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Alright I have a couple more options but these two have come out ahead. I've got Vandy with 45k and GULC with nada. I'd like to get BigLaw in California. I'd also be pretty interested in gov/PI but I'm not sure if I make the cut (not exactly sure what the background check is all about). Anyways I go back and forth between the two and could use some TLS wisdom.

Edit: Vandy will cost: 160,992
Gtown will cost: 218,989
both figures are from the school sites guesstimations

Also
Still waiting to hear from Cornell and UCLA not sure what I'll do if those come through.

No USC?

Rejected at USC

Hmmm interesting that you got into GULC, but not USC. To be honest I have no idea how Vandy and GULC place in CA. Sorry I can't be more helpful dude. Are you dead set on CA?

Go to either UCLA or Cornell if you get in. Both will place better than these options.

Before answering GULC v. Vandy though... are you from California? And how do you feel about the debt (will you have any)?

Maybe not dead set on California but would really like it as an option. Not averse to practicing elsewhere but yeah from California and really really like it.

From California and not super debt averse (don't have too many legit low debt options)

GULC will be better for California and especially for CA biglaw imo (more CA employers at OCI, they have a west coast job fair too iirc). That being said, the 45k at Vandy is probably a better deal financially. But then again you will still be in over 150k debt coming from Vandy. As someone who may have to face a similar but different decision (from CA, want CA, don't have any cheap CA options), I don't think the scholly at Vandy should entice you over sticker at GULC because the debt from Vandy is still too high.

If I were you I would go to GULC and hope for the grades to make CA a possibility, but be open to the option of having to take any job that will help you pay off your debt (whether biglaw or LRAP) no matter the location if your grades aren't up to snuff for landing CA biglaw.

Talked to a few bigger wigs from my home market and they all thought gtown was a great option but am not really sure how the whole class size thing factors in. Their advice was like "wow gtown thats great! just make law review and you'll do great in California!". Not that I think I'm going to make law review but doesn't GULC's massiveness make that a much smaller possibility?

FlanAl wrote:Talked to a few bigger wigs from my home market and they all thought gtown was a great option but am not really sure how the whole class size thing factors in. Their advice was like "wow gtown thats great! just make law review and you'll do great in California!". Not that I think I'm going to make law review but doesn't GULC's massiveness make that a much smaller possibility?

I would assume that GULC has proportionally more people on Law Review compared to other schools.

GULC has a large class size, yes, but the effect of that employment stats is already factored into their NLJ250 stats. It's not like these stats are magically worse when you try to get jobs because GULC has a large class size. Their stats are a function of the school's prestige and its size and this is true for every single school.

Okay, with that then GULC. Hold out for Cornell and UCLA, but GULC is solid.

Did you go to undergrad in CA, and if so how prestigious?

I've observed, completely anecdotally of course, that out of a handful of friends who went to lower T14-ish schools that wanted to come back to CA, those with more prestigious CA undergrads had a little bit easier time (e.g., Claremont, Berk, etc.).

Obviously this isn't going to be completely determinative, but it might be something worth at least considering.

bk187 wrote:

FlanAl wrote:Talked to a few bigger wigs from my home market and they all thought gtown was a great option but am not really sure how the whole class size thing factors in. Their advice was like "wow gtown thats great! just make law review and you'll do great in California!". Not that I think I'm going to make law review but doesn't GULC's massiveness make that a much smaller possibility?

I would assume that GULC has proportionally more people on Law Review compared to other schools.

GULC has a large class size, yes, but the effect of that employment stats is already factored into their NLJ250 stats. It's not like these stats are magically worse when you try to get jobs because GULC has a large class size. Their stats are a function of the school's prestige and its size and this is true for every single school.

figured but wasn't sure

UCLAtransfer wrote:Did you go to undergrad in CA, and if so how prestigious?

I've observed, completely anecdotally of course, that out of a handful of friends who went to lower T14-ish schools that wanted to come back to CA, those with more prestigious CA undergrads had a little bit easier time (e.g., Claremont, Berk, etc.).

Obviously this isn't going to be completely determinative, but it might be something worth at least considering.

went to ugrad abroad but thanks for the help!

Vandy traditionally does pretty well for people who go here who are from California. No idea about GULC. But at $50k more, I might just do GULC. God help you though paying sticker at GULC.

I'm waiting to get in touch with a few Vandy alums from my target market to learn more about how they do in California. It seems like they place pretty well I just got sketched out when 3 biglaw partners were like "vanderbilt? i didn't know you wanted to practice in the south" vs. "gtown thats in the top 10 isn't it?"

edit: but yeah gulc at sticker kinda scares me

Dammit. This thread was not good for me to read. Rad Law, you would choose GTown over Vandy even though it cost $50k more? Every other Vandy person I've talked to has said they'd choose Vandy straight up. Don't most people who go to Vandy also get into T14 schools? I hope they don't all feel the same way.

whitman wrote:Dammit. This thread was not good for me to read. Rad Law, you would choose GTown over Vandy even though it cost $50k more? Every other Vandy person I've talked to has said they'd choose Vandy straight up. Don't most people who go to Vandy also get into T14 schools? I hope they don't all feel the same way.

If the OP only has these two schools as options, I would go with Gtown. However, Gtown is not worth sticker and Vandy is not worth $150,000. Regardless of what OP thinks he may or may not do, minimizing debt is a priority (even for PI). You would be surprised how many people change their minds about what they want to do while in law school.

OP - good luck and hopefully you can get a bigger scholly from Vandy or something.

whitman wrote:Dammit. This thread was not good for me to read. Rad Law, you would choose GTown over Vandy even though it cost $50k more? Every other Vandy person I've talked to has said they'd choose Vandy straight up. Don't most people who go to Vandy also get into T14 schools? I hope they don't all feel the same way.

Depends on your career goals.

Thought I'd throw this out there for whitman and others peaking at this thread. I've now talked to four partners in my market (2 biglaw and 2 midlaw) and all of them were really impressed with gtown. Before I even tell them that I got in there they always list it as one of their "well obviously local school is good but its not Georgetown". It's probably not cool to directly quote these guys so I will basically say that they thought it was on the same level as any of NYU on down. My guess is that a lot of this is because I'm in a secondary market that pretty much only hires locals who went away to good schools and so they just lump all the good schools together. But thought I'd put it out there that for all of them except for the Vandy alum Gtown was on a different level than Vandy.

That being said I'm still pretty torn between the two. Whats probably messed up is that I'm leaning towards gtown mostly because it isn't as land-locked as vandy.

Aberzombie I realize that neither of these is the best option but retaking a 170 isn't something I necessarily want to do (especially since june is coming up fast). And I haven't done anything impressive with my year after ugrad other than keep my job. If my local T2 decides to pony up then I might go that way but their top scholarship (which I have) won't cover full tuition.

FlanAl wrote:That being said I'm still pretty torn between the two. Whats probably messed up is that I'm leaning towards gtown mostly because it isn't as land-locked as vandy.

As a fellow Californian, I understand how hard it is to break away from this irrational line of thinking.

Just went back and read what I wrote. I can't believe I just recommended GULC at sticker. Exams are getting to my head.

$50k, aka a quarter of the cost of attendance at Vandy, is solid enough that I'd take it over GULC. Vanderbilt does better than you'd think in California; they have the list of people from c/o 2010 who got jobs there and you can check that out. And you're not even dead set on California. Going to Vandy you can make a colorable desire to work in certain less parochial southern markets if you want to open that up as a possibility.

bk do you surf? Where I went to ugrad was a ways from the beach but I knew I could go basically every weekend if I wanted. Just knowing I could go helped keep me somewhat sane. Obviously DC is pretty far from waves but Nashville would basically be asking me to give up surfing for 3 years. At least I'd be able to substitute it with a really awesome town.

Also SO will be in New York next year. Distance isn't really that big of a deal though (we did 3 years trans-atlantic). But any thoughts on how hard/easy it is to get from Nashville to NYC.

FlanAl wrote:bk do you surf?

I don't surf but I love the beach (though I prefer the snow) and know plenty of people who do surf.

loving the beach is close to surfing. at least you love the snow that opens up a lot of possibilities.