40K/yr at Cornell or Harvard at sticker Forum

[jfs64]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice.

I've been very fortunate to be accepted to a number of great schools, and I also have a few scholarship offers. I am having a very difficult time deciding. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

To provide some context, I would like to do an article III clerkship after graduation, mainly because I think it would be a fantastic intellectual experience. Afterwards, I would like to end up doing corporate law at a large firm in NY. Would this be possible from Cornell? I know by taking the scholarship I will have to absolutely kill it during law school, whereas at Harvard I could probably be in the top 25% and land a clerkship, rather than top 5%. Is $120,000 worth the risk?

[duckmoney]

Cornell with that much money could be better than Harvard, depending on your goals, especially if you want to work in a secondary market. But if you're gunning for big law or prestigious PI, Harvard is your best option far and away.

[jfs64]

Thanks for the advice. I know that Harvard will give me a better shot at the uber-competitive positions, but the thought of taking out almost 200,000 in loans is kind of terrifying.

[SupraVln180]

I know it is tough to swallow the debt, but you have to go to Harvard man.

[The Stig]

I'm looking at a similar situation (but substitute SLS for HLS...still waiting on finaid info though) and looking at 200k+ of debt. Obviously, debt-averseness is different for anyone, but I will share what my professor (HLS grad) told me about considering scholarships in the decision-making process.

He was completely in support of investing in the "best" school that I could choose from that I felt comfortable in/liked. Essentially that another 100k of debt could be paid off in a extra couple of years at a big firm, but the law school experience/network/benefits of the "better" school will pay off for the rest of one's life. He is under 40, but went from a V5 firm to an NGO to an Oxford PhD to Treasury to a professor at my UG school since graduating from HLS 15 years ago. He commented that his degree from HLS was a nice boost for everything to which he applied, not just his first job.

Long story short, you can pay off extra HLS debt in a couple years, but reap all the benefits for the rest of your life (50+years, right?). Hope that helps!

[99.9luft]

Thanks for the advice. I know that Harvard will give me a better shot at the uber-competitive positions, but the thought of taking out almost 200,000 in loans is kind of terrifying.

man up and go to H.

[Leira7905]

IMHO, the only thing that should stop you from choosing Harvard is an acceptance from Yale.

[Knock]

Harvard at sticker.

[rebexness]

[ndirish2010]

Harvard.