Top Law Schools

Edited. Thanks for the help!

Fordham since you definitely want to live & work in NYC & because it offers the lowest COA. Michigan or Duke for portability, prestige & debt.

Edit: whoops

tivolicafe wrote:I'll be able to cover about 100k of my tuition (after scholarships) while I'm in school.

I assume OP can use this for CoL as well.

sach1282 wrote:

tivolicafe wrote:I'll be able to cover about 100k of my tuition (after scholarships) while I'm in school.

I assume OP can use this for CoL as well.

Ah ok, read too quickly and missed this. Thanks sach.

So your debt after Michigan would only actually be $60k? If you like Michigan the best, go for it. Your debt load will be small enough that you can choose based on personal preference. Besides, Michigan seems to be best tailored to your career goals, all things considered.

Michigan over Duke is a no-brainer (considering your pros and cons and the small difference in price)

It's tough to argue Fordham vs a T14, but the location is right, it's a good school and $85k cheaper.
That's more than most people make in a year.

Living in NY, with $60k debt (if I read that right) is manageable On the kind of salary you'll be looking at, but not pleasant (when you reach the family stage of life)

Michigan or Duke.

Pick the program with the better LRAP.

Do you have any international experience or a background in human rights work? I would say Michigan and Duke are pretty close to a toss-up if you had only said an interest in public interest or government, but Michigan certainly has the superior program if you really want to try to get into international human rights. Michigan's Geneva International Fellows program is pretty unlike anything at any of the other T14 (http://www.law.umich.edu/mlawglobal/int ... ships.aspx), but remember that it's still a very tough nut to crack.

Tough call to make, but great options to have. I would go Michigan over Duke since it seems like Michigan fits you more, but I would also give Fordham real consideration. Fordham tout's their international connections widely and they have one of the best international human rights programs of any law school that isn't Yale or Harvard. Do your diligence and go to the place where you think you will feel the most comfortable and you will never regret the decision.

Good luck!

OnceUponAMemo wrote:Tough call to make, but great options to have. I would go Michigan over Duke since it seems like Michigan fits you more, but I would also give Fordham real consideration. Fordham tout's their international connections widely and they have one of the best international human rights programs of any law school that isn't Yale or Harvard. Do your diligence and go to the place where you think you will feel the most comfortable and you will never regret the decision.

Good luck!

I disagree. Michigan and Duke are both worth the diff in COA, especially given your interest in LRAP (I know Michigan has a very strong LRAP program, and I would bet Duke does too).