Top Law Schools

-The schools you are considering
NYU, Virginia, Michigan, Colorado.

-COA
Thank God to GI Bill, practically $0 for Michigan/Colorado, about $4K for Virginia (1st semester I have to pay out of state) and NYU depending on YRP participation rate (I haven't heard from them yet, but last year, it was fully covered). GI Bill pays for tuition + housing allowance (NYC is $3700/month, as opposed to Ann arbor and Charlottesville is around $1200~1300/month)

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
US Government (Veteran's Affairs)

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
I'm from east Asia (one of China, Korea, Japan), lived in the US 6 yrs total. I either want to work in Denver or New York. Stationed (while in military) in Colorado for 3 years and lived in New York for 3 years. Don't have ties anywhere else in the United States. My brother is an ROTC cadet, my parents are back in Asia.

-Your general career goals
AIII Clerkship 1 year (I know how difficult it is, if not straight to big law), Big law litigation 3-5 years, don't know after that right now but I want to be Assistant US Attorney down the road then a Judge hopefully. If not, maybe Fed Gov agency after big law. If I like corporate, then in-house (undergrad major business)

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
172/superior(4.4/4.5 went to undergrad in foreign country for full scholarship)

-How many times you have taken the LSAT
2 times. 164/172.


I posted this on another post, but I'd like to add it here too.
Here's my issue. I looked into Denver biglaw firms (not that many...) and they only do OCI at Colorado Boulder and Denver University, which have terrible job stats. But I would like to go to Denver firms because $120K in Denver is a lot more powerful than $160K in New York, plus the hours are much better. But, obviously, I'd rather be in NYC bigfirm than jobless or horrible job in Denver. Do I pretty much have to go to NYC and then lateral after 2-3 yrs?

I don't think it's right to choose Colorado over the T14s... but I want to come back to CO down the road, if not right after law school. It really comes down to NYU (or Virginia) vs Colorado, I guess it's an easy answer, but would like to hear others' opinions.

Between Colorado and New York, you are going to have to choose one. Here's why:

1. Colorado: Your best bet at Denver BigLaw is CO Boulder or DU, but your chance of getting those jobs is like 10-15%. You can almost guarantee that you cannot break into Colorado market from outside law school as they got enough grads from CO Boulder or DU. So if your heart is set on Colorado, then CO Boulder is your only chance of breaking into it.
2. New York: NYU, Michigan or Virginia places well into NY, with NYU taking the lead (higher rank and local). You have about 50% chance at NY biglaw attending any of these three schools. There is absolutely noway u can break into NY from any of the Colorado schools.

With that said, make your decision on location now and commit. This is one of those situations that you can't have your cake and eat it too.
If you choose NY, pick the cheapest school (lowest COA) and the place where u want to live for 3 years.

In term of clerkship chances and your long term goals, CO schools will NOT get you there, but the other three schools may. You have about 15-25% chance from the other 3 schools.

Actually, the (few) big firms in Denver love to hire T14 folks who grew up (and often went to college) in Colorado, went away to the fancy law school, and then return home. They only do OCI at CU/DU, but that doesn't mean they only hire from CU/DU - in fact, they tend to hire only a few local students and fill the rest of their (few) slots with T14 students. And I don't think you'd need anything like the class rank you'd need at CU/DU.

I'm not sure if your 3 years in the military would count very strongly as ties, though - you're not really a local or native. Going to CU would strengthen your ties, but you'd need to place higher in the class.

The real problem is that there just aren't many biglaw positions in Denver (I think the biggest office is something like 200-ish attorneys, so it's different from NYC biglaw).

It's possible to get a federal clerkship out of CU, but again, you'll have to be at the very top of the class (and ideally have something else to pull you out of the stack). The other schools will certainly give you a much better shot.

I also think that it's possible to go T14, get a clerkship in Denver, and use the clerkship to get into a Denver firm. Which is probably what I'd recommend you do, especially assuming you can do so for free. CU can, technically, get you what you're looking for, but the chances are low, and if you don't win that gamble, a CU degree isn't especially portable, and you'd be looking at small/midlaw in Denver (I don't think that's actually a terrible thing, but it's not what you've IDed as your goal). If you go to one of the other schools, you may or may not get back to Denver right away, but your backup options will probably be better for getting you where you want to be, eventually.

(If the choice was CU for free or t14 for sticker, I think it would be tougher, but since you're pretty much covered everywhere, I'd take one of the others. Maybe NYU.)

NYU has the best placement. Given the low cost of any of these options I'd go there unless the Yellow Ribbon participation issue is serious.

My preference, at the time of graduation would be

AIII Clerkship Denver>AIII Clerkship SDNY or around>>Denver biglaw>NYC or other metro Biglaw>>>>>>>>>>>>Other jobs in Denver>Other jobs in NYC

I want big law for at least 3-5 years so I can buy a house. Since I won't have any debt, after working 3-5 yrs, save the down payment money for house, and then move to less paying federal gov't job is my goal. I prefer Denver over New York, but biglaw is more important. Also, I gotta have some kind of back up plan if I'm not at the top 50% of graduating class.

So, NYU/Virginia it is then.

Tiago Splitter wrote:NYU has the best placement. Given the low cost of any of these options I'd go there unless the Yellow Ribbon participation issue is serious.

Worst case, I'm looking at COA of NYU at $90K over $4K at Virginia. So, it's kinda big deal depending on the YRP. If the cost is equal though, I'm headed to NYC.