Brooklyn vs. Hofstra vs. Fordham vs. CUNY Forum

[ozone_]

Please help, I have three days to decide between schools noted above. Fordham would have been my top choice, but they gave me only 3K. Hoftra is giving 40K, Brooklyn 20, CUNY nothing, but its quite cheap, so it does not matter much.

I am interested in labour law, ultimately want to work with trade unions (mix of public interest law). Anyone who is in one of these schools or had to make a similar decision, would really appreciate your vices. Thanks so much!

[flem]

CUNY because it's cheap and PI oriented. Fordham at that price is insane, that's not enough money for Brooklyn, and Hofstra is a toilet with a top 40% scholarship stip.

Good luck!

[Wily]

CUNY because it's cheap and PI oriented. Fordham at that price is insane, that's not enough money for Brooklyn, and Hofstra is a toilet with a top 40% scholarship stip.

Good luck!

Can you negotiate it up a little at Fordham? Is Fordham really that bad of a choice at sticker?

I may be faced with a similar situation in a few days if I get off the WL for Fordham, so I'm curious as to thoughts on Fordham @ sticker, given its (half)-decent placement in big firms.

[flem]

Can you negotiate it up a little at Fordham? Is Fordham really that bad of a choice at sticker?

I may be faced with a similar situation in a few days if I get off the WL for Fordham, so I'm curious as to thoughts on Fordham @ sticker, given its (half)-decent placement in big firms.

Fordham was placing 20-30% of it's students in BigLaw (160K starting out) positions. When you have 200K in debt, a big ass salary like that is required to service it.

For this dude it's REALLY too expensive as he's PI oriented where he most certainly would not make 160K his first year.

[ozone_]

negotiating with Fordham with LSAT of 162 (although GPA of 4.0) is impossible.

[timbs4339]

negotiating with Fordham with LSAT of 162 (although GPA of 4.0) is impossible.

You have a 4.0??? RETAKE.

[dingbat]

CUNY because it's cheap and PI oriented. Fordham at that price is insane, that's not enough money for Brooklyn, and Hofstra is a toilet with a top 40% scholarship stip.

Good luck!

Can you negotiate it up a little at Fordham? Is Fordham really that bad of a choice at sticker?

I may be faced with a similar situation in a few days if I get off the WL for Fordham, so I'm curious as to thoughts on Fordham @ sticker, given its (half)-decent placement in big firms.

If you want biglaw/midlaw, Fordham at sticker is an ok (if risky) proposition. There's a decent shot at biglaw, and if you miss the boat but end up in midlaw you'll probably be fine. But, if you get neither, you're left with unmanageable debt.
In a decent economy your odds are probably 1/3, 1/3, 1/3
In a shit economy, it's probably more like 1/5, above median, below median (an exaggeration, to be fair)

If you're going after PI or government work, you'll never make enough to afford a NY school at sticker; Columbia and NYU are justifiable because of generous LRAP; Fordham's isn't as good (but is worth reviewing)

[dingbat]

Please help, I have three days to decide between schools noted above. Fordham would have been my top choice, but they gave me only 3K. Hoftra is giving 40K, Brooklyn 20, CUNY nothing, but its quite cheap, so it does not matter much.

I am interested in labour law, ultimately want to work with trade unions (mix of public interest law). Anyone who is in one of these schools or had to make a similar decision, would really appreciate your vices. Thanks so much!

I think CUNY might be your best bet

[iceicebaby]

negotiating with Fordham with LSAT of 162 (although GPA of 4.0) is impossible.

You have a 4.0??? RETAKE.

Yeah, retake if you can. That GPA is stellar.

Also "labour" = you being British?

[Doorkeeper]

negotiating with Fordham with LSAT of 162 (although GPA of 4.0) is impossible.

You have a 4.0??? RETAKE.

This. You bump that up to a 167-168 or so and you're looking at T14, maybe with a little money.

[ozone_]

thanks everyone for the suggestions. I can't retake, I just can't handle the speed I need to do well at LSAT. First time around i got only 150, so 162 is my retake.

Update:
Thanks to suggestions given I tried to negotiate, Fordham added another 2K (which really makes no difference.). While Brooklyn added another 9K. so now out of 48K tuition for Brooklyn I have to pay 19K.
Choosing between Brooklyn for 19 and Cuny for 12, I am leaning towards Brooklyn.