Presige vs. Price (Harvard/NYU/UVA/Austin/USC) Forum

[lindebee]

Ok, I know that TLS has made its opinion of going to Harvard at basically sticker clear (NO!) but I’m including it because I haven’t quite been able to let go yet.

Basically I am open to living anywhere that is not in the Midwest (no significant ties elsewhere) with a slight preference for warm weather. I’m thinking big law to finance school (ideally big firm in smaller market) and then hopefully in-house for some semblance of a life.

However, I’m not firmly decided on a career path/area of law and want to go somewhere I can keep my options open.

Is UVA the happy medium of prestige/career placement/price? What would TLS do?

COA includes subtracting my savings and small parent contribution, so the total is loan-financed debt at graduation:

Harvard: 180,000
NYU: 155,000
UVA: 120,000
Austin: 75,000
USC: 35,000

LSAT: 170 (once)
GPA: 3.96
Soft: Fulbright Scholar

Thanks!!!

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

Basically I am open to living anywhere that is not in the Midwest (no significant ties elsewhere) with a slight preference for warm weather.

Geographic flexibility? Harvard

I’m thinking big law to finance school (ideally big firm in smaller market)

Best BigLaw placement in secondary markets? Harvard

keep my options open

Harvard

Harvard makes the most sense here

[ph14]

Out of those options, my top 2 would be HLS and UVA. It's a tough call. Even though $180k is a lot of money, I think I would be inclined to pay the extra $60k (really more than that when you factor in interest, though) to go to HLS over UVA.

You mention you have savings, how much does your current job pay? You could defer HLS for a year, save a decent amount of money and reduce your cost of attendance a bit. If you were looking at HLS at $150k that would be a bit easier to manage, in my opinion.

[jbagelboy]

Since your parents have extra money and are helping, it's not truly sticker. I think Harvard is justified for your goals at that price, unless UVA or NYU come down to $100k.

[Pulsar]

I would go to Harvard here. The extra $60k will suck to pay off but won't be a huge deal in the scheme of things.

[SteelPenguin]

180 CoA is very different than taking loans out for sticker. I'd go with Harvard here, and I'm usually one of the first people to recommend schollies in the T14 over sticker.

[Big Dog]

HLS is the easy winner....

[BigZuck]

Harvard and UVA are the only ones which make any sense here and I think Harvard is the easy choice with a 60K COA difference

[lecsa]

Harvard.

[daryldixon]

UVA

[nebula666]

This is not really a question of prestige vs price. If you wanted NYC biglaw and had Harvard vs Columbia for 60k less, that would be a prestige question. HLS is best in this situation because of your specific goals.

[transferror]

Harvard and UVA are the only ones which make any sense here and I think Harvard is the easy choice with a 60K COA difference