Top Law Schools

So apparently its that time of the year where we post these x or z threads. Nothing infuriates me more than people who post these threads that are either a wall of text or lacking any type of context. I'll try and find a happy medium (and no discussion of specialized rankings).

- $90k (30/yr) at UCLA and $45k (15/yr) at NYU
- I have a $10k/year scholarship regardless of what school I attend
- So, It will cost me roughly $160k to attend NYU. It will cost me roughly $70k to attend UCLA (save some cash by living at home)
- Preferences: LA Biglaw>>>>>>NYC Biglaw>>>LA Mid/smalllaw>Space/Bird law (obviously my preference is to end up working in Los Angeles)
- Strong ties to Los Angeles. Born and raised in LA; most of my family is in LA, my fiance is in LA (and has a FT job there), and I attended UG in California.
- While it would suck to be far away from my fiance we have already discussed being long distance and are up for it. She is also open to the possibility of moving to NYC for my 2L/3L if she can, work-wise. However, she isn't super gung-ho either on living and working in NYC post-graduation.

I am still waiting to hear back from Columbia, Stanford, and Harvard. But, with each passing day it seems like that Dean Deal call/JS1 invite might not come. And I'm starting to think attending Columbia at sticker over NYU with $45k won't make much sense. However, I would attend Harvard over UCLA/NYU and Stanford over Harvard.

try to get some more $$ from UCLA but it sounds like UCLA is the right choice for you anyway

Agreed w/ above. I have 90k from UCLA w/ only 30k from Mich (didn't even apply to NYU). I don't have super stellar softs or anything either. You should definitely negotiate more.

No Berkeley?

This is close, but I would have to agree that UCLA seems like the better option overall. The overall money disparity does not seem to justify the placement difference between the schools and UCLA may even have a better brand name in LA than NYU (no one can be really sure about this one because NYU self-selects largely into NYC and UCLA into LA).

Agreed with above. Try to get UCLA to give you more $$.

Since she's your fiance and not your girlfriend, your relationship has to be brought in the picture here. No way your quality of life is remotely as high at NYU.

UCLA easily. Stay in your target market and your debt will be very manageable.

I am currently negotiating with NYU. I hadn't started negotiating with UCLA yet. I figured the odds of that turning out well weren't very high (though I'm still going to give it a shot).