Need Help Now - WUSTL ($$), GW, or William and Mary Forum

[FlanSolo]

Ok, here's the scenario... I have $60K over three years at WUSTL, a possibility for in-state tuition at William and Mary, and sticker at GW. My girlfriend is going to William and Mary, and it is our intention to start a life together after graduation. We currently live together and are in our mid-late twenties, so we are pretty confident about this. We'd like to settle in the DC or Richmond area, and given that I'll need to take on some amount of debt, but not a huge amount, I'd be aiming for BigLaw, but I'm not BigLaw or bust. The final important piece of information is that I could live with my parents (presuming they assent) if I went to GW, so the COA would be significantly reduced from its astronomical sticker.

What use will WUSTL be on the east coast if I already have a strong network (i.e., family friends who work at firms in DC and elsewhere)? Would I be better off at WM at the same cost? Should I up my debt exposure and go to GW considering how much better it tends to do in the area? I'm lost! Help me!

[mrwarre85]

Stay with your GF. Go to William and Mary.

I think the other choice here is sticker and GW, but William and Mary isn't THAT much worse plus your QoL may we much higher at William and Mary.

[FlanSolo]

Stay with your GF. Go to William and Mary.

I think the other choice here is sticker and GW, but William and Mary isn't THAT much worse plus your QoL may we much higher at William and Mary.

Thanks - I tend to agree. Even with the money from WUSTL I fear it's going to be extremely difficult to find employment in the DC/VA region, especially when compared to either WM or GW. I've perused the websites of the DC firms that do OCI at WUSTL and it seems like the prospects utterly dismal. What's more, it's not like my personal network evaporates if I go to GW or WM.

[bk1]

You can knock off WUSTL right away. You can knock off GW if you aren't living with your parents.

So the question then becomes, is GW's better DC placement and slightly higher cost worth living with your parents and not living with your gf? I don't think anybody can really answer this question but you and I don't think there is really a wrong choice in this situation between GW with your parents and W&M living with your gf.

[mrwarre85]

You can knock off WUSTL right away. You can knock off GW if you aren't living with your parents.

So the question then becomes, is GW's better DC placement and slightly higher cost worth living with your parents and not living with your gf? I don't think anybody can really answer this question but you and I don't think there is really a wrong choice in this situation between GW with your parents and W&M living with your gf.

+1

Of course I read this and think, how the fuck would he ever choose living with his parents?

[mrwarre85]

Also two close friends go to law school at GW and they both say there is hardly any sense of community there and very little pride in the school. I doubt people at William and Mary say that, if you are into those types of things...

Although GW >>> W&M for jobs, no doubt.

[FlanSolo]

+1

Of course I read this and think, how the fuck would he ever choose living with his parents?

Well, we're going to LS largely to build for our future, so I don't really care about going out or anything like that. But yeah... suboptimal to say the least.

[flexityflex86]

you can meet another woman down the road. wustl is better than william and mary and less expensive.

[Autoaccept]

Full disclosure: I'm going to GWU in the fall. However, I have multiple friends who grew up in Williamsburg and...

I would definitely not classify the "QoL" (quality of life?) as better in Williamsburg, VA than in Washington, DC. Obviously DC is more expensive, but come on. Williamsburg?

[flexityflex86]

Full disclosure: I'm going to GWU in the fall. However, I have multiple friends who grew up in Williamsburg and...

I would definitely not classify the "QoL" (quality of life?) as better in Williamsburg, VA than in Washington, DC. Obviously DC is more expensive, but come on. Williamsburg?

i've been there. it sucks. it feels like i'm walking around america in the 1700s, but came 250 years late to the party.

[FlanSolo]

Full disclosure: I'm going to GWU in the fall. However, I have multiple friends who grew up in Williamsburg and...

I would definitely not classify the "QoL" (quality of life?) as better in Williamsburg, VA than in Washington, DC. Obviously DC is more expensive, but come on. Williamsburg?

i've been there. it sucks. it feels like i'm walking around america in the 1700s, but came 250 years late to the party.

All true, but the real option here is QoL living in my parent's basement in DC vs. QoL living with my girlfriend in Williamsburg.

[flexityflex86]

Full disclosure: I'm going to GWU in the fall. However, I have multiple friends who grew up in Williamsburg and...

I would definitely not classify the "QoL" (quality of life?) as better in Williamsburg, VA than in Washington, DC. Obviously DC is more expensive, but come on. Williamsburg?

i've been there. it sucks. it feels like i'm walking around america in the 1700s, but came 250 years late to the party.

All true, but the real option here is QoL living in my parent's basement in DC vs. QoL living with my girlfriend in Williamsburg.

i think i speak for the majority when i say we would need pictures of both your girlfriend and your mother to properly render a verdict.

[ndirish2010]

W&M I think...if you have to live in that region after school, WUSTL won't be of much help.

[CanadianWolf]

William: Stay with Mary.