Top Law Schools

Omitted

How much undergrad debt? Any savings etc?

If you want to do biglaw, I say go for Cornell or NYU depending on if Cornell gives you $$. Although you take a quality of life hit after you get the biglaw job...you first need to get the biglaw job, and that's something that you will be in a much better position for coming out of NYU or Cornell.

If Cornell gives $15k+/year then I would go there. Otherwise enjoy NYU!

@ top30man: I don't want to give you an exact figure, but just know it's not a significant figure. My savings are also insignificant (like 6K), so I'll be taking it all out in loans

@doorkeeper: If I'm being completely honest with myself, the reason why I wanted Biglaw was for the money to pay off the loans I was going to have to take out. So Biglaw is not necessarily the definite endgame.

LSHopeful91 wrote:@ top30man: I don't want to give you an exact figure, but just know it's not a significant figure. My savings are also insignificant (like 6K), so I'll be taking it all out in loans

@doorkeeper: If I'm being completely honest with myself, the reason why I wanted Biglaw was for the money to pay off the loans I was going to have to take out. So Biglaw is not necessarily the definite endgame.

I would still say NYU here (or Cornell if they give you about $15-20k per year or more). Getting any legal job out of Cardozo is not easy and if you decide to go the PI route, NYU will give you access to much better jobs and offer a decent LRAP program (still not as good as no debt, but if you don't get the job itself, then that still is a problem). Also think of the long-term effects. Paying off your debts is not the only reason to do biglaw. Working at those firms start you on a career path with a lot more options down the line than working somewhere else will. While there are no stips at Cardozo, if you don't do very well, you are going to have a difficult time finding decent legal work post-graduation.

What exactly do you want to do with your law degree? An argument can be made for a free ride over a T14, but only under specific circumstances