Top Law Schools

Ok, here are the facts:

Considering: Northwestern, Michigan, Cornell
Waitlists: Columbia, NYU, Penn, UVA, Duke
I've ruled out schools like Vandy, UCLA and Wash U because they were only about 10k less in COA with negotiated scholarships

I'll be financing entirely on loans - the COAs below were calculated using my negotiated scholarship offers and LS22's sweet calculator):
Northwestern 245k
Michigan 190k
Cornell 209k

I live and work in Chicago now, have always lived in the Midwest (I have some ties to Michigan specifically).
Have 3 years of finance experience, want to work in Chicago or NY, Biglaw (I'm so typical )

I'm a 3.4 UG (better in grad school) 169, I've taken the LSAT three times and am probably maxed out.

My heart says Northwestern but my wallet says NO. Also, I can't figure out how to afford housing around NU on their budget, which is something I'll have to deal with if I end up there.

What's the wisdom? Embrace three years in Ann Arbor? Ride the waitlists hard? I kept waiting for that moment when the choice just becomes CLEAR and it never happened!

TYIA!

PS, please be nice, I'm new here

I think your COAs make it pretty clear. Michigan all the way.

If you HAVE to go, I guess it'd be Michigan. Do some serious soul-searching though - you'll be repaying more of that when the interest is factored in - so look at your opportunity cost based on your current earning potential and all that jazz, and decide whether it's worth it.

First Offense wrote:If you HAVE to go, I guess it'd be Michigan. Do some serious soul-searching though - you'll be repaying more of that when the interest is factored in - so look at your opportunity cost based on your current earning potential and all that jazz, and decide whether it's worth it.

Luckily, those numbers include interest, capitalized interest, general inflation, tuition increases, everything pessimistic I could think of

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I guess Michigan, but I don't like any of your options.

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... +is+stupid

Too expensive for any of them. Shoot for total debt = annual biglaw salary.

Can you try to negotiate? Never hurts to ask for more $$.

If you decide you are set on LS this year, then Michigan is the best choice here.

I think that you should consider whether you want Chicago or NYC more, then choose Northwestern or Cornell accordingly. If all else fails, you can sneak off to Bangkok or some other SE Asian city. India has some cool places, too.