Top Law Schools

Right now, I'm deciding between GULC with roughly $210k of debt and BU with roughly $85k of debt.

I'm held at Harvard and Northwestern. Still waiting for NYU and Cornell. Waitlisted at Columbia.

Some factors:
- I'd be happy living and working in Boston, NYC or Chicago post-graduation.
- I think I'd want to work at a firm with international offices and opportunities.
- I will be getting up to a $100k interest-free loan from my father (so that would cover the cost of BU).

Questions:
- I went to an Ivy undergrad. Does the drop from Ivy to BU look strange to employers, or is this an irrational fear?
- The big question...is the additional $100k+ debt for GULC worth it?

I won't retake, so please don't offer that as an opinion. Thanks!

I would say a solid quarter of my class at BU comes from ivy league schools. We have tons of columbia, cornell, and brown kids with a solid bunch of harvard kids as well. Doesn't look strange at all. And the choice is def BU unless you really really want DC or some federal gov job. GULC at sticker is pretty crazy and def not worth 125K more than BU.

dakatz wrote:I would say a solid quarter of my class at BU comes from ivy league schools. We have tons of columbia, cornell, and brown kids with a solid bunch of harvard kids as well. Doesn't look strange at all. And the choice is def BU unless you really really want DC or some federal gov job. GULC at sticker is pretty crazy and def not worth 125K more than BU.

Yeah, Ivy to BU won't look weird at all. I'm sure there are a fairly high percentage of kids at BC/BU from Harvard.

To answer your question, I think BU is a no brainer. It's 130k you're talking about in difference.

for some reason i am just really skeptical about bu/bc's recent NLJ placement rate.....

i vote GULC.

Given that GULC's recent numbers showed thy are a mere 3 or 4 percentage points above BC and about 7 or 8 percentage points above BU, im not at all sure what you are talking about. 125K for a 7% increased chance of a NLJ250 firm? You're serious?

dakatz wrote:Given that GULC's recent numbers showed thy are a mere 3 or 4 percentage points above BC and about 7 or 8 percentage points above BU, im not at all sure what you are talking about. 125K for a 7% increased chance of a NLJ250 firm? You're serious?

i think you have to factor in clerkship too and also the chance that this is just an anomaly. GULC's placement stats are a lot more stable vs BU/bc.

thexfactor wrote:

dakatz wrote:Given that GULC's recent numbers showed thy are a mere 3 or 4 percentage points above BC and about 7 or 8 percentage points above BU, im not at all sure what you are talking about. 125K for a 7% increased chance of a NLJ250 firm? You're serious?

i think you have to factor in clerkship too and also the chance that this is just an anomaly. GULC's placement stats are a lot more stable vs BU/bc.

BU and BC had some of the most stable NLJ 250 figures of any top tier school. You had higher ranked schools dropping 15% while BC actually went up and BU dropped a mere 3%. So im not sure what is unstable about that. Both schools typically fall in the high teens in just about every employment metric over the past decade without fail. I admit that one has better clerkship chances out of GULC but when did OP say that he wanted a clerkship or was willing to pay an extra 125K for a chance at one?

dakatz wrote:

thexfactor wrote:

dakatz wrote:Given that GULC's recent numbers showed thy are a mere 3 or 4 percentage points above BC and about 7 or 8 percentage points above BU, im not at all sure what you are talking about. 125K for a 7% increased chance of a NLJ250 firm? You're serious?

i think you have to factor in clerkship too and also the chance that this is just an anomaly. GULC's placement stats are a lot more stable vs BU/bc.

BU and BC had some of the most stable NLJ 250 figures of any top tier school. You had higher ranked schools dropping 15% while BC actually went up and BU dropped a mere 3%. So im not sure what is unstable about that. Both schools typically fall in the high teens in just about every employment metric over the past decade without fail. I admit that one has better clerkship chances out of GULC but when did OP say that he wanted a clerkship or was willing to pay an extra 125K for a chance at one?

Boston has weathered the economy very, very, very well. I vote BU free in this case.

FutureInLaw wrote:
Questions:
- I went to an Ivy undergrad. Does the drop from Ivy to BU look strange to employers, or is this an irrational fear?

Even the average lsat for UGs at hahvahd is only in the mid 160s....you know, near BU law's median. So, no. I'm sure the "drop" is more common than not.

If you'd be happy in Boston go to BU.

thexfactor wrote:for some reason i am just really skeptical about bu/bc's recent NLJ placement rate.....

i vote GULC.

Curious as to why? In 2008, BC was over 45% for NLJ placement, and right behind the bottom end of the T14 and other strong regionals like UCLA. Since then, it seems to have taken a pretty proportionate drop down to low to mid 30s, and still finds itself right behind the bottom of the T14 and UCLA. Not only that, but from the 2Ls on this site, most of them are saying their friends are doing very well with getting big firms jobs this year.

Likely depositing at BU this week, but I am holding out hope for Cornell, NYU, NU or Harvard.

Thanks all.

FutureInLaw wrote:Right now, I'm deciding between GULC with roughly $210k of debt and BU with roughly $85k of debt.

I'm held at Harvard and Northwestern. Still waiting for NYU and Cornell. Waitlisted at Columbia.

Some factors:
- I'd be happy living and working in Boston, NYC or Chicago post-graduation.
- I think I'd want to work at a firm with international offices and opportunities.
- I will be getting up to a $100k interest-free loan from my father (so that would cover the cost of BU).

Questions:
- I went to an Ivy undergrad. Does the drop from Ivy to BU look strange to employers, or is this an irrational fear?
- The big question...is the additional $100k+ debt for GULC worth it?

I won't retake, so please don't offer that as an opinion. Thanks!

Ivy undergrad here as well. BU's top feeders are Michigan, Cornell, UCLA, and I forget what else. Nothing to sneer at there. Even if undergrad isn't as important as terminal degree, it's still on your resume. BU may not be a T14, but it's certainly not a TTT. As someone who is very strongly considering BU, it's something I've tossed around in my head, the whole "prestige drop" thing. But it's irrational. BU is a great school. Not an ivy, but nothing to be ashamed of.

thexfactor wrote:for some reason i am just really skeptical about bu/bc's recent NLJ placement rate.....

i vote GULC.

i can't say i follow the logic here. not that i necessarily disagree with the claim that bu/bc are overvalued (certainly debatable), but because you don't apply the same skepticism to GULC. doesn't make sense to me.

...

BC's stats are impressive. Too bad I was rejected though. Will have to settle for BU...

Naked Dude wrote:BC's stats are impressive. Too bad I was rejected though. Will have to settle for BU...

wut

bc=bu

both in medians and in placement

FiveSermon wrote:

Naked Dude wrote:BC's stats are impressive. Too bad I was rejected though. Will have to settle for BU...

wut

bc=bu

both in medians and in placement

sarcasm, sorry i didn't make that more clear

FutureInLaw wrote:- I went to an Ivy undergrad. Does the drop from Ivy to BU look strange to employers, or is this an irrational fear?

!

I went to an Ivy undergrad as well and I just sent in my deposit to BU. I had the exact same fear of the "prestige drop" that kept me on the fence about BU for the longest time but honestly I feel pretty happy about my choice. I wouldn't sweat it, I think that there will be a lot of people in the same boat.

I just realized the terrible mistake I made. BU is a terrible school. Employers will laugh at the Ivy-->BU prestige drop. You'll be a failure at life, live in a box, and die poor and alone. You might be lucky to sweep the floors for an Ivy graduate one day, but you will forever be cursed, spending your life as a hunchback, with large boils across your face. Beware my friend, beware...

BU is easily the better call. Heck I would take BU at this price over sticker at pretty much anywhere except HYS (which means in your case I would still take BU over NYU/CLS/NU/Cornell if you got in at those places).

bk187 wrote:BU is easily the better call. Heck I would take BU at this price over sticker at pretty much anywhere except HYS (which means in your case I would still take BU over NYU/CLS/NU/Cornell if you got in at those places).

Yeah I hear you on that. I was at BU Preview Day, and there are a TON of people who were either in at the lower T14 with no money, or into the 15-18 range. From taking a peek at the rankings, BU seems to attract a lot of would be lower end T14ers with scholarship money. It's not hard to see why. After Georgetown (not rankings trolling, I'm talking about regions) you have UT Austin/UCLA/Vanderbilt/USC/WUSTL/GW/Minnesota. It's not hard to see why BU has so many of those people, looking at the list. Looking at the schools in between, if one wants the Northeast, BU (and possibly GW with A LOT of scholarship money) is really the next best option, rankings aside.

I'm in at BU with 55k. That's right at the borderline. I would probably take Cornell (crosses fingers, prays) over that, but it wouldn't be easy.

bk187 wrote:BU is easily the better call. Heck I would take BU at this price over sticker at pretty much anywhere except HYS (which means in your case I would still take BU over NYU/CLS/NU/Cornell if you got in at those places).

Yeah, also realizing how much more attractive the $85k with no interest is than the $220k with interest.

Trying to pay $220k off in ten years (which is $2500/month!) results in roughly $310k of debt with interest included.

No thanks!

FutureInLaw wrote:Yeah, also realizing how much more attractive the $85k with no interest is than the $220k with interest.

Trying to pay $220k off in ten years (which is $2500/month!) results in roughly $310k of debt with interest included.

No thanks!

This is why I think 100k debt is the ideal maximum. Even with a lower end legal job (30-60k), it is still repayable in 10 years.

bk187 wrote:

FutureInLaw wrote:Yeah, also realizing how much more attractive the $85k with no interest is than the $220k with interest.

Trying to pay $220k off in ten years (which is $2500/month!) results in roughly $310k of debt with interest included.

No thanks!

This is why I think 100k debt is the ideal maximum. Even with a lower end legal job (30-60k), it is still repayable in 10 years.

That's my theory. That is why I suggest $100,000 is the absolute max for any school that is the best school instate outside the T14.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:That's my theory. That is why I suggest $100,000 is the absolute max for any school that is the best school instate outside the T14.

I think it can theoretically be stretched to a little higher than 100k, maybe closer to 120k, but I have a preference for round numbers.

But OP has even less than that (85k) and is even luckier considering no interest. (I'm jealous .)