Top Law Schools

I'm currently deciding between Cornell and UCLA, and it has been a tough decision, especially with deposit deadlines coming up.

Cost of attendance for Cornell: ~$140,000
Cost of attendance for UCLA: ~$50,000

I'll be financing the cost through loans.

As for my career goals, I'm from Southern California, and would love to work in Southern California after graduation (ideally in a biglaw position or federal clerkship).

To be honest, I'm actually leaning a bit towards Cornell at this point, and it has been my dream school for some time. While I do like UCLA, I found that the school had more of an emphasis on public interest careers. Also, its biglaw and clerkship placement pales in comparison to Cornell, though I suspect that Cornell feeding into the NYC market has something to do with this. Cornell would also give me more mobility across the country, should I ever change my mind about working in California, not to mention the immensely higher prestige with it being an Ivy League school.

On the flip side, I know that UCLA's OCI would make life so much easier for me, as well as the networking opportunities that come with being in my target market. Plus, I'll only have to take out about $50,000 worth of loans vs. the six figures of debt that would accrue from attending Cornell.

Is Cornell worth the extra $90,000-$100,000, or should I just go with UCLA? Thanks guys.

You are from Southern Cal and you want to work there, and UCLA is almost 100 grand cheaper.

Go to UCLA.

If you'd rather work midlaw in SoCal than biglaw in NY, UCLA. If you'd rather work Biglaw anywhere then retake.

I went to Cornell, but you should go to UCLA.

UCLA I think is clearly TCR with your career goals
Not much to consider here