Top Law Schools

I am planning to go into public interest law and I'm really struggling with my law school decision. I clearly need the TLS community to choose a school for me, and I agree to be bound by the results of this scientific poll. Please let me know why you think I should choose the school for which you voted.

I could 1) go to UChicago or NYU with little or no aid and use their LRAP (I know Chicago has a great new LRAP, but I'm not sure the environment there is for me); 2) go to UVA or Penn with a decent scholarship (I love the environment at both schools); 3) go to UCLA with 40k merit each year plus 3k need-based at least for the first year (still need to visit UCLA).

im most likely going to give up a lot of money at ucla for near sticker at nyu.









lol foolishness yes but you only go to school once, might as well make it as good, fulfilling, and interesting as possible. i don't need to be rich.

.

From what you said, OP, I would recommend NYU.

I don't see a clear cut choice based on your goals. Congratulations ! Please post after visiting UCLA (hopefully UCLA will move up a spot or two tonight).

P.S. If it was my choice it would be btween Chicago & UCLA.

NYU.

Why?

NYU - notorious for PI.
Chicago - Hyde Park.
Penn - Philadelphia. Compared to NYC? ZzZzzZ.
UVa - Diversity.
UCLA - #5 v. #15?

Is the UCLA offer $40,000 over three years or $40,000 plus $3,000 per year ?

CanadianWolf wrote:Is the UCLA offer $40,000 over three years or $40,000 plus $3,000 per year ?

Sorry, I should have put per year in the poll. 40k per year for all three years contingent on a 2.5 gpa. 3k need-based offer for the first year and I would have to reapply for it each year.

UCLA.

CanadianWolf wrote:UCLA.

+1

NYU still. Forgot about the PI thing, which renders scholly kind of moot.

If you want PI, do NYU or Chicago. Their LRAPs will take the sting out of the increased debt.

jwmalone87 wrote:If you want PI, do NYU or Chicago. Their LRAPs will take the sting out of the increased debt.

This.

If you are truly committed to PI, NYU will also provide the best atmosphere, both in terms of like-minded peers (Chicago routinely sends one or two students into PI per year) and institutional support (including the PILC Fair).

NYU or UChi --> negotiate aid.

Definitely NYU if PI

Chicago is the right answer.

1) For pi you go to the best school, which narrows it down to Chicago or nyu.
2) if you stay in pi, chicagos new lrap means you get a 100% free education. This includes all your cost of living. This is unbeatable. (just dont leave pi if you plan to do this).
3) Chicago has a small class size, so it is easier to place you than nyu. You will be harder to come by and therefore more desirable.
4) it's looking like I will be at Chicago next year. I won't compete with you for pi jobs and you won't compete with me for firm jobs. We both win.

duckmoney wrote:Chicago is the right answer.

1) For pi you go to the best school, which narrows it down to Chicago or nyu.
2) if you stay in pi, chicagos new lrap means you get a 100% free education. This includes all your cost of living. This is unbeatable. (just dont leave pi if you plan to do this).
3) Chicago has a small class size, so it is easier to place you than nyu. You will be harder to come by and therefore more desirable.
4) it's looking like I will be at Chicago next year. I won't compete with you for pi jobs and you won't compete with me for firm jobs. We both win.

I believe that U.Chicago and NYU's LRAPs are very similar; they both just use the Federal IBR program. The only difference is the salary cap ($75K vs. $80K, which is a fairly meaningless difference if you're going into PI work).

And if you're using LRAP to pay off all your debt anyway, 7K/year at chicago doesn't matter much (except perhaps in doomsday situations where you lose your PI job and can't find another after 6 years).

Therefore, I say visit U.Chicago and NYU, and go to whichever you like better (this will probably be NYU).

So long as you do not change your career goals within the next three years & so long as NYU & Chicago do not alter their LRAP programs.

duckmoney wrote: 2) if you stay in pi, chicagos new lrap means you get a 100% free education. This includes all your cost of living. This is unbeatable. (just dont leave pi if you plan to do this).

It is the same at NYU. You can take out up to $70,000 per year in federals loans, which includes room and board, tuition, and expenses.

duckmoney wrote: 3) Chicago has a small class size, so it is easier to place you than nyu. You will be harder to come by and therefore more desirable.

This is an oft-repeated canard. The truth is that public interest jobs encompass a broad range of different fields and specialties. Unlike firm jobs, the odds that you will actually be competing with your classmates, even at NYU, for spots are much slimmer than if you were going the corporate route.

NYU offers much more institutional support, including the largest public interest career fair in the country, where employers must reserve a large percentage of spots for NYU students. Perhaps more importantly, the perception that "everyone is doing OCI" or "everyone is going into BigLaw" is one of the primary reasons that students abandon PI as a 1L or 2L. This temptation will be much greater at UChicago, where "everyone is going into BigLaw" is quite literally true.

I believe that U.Chicago and NYU's LRAPs are very similar; they both just use the Federal IBR program. The only difference is the salary cap ($75K vs. $80K, which is a fairly meaningless difference if you're going into PI work).

I am actually a bit confused about NYU's LRAP. Chicago's is straightforward. It covers 100% of an IBR participant's required contribution up to 80k salary. Chciago also counts clerkships as PI work if you move onto PI work after the clerkship.

From the two links below, it appears that NYU pays 100% of a graduates's expected IBR contribution up to 51k, then covers 60% of the expected contribution for income between 51-71k, and then covers 50% of the expected conrtribution for income earned between 71k-81k.

See: http://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/lra ... /index.htm and --LinkRemoved--

However, NYU's website also makes this vague claim which seems to contradict those two links. It says, regarding the classes of 2009 and beyond,
"In continuance of its mission to support and encourage service in the public interest, the Law School is pleased to announce that a new LRAP that will allow graduates working in public interest jobs for 10 years – and earning up to $75,000 a year in qualifying employment – to have all of their federal law school loans forgiven."


Can anyone help clear this up for me? Thanks so much for all the responses so far!

Hey thunderflesh, I just found this topic that you started http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=149757 on this exact subject. I'll call the school tomorrow, but is the 75k income in fact the new threshold for 100% LRAP coverage?

it's funny how i made a thread very similar to this showing the amount of debt rather than the amount of aid, and i think it was a unanimous choice for UCLA. and here NYU and Chicago are beating UCLA out of the water.