CUNY or Second Tier New York School? Forum

[NoIdea123]

October LSAT is a 161, I'm retaking this December, because I choked on the logic games (like 12 wrong choked) so I know I can do better. I'm shooting for a 165-168. Have a 3.2 UG GPA. Want to stay in New York City.

That being said, I'm a little stuck as to what I should do. I'm considering Cordozo, Brooklyn, and St. Johns. Maybe Fordham if my LSAT is high enough though I know it's a stretch. I have a passion for public interest and non profit work. My fear is that if I went to any of the tier 2 schools I listed, which are all very expensive, I'd be unable to practice something I truly love because I'd be behooved to the debt. I also know job prospects aren't fantastic from any of those schools, but I'm sure I could make a living doing something. I really don't have an interest in big firm work, making partner by 30 or what have you but I really want to keep my options open. But, a friend of mine came out of St. Johns and is now evicting old ladies. It seems like taking on that kind of debt narrows things.

CUNY is cheap. Even though I know they don't give out a ton of money, I'm sure with my LSAT score I can put a little pressure on them to shell out some green. The fact that the debt would be lighter would lift the pressure to find a higher paying job. I'm nervous though, that if I make the CUNY decision I'll be tracked into one thing forever. And seeing as I haven't gone to law school yet, how can I know 100% that I want to do public interest?

tl;dr: Is it worth it to go into debt for the higher ranked school if you're not interested in the high paying jobs? does your law school matter for the rest of your practicing life, or only for the first few jobs?

[Jack Smirks]

Just study hard for your retake and see how you do. Then come back and post a thread.

[illini22]

I say go to CUNY; I think it is hard to say whether you want to do bankruptcy vs. mergers and acquisitions before going to law school. But I feel/as you should, that there is a wider difference between public interest work vs private firm. You if you fairly confident that you want public interest, avoid debt. I say still apply to st. johns/cardozo/brooklyn because you never know if they might give you significant money with a better LSAT. However, unless attending CUNY vs one of those other schools is not significantly less, go to CUNY. They are very well known in their field, and if you start at public interest and you dont like it, 5 years down the road people dont care as much what school you went to. You could go from public defender's office to private firm doing criminal law. Actually, some firms love to hire people from those tracks because you get a lot of court experience really early on working on the public sector.

Look at the best and worst scenarios by attending one those other schools. I feel like your chances of a job that pays enough to pay that massive debt out of any of those schools is less than 15%. It is a big gamble. Take a look at the NLJ 250 for those school, not encouraging...

[dixiecupdrinking]

Getting tracked into a relatively narrow area of practice seems inevitable no matter what. To be blunt, none of the schools you'll have access to will give you wide-open options; if you go to St. Johns or even Fordham and decide you really want to do M&A instead of legal services or whatever, that revelation does not mean you will actually have the opportunity. And having a large debt load will restrict your ability to do what you want more than anything else.

I'm a big proponent of CUNY over every school below Fordham in NYC. It's cheap and it occupies a particular niche that makes sense.

[Kess]

I am thinking about this too, but the only issue with me is that I'm not entirely sure that I want to do public interest work for the rest of my life. If I was sure, though, I'd pick CUNY in a heart beat.

[top30man]

October LSAT is a 161, I'm retaking this December, because I choked on the logic games (like 12 wrong choked) so I know I can do better. I'm shooting for a 165-168. Have a 3.2 UG GPA. Want to stay in New York City.

That being said, I'm a little stuck as to what I should do. I'm considering Cordozo, Brooklyn, and St. Johns. Maybe Fordham if my LSAT is high enough though I know it's a stretch. I have a passion for public interest and non profit work. My fear is that if I went to any of the tier 2 schools I listed, which are all very expensive, I'd be unable to practice something I truly love because I'd be behooved to the debt. I also know job prospects aren't fantastic from any of those schools, but I'm sure I could make a living doing something. I really don't have an interest in big firm work, making partner by 30 or what have you but I really want to keep my options open. But, a friend of mine came out of St. Johns and is now evicting old ladies. It seems like taking on that kind of debt narrows things.

CUNY is cheap. Even though I know they don't give out a ton of money, I'm sure with my LSAT score I can put a little pressure on them to shell out some green. The fact that the debt would be lighter would lift the pressure to find a higher paying job. I'm nervous though, that if I make the CUNY decision I'll be tracked into one thing forever. And seeing as I haven't gone to law school yet, how can I know 100% that I want to do public interest?

tl;dr: Is it worth it to go into debt for the higher ranked school if you're not interested in the high paying jobs? Does your law school matter for the rest of your practicing life, or only for the first few jobs?

With a 161, ru-n or seton hall would be way better options than any of these schools.

[Kess]

October LSAT is a 161, I'm retaking this December, because I choked on the logic games (like 12 wrong choked) so I know I can do better. I'm shooting for a 165-168. Have a 3.2 UG GPA. Want to stay in New York City.

That being said, I'm a little stuck as to what I should do. I'm considering Cordozo, Brooklyn, and St. Johns. Maybe Fordham if my LSAT is high enough though I know it's a stretch. I have a passion for public interest and non profit work. My fear is that if I went to any of the tier 2 schools I listed, which are all very expensive, I'd be unable to practice something I truly love because I'd be behooved to the debt. I also know job prospects aren't fantastic from any of those schools, but I'm sure I could make a living doing something. I really don't have an interest in big firm work, making partner by 30 or what have you but I really want to keep my options open. But, a friend of mine came out of St. Johns and is now evicting old ladies. It seems like taking on that kind of debt narrows things.

CUNY is cheap. Even though I know they don't give out a ton of money, I'm sure with my LSAT score I can put a little pressure on them to shell out some green. The fact that the debt would be lighter would lift the pressure to find a higher paying job. I'm nervous though, that if I make the CUNY decision I'll be tracked into one thing forever. And seeing as I haven't gone to law school yet, how can I know 100% that I want to do public interest?

tl;dr: Is it worth it to go into debt for the higher ranked school if you're not interested in the high paying jobs? Does your law school matter for the rest of your practicing life, or only for the first few jobs?

With a 161, ru-n or seton hall would be way better options than any of these schools.

What makes Seton Hall a better pick over Dozo, Brooklyn, or SJ? It's not ranked any higher and costs just as much.

[top30man]

October LSAT is a 161, I'm retaking this December, because I choked on the logic games (like 12 wrong choked) so I know I can do better. I'm shooting for a 165-168. Have a 3.2 UG GPA. Want to stay in New York City.

That being said, I'm a little stuck as to what I should do. I'm considering Cordozo, Brooklyn, and St. Johns. Maybe Fordham if my LSAT is high enough though I know it's a stretch. I have a passion for public interest and non profit work. My fear is that if I went to any of the tier 2 schools I listed, which are all very expensive, I'd be unable to practice something I truly love because I'd be behooved to the debt. I also know job prospects aren't fantastic from any of those schools, but I'm sure I could make a living doing something. I really don't have an interest in big firm work, making partner by 30 or what have you but I really want to keep my options open. But, a friend of mine came out of St. Johns and is now evicting old ladies. It seems like taking on that kind of debt narrows things.

CUNY is cheap. Even though I know they don't give out a ton of money, I'm sure with my LSAT score I can put a little pressure on them to shell out some green. The fact that the debt would be lighter would lift the pressure to find a higher paying job. I'm nervous though, that if I make the CUNY decision I'll be tracked into one thing forever. And seeing as I haven't gone to law school yet, how can I know 100% that I want to do public interest?

tl;dr: Is it worth it to go into debt for the higher ranked school if you're not interested in the high paying jobs? Does your law school matter for the rest of your practicing life, or only for the first few jobs?

With a 161, ru-n or seton hall would be way better options than any of these schools.

What makes Seton Hall a better pick over Dozo, Brooklyn, or SJ? It's not ranked any higher and costs just as much.

Well op sits on both. 75th percentiles and will receive automatic grants from both. Also, dozo would be better but I don't think op will get in IMO.

[Kess]

I don't know, I think if OP is sure that he/she wants to do PI, then CUNY is the better choice. It will still be cheaper than Seton unless Seton gives a full ride or something, but I doubt that.

[top30man]

I don't know, I think if OP is sure that he/she wants to do PI, then CUNY is the better choice. It will still be cheaper than Seton unless Seton gives a full ride or something, but I doubt that.

I agree if op wants pi. I was referring to op saying they may want their options open.

[WSJ_Law]

with a 161 you could probably get 1/2 scholly to Univ. of Illinois next cycle. hth

[overunderachiever]

OP: you should look into this
--LinkRemoved--

Full-tuition AND stipend! (provided you get chosen)