NYU v Chicago Forum

[RamblinBoyofPleasure]

I just got off the waitlist at NYU. I'm interested in government or PI work, and am be interested in people's thoughts about the strengths/weaknesses for that.

I would pay sticker at both. A few months ago I would have picked NYU hands down, but now that I've been planning on attending Chicago I'm a little less inclined to upend my plans. My biggest concern is that it looks like NYU's LRAP program is superior, and that they have more institutional support for people interested in gov and PI.

I know this topic has been discussed exhaustively here, but I read through them and previous posters were looking at big law placement, which I'm really not concerned about.

[Doorkeeper]

Where do you want to work? State/Federal/Local?

Did you get any scholarship money at either?

Also, NYU has the institutional support for PI/gov't work that Chicago is just now trying to build. They have a lot of professors who just finished working in government to go and teach, administrators who work on getting government placement, and they have a lot of alums in DC.

I believe Chicago actually has a slightly better LRAP though, as it goes up to 80k.

But in the end, peer schools are peer. Go to the one with the environment you prefer in the location you prefer.

[2014]

Their LRAP programs are both at 80k but only Chicago's does not take into account spousal income which is not trivial.

Agree with the whole peer is peer thing though, go where you want. I'd probably stick with Chicago as you have presumably already made plans and NYU starts in mid August leaving you less time for the logistic stuff.

[StrictlyBusiness]

Also depends on how set you are on PI. If you think you like the idea of government or PI but might be persuaded by $160k, which I think happens more often than not, then they're peers and it comes down to personal preference of Manhattan vs. the rest of the country. If you're really sure that's what you want to do and understand everything that entails, I'd give the nod to NYU.

I wouldn't let timeframe influence your decision too much either, a month and a half is plenty of time to figure out your living situation in NY.

Edit- Can't spell.

[Real Madrid]

Where do you want to work? State/Federal/Local?

Did you get any scholarship money at either?

Also, NYU has the institutional support for PI/gov't work that Chicago is just now trying to build. They have a lot of professors who just finished working in government to go and teach, administrators who work on getting government placement, and they have a lot of alums in DC.

I believe Chicago actually has a slightly better LRAP though, as it goes up to 80k.

But in the end, peer schools are peer. Go to the one with the environment you prefer in the location you prefer.

Dude, stop. Your responses to these threads are becoming so annoying, first because you don't ever even read the OP - you just look at the thread title and start yammering.

Did you get any scholarship money at either?

From the first sentence of the second paragraph...

I would pay sticker at both.

And then you always throw this insightful gem in:

But in the end, peer schools are peer

And water is wet.

[potl]

stuff

I think "would pay sticker" could be read either as "would be willing to pay sticker" or "will end up paying sticker," so maybe Doorkeeper's question was due to ambiguity in OP's wording rather than a failure to read the post. Or maybe he didn't read the post carefully. Either way, I'm not sure it's worth getting upset over.

Also, the "peer schools are peer" remark seems relevant to OP's question. OP wanted to know if there would be an advantage to attending one school over the other, and although perhaps in a trite manner, Doorkeeper essentially responded with "not really."

[Mal Reynolds]

And water is wet.

You're a fucking douchebag. OP, Doorkeeper's analysis is pretty accurate. But at the end of the day either choice will be a good one. Maybe try and sneak money out of one if you're totally neutral.

[Doorkeeper]

Where do you want to work? State/Federal/Local?

Did you get any scholarship money at either?

Also, NYU has the institutional support for PI/gov't work that Chicago is just now trying to build. They have a lot of professors who just finished working in government to go and teach, administrators who work on getting government placement, and they have a lot of alums in DC.

I believe Chicago actually has a slightly better LRAP though, as it goes up to 80k.

But in the end, peer schools are peer. Go to the one with the environment you prefer in the location you prefer.

Dude, stop. Your responses to these threads are becoming so annoying, first because you don't ever even read the OP - you just look at the thread title and start yammering.

Did you get any scholarship money at either?

From the first sentence of the second paragraph...

I would pay sticker at both.

And then you always throw this insightful gem in:

But in the end, peer schools are peer

And water is wet.

Wow, seriously?

1) "I would pay sticker at both" is an ambiguous statement. Did someone not do as well on his LR section as he hoped? Also, OP just got in off of the WL at NYU, so it's possible money could be coming his/her way.

2) "Peer schools are peer" isn't just a boring statement to cover my bases. In a situation where rankings are hyper scrutinized, it's important to remind the people making their decisions that whether you go to the #5 or #6 school isn't that important of a metric to factor in and that they need to chill out with the rankings. Because of this, it's also a reminder that people need to take into consideration the more subjective factors that come into play when making this decision (Chicago vs NYC, small vs large school, etc).

[Bildungsroman]

You'll end up wanting biglaw, so don't worry too much about institutional support for PI/govt.

[RamblinBoyofPleasure]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I did indeed mean that I have not received money from Chicago, and I have yet to receive any from NYU.

My biggest confusion is the LRAP breakdown on TLS:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/tls-guid ... o-law.html

http://www.top-law-schools.com/tls-guid ... rsity.html

From what I can tell, NYU's maximum aid is much higher, especially for people who are close to the median PI salaries. But from what I've read, Chicago's new LRAP program is very generous. Am I missing something?

[dixiecupdrinking]

At a glance, both of those pages are totally out of date. NYU and Chicago each cover people up to (I think) $75-80k with no student contributions because they have both since developed LRAP programs that link with the federal PSLF program. Each has their own advantage. If you leave LRAP before the full ten year period has elapsed, NYU will pay your debt off to the extent as if you had been making regular payments; I don't believe Chicago does but don't quote me on that. This is a big deal because the major drawback to the new PSLF-linked LRAPs is that your principle balance typically grows during the forgiveness period, which means if you drop out before you get forgiveness you owe even more than you did when you graduated. On the other hand, Chicago, I have read, does not factor spousal income when calculating your benefits, which is a big deal that I don't believe NYU offers (though I've heard, alternately, that if you file separate tax returns it may give you the same benefit at NYU).

Overall I would probably call the LRAPs a wash.

I'm a bit of an NYU troll so take this for what it's worth, but NYU has a longer history of public interest support. Before the economy crashed, Chicago sent hardly any graduates into public interest work, while NYU has consistently sent something around 10%. I think it's an institutional difference that probably persists; it certainly seemed to when I considered both schools two-plus years ago.

ETA: I do agree that if your only goals are to do "PI or government" work, you're really likely to end up going into biglaw from either school. That's not a dig; it's just the way it works for most people. Public interest and government aren't hiring a whole hell of a lot right now, and your choices will be "Do OCI, have a high-paying 2L job lined up by November and probably have an offer locked up for when I graduate" or "Work an unpaid internship 2L summer, then hope and pray that I can get a fellowship or find someone that's hiring before my loan payments come due." In the current economy, unless you have a really specific legal cause you're really dedicated to pursuing, I'm afraid biglaw is not only the path of least resistance but far and away the rational choice for people at T6 schools.

[DaleCooper]

Oops.

[North]

I think we can all agree that this thread probably didn't need to be necroed for that suggestion.