Brooklyn/CUNY/UConn Forum

[PattyCake]

Having a hard time deciding.

CUNY:$10,000/yr merit based, tuition/fees $15k including books.
Brooklyn Law: $34k/yr, tuition/fees $51k plus books. Sent email asking for an increase, no response yet.
UConn: $43k merit/need based for 1st year, tuition is $51k plus books. 2L/3L need based will be approx $11k, tuition will be $23k

I know UConn is easily the best school out of the three. They are also the only school with the joint degree program I want (JD/MPH). At Brooklyn or CUNY I could continue in my current MPH program separately during 2L/3L and over summer/winter sessions (the law schools wouldn't accept credits, but the MPH program would take 9 law credits including a clinic to replace the capstone requirement).

It really comes down to col. At Brooklyn or CUNY I will have a very nice place to live cheaply. Hartford is also cheap and won't require an extra $6k/yr in transportation costs. Staying in NY will also mean having lots of family nearby and I won't have to move my toddler to a new preschool. Wherever I end up I will aiming for PI with a health concentration.

My question is, am I stupid to be thinking if choosing Brooklyn or CUNY over UConn?

[transferror]

Employment stats are about the same for all of them - you're a coin flip for a full-time job.

With that in mind, pick the cheapest option. If no significant difference in cost, take the most convenient.

[Winston1984]

Hard to understand your total COA. It would be helpful if used a calculator so we could see the total cost of each.

[PattyCake]

Hard to understand your total COA. It would be helpful if used a calculator so we could see the total cost of each.

Brooklyn: $24,400 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $55,800, 167,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $11,000 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $42,400, $127,200 over 3 years
UConn: $47,200 for tuition/fees over 4 years (including joint degree), total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is approx $166,200 over 4 years.

I think I just knocked Brooklyn out of the running looking at this, unless they come back with a scholarship increase. Also, my husband will be working that whole time, so I wouldn't be taking out loans for all of it. Loans would be approximately:

Brooklyn: $77,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $37,000 over 3 years
UConn: $46,200 over 4 years

[Otunga]

CUNY or UConn would be reasonable if you want something PI that isn't prestigious.

[transferror]

Hard to understand your total COA. It would be helpful if used a calculator so we could see the total cost of each.

Brooklyn: $24,400 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $55,800, 167,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $11,000 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $42,400, $127,200 over 3 years
UConn: $47,200 for tuition/fees over 4 years (including joint degree), total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is approx $166,200 over 4 years.

I think I just knocked Brooklyn out of the running looking at this, unless they come back with a scholarship increase. Also, my husband will be working that whole time, so I wouldn't be taking out loans for all of it. Loans would be approximately:

Brooklyn: $77,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $37,000 over 3 years
UConn: $46,200 over 4 years

CUNY wins. Best COA and more convenient for you than UConn.

[PattyCake]

Hard to understand your total COA. It would be helpful if used a calculator so we could see the total cost of each.

Brooklyn: $24,400 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $55,800, 167,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $11,000 for tuition/fees/transportation, total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is $42,400, $127,200 over 3 years
UConn: $47,200 for tuition/fees over 4 years (including joint degree), total COA with rent/childcare/etc. is approx $166,200 over 4 years.

I think I just knocked Brooklyn out of the running looking at this, unless they come back with a scholarship increase. Also, my husband will be working that whole time, so I wouldn't be taking out loans for all of it. Loans would be approximately:

Brooklyn: $77,400 over 3 years
CUNY: $37,000 over 3 years
UConn: $46,200 over 4 years

CUNY wins. Best COA and more convenient for you than UConn.

Agreed. My husband hates his job, though, and he's excited about an offer he got in CT. Is there really no difference in employment prospects? I have a hard time believing that I won't have an easier time with job placement in CT than at CUNY... UConn is a much higher ranked school, I'm curious why no one seems to hold them in higher regard than CUNY.

[timbs4339]

Agreed. My husband hates his job, though, and he's excited about an offer he got in CT. Is there really no difference in employment prospects? I have a hard time believing that I won't have an easier time with job placement in CT than at CUNY... UConn is a much higher ranked school, I'm curious why no one seems to hold them in higher regard than CUNY.

That makes UConn a better relative option. However, there are many more opportunities to intern and get experience with public interest in the NYC area (but obviously more students to compete with). Ultimately, you need to focus on the opportunities you'll have to build a resume during law school. What area of PI do you want to work in? Do you have work experience?

USNWR rankings do not matter. 40% of the formula is a B.S. "reputation score" that is badly designed and based mostly on surveys sent to law professors, deans, and people who use last year's USNWR to rank the schools. UConn probably gets several notches just based on the fact more people have heard of the UG basketball team. Another 25% of the formula is LSAT/GPA score, in which the relatively small difference between the incoming students at CUNY and at UConn matters a whole lot more than it does IRL (nobody honestly thinks there's a difference between how smart someone with a 158 is vs someone with a 154).

LST just released a new site. Those are the numbers you should be considering:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/uconn/2012/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ ... eens/2012/

[PattyCake]

Agreed. My husband hates his job, though, and he's excited about an offer he got in CT. Is there really no difference in employment prospects? I have a hard time believing that I won't have an easier time with job placement in CT than at CUNY... UConn is a much higher ranked school, I'm curious why no one seems to hold them in higher regard than CUNY.

That makes UConn a better relative option. However, there are many more opportunities to intern and get experience with public interest in the NYC area (but obviously more students to compete with). Ultimately, you need to focus on the opportunities you'll have to build a resume during law school. What area of PI do you want to work in? Do you have work experience?

USNWR rankings do not matter. 40% of the formula is a B.S. "reputation score" that is badly designed and based mostly on surveys sent to law professors, deans, and people who use last year's USNWR to rank the schools. UConn probably gets several notches just based on the fact more people have heard of the UG basketball team. Another 25% of the formula is LSAT/GPA score, in which the relatively small difference between the incoming students at CUNY and at UConn matters a whole lot more than it does IRL (nobody honestly thinks there's a difference between how smart someone with a 158 is vs someone with a 154).

LST just released a new site. Those are the numbers you should be considering:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/uconn/2012/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ ... eens/2012/

I want to do something health law related, but I'm not sure that I'll have a huge amount of choice as far as what type of job I'll be able get - I don't think I'll have the luxury of choosing the type of agency I'm interested in working for. I'm usually a skeptic, but I have to say the new dean at UConn was convincing when he spoke about working to improve networking opportunities over the next few years. I have 10+ years of work experience and I'm fine with building relationships during internships, clinics, etc. - I'm in a profession that requires constant sensitivity and professionalism, so I'm not worried about handling an internship. I just need to know there will be opportunities. I know there are more options in NY, but it seems like CUNY will be getting scraps while NYU, Columbia, etc. feast at the kill.

[timbs4339]

Agreed. My husband hates his job, though, and he's excited about an offer he got in CT. Is there really no difference in employment prospects? I have a hard time believing that I won't have an easier time with job placement in CT than at CUNY... UConn is a much higher ranked school, I'm curious why no one seems to hold them in higher regard than CUNY.

That makes UConn a better relative option. However, there are many more opportunities to intern and get experience with public interest in the NYC area (but obviously more students to compete with). Ultimately, you need to focus on the opportunities you'll have to build a resume during law school. What area of PI do you want to work in? Do you have work experience?

USNWR rankings do not matter. 40% of the formula is a B.S. "reputation score" that is badly designed and based mostly on surveys sent to law professors, deans, and people who use last year's USNWR to rank the schools. UConn probably gets several notches just based on the fact more people have heard of the UG basketball team. Another 25% of the formula is LSAT/GPA score, in which the relatively small difference between the incoming students at CUNY and at UConn matters a whole lot more than it does IRL (nobody honestly thinks there's a difference between how smart someone with a 158 is vs someone with a 154).

LST just released a new site. Those are the numbers you should be considering:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/uconn/2012/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ ... eens/2012/

I want to do something health law related, but I'm not sure that I'll have a huge amount of choice as far as what type of job I'll be able get - I don't think I'll have the luxury of choosing the type of agency I'm interested in working for. I'm usually a skeptic, but I have to say the new dean at UConn was convincing when he spoke about working to improve networking opportunities over the next few years. I have 10+ years of work experience and I'm fine with building relationships during internships, clinics, etc. - I'm in a profession that requires constant sensitivity and professionalism, so I'm not worried about handling an internship. I just need to know there will be opportunities. I know there are more options in NY, but it seems like CUNY will be getting scraps while NYU, Columbia, etc. feast at the kill.

It may work like that for summer jobs, but there will be opportunities to intern during the year that the NYU/CLS people will not want to take advantage of. You may have to look outside of the agencies, more towards nonprofits, to find places willing to take you. But your WE will be a huge draw.

"Working to improve networking opportunities" is a classic marketing pitch. Everybody says that, and deans are paid to sound convincing to applicants and alumni- they are politicians at heart. In the end, what matters is a school's past performance on the market, and the size of the PI community in the local area. The truth is there's just not much a school can do to improve its own short-term job performance aside from paying you a stipend to work somewhere for free.

[BankruptMe]

I would say CUNY

More chances to work during the year and NYC probably has a lot more opportunities than CT

[banjo]

There are only scraps in CT to begin with, and a couple students at each of CLS/NYU/UVA/YLS/HLS (especially UVA for some reason) will be happy to take them. CT also gets invaded by Cardozo/BLS/St. Johns/Hofstra/NYLS/Pace/BU/BC/Northeaster/Suffolk grads who probably dismissed the advice on TLS.

[BankruptMe]

There are only scraps in CT to begin with, and a couple students at each of CLS/NYU/UVA/YLS/HLS (especially UVA for some reason) will be happy to take them. CT also gets invaded by Cardozo/BLS/St. Johns/Hofstra/NYLS/Pace/BU/BC/Northeaster/Suffolk grads who probably dismissed the advice on TLS.

Lawd that is a lot of law schools

[PattyCake]

Agreed. My husband hates his job, though, and he's excited about an offer he got in CT. Is there really no difference in employment prospects? I have a hard time believing that I won't have an easier time with job placement in CT than at CUNY... UConn is a much higher ranked school, I'm curious why no one seems to hold them in higher regard than CUNY.

That makes UConn a better relative option. However, there are many more opportunities to intern and get experience with public interest in the NYC area (but obviously more students to compete with). Ultimately, you need to focus on the opportunities you'll have to build a resume during law school. What area of PI do you want to work in? Do you have work experience?

USNWR rankings do not matter. 40% of the formula is a B.S. "reputation score" that is badly designed and based mostly on surveys sent to law professors, deans, and people who use last year's USNWR to rank the schools. UConn probably gets several notches just based on the fact more people have heard of the UG basketball team. Another 25% of the formula is LSAT/GPA score, in which the relatively small difference between the incoming students at CUNY and at UConn matters a whole lot more than it does IRL (nobody honestly thinks there's a difference between how smart someone with a 158 is vs someone with a 154).

LST just released a new site. Those are the numbers you should be considering:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/uconn/2012/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ ... eens/2012/

I want to do something health law related, but I'm not sure that I'll have a huge amount of choice as far as what type of job I'll be able get - I don't think I'll have the luxury of choosing the type of agency I'm interested in working for. I'm usually a skeptic, but I have to say the new dean at UConn was convincing when he spoke about working to improve networking opportunities over the next few years. I have 10+ years of work experience and I'm fine with building relationships during internships, clinics, etc. - I'm in a profession that requires constant sensitivity and professionalism, so I'm not worried about handling an internship. I just need to know there will be opportunities. I know there are more options in NY, but it seems like CUNY will be getting scraps while NYU, Columbia, etc. feast at the kill.

It may work like that for summer jobs, but there will be opportunities to intern during the year that the NYU/CLS people will not want to take advantage of. You may have to look outside of the agencies, more towards nonprofits, to find places willing to take you. But your WE will be a huge draw.

"Working to improve networking opportunities" is a classic marketing pitch. Everybody says that, and deans are paid to sound convincing to applicants and alumni- they are politicians at heart. In the end, what matters is a school's past performance on the market, and the size of the PI community in the local area. The truth is there's just not much a school can do to improve its own short-term job performance aside from paying you a stipend to work somewhere for free.

I know, and as I said I'm usually a skeptic. There were a lot of specific agencies named that he's finalizing arrangements with to have dedicated positions for uconn students (and several he finalized last year which are now in place for 2L/3L students), and he basically promised to have a compliance certificate in place for me to complete by graduation if I knocked on his door during 1L to follow up - that alone would boost my employment prospects a lot once I have my MPH. CUNY doesn't offer one, so I'd have to get it separately somehow.

Honestly, it's probably going to come down to a gut call. I fell in love with UConn when I visited (obviously). Touring CUNY tomorrow - I'm half hoping I'll hate it for some stupid reason so I can just get the decision over with. Or love it even more. I feel like it's 6 one way, half a dozen the other. And I also think that if I do well at UConn I'll be in a prime position to snag whatever jobs are available in CT over other candidates - most Yale grads don't take the CT bar exam, so it's basically UConn and Quinnipiac vying for local jobs. It'd be nice to end up back in NY, but we'd be just as happy to stay in CT once we've settled in.

[banjo]

There are only scraps in CT to begin with, and a couple students at each of CLS/NYU/UVA/YLS/HLS (especially UVA for some reason) will be happy to take them. CT also gets invaded by Cardozo/BLS/St. Johns/Hofstra/NYLS/Pace/BU/BC/Northeaster/Suffolk grads who probably dismissed the advice on TLS.

Lawd that is a lot of law schools

I didn't even mention Fordham or Quinnipiac or New England. I can seriously keep going. Places like Stamford are great to live in too--just 45 mins from the city and have parks, nice restaurants, young people, etc. The handful of SA spots there are probably insanely competitive.

[PattyCake]

There are only scraps in CT to begin with, and a couple students at each of CLS/NYU/UVA/YLS/HLS (especially UVA for some reason) will be happy to take them. CT also gets invaded by Cardozo/BLS/St. Johns/Hofstra/NYLS/Pace/BU/BC/Northeaster/Suffolk grads who probably dismissed the advice on TLS.

This is true, but wouldn't I have slightly more options because I'd be pursuing an MPH at the same time? I would think there would be some placements for which that would give me an edge.