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I am very torn at the moment and so I was hoping TLS folks could help me out. Here is my situation...

I have narrowed down my 3 choices for law school to Creighton, University of Nebraska, and Southern Methodist.

Creighton --> At Creighton I received a $26,000 per year scholarship (have to stay in top 60%). Tuition and Fees at Creighton are roughly 32,000 per year. So if I went to Creighton I would be paying around $6,000 per year in tuition and fees. Plus, I would not have to pay rent while going to Creighton because I would be living with a sibling, so my cost of living would be very low.

University of Nebraska --> If I went to the University of Nebraska College of Law I would receive in-state tuition. In-state tuition is around $14,000 per year. Plus, I have a $5,000 yearly scholarship to UNL (have to stay in top 50%). So if I went to Nebraska I would be paying around $9,000 per year in tuition. In addition, I would have to find a place to rent while at UNL because I would not be able to stay with any family for free.

Southern Methodist --> I received a $14,000 per year scholarship to SMU. Tuition and fees at SMU are around $46,000 per year, a hefty price tag if you ask me. So if I went to SMU I would be paying around $32,000 per year. Plus, I would have cost of living expenses because I would need a place to rent.

I'm pretty sure that I want to practice in Omaha. However, I went to undergrad in Texas and would love practicing in the DFW area if I went to SMU, but is SMU worth this price tag? If you were in my position what would you choose?

Go to Creighton, drop out after 1L if you're not in the top 60%. Going to SMU would be a pretty bad decision here.

If you could graduate Creignton with under 30k of debt it would be a decent choice. I think the better answer is to retake and go to a better school, but Creighton for cheap and living with a sibling isn't a terrible idea. Just keep in mind that the sort of legal employment you'd get out of a school like that is low paying, and many students will never get jobs as lawyers.

I don't see much upside to SMU here.

WokeUpInACar wrote:Go to Creighton, drop out after 1L if you're not in the top 60%. Going to SMU would be a pretty bad decision here.

Yep, Creighton is definitely TCR here since you can keep your total COA under 30K BUT IT IS A CRITICAL PART OF THE PLAN THAT YOU DROP OUT IF YOU DON'T MAKE THE TOP 60% (alternatively, you can try to negotiate using your other scholarship offers to get the stipulations removed so you keep it no matter what). Law schools who use stips are relying on people's cognitive biases (sunk cost fallacy, risk-preference in loss frames, etc) to influence them to stay in school and pay full freight if they lose the scholarship. Don't be the sucker who does that - if you aren't in the top 60% at Creighton, your chance of getting a job to pay off the now near 100K you must borrow are extremely low.

As a fellow Nebraskan, if you want to practice in Omaha, and don't have T14 options available, go to Creighton.

Where are you from?

Where do you want to practice?

What are your career goals?