Cornell v. Emory Forum

[tinagroan]

-The schools you are considering: Emory and Cornell; waitlisted for the summer LLM at Duke but fingers still crossed
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Cornell:$178,287; Emory:$118,506; Duke: Probably my soul. Supplemented with loans
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings: Loans, $20,000 in savings, some parental support
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any): From smalltown PA, would work anywhere but not would prefer not New York
-Your general career goals: Leaning towards comparative/international law working for an NGO, but open to family law/litigation/other
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers: 167/3.87
-How many times you have taken the LSAT: 2

Other factors: I'm having a terrible time finding housing in Ithaca, whereas Emory housing-hunting has gone a lot easier. I love Atlanta, but it's very far away from my hometown and an expensive place to live. I wrote Cornell asking for a scholarship increase and they said they would give me a definitive answer in the future, but I'm guessing it won't be until after I have to commit to Emory. I've never even considered doing biglaw--just not my career goal at any point--but is Cornell a better place to study international/public interest law than Emory, especially considering Emory's newest employment stats? And is it worth a little extra debt to go to a T-14?
If I do hear from Duke, I would probably have to turn it down due to finances, which would be heartbreaking. Anyone out there feel like the JD/LLM program is worth the debt that Cornell is not?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Especially if you know where to find good housing in Ithaca. I don't want extenuating circumstances to spoil the law school itself, but it feels like that is what is happening with Cornell right now.

[isuperserial]

-The schools you are considering: Emory and Cornell; waitlisted for the summer LLM at Duke but fingers still crossed
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Cornell:$178,287; Emory:$118,506; Duke: Probably my soul. Supplemented with loans
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings: Loans, $20,000 in savings, some parental support
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any): From smalltown PA, would work anywhere but not would prefer not New York
-Your general career goals: Leaning towards comparative/international law working for an NGO, but open to family law/litigation/other
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers: 167/3.87
-How many times you have taken the LSAT: 2

Other factors: I'm having a terrible time finding housing in Ithaca, whereas Emory housing-hunting has gone a lot easier. I love Atlanta, but it's very far away from my hometown and an expensive place to live. I wrote Cornell asking for a scholarship increase and they said they would give me a definitive answer in the future, but I'm guessing it won't be until after I have to commit to Emory. I've never even considered doing biglaw--just not my career goal at any point--but is Cornell a better place to study international/public interest law than Emory, especially considering Emory's newest employment stats? And is it worth a little extra debt to go to a T-14?
If I do hear from Duke, I would probably have to turn it down due to finances, which would be heartbreaking. Anyone out there feel like the JD/LLM program is worth the debt that Cornell is not?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Especially if you know where to find good housing in Ithaca. I don't want extenuating circumstances to spoil the law school itself, but it feels like that is what is happening with Cornell right now.

The typical wisdom is that international doesn't really exist. Look, most people dig biglaw and if you thought that was something you would want to do, then Cornell would be the choice, no way around it. As it is, you're in a sticky spot. Taking on that debt to go to Cornell and then work in PI doesn't make a ton of sense, and the money for Emory is just not good enough to justify it. If you're trying to go into PI, you want to go to a school on the cheap so that you can pay back your loans with a minimal salary.

Cornell and Duke, in my book, are straight up the same. I would only advise to go for Duke because you don't like NYC and that's Cornell's home turf.

I feel like either go to a school like UIUC or Notre Dame on a crazy scholarship, which you could totally get with your numbers, or go to Cornell and swing for the fences.

[tinagroan]

Thanks for the reply; I appreciate it. You feel Emory isn't worth it because of it's current ranking/employment stats?
I got a full ride from Penn State; should have mentioned that above, but their employment stats have knocked them out pretty well for me. Hopefully Cornell ups my scholarship offer and makes it a little easier to decide.

[isuperserial]

Thanks for the reply; I appreciate it. You feel Emory isn't worth it because of it's current ranking/employment stats?
I got a full ride from Penn State; should have mentioned that above, but their employment stats have knocked them out pretty well for me. Hopefully Cornell ups my scholarship offer and makes it a little easier to decide.

Nonono, Emory is a fine school. However, I think for you to take on as much debt as Emory would require, you would need to get a biglaw job to pay it off. Emory gives you a decent shot at that, but you wouldn't want to be in a situation where it doesn't work out, and you are left with unmanageable debt. Emory has too much risk. Cornell costs more, but it's actually way more secure because you have a much higher chance of paying off the debt. Since you don't want Biglaw at all though, I think your best bet would be a lower ranked school that you can go to for free. I don't think that necessarily means Penn State. I would be very surprised if you didn't get a full ride, or close to it, from Iowa or Illinois.

[MistakenGenius]

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[tinagroan]

Thanks for the reply. At this point I don't think a retake is my saving grace, since I'm already at Cornell's 75th percentile and as far as I can tell I already received the highest scholarship Emory gives (except the Woodruff). So an extra year and second retake doesn't hold much appeal.
At this point I'm leaning towards doing biglaw for a few years to pay off the debt and then following my dreams and making a global difference (or learning the hard way that international law is the Santa Claus of law focuses). In that scenario Cornell seems to be the better choice....though Emory does seem more PI friendly. So it's a gamble either way.

[Big Dog]

our LSAT/GPA numbers: 167/3.87

Retake. Seriously. A few extra points and Cornell or 'better' LS would pay you to attend.

btw: to the extent that international work exists, prestige is critical to open doors.

[Lavitz]

Sent you a PM about Ithaca housing / "international law" at Cornell, etc.

But don't underestimate how much more money Cornell would give you with a 169 LSAT. Yes, the 167 is both the median and the 75th this cycle, but I haven't seen many impressive scholarships for people with 167s. Whereas I know at least one person with a 169 and a similar gpa who negotiated up to 150K this cycle. Obviously, that's on the high end, but the potential is there. Retaking is something to consider if you think you can do better and if you can afford to take a year off.

167:

169:

Twice as many people reporting scholarships and an average difference of $40,000.

But currently, I'd lean Cornell if you're truly ok with biglaw for a while.