Top Law Schools

• -Schools I am considering: NYU and Duke
  
  -Scholarship awards: NYU ($25k, no increase), Duke ($81k, up from $72k)
  
  -Total debt at repayment: NYU ($154k), Duke ($79k)
  
  -How you will be financing your COA: Entirely through loans. These COA's already take into account any other sources of income.
  
  -Where you are from and where you want to work: From the Midwest, but my primary goal is DC. I would take NYC and Chicago as well.
  
  -Your general career goals: DC biglaw (litigation) immediately after graduation, with the hope of moving into federal government after a few years in biglaw (3-5 years probably, depending on available opportunities).
  
  -Your LSAT/GPA numbers: 173/3.6
  
  -How many times you have taken the LSAT: Once
  
  -Other info: Waitlisted at Harvard, (had JS1). Still waiting on Columbia and Cornell. Rejected at SLS. In at GULC but no offer as of yet. Didn't apply to Y or B. WL'd at all other t14. Withdrew NU. Have pretty decent WE.

Jules239 wrote:You're estimated debt at repayment is wayyy below the mark, imo. I got 81k from Duke and calculated ~175k at repayment.

lawschool22 wrote:

Jules239 wrote:You're estimated debt at repayment is wayyy below the mark, imo. I got 81k from Duke and calculated ~175k at repayment.

Like I said my numbers include income from various sources, such as rental income, selling a car, estimated net earnings from SA, etc.

ETA: I am using the spreadsheet I made that's posted in this forum and I think it's solid. But if there is something off in that calculator let me know - I want these to be accurate haha

Jules239 wrote:

lawschool22 wrote:

Jules239 wrote:You're estimated debt at repayment is wayyy below the mark, imo. I got 81k from Duke and calculated ~175k at repayment.

Like I said my numbers include income from various sources, such as rental income, selling a car, estimated net earnings from SA, etc.

ETA: I am using the spreadsheet I made that's posted in this forum and I think it's solid. But if there is something off in that calculator let me know - I want these to be accurate haha

Gotcha. I was confused by "entirely through loans" and "other sources of income". Also, I didn't count SA income, because I would rather be pleasantly surprised.

Cobretti wrote:Do you have any existing ties to DC? If not I'd probably lean Duke given your goals.

ZGr88n wrote:0L here- but my vote is Duke given the current circumstances.

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k, imo. plus, who wants to live in durham, NC!

it really is a close call, though.

jk148706 wrote:

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k

Not saying you're wrong, but I just can't see this. NYU placement in DC is worth $96,000 more than Duke?? (0l here, so I don't know just sincerely asking)

Desert Fox wrote:

jk148706 wrote:

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k

Not saying you're wrong, but I just can't see this. NYU placement in DC is worth $96,000 more than Duke?? (0l here, so I don't know just sincerely asking)

I'm not sure if there is even 1 dollar worth more placement.

The choice is either Duke and Northwestern. They are peer schools. Neither place particularly well in either DC.

I'd go Northwestern because are MidBestern. First of all, midwest is best. Second, if you end up wanting to stay midBest NU is better. Third, it opens up Chicago, while Duke opens up nothing.

There is a 3/4 shot your grades aren't going to be high enough to even risk bidding on DC at OCI. Duke and NU are peers in NYC. And NU beats it at Duke.

Unless you love Duke (why would you? Duke is in the middle of BFE), NU is the objective best choice here.

/Proud NW grad / DC BIGLOLYER.

DrStudMuffin wrote:

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k, imo. plus, who wants to live in durham, NC!

it really is a close call, though.

This is a bad post. There is no data that suggests getting DC biglaw is easier from NYU than it is from Duke. In fact, the ABA data suggests it's the other way around with Duke sending a much higher percentage of graduates to DC. Sure, there are some self-selection issues there, but it definitely doesn't support NYU being better. For biglaw in general, yes NYU is better. But the available data indicates that this is not the case for OP's target market.

And as for who would want to live in Durham - I would much rather live there than NYC. But that's entirely personal and shouldn't be a decisive factor in choosing a law school.

LS22 - I would vote for Duke here. Though definitely try to get them to match NU.

lawschool22 wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

jk148706 wrote:

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k

Not saying you're wrong, but I just can't see this. NYU placement in DC is worth $96,000 more than Duke?? (0l here, so I don't know just sincerely asking)

I'm not sure if there is even 1 dollar worth more placement.

The choice is either Duke and Northwestern. They are peer schools. Neither place particularly well in either DC.

I'd go Northwestern because are MidBestern. First of all, midwest is best. Second, if you end up wanting to stay midBest NU is better. Third, it opens up Chicago, while Duke opens up nothing.

There is a 3/4 shot your grades aren't going to be high enough to even risk bidding on DC at OCI. Duke and NU are peers in NYC. And NU beats it at Duke.

Unless you love Duke (why would you? Duke is in the middle of BFE), NU is the objective best choice here.

/Proud NW grad / DC BIGLOLYER.

Do you really need top 25% (outside of HYS) to get DC? Genuinely curious.

iamgeorgebush wrote:

DrStudMuffin wrote:

iamgeorgebush wrote:i voted nyu. the increased odds of getting that DC biglaw lit you want make it worth the 96k, imo. plus, who wants to live in durham, NC!

it really is a close call, though.

This is a bad post. There is no data that suggests getting DC biglaw is easier from NYU than it is from Duke. In fact, the ABA data suggests it's the other way around with Duke sending a much higher percentage of graduates to DC. Sure, there are some self-selection issues there, but it definitely doesn't support NYU being better. For biglaw in general, yes NYU is better. But the available data indicates that this is not the case for OP's target market.

And as for who would want to live in Durham - I would much rather live there than NYC. But that's entirely personal and shouldn't be a decisive factor in choosing a law school.

LS22 - I would vote for Duke here. Though definitely try to get them to match NU.

highlighted the important part. according to LST, duke sends 13.8% of its grads to DC, while NYU sends 7.7% of its grads. considering self-selection, i don't think that's a meaningful difference. if it were something like 8% v. 20%, then duke would probably come out on top IMO, but this is not very significant.

anyway, only 2.7% are underemployed at NYU v. 11.6% underemployed at duke, and NYU does tend to send its grads to more prestigious firms than duke. i also think NYC would be a better place to live than durham, NC, and to the extent that it matters at all, maybe you'd be able to score an SDNY externship. i don't know whether externships actually lead to anything significant, but maybe that would help you score a clerkship?

if i were in your position, ls22, that would be significant enough to warrant paying an extra 96k. 96k might seem like a lot at first, but 15 years down the line it will be a distant memory. i realize that is not a popular perspective at topdashlawdashschoolsdotcom, but so be it.

eta: yes, duke c/o 2012 had a higher percentage of grads obtaining clerkships, but that was a very low year for NYU. usually the difference has only been a couple points.