Help me decide! BU ($) or NU ---- MUST DECIDE TODAY! Forum

[Horsefeathers]

Unexpectedly got off of the waitlist at BU and was offered 45k in scholarship money. It's this or paying sticker at Northwestern.
Interested in PI/Gov work and realize that NU has a greater national reach and better LRAP, but have a preference for living in Boston and am debt averse.


Costs would be:
NU ~ 210k
BU ~ 130k

....A lot of debt either way, but BU feels more manageable. Would I be making a mistake by choosing semi-regional over national, and throwing the superior LRAP out in the interest of lower exit debt and city-preference?

Thanks for any advice!

...Oh, and I have to decide within the hour.

[Helmholtz]

If you want to live in Boston, I would probably go with BU.

[bk1]

Since you want Boston I'd probably take BU, but the debt there is high enough to make me feel iffy about that choice.

[MC Southstar]

I said NU genreally, but since you want Boston, BU.

[Horsefeathers]

Thanks for the input guys. Bumping for additional feedback!

[Verity]

Yeah, BU for Boston. BU has a good national name. It's not as mobile as NU, but if you're certain on Boston and New England, $80K isn't chump change.

[MC Southstar]

Yeah, BU for Boston. BU has a good national name. It's not as mobile as NU, but if you're certain on Boston and New England, $80K isn't chump change.

You're no Veritas.

[Horsefeathers]

Since you want Boston I'd probably take BU, but the debt there is high enough to make me feel iffy about that choice.

Would you feel less iffy about 210 at NU?

[Verity]

Yeah, BU for Boston. BU has a good national name. It's not as mobile as NU, but if you're certain on Boston and New England, $80K isn't chump change.

You're no Veritas.

No, actually I'm not.

[bk1]

Would you feel less iffy about 210 at NU?

Well it's a huge risk either way. The reason I say that 130k at BU is iffy is because it is getting into the "only repayable by biglaw or LRAP" territory, but I do think it is low enough when coupled with your Boston preference to make it the right choice. If the BU debt was more like 100k or so I would feel better about it in comparison with sticker at a T14 but I think even at 130k you should go with BU in this case.

[Horsefeathers]

Would you feel less iffy about 210 at NU?

Well it's a huge risk either way. The reason I say that 130k at BU is iffy is because it is getting into the "only repayable by biglaw or LRAP" territory, but I do think it is low enough when coupled with your Boston preference to make it the right choice. If the BU debt was more like 100k or so I would feel better about it in comparison with sticker at a T14 but I think even at 130k you should go with BU in this case.

Ok - thanks for the clarification on this point. Do you think there's an appreciable difference in PI competitiveness - in terms of the LRAP repayment strategy?

nb: edited for punctuation.

[MC Southstar]

Boston is a very insular market.

[bk1]

Boston is a very insular market.

I'm assuming OP has ties to Boston otherwise NU is definitely off the table and this isn't even close.

[Horsefeathers]

Boston is a very insular market.

I'm assuming OP has ties to Boston otherwise NU is definitely off the table and this isn't even close.

From Boston. A few ties to the Boston legal market (though yet untested...)

[bk1]

Ok - thanks for the clarification on this point. Do you think there's an appreciable difference in PI competitiveness - in terms of the LRAP repayment strategy?

It's hard for me as a 0L to say whether the difference between the two is appreciable for gaining PI/gov employment.

I'd also look at how their LRAP's are structured to see what kind of payments you would be looking at if you did end up getting qualified employment (also look at what types of jobs qualify for their LRAP's).

[scammedhard]

I don't know why you are concerned about BU being semi-regional since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

[Horsefeathers]

I don't know why you are concerned about the semi-national reach of BU since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

This is a fair point. At present, I definitely see myself settling in Boston. I guess I'm just hedging my bets, in case things change over the next few years..

[09042014]

NU has 11 Boston firms coming to OCI if that helps in any way (which it prob doesn't).

This is a tough call. How many BU students got big law? NU placed probably 55% +/- 5% in big law last year. Most T1's are less than 20%, but BU/BC tend to be rather strong T1s.

How much PI/Gov't work is in Boston? Do the PI/Gov't there care about BU as much as firms do? More?

This a bad thing to have to decide in a day.

Sorry for having more questions than answers. This is a tough choice.

[09042014]

I don't know why you are concerned about BU being semi-regional since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

I doubt BU places better in Boston that any T14, if a person has ties. The question is the 80K in debt worth it.

[Horsefeathers]

I don't know why you are concerned about BU being semi-regional since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

I doubt BU places better in Boston that any T14, if a person has ties. The question is the 80K in debt worth it.

The thing is, I'm not sure whether my ties are useful. It's not like I have family in BigLaw in Boston...more like friends parents and community members...

In terms of PI and the like, its hard to suss out answers to these questions in the few day window that BU gave me.....

I like NW, but I'm scared shitless of the 200 + debt and not super confident that the incremental edge in employability is worth it...

[Horsefeathers]

Also, don't read too much into my excessive use of elipses.

[bk1]

The thing is, I'm not sure whether my ties are useful. It's not like I have family in BigLaw in Boston...more like friends parents and community members...

The ties are more about personal ties like having lived there or gone to college there. Employers in insular markets don't want to hire people who are flight risks and will take off to another market at the first opportunity.

We're not talking about ties to the legal industry, just to the area itself and you seem to have those.

[09042014]

I don't know why you are concerned about BU being semi-regional since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

I doubt BU places better in Boston that any T14, if a person has ties. The question is the 80K in debt worth it.

The thing is, I'm not sure whether my ties are useful. It's not like I have family in BigLaw in Boston...more like friends parents and community members...

In terms of PI and the like, its hard to suss out answers to these questions in the few day window that BU gave me.....

I like NW, but I'm scared shitless of the 200 + debt and not super confident that the incremental edge in employability is worth it...

I don't know about BU specifically, but there is more than an incremental gap in employablilty from T1 to t14. It's probably the largest gap on the spectrum. But 200+ debt is a fucking lot. But so is 130K.

Ties don't mean connections in big law. It means you were born there, or went to undergrad there, or worked there. Something that displays that you are from Boston and want to actually work there.

[Horsefeathers]

I don't know why you are concerned about BU being semi-regional since you want to work in Boston. You should be more concerned about what school is better for Boston. I vote for BU because it places better in Boston and its cost of attendance is not catastrophic (thanks to the scholarship).

I doubt BU places better in Boston that any T14, if a person has ties. The question is the 80K in debt worth it.

The thing is, I'm not sure whether my ties are useful. It's not like I have family in BigLaw in Boston...more like friends parents and community members...

In terms of PI and the like, its hard to suss out answers to these questions in the few day window that BU gave me.....

I like NW, but I'm scared shitless of the 200 + debt and not super confident that the incremental edge in employability is worth it...

I don't know about BU specifically, but there is more than an incremental gap in employablilty from T1 to t14. It's probably the largest gap on the spectrum. But 200+ debt is a fucking lot. But so is 130K.

Ties don't mean connections in big law. It means you were born there, or went to undergrad there, or worked there. Something that displays that you are from Boston and want to actually work there.

Alright, that's good to know. I believe that BU is placing about 30% in big law at this point. Not sure about other employment info though (I really need to know more about this!)

[09042014]

Alright, that's good to know. I believe that BU is placing about 30% in big law at this point. Not sure about other employment info though (I really need to know more about this!)

Are you getting that from people there, or from NLJ data. Because NLJ data is severally outdated because it lags the market by almost three years.