Top Law Schools

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I think you'd need to either narrow down a location or job preferences in order for anyone to help you make a decision. At this point it's Cornell>DVM.

good job reading the first line, scotti

Cal Trask wrote:good job reading the first line, scotti

I pressed quote instead of reply... whoops. You know, stuff like that happens when you TLS on the weekends...

Okay, to narrow down things

location ideal = CA
job ideal = academia

I know academia is a long shot.

Duke for the win, the south is on the rise economically and you will build connections in an area that will likely be low in taxes and cost of living for the foreseeable future given the strong Republican culture there.

None are great for academia obviously, but I think if you want CA and these are your options, I'd go with Cornell.

Your COAs are underestimated. You have to take into account future tuition increases and DAT TYRANNY of the [US student loan interest rate percentage]. E.g. for CLS and NYU, that places the COA closer to 300k. The LST cost calculations take this into account.

P.S. I vote Cornell.

I'd like to hear the reasoning behind preferring UVA over Duke, Cornell and Michigan.

fleurdelis2 wrote:For those of you who will advise me to retake

retake

As said above, you should really factor loan interest in to your COAs.

I'd opt for Cornell here. I think choosing UVA or Duke probably could be justified (just know if you try citing Cornell's weather as a justification for choosing UVA/Duke that makes you a craven), but I really see them as peers with Cornell.

snagglepuss wrote:As said above, you should really factor loan interest in to your COAs.

I'd opt for Cornell here. I think choosing UVA or Duke probably could be justified (just know citing Cornell's weather as a justification for choosing UVA/Duke makes you a craven), but I really see them as peers with Cornell.

Eh, but CoL is covered by family money. So OP's total debt from CLS or NYU at sticker is really more like $190-200k.

OP, to be honest there are many threads like this. I would calculate what you would have to borrow from the feds for each school, draw up a comparison to LST placement rates with your goals in mind, and once you've narrowed it down to comparable cost/placement go with your preference. Since you're probably headed to biglaw and flexible on goals, I'd take Cornell, but if you have a strong regional preference for mid-atlantic/south, then one of Duke or UVA would be justifiable too.

Sorry about Columbia. It's a great school and the best on your list for biglaw (along with chi), but it's priced itself out for most students this cycle.. I fear for CCN yield since people have woken up to the debt crisis.

jbagelboy wrote:

snagglepuss wrote:As said above, you should really factor loan interest in to your COAs.

I'd opt for Cornell here. I think choosing UVA or Duke probably could be justified (just know citing Cornell's weather as a justification for choosing UVA/Duke makes you a craven), but I really see them as peers with Cornell.

Eh, but CoL is covered by family money. So OP's total debt from CLS or NYU at sticker is really more like $190-200k.
...

Yeah, I'd originally missed the parents helping (covering?) on COL. I think Columbia at ≤$190K or Chicago at ≤$160K would be worth considering (I'm not convinced these cost figures are accurate to OP's situation though), but I personally would still take Cornell under $100K if biglaw anywhere was the short-term goal.

Great, thanks everyone! Closing the thread now...