Vanderbilt($$) vs UMinn($$$) vs George Washington($$) Forum

[vg_predator]

Offers at:

University of Minnesota
Vanderbilt
George Washington University
Washington University St. Louis (no scholarship)

COA/Scholarship:

Will be financing with student loans,

UMinn (50k COA/Full tuition (148k))
Vanderbilt (130k COA/90K scholarship)
GWU (129k COA/ 105K scholarship)
WUSTL (COA 60k/149k Full Tuition )

No major ties, would prefer to work in Biglaw at first to payoff the loans then pursue a career in corporate or possibly real estate law at a larger firm in California or New York, however would be open to Boston, Chicago, or DC.

Also interested in a judicial clerkship after graduation

170 LSAT/3.0 ~GPA

Any advice would be greatly appreciated


***** edit, just received a scholly offer from just received a scholarship offer at WUSTL for full tuition (149K) COA 60K

[sdnative89]

First of all, congrats on the scholarships! And your numbers and goals are quite similar to mine so let me just chime in if I may. Both UMinn and Vandy are regional schools so if you wanted to practice in Cali, NYC, or DC your options are quite limited given both of those schools regional ties to their respective markets. You will be competing with Cal, UCLA, Stanford, etc for California. And in NYC/DC you will be up against the big eastern schools so your UMinn or Vandy JD will not work unless you find a pipeline (they exist but very tough to break into). For Chicago, NU and UChicago are the leaders, also you will find eastern educated kids coming back to snag the rest of the biglaw/corporate positions.

On the flipside, UMinn has excellent placement in Minneapolis/St.Paul biglaw/corporate (albeit not as lucrative as NYC or DC but for the Twin Cities market it is comparable), especially if you are a URM and choose to apply for a 1L diversity program which places at the market powerhouses in the Twin Cities. If not, still you have an above-average shot at biglaw/corporate in the Twin Cities. And plus, you're basically going to school for free so you could easily succeed and move on after a few years in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes!

Clerkships are possible for the region. Think Dakotas and Minnesota districts.

Vanderbilt is also a regional powerhouse. It places grads in the Nashville and throughout the Southeastern states. Better weather than Minnesota obviously and better nightlife. Nashville>Minneapolis.

GWU is okay but remember you will be competing with Georgetown kids for jobs. GWU is probably more represented than Minnesota and Vanderbilt in the NYC and DC markets in regards to biglaw/corporate but you have to be in the top 15% and law journals to stay competitive with GULC and other more highly reputable institutions.

In the end, choose where you will be happiest because you will be spending three years there. Make the most of your summers to put yourself in a position to get to your goals of obtaining a clerkship and eventually working in the biglaw world.

[heythatslife]

I wanna know who voted WUSTL@sticker.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I think anyone voting WUSTL is assuming OP will get a full ride there. I think a full ride at WUSTL might be the winner on this list. Vandy at that price is not a bad deal at all. GWU shouldn't even be an option bc it makes no sense. UMN for free is a good option if you want MN for life or at least midwest for life.

[hephaestus]

Don't go to any of these schools expecting big law. What is your backup plan?

[TLSCLB]

Don't go to any of these schools expecting big law. What is your backup plan?

I would love to know what hole these guys climb up from. Yeesh...give us a break.

I think these are all good options. If you get a full scholarship from WUSTL, maybe that would put it ahead of everything else, but right now I'm thinking Vandy then GW. Like VG said, Vanderbilt is a good regional school, so it doesn't have the best placement in DC, but approximately 10% if I'm not mistake of each class end up in DC, which isn't too bad. It's Vandy's third-highest placing region after New York (also about 10%) and Tennessee (20%).

[sobrickay]

Minneapolis has great nightlife, actually. But its dang cold in the winter. Going to the UMN on a full scholarship isn't a bad idea, but I don't think it is a very portable degree. Don't go there if you don't expect to work in the Twin Cities (but actually, the Twin Cities are a great place to live if you don't mind long winters).

I would say based strictly on your goals, rule the U of M out. But I also don't think any of your options give you particularly strong odds at CA, Chicago, DC, or NY. If you want a good chance at those markets, you need to go to a good school in CA or a T14.

All of that being said, you have a great scholarship and not having to pay for school certainly liberates you in a way that paying more at a higher-ranked school can't. That is a huge upside to consider.

UMN placing "excellently" in Twin Cities? Don't think so, unless you consider a 13.5% Biglaw placement rate excellent. A note on the Twin Cities legal market. UMN is a fine school that would have better employment statistics were it not for the other three law schools in the area. That makes four in a metro area that can probably only support two. William Mitchell has a loyal alum network and I think their top grads probably place decently into the bigger firms. Plus, there are the grads who want to return home after going to a T14 that you have to compete with. Its a heavily saturated market and will continue to be until one (preferably two) of the law schools close.

[El Principe]

Given your choices, Vandy. You'll have to be in the top part to be "safe" and leave the area because I hear that a lot of the people who leave Vandy do so because of self selection to places the have ties with.

[BigZuck]

Don't go to any of these schools expecting big law. What is your backup plan?

I would love to know what hole these guys climb up from. Yeesh...give us a break.

I think these are all good options. If you get a full scholarship from WUSTL, maybe that would put it ahead of everything else, but right now I'm thinking Vandy then GW. Like VG said, Vanderbilt is a good regional school, so it doesn't have the best placement in DC, but approximately 10% if I'm not mistake of each class end up in DC, which isn't too bad. It's Vandy's third-highest placing region after New York (also about 10%) and Tennessee (20%).

They come from a place where people know something about big law hiring.

Now, explain why it's a good idea to target these schools if you're gunning for big law. Be specific.

Just lol@ going to Minnesota if you want big law.

[BigZuck]

OP- Minnesota makes no sense for your goals and the other schools are too expensive (and don't make much sense for your goals either). If you get a full ride at WUSTL I would definitely do that, failing that I would probably roll with Northwestern I guess (but that would be an awful lot of money to pay just to try and snag big law).

[vg_predator]

Hey everyone, thanks alot for the input so far.

Yeah not really interested in spending anytime past school in MN which given its placement options rules it out as a choice.

Going to visit Vanderbilt this week, Any idea of how WUSTL does placing grads on either of the coasts/biglaw?

Since been waitlisted at
Georgetown

Hold at:
Columbia (a reach)
Northwestern

[FKASunny]

Hey everyone, thanks alot for the input so far.

Any idea of how WUSTL does placing grads on either of the coasts/biglaw?

The stats for the most recent class are pretty easy to find:


http://law.wustl.edu/career_services/pages.aspx?id=9620

29% 101+ Law Firms and 3% Fed Clerkships

https://law.vanderbilt.edu/employers-cs ... ummary.pdf

36% 101+ Law firms and 9% Fed Clerkships

[rad lulz]

Don't go to any of these schools expecting big law. What is your backup plan?