Cornell 125k vs Chicago 30k Forum

[W$RKliveWELL]

COA Cornell (after scholarship): 113k
COA Chicago (after scholarship): 205k

Will be paying for it with loans no savings at all. Love NY but I'm not thrilled about being in Ithaca to say the least. I enjoyed my Cornell visit though but I'm not excited to do 3 years in the middle of nowhere. Have yet to visit Chicago will do asap. Both offer smaller class sizes which could be beneficial. I'm concerned that I've heard that Cornell doesn't have as much national reach or reputation. Which I heard is a result of their smaller alumni base which could mean less connections readily available to grads. As far as Chi I heard you either get little to nothing to go or a full ride. Tried to get my scholly increased they turned me down.

Goals: Practice Biglaw in NY or LA. NY is by far the most important but I want my degree to give me the possibility of both.

Really want to get the best degree possible. 3x LSAT taker URM if that matters and my #'s are not Chi worthy so I feel grateful. Is a chi degree worth 96k more in security coming out of law school for what I want to do?

WLd at HL,NYU,Penn,Duke

[DportIA]

Goals: Practice Biglaw in NY or LA. NY is by far the most important

Cornell. You could pay that debt off in like 2.5-3.5 years, leaving you financially stable if you only make it three years in biglaw, which is common. From what I understand, Cornell does very well with NYC biglaw.

That's a very good price for Cornell, take the $ and run.

[Theopliske8711]

Cornell.

[lastsamurai]

I think it should probably be Cornell in this situation as long as NYC BigLaw is okay with you

[W$RKliveWELL]

I think it should probably be Cornell in this situation as long as NYC BigLaw is okay with you

True but this could change as well. I could be 4yrs in biglaw and out. I want a degree that gives me options and longevity. Also interested in practicing sports & entertainment law one day. Would like a school that gives me a strong business background.

I appreciate the comments so far though could use more opinions.

edit: anyone voting chi feel free to justify with a comment

[Kimikho]

Have you sent that scholarship to Chi? I sent mine and they boosted me up to the next "level," and I thought I was already maxed out there.

PM me for details .

[Kimikho]

Also: it was my understanding that Cornell's deposit deadline was the 25th? Or did you get an extension?

[W$RKliveWELL]

Also: it was my understanding that Cornell's deposit deadline was the 25th? Or did you get an extension?

addressed this in my pm.

[2014]

If you go to Cornell you can all but write off Cali but if you are cool with that id probably go Cornell here. UChi opens up LA and dramatically increases your V10 odds but only you know whether those two factors are enough to justify the extra cost.

[Lavitz]

If you go to Cornell you can all but write off Cali but if you are cool with that id probably go Cornell here. UChi opens up LA and dramatically increases your V10 odds but only you know whether those two factors are enough to justify the extra cost.

If OP has ties, he can still get Cali.

I don't think that as a "degree," Chi will grant any more "options and longevity," whatever that means. The only way I could see it being relevant is if it helps you start at a firm with better exit options. Just a 1L, but I'm not convinced that the chance of that happening outweighs the freedom that less debt would give you.

[2014]

If you go to Cornell you can all but write off Cali but if you are cool with that id probably go Cornell here. UChi opens up LA and dramatically increases your V10 odds but only you know whether those two factors are enough to justify the extra cost.

If OP has ties, he can still get Cali.

I don't think that as a "degree," Chi will grant any more "options and longevity," whatever that means. The only way I could see it being relevant is if it helps you start at a firm with better exit options. Just a 1L, but I'm not convinced that the chance of that happening outweighs the freedom that less debt would give you.

You would know about Cali from Cornell better than I would, just going off of percent of class that ends up there.

And I largely agree with your second point though the (probably greatly) increased chance to start at a "better" firm (which probably leads to better exits) is surely worth SOMETHING on top of the extra value that comes from overall placement at Chi vs Cornell, it's just a matter of how much. That how much is overwhelmingly likely to be worth less than 95k, it's just tough to tell someone that if they end up being in the class of people who would have gotten a job at Chi but not Cornell or who would have benefitted from the "better" exit options.

I still think in his position I'd go Cornell though.

[Lavitz]

Yeah, it's definitely worth something. But it's much more likely that OP ends up in a spot where he could have gotten biglaw from both, rather than a spot where he gets biglaw at Chi but not Cornell.

But obviously, in the end, how much OP wants to spend for the extra insurance is up to him. I just personally wouldn't want to spend over $200K.