Top Law Schools

Scenario:

How much money does NYU have to offer for you to pick it over HLS?

HLS offers you 30k 1L. You assume you will get ~35l 2L if yo do PI and $20k 3L.

This is roughly 85K of grant money over three years, or 70K if you were fortunate enough to get a 1L SA.

NYU is willing to play ball. How much money would they need to sway you against HLS?

Goals: Unsure. Likely corporate law in NYC.
COA: COA is similar at both schools. You will be financing whatever the remainder is between COA and your scholarship.

Poll added: Also leave your reasoning below.

tl;dr: HLS offers you 85K of grant. How much does NYU need to offer to beat it?

Any other money at t14 schools?

rad lulz wrote:Any other money at t14 schools?

75k at Chicago & Penn, have not negotiated yet.
105k at Duke.
Withdrew from NU with 140k already (was a mistake)

nunumaster wrote:

rad lulz wrote:Any other money at t14 schools?

75k at Chicago & Penn, have not negotiated yet.
105k at Duke.
Withdrew from NU with 140k already (was a mistake)

Can you call NU and see if they'll do anything? You won't know unless you try and it's not super late yet

HLS isn't worth 100K more than NYU if your goal is NYC biglaw. At least when it comes to big firms in NYC, HLS, CLS, and NYU all place very well and are the top 3 schools for accomplishing that goal. Yes, HLS may give you a slight edge at the most elite of firms, but the marginal difference most certainly isn't worth 6 figures more. You will find tons of NYU folks at all the top firms, just l like you will find lots of HLS folks there. This is the one respect in which HLS and NYU are most similar (i.e. their ability to get you into the very best NYC firms).

thisiswater wrote:

nunumaster wrote:

rad lulz wrote:Any other money at t14 schools?

75k at Chicago & Penn, have not negotiated yet.
105k at Duke.
Withdrew from NU with 140k already (was a mistake)

Can you call NU and see if they'll do anything? You won't know unless you try and it's not super late yet

How is Harvard not worth 70k over NU? I mean I know its NYC transactional but I'd be easily willing to pay this much to hedge against downside risk. I guess I don't see why OP thinks passing up a full ride at NU is a mistake in this case.

For general "corporate" work in NY, which I assume means biglaw, I would choose whichever school is cheapest/feels better for you.

Questions you should be asking yourself:

How much do I care about prestige? Harvard's Harvard.
Do I prefer the Village to Cambridge? Probably.
How will the lack of traditional grades at Harvard bear on my performance? Depends on the person.
LIPP vs. LRAP? Maybe you'll be moved to pursue low-paying PI.

I guess, if I were you, I'd probably pay 10-20k more for Harvard.

kaiser wrote:HLS isn't worth more than 100K more than NYU if your goal is NYC biglaw. At least when it comes to big firms in NY, HLS, CLS, and NYU all place very well. Yes, HLS may give you a slight edge at the most elite of firms, but the marginal difference most certainly isn't worth 6 figures more.

Agreed 100%! But as you can see HLS has offered generous aid. This thread is to gauge the MINIMUM difference necessary to pick NYU over HLS.

.

Power_of_Facing wrote:For general "corporate" work in NY, which I assume means biglaw, I would choose whichever schools is cheapest/feels better for you.

Questions you should be asking yourself:

How much do I care about prestige? Harvard's Harvard.
Do I prefer the Village to Cambridge? Probably.
How will the lack of traditional grades at Harvard bear on my performance? Depends on the person.
LIPP vs. LRAP? Maybe you'll be moved to pursue low-paying PI.

I guess, if I were you, I'd probably pay 10-20k more for Harvard.

so being conservative, you would take 105k at NYU over 85K at NYU? I don't care about location or PI. Prestige is a factor, but largely intangible and not sure what price. Grading is obviously a plus for Harvard compared to NYU.

All of it

nunumaster wrote:

Power_of_Facing wrote:For general "corporate" work in NY, which I assume means biglaw, I would choose whichever schools is cheapest/feels better for you.

Questions you should be asking yourself:

How much do I care about prestige? Harvard's Harvard.
Do I prefer the Village to Cambridge? Probably.
How will the lack of traditional grades at Harvard bear on my performance? Depends on the person.
LIPP vs. LRAP? Maybe you'll be moved to pursue low-paying PI.

I guess, if I were you, I'd probably pay 10-20k more for Harvard.

so being conservative, you would take 105k at NYU over 85K at NYU? I don't care about location or PI. Prestige is a factor, but largely intangible and not sure what price. Grading is obviously a plus for Harvard compared to NYU.

Put it this way, if the total cost of attending Harvard was 20k more than the total cost of NYU, I would choose Harvard -- the H degree is more portable/reputable internationally, and there is a certain amount of safety built into the brand.

You can't really weigh scholarship awards against one another purely in terms of the dollar amount. Higher COLs at NYU mean that 105k in the Village =/= (necessarily) 105k in Cambridge.

Edit: Also, keep in mind the fact that I am pretty darn debt averse.

This is a tough way of phrasing this question. I think it would be easier if you posted your actual options + COA.

ETA: YOU WITHDREW WITH $140,000 at NU?

lawschool22 wrote:This is a tough way of phrasing this question. I think it would be easier if you posted your actual options + COA.

ETA: Also, why are you assuming PI-level grants if your goal is biglaw?

ETA2: YOU WITHDREW WITH $140,000 at NU?

1. Because not many 1Ls get a paid SA for 1L. I've factored in grant reduction for 3L due to SA.
2. Yes I did. Long story which I can only pm.

Not sure the NU situation, but that is what I would have taken. Obviously I understand personal stuff is a large factor that is difficult to quantify.

Considering your goals, I'd probably take NYU at 110k or above. But total attendance costs would lead to more accurate opinions, as ls22 suggested.

What's not clear is how much does Harvard help you get that second job after you hate being a biglaw corporate lawyer. I have no idea, but it could be substantial. I'd want to see my total cost at NYU being in the 50k to 60k cheaper range to take that over Harvard. I would not take NU over Harvard for 55k.

I would take Harvard at 85k over NYU at 105k, even for NY corporate, because NY COL will even that out and H provides heightened security for bottom third.

I'd take NYU at $140K+ over Harvard @ 85k, cause then we're talking $50,000+ total CoA difference for basically the same job and exit ops

ETA: Between $115-130K.. Tossup, depends on if you want to be in new york those 3 yrs

I think we are underestimating Manhattan to Cambridge cost of living differences. COL calculators are not perfect for this, but they are somewhat on point and CNN's has Manhattan being a little over 1.5 times more than Cambridge.

OP after evening out CoL I would want NYU to be 50k more than H. But I'm clueless, biased, grade averse (as supposed to being debt aversed), and suspect with little to no evidence that H helps more than people think with getting job number 2 after biglaw.

jbagelboy wrote:I would take Harvard at 85k over NYU at 105k, even for NY corporate, because NY COL will even that out and H provides heightened security for bottom third.

I'd take NYU at $140K+ over Harvard @ 85k, cause then we're talking $50,000+ total CoA difference for basically the same job and exit ops

ETA: Between $115-130K.. Tossup, depends on if you want to be in new york those 3 yrs

That middle area is pretty murky though.

Also, is COL that much different? I can say that rent wise, you can probably save about 13-15k in Cambridge over 3 years (at 9 months per yer) if you live modestly. This is canceled out by the 15k extra you get to keep of your 2L SA at NYU since HLS deducts that amount from grants.

nunumaster wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:I would take Harvard at 85k over NYU at 105k, even for NY corporate, because NY COL will even that out and H provides heightened security for bottom third.

I'd take NYU at $140K+ over Harvard @ 85k, cause then we're talking $50,000+ total CoA difference for basically the same job and exit ops

ETA: Between $115-130K.. Tossup, depends on if you want to be in new york those 3 yrs

That middle area is pretty murky though.

Also, is COL that much different? I can say that rent wise, you can probably save about 13-15k in Cambridge over 3 years (at 9 months per yer) if you live modestly. This is canceled out by the 15k extra you get to keep of your 2L SA at NYU since HLS deducts that amount from grants.

Seems low for a rent difference? I pay 900 a month in cambridge for something that would be 3000 to 3500 in Manhattan.

wert3813 wrote:

nunumaster wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:I would take Harvard at 85k over NYU at 105k, even for NY corporate, because NY COL will even that out and H provides heightened security for bottom third.

I'd take NYU at $140K+ over Harvard @ 85k, cause then we're talking $50,000+ total CoA difference for basically the same job and exit ops

ETA: Between $115-130K.. Tossup, depends on if you want to be in new york those 3 yrs

That middle area is pretty murky though.

Also, is COL that much different? I can say that rent wise, you can probably save about 13-15k in Cambridge over 3 years (at 9 months per yer) if you live modestly. This is canceled out by the 15k extra you get to keep of your 2L SA at NYU since HLS deducts that amount from grants.

Seems low for a rent difference? I pay 900 a month in cambridge for something that would be 3000 to 3500 in Manhattan.

Maybe, but people in Manhattan probably don't live in your type of apartment. It will be much smaller and you'll have a few roommates.

Manhattan is expensive as hell, but Cambridge isn't exactly cheap. If we were comparing tk Durham or Charlottesville that would be a different matter. Unless you live in the dorms all 3 yrs at H (which no one does evidently since there are like 350 rms for 1600 students) you will still pay; for example, re: werts aptment, $900 is only $200 cheaper than the shares you can find for 1L at NYU I think (the square footage comparison is irrelevant - the dispositive feature for CoL debt isnt what one sum will buy in another locale, it's the amount OP would actually have to spend to live as a student). It will be more expensive overall in NY, hence my earlier comment.

jbagelboy wrote:Manhattan is expensive as hell, but Cambridge isn't exactly cheap. If we were comparing tk Durham or Charlottesville that would be a different matter. Unless you live in the dorms all 3 yrs at H (which no one does evidently since there are like 350 rms for 1600 students) you will still pay; for example, re: werts aptment, $900 is only $200 cheaper than the shares you can find for 1L at NYU I think (the square footage comparison is irrelevant - the dispositive feature for CoL debt isnt what one sum will buy in another locale, it's the amount OP would actually have to spend to live as a student). It will be more expensive overall in NY, hence my earlier comment.

Yeah I can be convinced it's less than I thought. Op when do you expect to know nyus offer?

wert3813 wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:Manhattan is expensive as hell, but Cambridge isn't exactly cheap. If we were comparing tk Durham or Charlottesville that would be a different matter. Unless you live in the dorms all 3 yrs at H (which no one does evidently since there are like 350 rms for 1600 students) you will still pay; for example, re: werts aptment, $900 is only $200 cheaper than the shares you can find for 1L at NYU I think (the square footage comparison is irrelevant - the dispositive feature for CoL debt isnt what one sum will buy in another locale, it's the amount OP would actually have to spend to live as a student). It will be more expensive overall in NY, hence my earlier comment.

Yeah I can be convinced it's less than I thought. Op when do you expect to know nyus offer?

Yea, I used to think COL would be very different too. But after visiting Cambridge and looking at pricing, it seems that they would be comparable because I'd live close to HLS if I attended there, and obviously much more modestly in NYC.

I'll be back with an NYU offer $ anyday now. Something tells me that it will be at least 105k.

Also based on poll results, I'd assume some people did not read the OP. 14 people who voted 90k must not think that 90K at NYU is better than 85K at HLS. What I am surprised about is the fact that 25 people would not attend short of full tuition. Are the majority of these votes by OLs who have not had to work big law / repay their debts yet?


How much $
90k 25% 25% [ 14 ]
100K 5% 5% [ 3 ]
110K 3% 3% [ 2 ]
120k 9% 9% [ 5 ]
130k 3% 3% [ 2 ]
140k 7% 7% [ 4 ]
Full Tuition 45% 45% [ 25 ]
You may select 1 option


Total votes : 55