Would like some input on this decision... Forum

[TheZoid]

Fellow TLSers...you've been very helpful in providing information about the process and I'm very grateful for it. It's been very valuable as far as knowing which schools to target, how to negotiate for $, where to go and what is reasonable to pay. Have an interesting decision to make here and I'd like some feedback. Should also mention that I'd like Biglaw or Regional Biglaw, but I know the odds out of all of these schools are not great, so I'm trying to keep the debt load somewhat manageable. Here are my options, to this point.

Wash U w/ 48k (really surprised by this, I'm a big splitter so the $ was a great bonus)
Wake w/ 30k
UConn in-state sticker (haven't heard anything from them about $, have heard they are relatively stingy with in-state kids tho)
St. Johns full-ride.

Was really leaning in the direction of Wake until Wash U came out of nowhere with 48k. Makes it a much harder decision. Might see if Wake can match or beat the Wash U scholly, as well as seeing if UConn could offer some $ (if I could go for real cheap I'd consider it) and go from there. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

[Killingly]

Wait of Uconn money. I'm an in-state kid and I got a full-ride. Regardless, sticker means that you'd only be going for about 20k/year which is pretty damn good. If you want to work in CT, go to Uconn!

[AreJay711]

I think you should make this decision based entirely on where you want to work. Wash U will give you a chance for biglaw but not a great one and the rest will be a real long shot so you will be looking mostly at local opportunities from any of them. Maybe Wash U would be worth it if you wanted to back to Conn as well since it is pretty widely known but other than that it isn't worth it.

[TheZoid]

Thanks for your input Killingly...congrats on the full ride. If they offered it I'd strongly consider it, but I'm 2.6/168...so I think my GPA takes me out of full ride consideration for a school as good as UConn. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so. We'll see what happens, but thanks for your input. UConn does do well in CT, so it's not a bad option either way.

[Killingly]

Thanks for your input Killingly...congrats on the full ride. If they offered it I'd strongly consider it, but I'm 2.6/168...so I think my GPA takes me out of full ride consideration for a school as good as UConn. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so. We'll see what happens, but thanks for your input. UConn does do well in CT, so it's not a bad option either way.

Be patient and use WUSTL to negotiate if you don't hear anything for a while. I'd be surprised if you didn't get something. Good luck!

[TheZoid]

I think you should make this decision based entirely on where you want to work. Wash U will give you a chance for biglaw but not a great one and the rest will be a real long shot so you will be looking mostly at local opportunities from any of them. Maybe Wash U would be worth it if you wanted to back to Conn as well since it is pretty widely known but other than that it isn't worth it.

Thanks for your input AreJay...I had a feeling that advice would be offered and I can appreciate it. The only thing I'm curious about is that Wake's NLJ250 placement is only a couple percentage points behind Wash U, so I'm not sure the schools are as far apart as US News would have you believe. Again, I could be wrong, but idk. Either way, I can see where you're coming from. I should also mention that I'm not entirely sure where I want to work, but probably in the Northeast somewhere, either NY, CT or Boston, but getting to NY or Boston would probably be a challenge out of all, minus top 1/3 ish at Wash U.

[TheZoid]

[/quote]

Be patient and use WUSTL to negotiate if you don't hear anything for a while. I'd be surprised if you didn't get something. Good luck![/quote]

Yea, we'll see what happens. I hope you're right, but we'll see. Thanks for the input, though.

[TheZoid]

shameless bump? c'mon someone has to have more to say about this.

[TooOld4This]

The question really isn't how much of a scholarship you are getting, but how much debt you will be in after 3 years. Run those calculations. Do any of the scholarships have stipulations? If so, assume you won't meet them and will lose the scholarship (unless it is a "in good standing" stipulation).

After you know your all in cost for each school, look at the chances that you will get a job with the resulting degree and what the likely salary will be (i.e., assume that the median reported number is higher than what you will get). Does the debt justify the job prospects? After that, look at the area -- for the amount of debt you will be in and the amount of money you will be making, will you be ok with living in the same area as the school for at least 5 years after graduation?

[TheZoid]

The question really isn't how much of a scholarship you are getting, but how much debt you will be in after 3 years. Run those calculations. Do any of the scholarships have stipulations? If so, assume you won't meet them and will lose the scholarship (unless it is a "in good standing" stipulation).

After you know your all in cost for each school, look at the chances that you will get a job with the resulting degree and what the likely salary will be (i.e., assume that the median reported number is higher than what you will get). Does the debt justify the job prospects? After that, look at the area -- for the amount of debt you will be in and the amount of money you will be making, will you be ok with living in the same area as the school for at least 5 years after graduation?

That's a good point TooOld...Wash U is more expensive than Wake so while it looks like I'm getting a better off at Wash U, Wake is a little cheaper. I wonder how Wake look's at that in a scholly negotiation. Dean Shivley has been super cool, so I'll be optimistic for now. Either way, sinking myself in 150K just doesn't feel too great, and as great as those schools are, I'm not sure that the job prospects (at least as far as NLJ250) placement really warrant that kind of debt and paying close to 2 thousand a month in loans when I graduate. I think the sweet spot for me would probably be something like regional biglaw, and I'm not sure what kind of grades I'd need at a school like Wake to get that. Top 1/3 to have a shot, to 20%, top 10? I really don't know, but either way I know people on here say assume you will be median so it's tough for me to say hey I'll be top ten. Well, thanks for your input, we'll see how this plays out.