Wake Forest v. Richmond Forum

[el William]

OK so I have been accepted at Richmond with a $15,000 a year scholly. I also applied to wake forest but do not expect to get any money from them. I am from Winston, love wake, have always wanted to go to wake, also my wife has a great job in Winston. Is it worth it to stay in Winston and go to wake paying full tuition (almost all in loans)? Or should I take the money and go to Richmond?

[DubPoker]

OK so I have been accepted at Richmond with a $15,000 a year scholly. I also applied to wake forest but do not expect to get any money from them. I am from Winston, love wake, have always wanted to go to wake, also my wife has a great job in Winston. Is it worth it to stay in Winston and go to wake paying full tuition (almost all in loans)? Or should I take the money and go to Richmond?

You know, TLS will tell advise you (with good reasons) not to attend anything but the T14 without a scholly.

This is a case where if you ARE doing one or the other, I would totally go to Wake. Not even close. Sounds like you would also save on CoL being that your wife lives and works here with you... At even price it's obviously not a question, I'm not sure how much you will save by staying. Also, any stips on the UR scholly?

Full disclosure, I go to Wake.

[Jah'rakal]

wake doesn't even cancel classes for snowdays, but otherwise, no reason to go to richmond

[SnowDude]

wake doesn't even cancel classes for snowdays, but otherwise, no reason to go to richmond

It snows in North Carolina?

[rad lulz]

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[el William]

What do you want to do and where do you want to do it?

I am interested in working with public policy, my undergrad major focused on policy studies related to social justice issues so public interest work is important to me, although with the price of law school it is hard to see that as a genuine option right out of law school.

I like living in NC and could see myself living here long term, but I like VA a lot. Richmond seems to offer a lot of legal opportunities (lots of courts, govt agencies, etc...)

It just seems like 45k debt vs 100k debt would be much better considering legal employment prospects. I am realistic about what I can make after law school.

Is wake really that much better than Richmond that it justifies the huge tuition difference that I would face?

[rad lulz]

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[el William]

I am interested in working with public policy,

Yeah don't go to law school bro, it's not a good way to break into policy work.

I have made up my mind that I am going to law school. It opens lots of govt. and pub policy doors. How many of the people who work in govt. went to law school? I am pretty sure it's a lot.

Just looking for advice on wake v. Richmond not on my life choices in general...

Sorry if that sounds too snarky

[rad lulz]

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[hokielaw12]

FWIW UR is a good school that seems to be on the rise. They are doing renovations that will bring its facilities up to par. Seems like very good people work there and it's in a great part of Richmond. UR has a great connections within Richmond, but I'm not sure about outside the city.

[rad lulz]

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[SnowDude]

FWIW UR is a good school that seems to be on the rise. They are doing renovations that will bring its facilities up to par. Seems like very good people work there and it's in a great part of Richmond. UR has a great connections within Richmond, but I'm not sure about outside the city.

On the rise? I mean, it's not like UR Law is a new commodity. It's been around for ~150 years.

That being said, even with the scholarship isn't the total COA extremely steep? Like Syracuse expensive?

As a prospective law student myself, I'm not sure that I'd go to either school. But, I'd much rather live and work in Richmond than in North Carolina, so there's that. I guess you should figure out whether you'd rather live in North Carolina or Virginia.

[hokielaw12]

Quality of school is on the rise...

[rad lulz]

Quality of school is on the rise...

What does this even mean

[hokielaw12]

Quality of school is on the rise...

What does this even mean

Wow. Better faculty. Better facilities. Better job prospects. Large COA usually turns people away but w/ scholarship it's a good option if you want to work in Richmond.

[SnowDude]

Well, I'll give Richmond one thing. They have a GORGEOUS campus. Have you seen the pictures? Wow. They win that competition, hands down.

[moandersen]

OK so I have been accepted at Richmond with a $15,000 a year scholly. I also applied to wake forest but do not expect to get any money from them. I am from Winston, love wake, have always wanted to go to wake, also my wife has a great job in Winston. Is it worth it to stay in Winston and go to wake paying full tuition (almost all in loans)? Or should I take the money and go to Richmond?

Why dont you wait until you actually get in before figuring this out? Also, why isnt UNC an option? Even with the wife paying for COL, you are still looking at 120k, which is a ton of debt if you want public interest work.

[20130312]

Better job prospects.

What does this even mean

[el William]

Why dont you wait until you actually get in before figuring this out? Also, why isnt UNC an option? Even with the wife paying for COL, you are still looking at 120k, which is a ton of debt if you want public interest work.[/quote]

UNC is definitely an option, I just haven't heard back yet. I am just thinking about different possibilities ahead of time, doing research on different prospects.

[mighttransfer]

Would you rather practice in VA or NC? Answering that question will determine whether you should attend UR or Wake. Wake is slightly better overall. But the gap b/t the two schools is not so significant that you would be justified in choosing Wake over UR if you want to practice in VA. Also, UR COA is pretty low.

[SnowDude]

Also, UR COA is pretty low.

Dude. Pretty low? Compared to what, Columbia?

[mighttransfer]

Also, UR COA is pretty low.

Dude. Pretty low? Compared to what, Columbia?

compared to many many schools. Richmond cost of living is very low--you can find extremely cheap housing. and tuition at sticker (34k?) isn't horrible.

[rad lulz]

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[SnowDude]

Right, so here is the COA site for Richmond: http://financialaid.richmond.edu/law/cost.html

Richmond estimates COA at $52,980 for 2012-2013 1Ls.

And here is the COA site for Wake Forest: http://admissions.law.wfu.edu/about/tuition/

Wake Forest estimates COA at $59,775 for 2012-2013 1Ls.

So, Wake Forest's estimate is significantly higher (12.6%) than Richmond's estimate.

Who wants to vouch for those numbers? Are they accurate?

[JamesChapman23]

The answer is you are a lunatic for considering either of these schools. Full tuition at T50 is CRAZY bad deal, especially for someone that doesn't even want to practice law.

The above posters talk around this issue, seeming to prefer to talk about the aesthetics of the deck chairs.