Top Law Schools

I deleted my post and have made my decision, and am very happy about my decision (for confidentiality reasons, I wish to not post this on the forum).

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice (although I really didn't think this would turn into an argument about Penn...

Penn.

Add a poll.

I'd take Penn, but if set on Boston I'd go with BU.

Neither....any cheaper options?

Penn should give you more options. However, if you want to live & work in the Boston area after law school, then it is a tie.

I'm not tied to the Boston area, but not completely opposed to it either. My ideal city would be DC or Richmond (personal reasons). Tuition for UPenn is also $7,000 more than BU, FYI.

Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

Congratulations, even though this is a stressful point at which to make this decision, it seems like you'd have good options either way. Still, I'd take Penn.

Probably Penn. But:

1. Where do you want to work?
2. How much UG debt do you have?
3. How debt averse are you?

i would take penn, all things equal. their employment numbers are just much better. even in this economy they're placing a ton of their grads in high-paying positions. plus they have a pretty decent LRAP program if you opt for the public interest route. also, if you want DC, your chances of getting there are much better from Penn, which has better national reach than BU, which is primarily a Boston school.

ndirish2010 wrote:Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

How do you figure that Mr. Notre Dame?

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

How do you figure that Mr. Notre Dame?

I'm confused, how does where I go to school make any difference?

You need to make it clear that it's $60,000, OP.

ndirish2010 wrote:

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

How do you figure that Mr. Notre Dame?

I'm confused, how does where I go to school make any difference?

Ummm, well let's see we're talking about law school here, so yes, where you go to school is a pretty big deal in regards to future career prospects, etc.

If the best school you could get into was Notre Dame (with $$$, granted) then why are you knocking a top 10 school like UPenn? Penn at sticker is actually pretty damn phenomenal, and I'd take it in a heartbeat. You can't hedge every bet, and there are opportunities one gets at Penn that ND can't touch as of yet. Doesn't mean this person will be any more successful or whatever, but they have more going in their favor at the moment.

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

How do you figure that Mr. Notre Dame?

I'm confused, how does where I go to school make any difference?

Ummm, well let's see we're talking about law school here, so yes, where you go to school is a pretty big deal in regards to future career prospects, etc.

If the best school you could get into was Notre Dame (with $$$, granted) then why are you knocking a top 10 school like UPenn? Penn at sticker is actually pretty damn phenomenal, and I'd take it in a heartbeat. You can't hedge every bet, and there are opportunities one gets at Penn that ND can't touch as of yet. Doesn't mean this person will be any more successful or whatever, but they have more going in their favor at the moment.

ndirish2010 pro-ND trolls to the max. Penn at sticker is more than "not great," and a lot of people would do almost anything to get it if they could.

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:

weejonbu wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Probably Penn. Close one though. Penn at sticker is not great, but not terrible either.

How do you figure that Mr. Notre Dame?

I'm confused, how does where I go to school make any difference?

Ummm, well let's see we're talking about law school here, so yes, where you go to school is a pretty big deal in regards to future career prospects, etc.

If the best school you could get into was Notre Dame (with $$$, granted) then why are you knocking a top 10 school like UPenn? Penn at sticker is actually pretty damn phenomenal, and I'd take it in a heartbeat. You can't hedge every bet, and there are opportunities one gets at Penn that ND can't touch as of yet. Doesn't mean this person will be any more successful or whatever, but they have more going in their favor at the moment.

I'm not knocking Penn. Penn is a great school. I'm knocking $190K in debt. I said I would still choose Penn because most likely you'll be able to pay off that debt with median from Penn, but it isn't a sure thing. I'm very debt averse- I will not have any debt after law school.

*savors the sublime idiocy of weejonbu's post*

LOL, I never troll for NDLS. Unless you consider saying that I'd choose it over IU trolling, but that's just objective fact. Go back and find one instance where I have trolled. I always try to give objective advice- but I am very debt averse. In this situation, i would choose Penn because $90K from BU (which is a better school than ND, as per NLJ placement) is still a lot, and median from Penn is usually in a decent spot. However, there is a significant risk that, if OP chooses Penn, OP will be left with $190K debt and a $40K job.

I would take sticker at Penn.

Grizz wrote:*savors the sublime idiocy of weejonbu's post*

Please elaborate. Everyone one is debt-averse, great... but I'm pretty sure we've established that T10 is worth paying sticker for... no one wants to be in huge debt, but no one wants to have the pressure of finishing in top 15% to get a well-paying legal job either. Take your pick Grizzly.

Oh, and where you going to school genius?

weejonbu wrote:

Grizz wrote:*savors the sublime idiocy of weejonbu's post*

Please elaborate. Everyone one is debt-averse, great... but I'm pretty sure we've established that T10 is worth paying sticker for... no one wants to be in huge debt, but no one wants to have the pressure of finishing in top 15% to get a well-paying legal job either. Take your pick Grizzly.

Oh, and where you going to school genius?

The general rule should be that you should only pay sticker at a place where you have a better than average chance to land a job that allows you to pay off the debt if you finish median. MVP barely meets this criteria, so it is a risk, but one that many people take and it is not stupid.

ndirish2010 wrote:

weejonbu wrote:

Grizz wrote:*savors the sublime idiocy of weejonbu's post*

Please elaborate. Everyone one is debt-averse, great... but I'm pretty sure we've established that T10 is worth paying sticker for... no one wants to be in huge debt, but no one wants to have the pressure of finishing in top 15% to get a well-paying legal job either. Take your pick Grizzly.

Oh, and where you going to school genius?

The general rule should be that you should only pay sticker at a place where you have a better than average chance to land a job that allows you to pay off the debt if you finish median. MVP barely meets this criteria, so it is a risk, but one that many people take and it is not stupid.

"The general rule"??? Pulease. I know we have tons of Type A, debt averse people on here, but there is no "general rule." Maybe for you personally, but please don't thrust that on the entire TLS community.

Go look up the word "general" and get back to me.

ndirish2010 wrote:Go look up the word "general" and get back to me.

I was more honing in on the word "rule." I think you could say "the general assumption," or "the general advice from 0Ls who, for the majority, don't know what they're talking about."

"Rule" in that context sounds like a scientific law or something.

*continues to ponder the supreme idiocy of weejonbu's second post*