Columbia ($) vs NYU ($$) vs UCLA (full ride+ grant) Forum

[Archigenes]

Hey TLSers,

Seat deposit deadlines are soon approaching so I thought I'd turn to this forum for some advice. Some background info on me: Interested in pursuing PI. I'm funding law school entirely on my own and also have lingering debt from undergrad. I would ultimately like to live and work in LA, but am not averse to living in New York for some time. Here are the main offers I'm considering:

Columbia: 85k total
NYU: 100k total
UCLA: Full ride + a decent amount of grant money to live on. Another important factor is that I have somewhere to live for free in Brentwood all three years.

I'm leaning towards UCLA considering that the COA would be almost nonexistent and that I'd like to work in that market anyways. The other two schools are obviously higher ranked and could potentially open more doors, but I'm wondering if the difference in prestige is worth the significant amount of extra debt I would potentially take on. The main contender is NYU at this point due to its great PI opportunities and, from what I've heard, a solid LRAP. Would the LRAP at NYU negate the difference in COA between it and UCLA? Any advice is appreciated!

[staysha]

I'm at NYU right now and I would take that money from UCLA and run, especially if you want to work in LA. Can't really speak to NYU's LRAP though.

[aboutmydaylight]

What type of PI? The difference in prestige is meaningless. The fact that only 3/4 of UCLA grads are employed in a legal field at all is not.

[BanjoCalhoun]

What type of PI? The difference in prestige is meaningless. The fact that only 3/4 of UCLA grads are employed in a legal field at all is not.

Due in part because of... prestige?

People make assumptions about you based on where you went to school, which affects employment outcomes. Not ideal but this is the world we live in. Nonetheless, this looks like a toss up depending on whether you're more risk (unemployment) averse or debt averse. Most of these final decision posts I feel are too subjective to find a definitive answer on TLS.

[3L2014]

You want to work in LA and can graduate from UCLA with no cost of attendance? sounds like a no-brainer for UCLA. No risk! Lots of upside.

[lecsa]

Since you want PI, it's a no brainer to take the full ride.

[Power_of_Facing]

If you're certain you want CA PI, I'd take the full ride. However, if you're certain about PI but also want the added flexibility of a national law school degree, 100k at NYU is a pretty solid deal. Its LRAP is very good.

[kaiser]

You want to work in LA and want to go the PI route, so I def think UCLA is the right choice. Take the full ride, go to school for cheap, form great ties to the LA market, etc. Sounds like the smart decisiont o me.

[jbagelboy]

What type of PI? This matters because:

For local legal aid, public defender, issue-specific public interest groups in SoCal, or even city attorney and county DAs offices, UCLA debt free is a much better way to go. You can establish a network on the ground, and have the freedom to pursue low paying work

For high profile impact litigation (ACLU, LDF, SPLC), definitely NYU. And this may raise eyebrows, but I would suggest that for anything state or federal AG's office or above, even in LA, it will be easier to get for an angelino native at Columbia than a UCLA grad. Why? First, the Los Angeles branch AG is a CLS grad, as are many others in the office. Second, on the federal level, the US attorney general is an alum and that's had a positive impact on USAO placement. I think these more prestigious gov positions sometimes prefer kids from top schools coming home - obviously UCLA will feed a large number of students into these jobs but you'll have to have damn good grades for it. I'm relatively confident you'd do above median at ucla given your credentials, but its never certain.

And of course if you're not 110% committed to PI, CN open up biglaw markets in a far more meaningful way.