Top Law Schools

If I want Biglaw or Public Interest job, which school is a better option? + how “national” are they?

FYI, I am an international student who went to high school + undergraduate in state. I have a tie in NE area, but I guess it is not nearly enough to get me a job. I prefer east coast since I graduated there, but I will just say I have no strong regional preference for the sake of argument.

I got some scholarships from both of them, and the difference in tuition should be about 10,000 + (GULC > Vandy)

(I had other offer like BU ($$~$$$), but my mind is set to these two schools. )

If you want biglaw or PI in the NE, but not South, then I think GULC is the way to go.

What is total CoA at each

Are you completely financing this with private loans and are you already carrying private debt from UG?

2014 wrote:Are you completely financing this with private loans and are you already carrying private debt from UG?

Wow... the poll result is pretty clear. I guess T14 is still T14...and perhaps Vandy is relatively weak in the east coast market?

I love Vandy as well (that is why I started this poll), but I guess GULC is a better choice for me at this point. At least you guys think so…

+ My family will pay the rest. I'm very grateful for my father and mother who decided to support me, and fortunate enough to carry no debt from UG.

rightlawyer wrote:

2014 wrote:Are you completely financing this with private loans and are you already carrying private debt from UG?

Wow... the poll result is pretty clear. I guess T14 is still T14...and perhaps Vandy is relatively weak in the east coast market?

I love Vandy as well (that is why I started this poll), but I guess GULC is a better choice for me at this point. At least you guys think so…

+ My family will pay the rest. I'm very grateful for my father and mother who decided to support me, and fortunate enough to carry no debt from UG.

Here's the way I see it, though I suspect that some people are just voting GULC bc it is ranked higher. The polls are stupid.

Neither degree is especially portable to places you don't have ties. Which you don't. So your best shot is NYC/DC biglaw, probably NYC more so because they aren't as grade selective. Both schools have comparable biglaw + AIII placement, . GULC might have the edge in NYC. It's hard to tell sample size is small, especially with Vandy's small class size. GULC may have the edge a little, but honestly, just pick whichever one you like more.

rad lulz wrote: Here's the way I see it, though I suspect that some people are just voting GULC bc it is ranked higher.

I selected GULC because of the OP's stated preference for the East Coast, as well as my personal bias of finding three years in DC more interesting than three years in Nashville. Your mileage may vary.

rad lulz wrote:

rightlawyer wrote:

2014 wrote:Are you completely financing this with private loans and are you already carrying private debt from UG?

Wow... the poll result is pretty clear. I guess T14 is still T14...and perhaps Vandy is relatively weak in the east coast market?

I love Vandy as well (that is why I started this poll), but I guess GULC is a better choice for me at this point. At least you guys think so…

+ My family will pay the rest. I'm very grateful for my father and mother who decided to support me, and fortunate enough to carry no debt from UG.

Here's the way I see it, though I suspect that some people are just voting GULC bc it is ranked higher. The polls are stupid.

Neither degree is especially portable to places you don't have ties. Which you don't. So your best shot is NYC/DC biglaw, probably NYC more so because they aren't as grade selective. Both schools have comparable biglaw + AIII placement, . GULC might have the edge in NYC. It's hard to tell sample size is small, especially with Vandy's small class size. GULC may have the edge a little, but honestly, just pick whichever one you like more.

I'm glad someone can give me a straight answer. I don’t want to say the poll result is stupid, but I also understand the poll is little bit skewed since rank means so much for some people (even slight difference). I am not particularly crazy about getting a JD from T14, but I also understand that there is a certain truth to that cutoff point (at least for me who do not have a strong tie to anywhere. Is this true?). So pretty much Comparable schools -> Personal preference?

+ I liked both schools.

haus wrote:

rad lulz wrote: Here's the way I see it, though I suspect that some people are just voting GULC bc it is ranked higher.

I selected GULC because of the OP's stated preference for the East Coast, as well as my personal bias of finding three years in DC more interesting than three years in Nashville. Your mileage may vary.

I appreciate your opinion. Yes, I also do not think people just picked GULC for rank.
They must have their own reasoning and I want to hear that from them. Employment stats? name? rank? regional strength? City?

Studying law in DC seems pretty awesome, but I heard Nashville is very nice as well. I am kind of a music-nerd-who-enjoys-everything, though I am not a huge country-fan (yet).

rightlawyer wrote:

2014 wrote:Are you completely financing this with private loans and are you already carrying private debt from UG?

Wow... the poll result is pretty clear. I guess T14 is still T14...and perhaps Vandy is relatively weak in the east coast market?

I love Vandy as well (that is why I started this poll), but I guess GULC is a better choice for me at this point. At least you guys think so…

+ My family will pay the rest. I'm very grateful for my father and mother who decided to support me, and fortunate enough to carry no debt from UG.

if i've got this right, you're saying all in all GULC will cost $10k more than Vandy

since GULC will be quite a bit more expensive than Vandy, and Vandy probably gave you more money, i assume this means that attending GULC will cost your parents more than attending Vandy


is there a third option where you go to Vandy and your parents use the savings to buy you a boat?

I'd go Vandy. In this economy being one of the 570 GULC students going through OCI it not a fun place to be and it costs more regardless of who is paying.

2014 wrote:I'd go Vandy. In this economy being one of the 570 GULC students going through OCI it not a fun place to be and it costs more regardless of who is paying.

estoy de acuerdo

Grazzhoppa wrote:

2014 wrote:I'd go Vandy. In this economy being one of the 570 GULC students going through OCI it not a fun place to be and it costs more regardless of who is paying.

estoy de acuerdo

That is my worry as well. However, it seems like there is some difference in employment prospective (big law job). Do you think NLJ250 stat is little bit misleading because Vandy’s strength is mid-law?

Then again, I am worrying since I don’t know how southern mid-sized law firm is open to no-southern-tie-international-student (not saying biglaw is very open... but in comparison..)

Rad would know for sure, but I imagine that there are some firms that Vandy places in that are not NLJ 250 firms because of location but still pay market wherever they are. Whether that's a trivially low number or a substantial part of their class I can't say.

I just go with LST as I think they have the best stats for the time being.

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Vandy that year gave you a 10% better shot at landing something that makes your law degree arguably worthwhile, and that is nothing to scoff at. Plus the cost difference.

OP says he wants Northeast. Look at those LSN numbers for DC and NY. Georgetown crushes Vandy. Unless OP is cool with Vandy, I don't think he should go there.

(Obviously those stats don't speak to the relative ease of entering those markets, but they're the closest we get unless someone has a large amount of anecdotal evidence.)

2014 wrote:Rad would know for sure, but I imagine that there are some firms that Vandy places in that are not NLJ 250 firms because of location but still pay market wherever they are. Whether that's a trivially low number or a substantial part of their class I can't say.

I just go with LST as I think they have the best stats for the time being.

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Vandy that year gave you a 10% better shot at landing something that makes your law degree arguably worthwhile, and that is nothing to scoff at. Plus the cost difference.

If you look at the Rayiner thread for firms of 100+ and federal clerks, the numbers are pretty damn close with a sliiiiiight edge to GULC.

Doorkeeper wrote:OP says he wants Northeast. Look at those LSN numbers for DC and NY. Georgetown crushes Vandy. Unless OP is cool with Vandy, I don't think he should go there.

(Obviously those stats don't speak to the relative ease of entering those markets, but they're the closest we get unless someone has a large amount of anecdotal evidence.)

Unfortunately doesn't speak that much to self-selection.