UVA, NYU or Columbia Forum

[lawschoolboundfuture]

Can you explain the difference in culture?

[BSC]

Also - according to career services at UVA c/o 2012 placed 55% into big firms. I don't know what that figure is for CLS.

Where did you find that? UVA is definitely one of my top choices, but they're employment wasn't so hot last year. I would really like if this were true.

[Rahviveh]

Also - according to career services at UVA c/o 2012 placed 55% into big firms. I don't know what that figure is for CLS.

Where did you find that? UVA is definitely one of my top choices, but they're employment wasn't so hot last year. I would really like if this were true.

Call them. They said that for the class of 2012, 202/368 were working at big firms at graduation. About 60 people have clerkships. And around 30 people with school funded positions.

[RPK34]

You'll probably save 5-10k living in Charlottesville v. Columbia. And UVA has lower tuition. All in all, you're probably looking at about a 115-120k difference.

Even if you're real aggressive with paying off loans, that's 2 extra years of loan repayments of about 5k a month (if you can even afford that much loan repayment). I would take UVA in a heartbeat.

[BSC]

Also - according to career services at UVA c/o 2012 placed 55% into big firms. I don't know what that figure is for CLS.

Where did you find that? UVA is definitely one of my top choices, but they're employment wasn't so hot last year. I would really like if this were true.

Call them. They said that for the class of 2012, 202/368 were working at big firms at graduation. About 60 people have clerkships. And around 30 people with school funded positions.

Thanks! That is pretty good, right? Does "big firm" mean 50+ or 100+?

[Rahviveh]

Also - according to career services at UVA c/o 2012 placed 55% into big firms. I don't know what that figure is for CLS.

Where did you find that? UVA is definitely one of my top choices, but they're employment wasn't so hot last year. I would really like if this were true.

Call them. They said that for the class of 2012, 202/368 were working at big firms at graduation. About 60 people have clerkships. And around 30 people with school funded positions.

Thanks! That is pretty good, right? Does "big firm" mean 50+ or 100+?

100+ by their def.

[BSC]

100+ by their def.

That's good to know; thanks.

[rickgrimes69]

Only do CLS if you are 100% dead-set on NYC biglaw. Otherwise, UVA.

[DaleCooper]

Only do CLS if you are 100% dead-set on NYC biglaw. Otherwise, UVA.

I get the feeling that's more true of us than of them... You can get DC with good grades from any of the three, and you probably won't get it with bad grades from any of them. I'd want to see some hard evidence of this supposed Virginia preference before signing onto the idea that it's objectively better for DC... there might be some DC firms that prefer UVA to NYU for various valid and not-so-valid reasons, but I have a very hard time believing that any firm is going to dip deeper into Virginia's class than Columbia's.

I understand that UVA places far more students into DC in any given year, but I suspect that's just self-selection. It makes more sense that Virginia students are more aggressive in seeking out DC firms, while Columbia kids are more likely to have spent three years here and see no real upside in moving south. I can only speak for NYU, but here our biggest problem is that 70% of the student body literally refuses to work outside of Manhattan or Brooklyn, even for 1L summer.* It's ridiculous.

*They might do Bronx public defender if they have to. Maybe.

[rickgrimes69]

Only do CLS if you are 100% dead-set on NYC biglaw. Otherwise, UVA.

I get the feeling that's more true of us than of them... You can get DC with good grades from any of the three, and you probably won't get it with bad grades from any of them. I'd want to see some hard evidence of this supposed Virginia preference before signing onto the idea that it's objectively better for DC... there might be some DC firms that prefer UVA to NYU for various valid and not-so-valid reasons, but I have a very hard time believing that any firm is going to dip deeper into Virginia's class than Columbia's.

I understand that UVA places far more students into DC in any given year, but I suspect that's just self-selection. It makes more sense that Virginia students are more aggressive in seeking out DC firms, while Columbia kids are more likely to have spent three years here and see no real upside in moving south. I can only speak for NYU, but here our biggest problem is that 70% of the student body literally refuses to work outside of Manhattan or Brooklyn, even for 1L summer.* It's ridiculous.

*They might do Bronx public defender if they have to. Maybe.

I don't say that because I think UVA will do any better in DC. It's just that Columbia's real advantage is with NYC firms. If you aren't going to NYC, then that advantage diminishes pretty quickly the further away you get from NYC. If you know you aren't shooting for New York, I don't see the rationale behind paying an extra $120k for CLS when UVA will probably get you offers which are just as good.

[law2015]

I chose to take NYU/CLS in a similar situation last year and believe it is the right decision. NYU/CLS have better job prospects than Virginia overall and from what I have heard better options for DC.