Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan Forum

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Which school?

Poll ended at Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:03 am

Columbia $20,000
9
13%
Chicago $60,000
41
61%
Michigan $67,500
4
6%
Penn $75,000
13
19%
 
Total votes: 67

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hellome

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Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hellome » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:03 am

Honestly, top priority is landing a well paying job.
I'm not even close to being well off but tuition doesn't scare me as much...
I just keep thinking that I will be able to pay that back in a few years after graduation.

I've been stressing for awhile but thought I'd post to get some diverse feedback.

Thanks!

hype9857

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hype9857 » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:37 am

This is tough. Have you tried to do some scholarship negotiation with Columbia? With your current offers, especially at Chicago, you have a quite compelling case I'd think.

Where would you like to work after graduation? Or even live during law school? If the answer is NYC to the former, Penn would be hard to say no at, so I voted for that assuming Columbia sent you their final offer.

I will say that I am northeast-biased and not a big fan of Chicago, but that would be a fantastic option as well.

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cucullu

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by cucullu » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:24 am

It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.

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cucullu

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by cucullu » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:25 am

P.S. Congrats by the way. That's all stellar.

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hellome

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hellome » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:40 pm

hype9857 wrote:This is tough. Have you tried to do some scholarship negotiation with Columbia? With your current offers, especially at Chicago, you have a quite compelling case I'd think.

Where would you like to work after graduation? Or even live during law school? If the answer is NYC to the former, Penn would be hard to say no at, so I voted for that assuming Columbia sent you their final offer.

I will say that I am northeast-biased and not a big fan of Chicago, but that would be a fantastic option as well.
Yeah, I tried with Columbia and they don't care.
I even tried with Chicago (emailed them Penn's offer) and they don't care...

I honestly have no preference about location.

Thanks for the feedback!

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hellome

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hellome » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:43 pm

cucullu wrote:It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!

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iamnooneelse

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by iamnooneelse » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:07 pm

hellome wrote:
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!
This also interests me. I'm worried about the concentration of Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Notre Dame, IU, UofI grads. Sure there are less UChicago grads, and sure UChicago is the top dog of the city, but I'm concerned about the competitive effect on the market from the concentration of T25 schools in the area.

** I could look up all the placement statistics, but I'll leave that to a more motivated poster. I'm just generally interested in the competition of the market for Chicago grads vs. Columbia grads, and it appears to me that this might be a closer race than some give it credit for.

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JollyGreenGiant

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by JollyGreenGiant » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:40 pm

hellome wrote:
cucullu wrote:It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!
He's saying that there will be fewer University of Chicago grads, not fewer Chicago grads.

Anecdotally, it's far easier to break into the NYC legal market than Chicago.

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hellome

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hellome » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:50 pm

JollyGreenGiant wrote:
hellome wrote:
cucullu wrote:It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!
He's saying that there will be fewer University of Chicago grads, not fewer Chicago grads.

Anecdotally, it's far easier to break into the NYC legal market than Chicago.
Ah, thanks.

What about the portability difference between Chicago and Columbia?
Thoughts?

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Knock

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by Knock » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:52 pm

hellome wrote:
JollyGreenGiant wrote:
hellome wrote:
cucullu wrote:It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!
He's saying that there will be fewer University of Chicago grads, not fewer Chicago grads.

Anecdotally, it's far easier to break into the NYC legal market than Chicago.
Ah, thanks.

What about the portability difference between Chicago and Columbia?
Thoughts?
I don't think it's significant, they're both very portable. Chicago grads are definitely more spread out than Columbia grads, but that's due to self-selection. A significant portion of people who go to Columbia want to work in NYC.

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glewz

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by glewz » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:53 pm

hellome wrote:
JollyGreenGiant wrote:
hellome wrote:
cucullu wrote:It's crazy to me that Chicago has not run away with this poll already.

Chicago and Columbia are the two best schools on the list, and the money is a wash compared to the other two, so you might as well take Michigan and Penn off the table.

Chicago's class size is 1/2 the size of Columbia = fewer Chicago grads on the market each year = a bit of a competitive edge, from what my friends at both schools have told me. Columbia kids, feel free to defend your school to the death, etc.

Columbia will also have higher COL + there's already less scholarship offered. (Second the idea of trying to get them to match. They should at least bump up. If Columbia is where you want to go for personal fit reasons, advocate for yourself future advocate!)

You could go to Chicago or NYC from either Columbia or Chicago, so I don't think that matters, although obviously home city is slightly more convenient.
This is actually the 2nd time I've heard that there will be less competition in Chicago b/c of fewer graduates (vs. Columbia, NYU, Fordham kids swarming out in NYC).
Do you think this overrides the fact that NYC has a healthier/larger legal market?
This point has been bugging me for a week.
Any responses would be super appreciated!
He's saying that there will be fewer University of Chicago grads, not fewer Chicago grads.

Anecdotally, it's far easier to break into the NYC legal market than Chicago.
Ah, thanks.

What about the portability difference between Chicago and Columbia?
Thoughts?
U of C's pretty good for non-Chicago markets yes, but if you are set on NYC, I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to be at Columbia for local networking opportunities. Have you sent Columbia your Chicago $$ offer?

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hellome

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by hellome » Fri Apr 15, 2011 1:18 am

Yep, they didn't budge.
I also sent Chicago my Penn offer and the person who replied stated that he/she strongly believed there to be a difference in opportunities and portability between the two schools (and that the money difference wasn't big enough).

Man, this is tough.

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glewz

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by glewz » Fri Apr 15, 2011 1:23 am

hellome wrote:Yep, they didn't budge.
I also sent Chicago my Penn offer and the person who replied stated that he/she strongly believed there to be a difference in opportunities and portability between the two schools (and that the money difference wasn't big enough).

Man, this is tough.
yeahhh, it's pretty impossible for Chicago to match a 15k difference for penn..didn't hurt to try anyways. good luck on getting a few extra from Columbia & congrats

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trudat15

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by trudat15 » Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:10 am

The difference between Chi and Columbia after factoring in COL and higher tuition is 60k. For someone that doesnt care about location and just wants a high paying job, Chicago is TCR.

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Upton Sinclair

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Re: Chicago vs Penn vs Columbia vs Michigan

Post by Upton Sinclair » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:35 am

trudat15 wrote:The difference between Chi and Columbia after factoring in COL and higher tuition is 60k. For someone that doesnt care about location and just wants a high paying job, Chicago is TCR.
+1. Also, consider the locations. UofC gives you great access to a primary market. From UofC, assuming you do well, Chicago, NYC, and DC are all in play for you. From Columbia, you are much more restricted to NYC and DC.

Since you don't care about location (Chicago is an awesome city IMO, anyway, plus lower COL than NYC or DC) I say go to Chicago and pwn.

Congrats btw. Great options.

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