Seton Hall ($$$) vs Cardozo ($$) Forum

[KibblesnBitts]

Look, I know neither of these two schools are extremely popular here on TLS, but hear me out.

I'm from New Jersey and have absolutely no qualms staying near my home and living here for the next few decades. This is my home and I love it, much to the chagrin of everyone who isn't from New Jersey on this board.

LSAT 161, GPA 3.68

Being said, Seton hall is offering me $35,000 a year with a top 50% stip; Cardozo is offering me $25,000 a year with a top 80% stip. I feel that regardless of where I go, I'll probably live in Hoboken or Jersey City, New Jersey - making the COL roughly the same, especially seeing as I can take the PATH equidistantly to either school.

What's really crushing me is the fact that I'd be paying about an extra $10k in tuition per year at Cardozo - even though I really liked the school there.

Regardless, I'm pretty stressed since I have to put in a deposit at Cardozo by Tuesday and already put a deposit down at Seton Hall as it was due on the 15th. I enjoyed and liked both schools when I visited them.

My legal aspirations are wherever they'll take me. I'm entering law school on a clean slate. If I find tax law to be the best thing in the world during my 1L, then I'll be interested in practicing in tax law.

I know that neither of these schools are prestigious nationally and you guys love to shit on these schools (SeTTTon Hall; 'Bozo), but I know I'd be happy at either school. What it all comes down to is which one should I attend? I tried staving off TLS for the longest time because I wanted to make my decision as clearly and objectively as possible, but with the time crunch and inability to choose, I leave it to the fine folks here.

[flem]

Get Seton Hall to remove that awful stip if you're fine with staying in NJ.

Why not Rutgers?

[timbs4339]

Look, I know neither of these two schools are extremely popular here on TLS, but hear me out.

I'm from New Jersey and have absolutely no qualms staying near my home and living here for the next few decades. This is my home and I love it, much to the chagrin of everyone who isn't from New Jersey on this board.

LSAT 161, GPA 3.68

Being said, Seton hall is offering me $35,000 a year with a top 50% stip; Cardozo is offering me $25,000 a year with a top 80% stip. I feel that regardless of where I go, I'll probably live in Hoboken or Jersey City, New Jersey - making the COL roughly the same, especially seeing as I can take the PATH equidistantly to either school.

What's really crushing me is the fact that I'd be paying about an extra $10k in tuition per year at Cardozo - even though I really liked the school there.

Regardless, I'm pretty stressed since I have to put in a deposit at Cardozo by Tuesday and already put a deposit down at Seton Hall as it was due on the 15th. I enjoyed and liked both schools when I visited them.

My legal aspirations are wherever they'll take me. I'm entering law school on a clean slate. If I find tax law to be the best thing in the world during my 1L, then I'll be interested in practicing in tax law.

I know that neither of these schools are prestigious nationally and you guys love to shit on these schools (SeTTTon Hall; 'Bozo), but I know I'd be happy at either school. What it all comes down to is which one should I attend? I tried staving off TLS for the longest time because I wanted to make my decision as clearly and objectively as possible, but with the time crunch and inability to choose, I leave it to the fine folks here.

TLS is usually fine with Dozo or Seton Hall with large scholarships and low stips. It's the people who come in like "should I pay sticker at Cardozo or take the 5K per year at Seton Hall and I want to practice with banks and hedge funds (read: Biglaw)" who get snarky responses because that is highly unlikely from those schools and it is a VERY large amount of debt. TLS is like any resource, the more info people give the more tailored the responses will be to that particular situation and the better the advice.

The problem with the above is that there is no way these schools business models are sustainable if people refuse to go there for anything short of a near full scholarship. I'm not sure there are enough rich price-insensitive kids and veterans to fill out these classes. I like to think the advice here somewhat brings the general tuition level back into normalcy. I would not recommend attending Dozo for anything more than 10K of tuition debt per year which is probably what tuition should be given placement.

In your situation, SH is a fine choice if tuition is around 10K per year and you'd like to stay in NJ. That stip is dangerous though. Additionally, SH is not a school where you will be able to practice whatever kind of law you like. You may find you want to work on M+A, but that means biglaw, which means top 5%. Tax law is similarly competitive, because the people who pay for tax lawyers are big corporate clients or real rich mofos = biglaw. It will hinge on your first year grades and you will have to do a lot better than 50%. You are also trying to go into biglaw after your first year, where if you were like me you will not have the foggiest idea what real lawyers do as the standard first-year curriculum is very outdated. So it's not about what you want to practice, but about what you can get.

What would be your total debt load from these schools? I would try to get the stip removed. I never understood what the justification for stips were since everyone is busting ass to get top 10% anyway. You should also ask current students whether the school "section-stacks," I have heard anecdotal reports of this from current Dozo students and I could see SH doing the same thing.

Also, I would analyze your LSAT performance and see if you can't improve with a retake. What was your worst section? How did you prep? It seems tough, but it could save you thousands down the line.

Good luck.

[KibblesnBitts]

I never got the chance to ask Cardozo students, but the Seton Hall students I asked said they know maybe 1 or 2 people in their class who lost their scholarship, and some saying they don't know anybody.

And to the "why not Rutgers?" - my debt would be about the same, and the facilities are different enough to make me jump ship. I love Rutgers and currently attend undergrad here, but I was not impressed by their facilities and faculty.

Also, I said tax law in jest - I'm entering law school on a clean slate. As of now, I have no special interest in tax law.

[sumtimesuwonder]

I actually met you at the seton hall dinner kibbles, and I'm here to help you out using some logic in one of the threads I posted earlier that InGoodFaith used on me.

Seton Hall:
Scholly: $70000 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (22442*3) + (70000*.5) = $102,326

Cardozo
Scholly: 50,000 over last two years, top 80% risk
Cost (scholly loss risk included): ($22800*3)+ (50000*.2)= $78,400

Also, Manhattan= Much nicer than newark.

Cardozo wins!

[pixleprincess]

I would ask dozo for more $. Tough, your LSAT isn't great for that, but maybe you can phrase it in a way that they'd be willing to add even an extra 5-10k.. That it's you're #1 but you just need a tiny bit more help to enroll. You never know. Dozo is funny about the scholarships they give out, I think they have waves of generosity. Or at the very least get the stips removed from Setton, but they might give you a bit more too if you say "I'm willing to lose seat deposit to go to a Cardozo, is there any more $? Everyone I met at 50-100 range schools says "I should have asked for more"

As is, I dont know ... I never got a good sense of setton hall

[KibblesnBitts]

I actually met you at the seton hall dinner kibbles, and I'm here to help you out using some logic in one of the threads I posted earlier that InGoodFaith used on me.

Seton Hall:
Scholly: $70000 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (22442*3) + (70000*.5) = $102,326

Cardozo
Scholly: 50,000 over last two years, top 80% risk
Cost (scholly loss risk included): ($22800*3)+ (50000*.2)= $78,400

Also, Manhattan= Much nicer than newark.

Cardozo wins!

LOL, well if you recall correctly.....I don't remember much of the scholly dinner that night x.x