-averse, which is what's pushing me away from Cornell and towards Vandy. The prospect of going $250k in debt terrifies me, and it may be silly but the prospect of going $160k in debt terrifies me a lot less. Also, I'm going to try and see if UCLA will increase my scholarship offer to beat Vandy and also if Texas is willing to offer me more, but not sure how that will go, and if the COA ends up being similar between all three I'd probably choose Vandy over Texas and UCLA (but we'll see after these next two ASWs).

If only Chicago call me and make this all easier...

Looks like you've got a tough choice, but congrats on a great cycle!

Oh, and looks like I'll see you at the epic TLS gathering at Vandy's April ASD.

Thanks! And see you in April, looks like it's going to be a great event.

[Grizz]

Vandy or UCLA. Not sure Cornell or GULC is such a smart idea with no money.

[BeachandRun23]

Vandy or UCLA. Not sure Cornell or GULC is such a smart idea with no money.

Vandy's really solid and they place better nationally than UCLA. Plus they are cheaper. I would go to vandy.

[d34d9823]

Vanderbilt is as good or better than CG for Big Law in years when the economy isn't getting hammered and has equivalent clerkship placement (although I would guess that it tends to be in more backwoods circuits/districts). It's definitely far better than any of the other schools on your list. I'd go there first and Cornell second.

[JusticeHarlan]

Vanderbilt is as good or better than CG for Big Law in years when the economy isn't getting hammered and has equivalent clerkship placement (although I would guess that it tends to be in more backwoods circuits/districts). It's definitely far better than any of the other schools on your list. I'd go there first and Cornell second.

I don't think the bold is true. At all. Vandy beat Cornell and GULC in NLJ 250 placement for class of 2009; every other year from '07-10, it hasn't. And compared to Cornell, it usually isn't that close.

'07:
Cornell: 62.2%
GULC: 48.8%
Vandy: 40.3%

'08:
Cornell: 62%
GULC: 49%
Vandy:44.6%

'09:
Cornell: 41.5%
GULC: 42.8%
Vandy: 47.1%

'10:
Cornell: 59.33%
GULC: 37.58%
Vandy: 29.81%

I'm not saying Vandy isn't the right choice with more money, but to say Vandy is categorically equal to or better for biglaw than Cornell or GULC doesn't ring true.

[Tarheel10]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

If the bolded is all that matters to you (you didn't mention minimizing debt), then go to Cornell (Unless, of course, you get Chicago). None of these schools are going to do any better than any other school on the list at getting you to Colorado. With ties, I think any will do just fine. However, if I were you, I would go to Vandy with the money. Vanderbilt has very good placement, despite the latest numbers, and I think 80k is worth slightly lower placement. If you really like Georgetown, go there. If you're happier, you'll likely do better in school.

[vamedic03]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

If you don't pick GT or Cornell, then you need to pick a market. I.e., CA -> UCLA; SE -> Vandy; TX-> UT.

[Moxie]

Tough decision - I voted Cornell because:
- It offers the best biglaw placement of your choice
- While you'd be going an extra 75,000 into debt over Vandy, your odds for Biglaw improve noticeably.
- Since market isn't a preference, and Cornell is close to NY which obviously offers the best chance to get Biglaw.

I think it's down to Cornell or Vandy or (maybe UCLA?), but since you want to clerk and do Biglaw, I think you need to maximize your odds as much as possible.

Also, are you absolutely sure you're getting no money from Cornell? Negotiate as much as possible, obviously every little bit helps.

[CanadianWolf]

Consider eliminating Georgetown at sticker, USC, WashUStL & Illinois.

Chicago, if admitted.
Cornell if you can tolerate the debt.
UCLA or Vanderbilt depending on fit after visit.
Texas if you want to live & work in Texas.

[mr_toad]

I think you'll get some money from Cornell... median LSAT, above 75th GPA. I bet you get around 10-15k per year. If so, them. If not, probably them anyway.

[Other25BeforeYou]

I think you'll get some money from Cornell... median LSAT, above 75th GPA. I bet you get around 10-15k per year. If so, them. If not, probably them anyway.

+1. And regardless of what they give you, send your award letters from UCLA and Vandy to Cornell. At least in past years, it's been pretty easy to get them to increase scholarship offers, or offer a scholarship when they didn't before.

[Eagles_Legendz]

Vanderbilt or Cornell, depending on your debt tolerance.

[Borhas]

Interested to hear people's viewpoints on my options here. I want to clerk and would like to maximize my chances at BigLaw. Market doesn't really matter to me, although I'd love a chance to come back to CO.

Cornell at sticker
Georgetown at sticker
UT w/$21,000
UCLA w/$60,000
Vanderbilt w/$74,000
USC scholarship currently unknown
WUSTL w/$120,000
UIUC w/$120,000

I'm also on the waitlist for Chicago, which I would take at sticker over any of these options. I visited Georgetown and really liked it, am visiting UCLA later this week and Vanderbilt next month.

why do you want to clerk? none of your posts have struck me as coming from someone who wants to clerk (insufferable gunner)

but I'd say Cornell, UCLA, or Vandy (I'd lean towards UCLA or Vandy because they are in more livable places, and they don't cost an ass ton... and they seem to place a respectable amount in big law... I don't think paying an extra 150g's is worth it just to increase your odds of big law from 35% to 50%)

[d34d9823]

Vanderbilt is as good or better than CG for Big Law in years when the economy isn't getting hammered and has equivalent clerkship placement (although I would guess that it tends to be in more backwoods circuits/districts). It's definitely far better than any of the other schools on your list. I'd go there first and Cornell second.

I don't think the bold is true. At all. Vandy beat Cornell and GULC in NLJ 250 placement for class of 2009; every other year from '07-10, it hasn't. And compared to Cornell, it usually isn't that close.

'07:
Cornell: 62.2%
GULC: 48.8%
Vandy: 40.3%

'08:
Cornell: 62%
GULC: 49%
Vandy:44.6%

'09:
Cornell: 41.5%
GULC: 42.8%
Vandy: 47.1%

'10:
Cornell: 59.33%
GULC: 37.58%
Vandy: 29.81%

I'm not saying Vandy isn't the right choice with more money, but to say Vandy is categorically equal to or better for biglaw than Cornell or GULC doesn't ring true.

Yeah, my bad on that, I was only looking at '09 and '10. I think a better explanation in light of this data is that New York got killed a year earlier than the other markets.

Quick calculation of value difference to redeem myself:

Average difference in Big Law placement: 15.7%

Difference in money: $74,000

Break even valuation of a Big Law position: $471,000

That seems high for most people (i.e. take Vanderbilt unless you REALLY want Big Law), but the correct response seems to be to get money out of Cornell if possible.

[Knock]

UCLA. If you don't get biglaw, at least you got a 3 year vacation in beautiful southern California.

[2things2]

people would do some crazy shit to have this decision to make.

go to ucla.

[ATR]

Do you have significant UG debt? I think you should wait to see how you like UCLA and Vandy, since their CoA should end up pretty close based on those scholarships. Cornell placed almost 60% of their 2010 class in biglaw, so they should also be in the mix.

[HeavenWood]

UCLA or Vandy, depending on which environment you like more.

[Grizz]

Do you have significant UG debt? I think you should wait to see how you like UCLA and Vandy, since their CoA should end up pretty close based on those scholarships. Cornell placed almost 60% of their 2010 class in biglaw, so they should also be in the mix.

And for c/o 2011, according to leaked data, Cornell placed about 40%. I'm just hesitant to use this one year of really weird data to justify much of anything.

The Cornell dicksucking on TLS (not from you ATR, just in general) is getting out of hand. It is on track to surpass even the sizable Vandy dicksucking of last year hah

[20160810]

Vandy or UCLA. Not sure Cornell or GULC is such a smart idea with no money.

This is pretty much what I was going to say.

Also, no option for CU full ride?