Emory v UF v American v Tulane? Forum

[ceremony]

So, as deposit deadlines are coming up, I'm freaking out about making the decision.

Tulane: $60,000 scholarship (total, $20,000/ year as long as I maintain 3.0 GPA)
Emory, UF, American: sticker (unfortunately)

Not entirely sure what kind of law I want to practice, but am interested in international (hence American's appeal).

Still waiting on BC and WUSTL. WL at BU, GW, W&M and UCLA. Definitely would go to UCLA if I get off the WL, but seriously doubt that will happen. I am in undergrad at UF and a native Floridian (from Tampa). I don't know where I want to practice, but want to keep FL as an option, especially because of family/strong ties to Tampa legal market. However, I don't want to limit myself to FL jobs by going to UF Law. Also, after 4 years in Gainesville, I don't know if I can stand 3 more. I picked schools in areas that I wouldn't mind living in after graduation, but I really don't know where I want to end up. I want biglaw to be an option/ I want to be working in a large city in the long run.

As of right now, assuming I don't get off any wait lists and don't get into BC/WUSTL), I'm leaning towards Emory. But I'm nervous about how much debt I will be in compared to what I could be saving by going to Tulane. UF will be relatively cheap. Don't know if American is worth sticker. HELP!

[whuts4lunch]

Are you financing your tuition and COL all through student loans?

What class rank does 3.0 correspond to at Tulane?

[FeelTheHeat]

Toss up between UF and Emory. I don't buy into Emory's bad TLS rep and I'm a big believer in a change of scenery. I'd head to ATL, personally.

[ceremony]

Are you financing your tuition and COL all through student loans?

What class rank does 3.0 correspond to at Tulane?

I'll get some help from family for COL expenses, but tuition will be paid for 100% through loans.

Not sure about the class rank correlation at Tulane. But I think it would be doable.

[98234872348]

If you want to work in Tampa, with your ties to the area (the Tampa market is hard to break without ties to Tampa) you will probably be good at UF or Emory, edge to Emory because you can break the market with worse grades.

If you don't want to work in Fl, Emory is definitely the better option, but remember that going to Emory will likely limit you to ATL/FL markets (maybe NYC if you kill grades).

American is definitely not worth attending at sticker.

I know nothing about Tulane or what market it primarily places into, Aberzombie can give you a better picture of how Tulane places than I can.

[TheFactor]

Start by removing American from consideration.

[Blindmelon]

Start by removing American from consideration.

+1,000,000. If you're paying sticker for those schools, you can easily knock-out American as Emory >>> American.

[gwuorbust]

almost exact situation I was in last year. (I'll start by asking, is there any way you can push your LSAT score up by like 4/5 points?). I'm even a Tampa myself and I choose Tulane.

American should be out. Way, way to expensive and relatively poor placement prospects.

Emory, I would say should be out because you would have to pay sticker. that is at least 150k in tuition alone + some COL and you are looking at maybe 180k in debt. for Emory's placement prospects, not a great deal IMO.

Tulane v. UF.

Tulane
Pro: amazing city. I love it here. The amount to do is unbelievable. ppl are great.
Pro: curve at 3.25, so with a 3.0 you'd have to be below median to lose your scholarship.
Pro: cheap COL. don't believe what is on their website. I'm paying $450 right now for rent, looks like I'll be paying less next year.
Pro: Snake & Jakes Christmas Club
--
Con: Still you'll come out with 120k in debt
Con: unknown placement into FL. it is more hit or miss.
Con: Need to be in top 1/3 to be compeditive for Big/Midlaw.

UF
Pro: very cheap for us FL residents
Pro: UF football
Pro: low COL
Pro: dominates FL market
---
Con: limited to no range outside FL (maybe GA, AL?)
Con: IMO, terrible place to live
Con: nothing cool to do

If you really want to work in FL, go UF. If you aren't sure I vote Tulane or retake.

[Grizz]

Start by removing American from consideration.

Then knock out international law from consideration.

[Spookyghost]

almost exact situation I was in last year. (I'll start by asking, is there any way you can push your LSAT score up by like 4/5 points?). I'm even a Tampa myself and I choose Tulane.

American should be out. Way, way to expensive and relatively poor placement prospects.

Emory, I would say should be out because you would have to pay sticker. that is at least 150k in tuition alone + some COL and you are looking at maybe 180k in debt. for Emory's placement prospects, not a great deal IMO.

Tulane v. UF.

Tulane
Pro: amazing city. I love it here. The amount to do is unbelievable. ppl are great.
Pro: curve at 3.25, so with a 3.0 you'd have to be below median to lose your scholarship.
Pro: cheap COL. don't believe what is on their website. I'm paying $450 right now for rent, looks like I'll be paying less next year.
Pro: Snake & Jakes Christmas Club
--
Con: Still you'll come out with 120k in debt
Con: unknown placement into FL. it is more hit or miss.
Con: Need to be in top 1/3 to be compeditive for Big/Midlaw.

UF
Pro: very cheap for us FL residents
Pro: UF football
Pro: low COL
Pro: dominates FL market
---
Con: limited to no range outside FL (maybe GA, AL?)
Con: IMO, terrible place to live
Con: nothing cool to do

If you really want to work in FL, go UF. If you aren't sure I vote Tulane or retake.

+100000000 for this alone.

[98234872348]

.

[ceremony]

almost exact situation I was in last year. (I'll start by asking, is there any way you can push your LSAT score up by like 4/5 points?). I'm even a Tampa myself and I choose Tulane.

American should be out. Way, way to expensive and relatively poor placement prospects.

Emory, I would say should be out because you would have to pay sticker. that is at least 150k in tuition alone + some COL and you are looking at maybe 180k in debt. for Emory's placement prospects, not a great deal IMO.

Tulane v. UF.

Tulane
Pro: amazing city. I love it here. The amount to do is unbelievable. ppl are great.
Pro: curve at 3.25, so with a 3.0 you'd have to be below median to lose your scholarship.
Pro: cheap COL. don't believe what is on their website. I'm paying $450 right now for rent, looks like I'll be paying less next year.
Pro: Snake & Jakes Christmas Club
--
Con: Still you'll come out with 120k in debt
Con: unknown placement into FL. it is more hit or miss.
Con: Need to be in top 1/3 to be compeditive for Big/Midlaw.

UF
Pro: very cheap for us FL residents
Pro: UF football
Pro: low COL
Pro: dominates FL market
---
Con: limited to no range outside FL (maybe GA, AL?)
Con: IMO, terrible place to live
Con: nothing cool to do

If you really want to work in FL, go UF. If you aren't sure I vote Tulane or retake.

I'm pretty sure I can improve my LSAT score a few points. Because of unforeseen circumstances, I didn't realize I was going to take the December LSAT until November, so I didn't have much time to study. Also, I didn't apply anywhere until I got my score in early January, which probably hurt my chances at some schools. Right now I'm a 162/3.9. I just don't know if it's worth it to retake and wait until next year/ I don't know if I want to deal with the whole admission process again. But maybe I should?

[gwuorbust]

I'm pretty sure I can improve my LSAT score a few points. Because of unforeseen circumstances, I didn't realize I was going to take the December LSAT until November, so I didn't have much time to study. Also, I didn't apply anywhere until I got my score in early January, which probably hurt my chances at some schools. Right now I'm a 162/3.9. I just don't know if it's worth it to retake and wait until next year/ I don't know if I want to deal with the whole admission process again. But maybe I should?

depends on where you want to go. if you really want Tulane then the most a better score will get you is probably 10k more per year or 30k less in COA. (I hear they give out a few full rides, but I'm not sure what numbers you need for those)

however, with that GPA and if you increased your LSAT then then you would have a good set of choices with $.

[Aberzombie1892]

OP - I say Tulane by a mile. It's cheaper than American and Emory and will do more for you than UF.

1. Grades - a 3.0 is top 70-80% of the 1L curve

2. International law -
(A) Tulane's offerings - Tulane offers a certificate in international/comparative law, semester and summer abroad offerings (I know someone spending a semester abroad who is interning with the UN), an international/comparative law journal, an international moot court team, and a few student run organizations dealing with international/comparative law.
(B) International law in general - there are jobs in international law, but some jobs are much harder to get then others. What kind of job are looking for? (i.e., describe the job you have in mind). Some prospective law school students have a particular job in mind that simply doesn't exist (I'm not saying that this is the case with you, however - I'm just trying to help). 2 2Ls t and 11 1Ls have reported summer employment outside the US.

3. Placement - Tulane's graduates normally work from Texas to New York (in a reverse L shape). As simply an indicator of this (and not to say Tulane places a ton of its class in big law, which it doesn't), Tulane's class of 2012 are going to work in NLJ250s (at least the firms I recognize) in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, and New York (also note that everyone has not reported). Also note that Tulane traditionally places around 10% of the class between CA and WA.

PM me if you have any questions.

[98234872348]

.

[lawboy81]

I was in a similar situation a couple years ago, UF v. Tulane w $$ (ddn't aply to American or Emory). I chose Tulane, but it was a fairly easy choice or m b/c I'm not from Florida. I wouln't recommend Tulane at sicker, but at half price it's a good option. A lot of Floridias go there, though I can't say how well it places in Florida. Also, I would second what some people hve said about Tulane having good intnational law offerings (that being said, actually getting a job in he field is tough no mattr wher you went to school). On the other hand, Florida also has some advantages, inlcuding great in-sate rep and cheap COL. Emory is somewhat temptng b/ of the pestige but I'm skeptical it's really worth the money. American out obviously.

[ELS2010]

Your choices should be Emory or UF. With Tulane's curve, there is a very very very strong chance that you will end up paying sticker there as well. If you're going to pay sticker for a private school, Emory is a better choice than Tulane for what you want to do by pretty much every metric. Emory has a dedicated international law journal, better reach than Tulane (basically the entire east coast, with good placement into Texas and California as well), more prestige, and better opportunities to network during school.

Obviously if cost is the overriding factor, UF will be cheapest, but it will pretty much lock you into Florida.

Just BEWARE of scholarships that come with GPA requirements that 70-80% of the class cannot possibly meet. Everybody thinks they're going to be in the top 10% when they are a 0L, and 90% of them are wrong.

[lawboy81]

Your choices should be Emory or UF. With Tulane's curve, there is a very very very strong chance that you will end up paying sticker there as well. If you're going to pay sticker for a private school, Emory is a better choice than Tulane for what you want to do by pretty much every metric. Emory has a dedicated international law journal, better reach than Tulane (basically the entire east coast, with good placement into Texas and California as well), more prestige, and better opportunities to network during school.

Obviously if cost is the overriding factor, UF will be cheapest, but it will pretty much lock you into Florida.

Just BEWARE of scholarships that come with GPA requirements that 70-80% of the class cannot possibly meet. Everybody thinks they're going to be in the top 10% when they are a 0L, and 90% of them are wrong.

Tulane's curve is 3.25, so to be at 3.0 you'd probably only have to be in the top 60% or so.

[Aberzombie1892]

Your choices should be Emory or UF. With Tulane's curve, there is a very very very strong chance that you will end up paying sticker there as well. If you're going to pay sticker for a private school, Emory is a better choice than Tulane for what you want to do by pretty much every metric. Emory has a dedicated international law journal, better reach than Tulane (basically the entire east coast, with good placement into Texas and California as well), more prestige, and better opportunities to network during school.

Obviously if cost is the overriding factor, UF will be cheapest, but it will pretty much lock you into Florida.

Just BEWARE of scholarships that come with GPA requirements that 70-80% of the class cannot possibly meet. Everybody thinks they're going to be in the top 10% when they are a 0L, and 90% of them are wrong.

Tulane's curve is 3.25, so to be at 3.0 you'd probably only have to be in the top 60% or so.

Yeah I'm not sure what ELS2010 was talking about, but clearly he/she doesn't really know anything about anything. It's at least top 70% (not 60%). Because law school grades crowd around the median, the 3.25-3.0 drop in gpa is quite significant in terms of rank.

[ELS2010]

Wow, 3.25 is an exceedingly generous curve. Still, if you want to take a chance on a 1/3 chance that you'll lose that scholarship, it's your funeral.

[gwuorbust]

Wow, 3.25 is an exceedingly generous curve. Still, if you want to take a chance on a 1/3 chance that you'll lose that scholarship, it's your funeral.

all OP risks is losing half his schly for one year. according to the provisions of the scholarship (assuming they are the same as last year, which I have no reason to believe they are not) then if you fall below 3.0 then you lose half for 2L year. if you can bring your GPA up 2L year then during 3L year you get full scholarship back. and if you fail 1L year, you can always load up on easy classes 2L and power up to a 3.0.