BU vs W&M Forum

[derrminater]

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[TyrodTaylor]

could use a little more information abo0ut what you want.

[derrminater]

That's just it, I want to go to the best possible school I can and not sell myself short by going to a lower ranked school at a lower cost, so I'm willing to take on a little debt.

[Slevin Kelevra 2011]

Have you looked into cost of attendance and calculated that out? Schollies don't matter much when cost of living and tuition are significantly higher in Boston.

[ThomasMN]

Just to be a hater, if you are so ambivalent on where you live and what type of law you will practice, why law?

[Cupidity]

BU. Our women are hotter.

[derrminater]

It's not that I am going into law school blind necessarily, its just that I am not gung ho health law or tax law or whatever. And cupidity, nice comment haha

[dakatz]

BU. Our women are hotter.

Must be a Section C phenomenon jk jk

My vote is BU. Its the better school, will give you more options, is in a place with more things to do, and gave you more scholarship.

[Aberzombie1892]

So I need help deciding which of these two schools to attend. I am pretty ambivalent as to which region I care to live in as well as what type of law I would like to practice. Schollys are listed below:

BU: 10k/yr
W&M: 7k/yr

Any advice is appreciated!

BU would still be hyper expensive. I'm not sure it's worth that kind of debt....

[ThomasMN]

I was a little bored ( spring break) and I am very interested in W&M and BU, so I worked up an analysis of the costs.

BU:

From their own website they estimate the cost of one years worth of study to be $58,456. It should be noted that number does not include health insurance, which I am assuming they will require you to have. (thats another 1600-2200 bucks). So, a full legal education from BU would cost you $175,368. (145,368 with the scholarship). I will also be straight up honest, the numbers they were using for personal cost of living seemed to be a bit low, considering that Boston has a generally high cost of living.

William and Mary on the other hand estimates a cost of attendance of $49,100 a year for non-residents ($39,100 for residents), for a total of $147,300 across 3 years and 126,300 with the scholarship. However, W&M used a cost of living number almost identical to BU's, and from what I can tell you are going to be able to live on a much smaller budget in Williamsburg then you are in Boston.

So, $145,368 versus $126,300. Although, as mentioned above, I would be willing to put money on the fact that BU would end up costing more than the stated number.

[SupraVln180]

Are you in-state for Will & Mary? If so, go there.

[Chicago2L]

Are you in-state for Will & Mary? If so, go there.

ttttttttttttttcr

[derrminater]

Nope, out of state

[Slevin Kelevra 2011]

Depends on where you want to practice, but keeping your debt down should be a priority.

[emptyflare]

FWIW, keep in mind that you can become a resident of VA (and thus qualify for in-state tuition at W&M) after your 1L year. (more info: http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... 5&start=25)

[ThomasMN]

FWIW, keep in mind that you can become a resident of VA (and thus qualify for in-state tuition at W&M) after your 1L year. (more info: http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... 5&start=25)

Given this nugget of information, I would say go to W&M unless you have an aversion to Virginia, a strong desire to study law in a high-rise, or really love the Boston Bruins.

[derrminater]

.

[AP-375]

Indeed that would seem to be the prudent financial decision, I am however worried about W&M's placement. Can anyone speak to this? Am I limited to podunk little VA towns after W&M?

This is helpful: http://law.wm.edu/careerservices/classp ... /index.php
I'm likely headed to W&M this fall, and feel like it has pretty decent geographically-diverse prospects. From what I've been told, many students who stay in VA self-select, so I feel fairly comfortable heading there planning to get a job in DC or back in my home market.