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Hi all, help needed please! I have narrowed down my choices to NYU, Penn, and Cornell, and need help deciding!
I want to do public interest (government) but won't mind working in NYC BigLaw for a few years first to gain some experience
I went to college in MA, and want to work in the Northeast long term. Ideally I'd like start out in NYC, and settle in Boston or DC.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! And please vote!

NYU is probably your best bet for BigLaw out of those options, but it'd be awfully hard to justify paying sticker there.

That is a brutal choice. If you're ambitious, go with NYU or Penn (NYU if you're interested in PI, Penn if dead-set on big law). If you're unsure/debt-averse/terrified, then go with Cornell.

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:That is a brutal choice. If you're ambitious, go with NYU or Penn (NYU if you're interested in PI, Penn if dead-set on big law). If you're unsure/debt-averse/terrified, then go with Cornell.

You'd have to be crazy to pay sticker at NYU or Penn, but if you're going to choose one of the two with no location preference beyond NYC biglaw, you should go to NYU.

The boost in biglaw hiring that Penn and NYU give you over Cornell is not worth 75K imo because Cornell still places very comparatively.

I think that if OP just wants NYC big law, Cornell is the easy choice here, especially since OP wants to do PI after big law. The flexibility gained from lower loan payments will be helpful in deciding when to leave big law.
The caveat with Cornell is that it is not nearly as good in placing elite big law as NYU. At NYU, you do not have to be that grade competitive for a V10 firm. At Cornell, people at the top of the class can get V10, but people at median are most competitive for V30ish and below. I do not think those distinctions really matter too much for what OP wants.
280k of debt is just too much.
Caveat: Current Cornell student who chose it for $$$ over a higher ranked school at sticker (though not T6).

Edit: Also, I do not think Penn is a consideration here unless they give you money.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! My main interest is in public interest, but I recognize that these positions are hard to come by, so I'm amenable to the idea of Biglaw for a few years. I would like to take advantage of the schools' LRAP programs if at all possible. Would Cornell's $75,000 really make that big of a difference in terms of indebtedness since it still leaves me with a cost of attendance of about $164,000 pre-interest? As in, won't I still need biglaw to pay it off, or else a generous LRAP?

Take the money and run, gotta factor in cost of living.

Clearlynotstefan wrote:Take the money and run, gotta factor in cost of living.

Factor on tuition and its only 3300 more a year COA.

55k plus interest and such for someone wanting biglaw NYC, I'd say is a toss up. Add in his possible interest in PI, I'd go with NYU.


ETA: I am probably biased as I want to live in NYC which is why I'm leaning NYU over UVA in the same circumstance (45k+col diff)

As someone who lives in NY, I'd take the cash personally.

swordking90 wrote:Thanks for all the advice everyone! My main interest is in public interest, but I recognize that these positions are hard to come by, so I'm amenable to the idea of Biglaw for a few years. I would like to take advantage of the schools' LRAP programs if at all possible. Would Cornell's $75,000 really make that big of a difference in terms of indebtedness since it still leaves me with a cost of attendance of about $164,000 pre-interest? As in, won't I still need biglaw to pay it off, or else a generous LRAP?

$75,000 is probably around 18 months of BigLaw work towards loans.

Why is it crazy to go to nYU or penn at sticker? They both have great job rates

lawschoolboundfuture wrote:Why is it crazy to go to nYU or penn at sticker? They both have great job rates

Yes, you'll likely get a big law position, but sticker equates to $270-300k debt upon graduation after you account for accrued interest. The attrition rate in big law is very high, so you'll likely end up exiting while you still have a significant amount of debt.

Bronck wrote:

lawschoolboundfuture wrote:Why is it crazy to go to nYU or penn at sticker? They both have great job rates

Yes, you'll likely get a big law position, but sticker equates to $270-300k debt upon graduation after you account for accrued interest. The attrition rate in big law is very high, so you'll likely end up exiting while you still have a significant amount of debt.

I think the idea is that if you get into NYU or Penn you will most likely get money from a lower T14 that has a lower COA to begin with, and that NYU and Penn's placement is not worth the extra money. I don't necessarily agree with this, however.

I voted NYU because you said you wanted to do PI and I can't imagine a better place besides yale. you can go @ sticker and you won't need to do biglaw ; you can do PI and use an LRAP program and you'll be just fine.

when you get a home mortgage, you are assuming hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt too. your education is an investment, with a better return than real estate.

Thanks guys for the advice! Has anyone had success negotiating Penn scholly with Cornell scholly? Would really appreciate it if you could share your experiences!