Top Law Schools

Hi there,

I have been offered $60,000 at UChi, $65,000 at Columbia, and $150,000 at Northwestern. My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world. If I wind up at the top of my class I would be open to the possibility of clerking, but if it doesn't work out that would be fine as well.

I am going to be getting married soon, and my fiance makes ~60K/yr. She will be covering our cost of living. This is obviously presumptive, but most people in her industry typically make around 80K/yr after they have been doing it for a few years, so she should be getting a pay bump about the time that I graduate.

I am a few years out of undergrad, and I have about 20K saved up that I can put towards law school. We both have spent the last 20+ years of our lives in Texas and both have lots of family here. Establishing ties shouldn't be an issue.

I have some family in Chicago, I prefer Chicago as a city to NYC, and my fiance will be able to transfer to an office in Chicago but would have to get an entirely new job with NYC. All things considered, I am heavily learning UChi over CLS.

The tricky part is the Northwestern offer. It's obviously a great deal, but I am worried about the marketability of the degree in Texas. Chicago annually places around 6-7% of their grads in TX, while Northwestern typically places around 3%. If we wanted to stay in the midwest I would probably go with Northwestern here, but given the circumstances I am leaning UChi. Thoughts?

marcusqrp wrote: My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world.

What if you don't get biglaw at all. That could absolutely happen at any of these schools. You need to be able to say that making 50k in a small firm isn't the end of the world. If you can't say that, you shouldn't go.

What is your total estimated COA at each school?

I would hazard a guess that the Texas biglaw #s at NU/Chi/NY are very much due self selection.

I would do northwestern.

It's definitely possible you could end up making $50k a year, but you have a great chance at biglaw. I think t14 on a full ride -> big law is probably the best possible outcome for anyone, given that from there you will have tons of options.

Nomo wrote:

marcusqrp wrote: My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world.

What if you don't get biglaw at all. That could absolutely happen at any of these schools. You need to be able to say that making 50k in a small firm isn't the end of the world. If you can't say that, you shouldn't go.

Good point. It wouldn't be what I want, but I could live with a small firm gig. I just didn't mention that since it is at the bottom of my preference list.

Nomo wrote:

marcusqrp wrote: My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world.

What if you don't get biglaw at all. That could absolutely happen at any of these schools. You need to be able to say that making 50k in a small firm isn't the end of the world. If you can't say that, you shouldn't go.

... Come on. OP listed 2 of the best (maybe THE best) schools for biglaw. Small firm work is extremely unlikely: over 80% of cls and chi snag 2L SA's. All these prices are justified.

jbagelboy wrote:

Nomo wrote:

marcusqrp wrote: My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world.

What if you don't get biglaw at all. That could absolutely happen at any of these schools. You need to be able to say that making 50k in a small firm isn't the end of the world. If you can't say that, you shouldn't go.

... Come on. OP listed 2 of the best (maybe THE best) schools for biglaw. Small firm work is extremely unlikely: over 80% of cls and chi snag 2L SA's. All these prices are justified.

Let's say only 10 percent want it and cant get it. Hell, lets say its 5% . . . 5% is unlikely, but not incredibly unlikely. It would include multiple people in his 1L section. And I'm not saying the cost isn't justified - I think it is. But, that's assuming he wants to be a lawyer and thinks he would be happy even if he doesn't get biglaw.

rebexness wrote:What is your total estimated COA at each school?

I would hazard a guess that the Texas biglaw #s at NU/Chi/NY are very much due self selection.

Assuming that tuition won't go up next year (lol) and that the only money I contribute to law school over the next 3 years is the 20K I have in savings I will owe this much at graduation:

UChi: 95,000
NU: 2,000
CLS: 102,000

Interest is factored in here. Although it won't effect our level of debt, it is worth noting that NYC is much more expensive than Chicago.

I totally agree with the self selection argument with CLS and UChi, but do you think the same holds true with NU? That's my concern.

First of all congrats op, you have some great options for your goals. I don't think you can make a wrong choice.

Second, I would ask chicago and columbia to negotiate using the nw scholly. it probably won't help but it cant hurt and you might as well do everything you can to save money.

finally, i would vote chicago

your in a position where chicago is feasible money wise and worth the extra cost over nw given the big law and clerkship advantages, as well as the additional portability

with no cost of living and 20k of savings, 60k scholly, your looking at under 100k in loans to pay back

in the very unlikely scenario you miss big law, your still not in a terrible place

best of luck

There probably is not a huge difference between Uchi and NW but the TX placement is daunting. I vote Uchi mostly because of this (a more established pipeline to certain firms is worth extra $$), but with legwork NW could likely also get you there. Really, either NW or UChi seem like a good outcome in this scenario. I would chose the one that you like better of the two. They are very different schools.

Sounds like you are leaning away from Columbia, if so, these options are comparable so go ahead and cross off columbia

I would probably choose Chi. That being said, none of the three is the wrong answer.

See if you can negotiate, but take NW. 90k with interest is a shitton of money and you'll do just fine coming from NW.

It would be interesting to hear from any NW graduates that work in Texas about their experience... I imagine there a few around here somewhere.

Take Northwestern.

If you follow my posting habits you will know that this is truly rare advice but I'll stand by it.

In the event that you want to labor over a decision withdraw from Columbia. It is not worth a penny more in COA than UChi for Texas especially not for someone more partial to Chicago than NY.

0K debt vs 100K debt?

Dude. Northwestern.

BigZuck wrote:0K debt vs 100K debt?

Dude. Northwestern.

+1

NU is the right call here dude. Everyone I know here that had any ties at all to TX and wanted TX biglaw got TX biglaw, the 3% is likely more a representation of who's at NU than any significant difference between NU and UChi TX biglaw placement.

2014 wrote:Take Northwestern.

If you follow my posting habits you will know that this is truly rare advice but I'll stand by it.

In the event that you want to labor over a decision withdraw from Columbia. It is not worth a penny more in COA than UChi for Texas especially not for someone more partial to Chicago than NY.

This is slightly lurkerish, but seeing this from 2014 is pretty huge. Maybe some divination manifesting itself? This is akin to brucewayne saying T-14 at sticker is a good call.

matthewsean85 wrote: This is slightly lurkerish, but seeing this from 2014 is pretty huge. Maybe some divination manifesting itself? This is akin to brucewayne saying T-14 at sticker is a good call.

I'm pretty shocked.

Less surprisingly, I too vote to take the zero debt at NU. Though UChi is totally defensible.

cotiger wrote:

matthewsean85 wrote: This is slightly lurkerish, but seeing this from 2014 is pretty huge. Maybe some divination manifesting itself? This is akin to brucewayne saying T-14 at sticker is a good call.

I'm pretty shocked.

Less surprisingly, I too vote to take the zero debt at NU. Though UChi is totally defensible.

Completely agree. NU is the clear choice here.

Gotta be Northwestern unless you can increase the Chicago scholarship. Congrats on the great options.

Northwestern because less debt.

matthewsean85 wrote:

2014 wrote:Take Northwestern.

If you follow my posting habits you will know that this is truly rare advice but I'll stand by it.

In the event that you want to labor over a decision withdraw from Columbia. It is not worth a penny more in COA than UChi for Texas especially not for someone more partial to Chicago than NY.

This is slightly lurkerish, but seeing this from 2014 is pretty huge. Maybe some divination manifesting itself? This is akin to brucewayne saying T-14 at sticker is a good call.

I too was stunned. Maybe 2014 had a final today though. He could just be worn out.

jbagelboy wrote:

Nomo wrote:

marcusqrp wrote: My main goal is Texas Biglaw, but doing Biglaw in another market if I strike out in Texas wouldn't be the end of the world.

What if you don't get biglaw at all. That could absolutely happen at any of these schools. You need to be able to say that making 50k in a small firm isn't the end of the world. If you can't say that, you shouldn't go.

... Come on. OP listed 2 of the best (maybe THE best) schools for biglaw. Small firm work is extremely unlikely: over 80% of cls and chi snag 2L SA's. All these prices are justified.

Yeah, that's a little over the top. Lots of things absolutely COULD happen. Texas BigLaw from these schools is a reasonable expectation with Texas ties. Of course it's not an absolute gua-ronnnn-tee, but that's a stupidly high bar for any decision making.

Congrats on three great options.

If you don't mind me asking, when did you receive scholly info from Northwestern? I wasn't aware any had gone out, outside of ED applicants.