Columbia $ vs GULC $$$ Forum

[dclawgal]

I need advice!

I've narrowed down my choices to Columbia or Georgetown, offering 65K and 120K over three years respectively.

I want to do public interest/government work, so will be relying on LRAP wherever I go, and I probably will end up back in DC (I'm here now). I know I should probably just take the money from Georgetown, but I loved Columbia when I visited, and Columbia/NYC has some benefits for the specific things I'm interested in public interest-wise. I'm also worried about needing to do especially well if I go to GULC to have similar opportunities after school to what I would get from Columbia (and how am I supposed to know how well I'll do in law school without ever having gone?).

I guess the question is, do I take the money from Georgetown (which would still leave me about 100K in debt, as I'll have to take out loans for all my living expenses), or is Columbia worth the extra ~75K for the name/opportunities?

Help please

[mt2165]

I'm relatively in a similar predicament, the thing I think to consider is Columbia has a very good LRAP, definitely better than Georgetown and if you're 100% set on PI/Gov this might make sense. That being said, if you're not and think there's even a chance you might renege and go biglaw/private sector then you'll really want to have taken that money. Of course you have to calculate the difference in opportunities but just my .02

[jbagelboy]

I would take Columbia every time here, it's well worth $60k over Georgetown.

[tiltedwindmill]

Columbia and its not even close.

[michellemarie]

COLUMBIA

[Nelson]

I dunno why everyone is screaming Columbia in this thread since $65k off leaves you over 200k COA at repayment. OP you really need to tell us more about what your goals actually are and calculate real costs of attendance for both schools.

[anon369]

I'm in a similar situation too! (although I'm getting a little bit less from CLS, a little bit more from Georgetown, and have a huge scholarship from NU to factor in.) I'm somewhat at a loss as to why everyone on TLS is SO adamantly anti-Georgetown.

[aboutmydaylight]

I'm in a similar situation too! (although I'm getting a little bit less from CLS, a little bit more from Georgetown, and have a huge scholarship from NU to factor in.) I'm somewhat at a loss as to why everyone on TLS is SO adamantly anti-Georgetown.

They have relatively shitty employment numbers and an enormous class size in a competitive market.

[jbagelboy]

I dunno why everyone is screaming Columbia in this thread since $65k off leaves you over 200k COA at repayment. OP you really need to tell us more about what your goals actually are and calculate real costs of attendance for both schools.

Because it's well worth the money over Georgetown.

I think $200K total COA can be justified for CLS but I'm not looking for another debt showdown right now

[Nomo]

We need to know what your career goals are and what your debt at repayment will be.

Without that information nobody can give you meaningful advice. I think everyone can agree that sometimes Columbia is worth an extra 75k and sometimes it isn't.

[dclawgal]

We need to know what your career goals are and what your debt at repayment will be.

Without that information nobody can give you meaningful advice. I think everyone can agree that sometimes Columbia is worth an extra 75k and sometimes it isn't.

I dunno why everyone is screaming Columbia in this thread since $65k off leaves you over 200k COA at repayment. OP you really need to tell us more about what your goals actually are and calculate real costs of attendance for both schools.

I'm hoping to do human rights work, especially focused on gender (international and/or domestic depending on what life brings). I'm also interested in federal government work - specifically around policy/state department - and have some experience here that I can hopefully leverage. At this point see myself in DC and not NY after graduation.

GULC would be tuition 40K plus COA ~90K (estimate based on my 40K/year paycheck to paycheck salary in DC divided by 3/4 of a year), meaning a total of ~130K loans.
Columbia = ~200K loans in tuition + COA, according to Columbia's estimates (which seem somewhat accurate taking into account my comfort level living frugally) and a little extra for tuition increases.

Also thank you everyone for your responses so far!! I really appreciate all feedback