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I feel a bit silly making this post as this is not a novel set of circumstances, but NYU's aid deadline is the 13th and I still don't know where I"m going. I have some savings and a SO to make cost of living a bit cheaper, so I will more or less only have to take out loans for tuition. This puts my cost of attendance at each school as; CLS 130k, NYU 110k (assuming I commute from Brooklyn, more like 120k if I don't) and Northwestern 70k. Furthermore, my significant other should be working when I graduate, although she may be in school for an extra year. Point being, we will likely have 2 sets of income in our household, which makes the debt slightly less terrifying. I'd love to clerk/teach and all those other lofty goals, but realistically I want NYC biglaw for a few years before transitioning into something less life-consuming.

I currently live overseas, and thus have not been able to visit either school. I have briefly lived in NYC before however, so I have a decent feel for the neighborhoods. Coming into this cycle I had a preference for CLS due to its campus feel and the other lame reasons 0Ls prefer CLS to NYU. I also have a good friend who is a 2L at NYU and he has nothing but wonderful things to say about it. Essentially, I'd like to go to CLS, but at the same time realize that it's likely not the most prudent choice, and that I'd be dumb to pay more for CLS when I'd likely have the same options from both schools. My indecision is enhanced by the fact that I won't be able to visit either school before I make my decision. And of course, there is a part of me that is considering NW for a much more manageable debt load. Looking at the monthly loan payments of these three schools I would be fine at NW if I struck out at firm job, okish at NYU, and less than ok at CLS.

I've appealed my NYU amount including the two other offers along with Duke at 81k, but I can't count on getting any more from them. Thoughts?

Would you live near Columbia or try to commute ? In my opinion, it's best to minimize commuting time during one's first year of law school in order to be more involved & build better relationships. Since you want to work in NYC, it's between Columbia & NYU.

CanadianWolf wrote:Would you live near Columbia or try to commute ? In my opinion, it's best to minimize commuting time during one's first year of law school in order to be more involved & build better relationships. Since you want to work in NYC, it's between Columbia & NYU.

This is a big reason why I'm choosing CLS over NYU at equal money. I'll be able to walk from CLS housing to school but if I went to NYU I'd have to live pretty far away to get something affordable. I don't think 10K really matters much but with that and NYU's lower tuition you could potentially afford to live near NYU and have about the same debt as you'd have from Columbia. I'm also probably going to take Columbia over Northwestern with 60K but it's a really close call.

I don't think CLS is worth 10k more than NYU. But I also don't think 10k is a significant enough factor in this process that it should make a huge difference. If you would pick CLS over NYU because you like the school, atmosphere, students, MH (yeah, right) better, then pick CLS. If you like the idea of living in the Village, having more PI-focused students around you, and those sort of things, then go with NYU.

$10k over three years is background noise. Go where you like.