Top Law Schools

Hi TLS,

I've been using your forums (and the search tool) as a source of information for a while. I decided to actually post this time since personal circumstances should be taken into consideration. Your opinion is really appreciated. Thanks for helping out.

Here are the choices:

1) UCLA: Approximately 70K. (grants + living with family)

2) Duke: Approximately 150K. (grants)

3) NYU: Approximately 220K. (full cost)

Here are the personal circumstances:

1) Career Goals: I'm interested in big law, at least right out of the gate. I am also interested in working at an Asian branch of a US biglaw firm (I am a bilingual Asian-American), but from what I've gathered these Asian branches don't hire JD's straight out of the gate - they require a year or two in a typical US biglaw setting.

2) Money: I am fortunate enough to have parents who feel that they are responsible for financing my education. Having said that, they are not well off enough to just cut a check for 250K; they'll probably be paying for whatever they can, and then will be taking on debt in my name. Thus, it's not like I'm totally free from considering cost of attendance. Basically, paying full price at a school is an option, but I don't want to burden my parents if I don't have to.

3) Location: I have strong ties to Los Angeles. All of my family members live there and I have a B.A. from USC. I would be happy getting a job in Los Angeles, but I wouldn't mind moving to another city if it was for a better job.

Reason why I'm having trouble deciding on my own:

Since I am looking for biglaw, prestigious government work or a clerkship in any city, it seems that NYU is a clear-cut better choice than Duke, and the two are clear-cut better choices than UCLA. On the other hand, while UCLA would seemingly pin me down to LA, I would be happy working in LA, and going to Duke means paying an extra 80K and giving up the comfort of family and friends, while going to NYU means paying an extra 150K and giving up the comfort of family and friends.While I'm vaguely aware that NYU and Duke are better career options, I don't know if its to the point where it's worth giving up the UCLA deal. Knowing what you know in terms of how much of a better career choice NYU or Duke would be, is the advantage significant enough to give up the UCLA deal?

Thanks for reading the long post.

NYU.

FiveSermon wrote:NYU.

thanks for the reply. what made you choose NYU?

if you are sure you want to work in la, ucla
if not, nyu

i made an almost identical thread. lol

glitched wrote:if you are sure you want to work in la, ucla
if not, nyu

I agree with this statement.

But OP, since you have USC ugrad and family in LA, you would have no problem leveraging those ties as an NYU Law grad. Given your career goals (clerk, big law) and your note above on location preference* - clearly LA is not your #1, a NYU degree would be the best choice.

*Edit: just to be clear, I'm pointing to career location pref.

jeremysen wrote:

glitched wrote:if you are sure you want to work in la, ucla
if not, nyu

I agree with this statement.

But OP, since you have USC ugrad and family in LA, you would have no problem leveraging those ties as an NYU Law grad. Given your career goals (clerk, big law) and your note above on location preference - clearly LA is not your #1, a NYU degree would be the best choice.

Thanks for the input, guys.

I remember a couple weeks back there was a thread from a guy w/ strong LA ties deciding between USC$$$ and Cornell, and everyone was surprisingly (to me, at least) recommending Cornell, citing his strong LA ties just like you did. Interesting... point for NYU. The money and the comfort factor, though!

Also,

glitched wrote:i made an almost identical thread. lol

would you mind posting the link? I'd love to see the replies to your post. Thanks.

Even if he is sure about living in LA, if he already has ties there, then it seems like NYU would clearly be a much better choice. Median (or even below) at NYU would have a much better shot at LA biglaw than median at UCLA, especially with nearly the entire ucla class competing for LA biglaw. What am I missing here?

jimmyd11011 wrote:Even if he is sure about living in LA, if he already has ties there, then it seems like NYU would clearly be a much better choice. Median (or even below) at NYU would have a much better shot at LA biglaw than median at UCLA, especially with nearly the entire ucla class competing for LA biglaw. What am I missing here?

$150,000 maybe?

Well, the poll really isn't helping so far lol 14:14.

NYU for Asian office of US biglaw. Those firms are finance firms, and the finance firms are in NYC. There was a 1L reception this year specifically for bilingual students hosted by a biglaw office in Asia.

lol the difference is 150K jesus personally speaking i'm the type to choose one subway sandwich over another because it's 75 cents cheaper.........150,000 dollars is a ridiculous amount of money. ucla aint such a bad school

22 to 22! Guess it is a tough decision after all

Is UCLA really a terrible idea for biglaw outside LA (even to NYC, say)? I know most of UCLA grads try to get LA biglaw, but is this mostly self-selection or forced selection?

Visit both Duke and NYU and see which one you like best.

UCLA. While your career goals may change during law school, the COA is likely to remain relative to your other options.

DorianGray89 wrote:Visit both Duke and NYU and see which one you like best.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I won't be able to visit any of the schools . I really appreciate all the votes and opinions; keep em coming! Btw, I'm shocked at how even the votes are - it's been 14:14, 22:22, and now 31:31 lol

I don't personally believe NYU is worth 70k more than Duke for NYC biglaw. NYU's advantage decreases even further because you're equally (if not more so) interested in non-NYC biglaw in Los Angeles, where NYU's strength over the MVPBDN tier is much less obvious (if not non-existent). Duke has had notably better clerkship placement than NYU over the past several years (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... e#p4122116). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I am surprised by the NYU love in this situation.

With strong ties to LA, I think you can visit the schools and see where you feel comfortable and what you feel comfortable paying. I certainly don't think NYU is the obvious "best choice" here, though.

Edit: Just read that you won't be able to visit. That's too bad - they're quite different environments, and you really should try to feel them out for yourself.

I would say, think about your career, go to the best school you can get into, and thats nyu

FlightoftheEarls wrote:I don't personally believe NYU is worth 70k more than Duke for NYC biglaw. NYU's advantage decreases even further because you're equally (if not more so) interested in non-NYC biglaw in Los Angeles, where NYU's strength over the MVPBDN tier is much less obvious (if not non-existent). Duke has had notably better clerkship placement than NYU over the past several years (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... e#p4122116). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I am surprised by the NYU love in this situation.

With strong ties to LA, I think you can visit the schools and see where you feel comfortable and what you feel comfortable paying. I certainly don't think NYU is the obvious "best choice" here, though.

Edit: Just read that you won't be able to visit. That's too bad - they're quite different environments, and you really should try to feel them out for yourself.

I guess I should add that when visiting UGs as a high school senior I visited both NYU and Duke, so I'm familiar with both environments and am pretty confident that I'd adjust well in either one. Thanks for the opinion.

gnmnkch wrote:I guess I should add that when visiting UGs as a high school senior I visited both NYU and Duke, so I'm familiar with both environments and am pretty confident that I'd adjust well in either one. Thanks for the opinion.

If you mean environment of the area in general, fine (only when making the very tenuous assumption that you actually got a good feel of the area in general on your UG visit).

If you mean school environment, then your UG visit experience is probably worth approximately zero. General evidence: law schools tend to isolate themselves from the UG (and in some cases, from the rest of the institution). Specific evidence: NYU law and NYU UG culture is markedly different.

adt231 wrote:

gnmnkch wrote:I guess I should add that when visiting UGs as a high school senior I visited both NYU and Duke, so I'm familiar with both environments and am pretty confident that I'd adjust well in either one. Thanks for the opinion.

If you mean environment of the area in general, fine (only when making the very tenuous assumption that you actually got a good feel of the area in general on your UG visit).

If you mean school environment, then your UG visit experience is probably worth approximately zero. General evidence: law schools tend to isolate themselves from the UG (and in some cases, from the rest of the institution). Specific evidence: NYU law and NYU UG culture is markedly different.

I see. You were right - I was referring to Durham vs. the Village. I wish I could visit but my job situation right now makes that pretty much impossible. Thanks for the input, though.