USC, UT, UNC, Emory? Forum

[innernetp]

Hi everyone.

I'm making a pretty tough decision here. I was very fortunate to receive a full tuition scholarship to UNC and $75k to Emory. I have yet to hear back from USC but based off of previous LSN years I would expect some scholarship money, though I'm not sure at all how much, and am not expecting any money from UT.

I'm from Chapel Hill and love it but NC isn't where I'd like to live forever. I'm not super partial to LA but am in love with California in general. I visited Austin and though I liked it, it was not a city that I would go that far into debt for... and to be honest I was not thrilled with the facilities at UT. Ultimately I could see myself living in Atlanta, Miami, or somewhere in CA yet to be determined. Warm, exciting areas.

I'm not averse to the idea of big law, but I don't want to be married to it just to pay off my debts. I'd be more interested in working in a mid-sized firm than selling my soul away.

Because Emory doesn't match scholarship offers it's probably not going to weigh up to my package at UNC but feel free to offer any advice about that. UT is also probably out of the picture since with my numbers I'm really not their number one priority. So really this comes down to USC hopefully at a reduced price and UNC for a full ride. I'm a little scared of the COL in LA, especially coming from NC.

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Edited a million times due to me being really stupid with this poll.

[electricfeel]

I made the same decision last year. If you want North Carolina, stay go to UNC. If you want the South, Emory.

[Pricer]

I would say UNC > Emory in this case, for sure. As for UNC vs USC, I think you would have to weigh the costs and benefits of each. If you don't want biglaw, UNC with a full ride seems like a great idea to me.

[innernetp]

Any other thoughts? Thanks!

[gdh]

Emory seems to meet your needs best. It gets you access to the extended South beyond NC, but is more financially feasible than living in L.A.

[DeeCee]

Any other thoughts? Thanks!

I don't think you should pick Emory when you have a full ride at UNC. I have always thought of Emory being like the south's GW as far as rankings and prestige are concerned, and I think the only tough decision between the two would be if you had a full ride from both.

UT is a pretty respectable school (and now a T-14), which you should heavily consider. T-30 vs. T-14 is quite a big deal, but it all depends on how debt-averse you are. If you are interested in PI, I would weigh your options in terms of money. If you are OK with biglaw, then UT will get you places.

USC, I don't really have much to say about that because I have no experience with the school and do not know their job prospects, or whether going there will def tie you to CA for a while.

For me, I'm choosing to go to UNC because I am extremely debt-averse and I have a lot of connections from the coast to the mountains in the state. I don't necessarily want to stay in NC forever, but after working for a little bit in NC I'm sure it would be easier to relocate, and I'm hoping to end up further north one day after getting some experience. Also, the peer assessment for UNC is very good and is higher than many better-ranked schools. Anyway, you know I'm biased here but where you go should be based on how happy you are with the region, how debt-averse you are, and how good UT's LRAP is.

[innernetp]

Thanks for these thoughts - anyone care to address USC? Sorry for this last bump, just might not be able to visit the campus.

[bk1]

USC seems like a bad idea if you don't really like LA. It's placement is very concentrated in SoCal (specifically LA). USC is also decidedly meh at sticker.

[innernetp]

USC seems like a bad idea if you don't really like LA. It's placement is very concentrated in SoCal (specifically LA). USC is also decidedly meh at sticker.

Well, I actually really loved parts of LA when I visited a few years ago. I'm more Santa Monica-ey than Venice Beach... but at this point I'm thinking that I'm way too harsh on cities. To be honest, visiting UT made it hit home that I really care about living somewhere with outstanding geography. I've been spoiled growing up in Florida and North Carolina.

As an update, I received 60k at USC and if the median salary is what they say it is I could pay my debts off in about eight years. Luckily I'm graduating UG without any debt, which really helps.

I'll be visiting next week and part of me feels like I could really fall in love with the school and feel very good about living out there. Still, I don't know if I'd be making a huge mistake to turn down UNC for free.

[BeachandRun23]

The thing with UNC is its going to limit you to carolina. Its a good school if that is where you want to work, but you said you want to get out. Without really stellar grades, I dont see how a UNC degree is going to get you to california with NO connections.

USC is really strong in CA, but more in the LA area. If you want to work in LA, I would take USC and not look back. It has strong biglaw placement.

Lastly, UT is a really good school with national job prospects. You should have a decent chance at getting to california or wherever else you want to work. It is expensive though.

I'd lean to UT or USC, but thats just me.

[bk1]

USC seems like a bad idea if you don't really like LA. It's placement is very concentrated in SoCal (specifically LA). USC is also decidedly meh at sticker.

Well, I actually really loved parts of LA when I visited a few years ago. I'm more Santa Monica-ey than Venice Beach... but at this point I'm thinking that I'm way too harsh on cities. To be honest, visiting UT made it hit home that I really care about living somewhere with outstanding geography. I've been spoiled growing up in Florida and North Carolina.

As an update, I received 60k at USC and if the median salary is what they say it is I could pay my debts off in about eight years. Luckily I'm graduating UG without any debt, which really helps.

I'll be visiting next week and part of me feels like I could really fall in love with the school and feel very good about living out there. Still, I don't know if I'd be making a huge mistake to turn down UNC for free.

The median salary at USC is not what they say it is. They don't take into account people who don't respond to the survey or people who don't give salary info.

Due to bimodal salary distribution and the fact that only about 1/3 of USC grads get biglaw, I'd estimate that if you graduate median at USC you will probably get a job around 50k.

[innernetp]

USC seems like a bad idea if you don't really like LA. It's placement is very concentrated in SoCal (specifically LA). USC is also decidedly meh at sticker.

Well, I actually really loved parts of LA when I visited a few years ago. I'm more Santa Monica-ey than Venice Beach... but at this point I'm thinking that I'm way too harsh on cities. To be honest, visiting UT made it hit home that I really care about living somewhere with outstanding geography. I've been spoiled growing up in Florida and North Carolina.

As an update, I received 60k at USC and if the median salary is what they say it is I could pay my debts off in about eight years. Luckily I'm graduating UG without any debt, which really helps.

I'll be visiting next week and part of me feels like I could really fall in love with the school and feel very good about living out there. Still, I don't know if I'd be making a huge mistake to turn down UNC for free.

The median salary at USC is not what they say it is. They don't take into account people who don't respond to the survey or people who don't give salary info.

Due to bimodal salary distribution and the fact that only about 1/3 of USC grads get biglaw, I'd estimate that if you graduate median at USC you will probably get a job around 50k.

A good point - though I thought there was a higher percentage of biglaw grads at USC? It is a little confusing because their salary median for midlaw is the same and from what I remember the sample size is quite small.

At any rate, I'm going to talk to career services and fin aid when I visit to get a better feel of things. And I do wonder if that bimodal distribution is self-selecting at USC. It could be that enough people feel good enough about USC's LRAP that they go for PI, right? It's so hard to gauge all of this even when schools are up front with what's going on.