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How much money is your family contributing?

BigZuck wrote:How much money is your family contributing?

Roughly 50k spread out over the 3 years.

cpslo12 wrote:

BigZuck wrote:How much money is your family contributing?

Roughly 50k spread out over the 3 years.

Ok, was wondering if that would make a difference if you got into NU but not really.

Geez, splitter+IP makes this an interesting situation. I think I would lean WUSTL here, but I would want to know more about CA IP placement from them. Any way to find that out? What have you found in your research? Have they put you in contact with any recent grads working in CA?

UCI is just such a wildcard and placement keeps getting worse and worse. Plus 10K debt is practically nothing.

I selected WUSTL, because it's a known entity and you can get a job. With patent credentials, you can get a big law job as long as you keep your grades up better than you did in college.

UCI has the edge for local PI. But that's about it as far as I'm concerned.

WUSTL because that it is a really good price and UCI is so unknown. If you have a SO or some other reason to stay in Orange County, that could be a game changer though.

jbagelboy wrote:you can get a big law job as long as you keep your grades up better than you did in college.

Oh, snap!

How good the grades need to be is the real question here. Median? I'm guessing that's not good enough. But how high do they need to be? I'm posing this question to the board, not necessarily just you, Bags.

I think the OP needs to be well aware of the very real possibility (probability?) of not snagging big law but with 10K debt that won't really matter.

OP will basically be fine from either school if he doesn't get biglaw. Would probably do WUSTL because 50k is a lot of money for someone who doesn't get biglaw, and your chances of getting biglaw are probably slightly higher there.

BigZuck wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:you can get a big law job as long as you keep your grades up better than you did in college.

Oh, snap!

How good the grades need to be is the real question here. Median? I'm guessing that's not good enough. But how high do they need to be? I'm posing this question to the board, not necessarily just you, Bags.

I think the OP needs to be well aware of the very real possibility (probability?) of not snagging big law but with 10K debt that won't really matter.

chem degree and two yrs WE in the hard sciences.. those are decent credentials. Not as great as an m.s. in electrical engineering or something, but decent.

A little over a third of WashU students get SA's each year. This is including all the k-jd's and former baristas. I think OP will probably be appealing to some firms - depending on the market targeted - from a smudge above median and up. They have the additional advantage of being able to participate in patent law OCI's and job fairs in addition to regular on campus recruiting.

I'll comment about cost of living in these areas. I here lived in both places (and am very good at managing my budget.

In St. Louis If you live some place like tower grove area your second and third year you can pay around 600 per month for your own apt, 400 for a shared, 2-300 if you share with 3 or more people. When I lived there my total budget living in a 4 bedroom house was 250 for rent, 70 for utilities, 400 for food, 80 car insurance, 100 gas, 100 entertainment/extra. So about 1000 per month total and I never ever ever went over and usually had left over. Our house was enormous with a backyard and parking.

When I lived in Irvine I struggled to keep a 2000 per month budget because my rent was still 950 to live in a 3 bedroom, car insurance was higher, gas more, drinks twice the price...

Just to say your COL in St. Louis may be overestimated and your COL in Irvine might be realistic. You could graduate wustl with no debt or even some cash from your parents in your pocket. This coupled with uci's weird beginnings should make this a no brainer. Best of luck.