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Before my cycle started, I wasn't expecting much money as a splitter. I wasn't an extreme splitter, and my LSAT was going to put me in contention at T14s, but wasn't going to attract many offers (170).

After a long cycle where I had nothing but Cornell and UCLA on the table, along swooped in Duke and offered acceptance and a total of $42,000 off of the waitlist.

I was able to negotiate a renewable yearly need based grant of $10,000 at UCLA to a merit aid scholarship equaling $60,000 for a combined total of $70,000. Potentially, that can turn into $90,000 depending on that need based aid. Add that to the in-state tuition I'd be paying.

I'm from California, and at this stage I probably want to target LA Biglaw, though that could change during the three years of law school. I've already negotiated, so chances for another bump in scholly money is off of the table. I could live at home for one or two years, which can cut down the total CoA, but I'd rather not if I can help it.

Admittedly, some of the employment numbers at UCLA scare me, and I'm not sure this difference in aid is worth the diminished job prospects. UCLA does have a lock on LA, but Duke grads don't do too badly either.

Thanks in advance guys. This site has been a lifesaver before and I'm hoping for another golden nugget of wisdom.

45 vs. 70 would be Duke all of the way.
45 vs. 90 is a bit more even.

I'm not sure of Duke's placement into the LA market, but common TLS wisdom is that you need to be top third at UCLA to have a good shot at biglaw. Does anyone know what the situation is at Duke?

I suggest UCLA if LA or bust
Duke if LA Biglaw or other Biglaw
So, if no LA Biglaw would you want to be in SoCal doing something else or fighting for Biglaw in NYC/etc.

I will say that ties to LA don't help much in terms of finding any Biglaw job, so you would have to put in some work / work in another area after 1L to create ties to other secondary markets, otherwise NYC/maybe Atlanta/maybe TX markets would probably be your backups.

OP: Calculate the total COA for each law school. What is the total COA for UCLA & for Duke ?

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: Calculate the total COA for each law school. What is the total COA for UCLA & for Duke ?

Total CoA would be about $125,000 for UCLA, given that I live away from home for all three years and the need based aid is not renewed. If it is renewed, obviously it goes down to $105,000, and down even further if I attempt to live at home for a year or two.

For Duke, CoA would be about $170,000.

I'm looking to pay off my debt ASAP and lateraling into something else after the typical 3-5 year run, so Biglaw is my focus at the moment. Granted that could change in law school, but that's what I'm aiming for. I'd like to come back to LA for Biglaw if possible, but I wouldn't say I absolutely have to.

Duke for sure. You want Big Law.

Just to add an update, Duke did bump up their offer by another 12k. Their current offer is at 54k. I'm not sure if that pushes the scale over to their side to any signifcant degree.