FORDHAM(sticker) vs. Brooklyn ($$$$$) Forum

[superjohnnnn]

47k/yr at Brooklyn or Fordham at sticker.
good softs (not a urm)

Moving from DC to NY.

Which?

My forum search skills are seemingly not up to par so if someone can direct me to a thread where this is previously discussed that'll do too.
Or, you guys can leave input here again.

[SaintFond]

Was gonna say retake, but it sounds more like your GPA is the limiting factor, so to speak.

Honestly I wouldn't do either option, but if you're 100% committed to going and won't be dissuaded, I'd do Brooklyn with 47K/yr. That's essentially full ride, yeah? Just be sure to drop out if you aren't like, I don't know, top 10-15% or something.

[roaringeagle]

haha my mentor is like "my brother went to brooklyn and got a job" his brother finished like 2nd and got Law Review, He then clerked for a judge and then got a great job. I advise you to go to Fordham. That and retake and apply to more schools in the 15-30 range.

[dingbat]

Here's some comparisons, based on 2010 employment data (and assuming graduates who don't report are unemployed)

................................................................Brooklyn.............Fordham
Working for law firms of 50+ attorneys:................17.9%................35.6%
Judicial Clerkship...........................................6.8%.................12.4%
Public Interest...............................................6.2%.................12.7%
Unemployed or unreported...............................14.5%..................7.8%

So at Fordham you're nearly doubling your chances of working for a law firm, doing PI, or clerking, the three most desirable outcomes for a law degree, while halving your chances of being unemployed.

Note: this is an incomplete picture of employment prospects. However, these are the best metrics to use.

For a different perspective, the NLJ250 lists give the following:

.....................Brooklyn...............Fordham
2012..............6.59%..................19.58%
2011..............N/A (<10.57%)........25.68%
2010..............N/A (<13.2%)..........29.4%
This trend continues:
2006..............10%......................34% (oldest I found, but I stopped looking)

Brooklyn for free is not bad.
Fordham is better, but is it worth an extra $150k? only you can decide

[SaintFond]

Fordham is clearly the better school, but it's not worth sticker ITE. A full ride from almost any school might be worthwhile so long as you can land yourself in the top 10-15% of the student body. His chances of getting top 10-15% are better at Brooklyn. I still say Brooklyn & drop out if not top student.

[JCFindley]

I'll be moving from DC to NY for Fordham myself.... I am an older nontraditional and simply do not have the career time left in me to be paying off LS debt for ten years so NO school is worth sticker to me and that would include YHS if I could have got into one of those.

That said take a look at the stats Bat posted above. Only you can decide if it is worth the extra money to double your chances. It is a gamble of course as you still have a pretty good shot of being un/underemployed with a boat load of debt....

Fordham was my very top choice in law schools but a lot of that has to do with my GI Bill covering it. As much as I like Fordham I would probably do Brooklyn if I was in the same situation but different choices for different life situations so YMMV.....

JC

[superjohnnnn]

thanks all for the replies... damnit... 200k vs. debt free...
cant decide lol

[Bgibbs]

I would say either go to Brooklyn or retake, break a 170, and get into the T14 by doing ED. Fordham at sticker is a huge amount of debt with only a decent shot to pay it back, you'd be much better served waiting a year and getting into a better school if that's what you really want to do.

[MrAnon]

Fordham is not worth it. If you kill it at Brooklyn you'll find a good job. If you don't kill it at Brooklyn, you wouldn't have killed it at Fordham, and you'll be glad you didn't pay anything.

[Elston Gunn]

thanks all for the replies... damnit... 200k vs. debt free...
cant decide lol

Just COL in NYC is gonna be at the very least 60K. And it'll be more like 250K with interest from Fordham. Brooklyn probably isn't worth 60K+ (especially since it will very likely be more, plus interest) and Fordham definitely isn't worth 250K+.

TCR is retake, as it often is. Get a 170+ and you'll probably get in somewhere worth paying sticker for. If you're gonna be one of those dudes who insists that retaking would be the worst thing in the world and under absolutely no circumstances will you do it--even though 4 more points could easily be worth close to a million dollars in lifetime earnings--then I guess Brooklyn.

ETA: If you actually are going to be debt-free from BLS because of savings or something, then it would be a fine choice. (And even 60K savings wouldn't make Fordham worth it.) BLS would then be the easy choice.

[dingbat]

Fordham is not worth it. If you kill it at Brooklyn you'll find a good job. If you don't kill it at Brooklyn, you wouldn't have killed it at Fordham, and you'll be glad you didn't pay anything.

I wanted to say something about this, but it's pretty darn straight

[confusedlaw]

did you try and ask fordham for need based or merit aid, i have 25k with 167 3.7

[CanadianWolf]

Take the full tuition & fees scholarship from Brooklyn over paying sticker price at Fordham.

Although I disagree that top 10% to 15% is the recommended standard for remaining at Brooklyn, you do need to be in the top third to be competitive for private firm placement in my opinion.

If you pay sticker at Fordham, the estimated total annual COA is about $75,000. Add in student loan interest at 6.8% per year, your tab 6 months after graduation will be about $257,000, therefore, you'll need biglaw or a new identity.

[SaintFond]

Fordham is not worth it. If you kill it at Brooklyn you'll find a good job. If you don't kill it at Brooklyn, you wouldn't have killed it at Fordham, and you'll be glad you didn't pay anything.

I wanted to say something about this, but it's pretty darn straight

[wingedwolf]

good softs (not a urm) but only a 3.13 lsac gpa and 166,
so I'm thinking I did ok this cycle.
yeah baby. fordham sounds tasty.

Whoa! Congrats...man I hope next cycle is this kind with similar stats...I'd love to go to Fordham!