Top Law Schools

Hi folks,

It's decision time for me and I'd love some input from the TLS crowd. I'm very happy with the choices I have before me and credit much to TLS browsing over a couple of years. So without further ado, here are the meat and potatoes:

Total COA- UPenn 165k and NU 100k (financed by savings, but I'll be close to tapped out)

Location- I'm from New England, but have ties to Boston, NYC, and SoCal. My strong preference is to end up in Boston, but I'd be ok with any Northeast city other than NYC, then NYC, then any city for biglaw.

Numbers- In my profile. Two takes on the LSAT, with a gargantuan effort for the second take. I hit my practice average and probably outperformed it by a little. GPA is rounded up.

Goals- Biglaw -> In-house/smaller firm or FedGov. I'm leaning towards transactional work at the moment and I'm interested in the entrepreneurship clinics at both schools. I'm also interested in learning more about mediation/arbitration and regulatory work. My past work experience is unique but unrelated to what I want to do. Money is a huge factor besides the obvious facts that this is a huge investment and savings are hard earned. This is mostly bc I'm a bit older (almost 30) and have non-professional goals that I'd like to accomplish soon (standard travel, marriage, house, kids, etc). I also highly value the flexibility money will provide in case I do not like Biglaw.

Thanks to anyone willing to provide an opinion, especially current students and professionals!

Is your WE the sort of thing firms will be impressed with that will score you interviews?

Penn has a 6% higher biglaw + fed clerk number than NU. I don't think that's worth 65K.

nebula666 wrote:Penn has a 6% hiigher biglaw + fed clerk number than NU. I don't think that's worth 65K.

But for his goals I'd imagine Penn places better into Boston than NU does...

nebula666 wrote:Penn has a 6% higher biglaw + fed clerk number than NU. I don't think that's worth 65K.

As an NU alum, I'm not one to undersell NU, but I think Penn not only places slightly better in general, it places slightly better into more "prestigious" firms. But I also wouldn't pay $65k for the difference.

IAFG wrote:Is your WE the sort of thing firms will be impressed with that will score you interviews?

Hmm. I do think it's somewhat unique and a conversation starter. I'd rather not get into too much detail to avoid outing myself. I don't think it will hurt me because it's not terribly non-transferable. I wouldn't call it necessarily "impressive" from my POV, but played up deliberately I suppose it could be. I think it will make my resume look different than others'. How particular firms will react is hard for me to say. I do think it helped me in the application process, so perhaps that is a good sign.

I suppose with some good preparation I could easily work it into interviews from a soft-skill perspective. I also have a variety of work experience since I've worked a lot since high school. If needed I could tailor my resume to also highlight different jobs that I've held. Do you think this issue should significantly impact my decision?

kemosabe wrote:

IAFG wrote:Is your WE the sort of thing firms will be impressed with that will score you interviews?

Hmm. I do think it's somewhat unique and a conversation starter. I'd rather not get into too much detail to avoid outing myself. I don't think it will hurt me because it's not terribly non-transferable. I wouldn't call it necessarily "impressive" from my POV, but played up deliberately I suppose it could be. I think it will make my resume look different than others'. How particular firms will react is hard for me to say. I do think it helped me in the application process, so perhaps that is a good sign.

I suppose with some good preparation I could easily work it into interviews from a soft-skill perspective. I also have a variety of work experience since I've worked a lot since high school. If needed I could tailor my resume to also highlight different jobs that I've held. Do you think this issue should significantly impact my decision?

If I had something really sellable, I would take the cheaper option. Otherwise, I think I'd pay $30k more for Penn. That's just my gut.

Another possibly relevant fact: we're talking about the AJD at NU in my case. Will this effect my ability to pivot into transactional work?

Also, are there more thoughts as to these schools' placement in the Northeast, particularly Boston? This is a significant factor for me, but I'm not sure how to precisely quantify or put a valuation on it.

kemosabe wrote:Another possibly relevant fact: we're talking about the AJD at NU in my case. Will this effect my desire to pivot into transactional work?

Also, are there more thoughts as to these schools' placement in the Northeast, particularly Boston? This is a significant factor for me, but I'm not sure how to precisely quantify or put a valuation on it.

At least when I was still there, AJDs did not seem to place as well.

Any more thoughts or votes? This appears pretty close. Thanks so much to those who have already chimed in with an opinion.