Top Law Schools

After some negotiating, I got my scholarship up to $25/year, which while helpful, will still leave me with a tremendous amount of debt. I have a lot of financial support coming from my family, but I'm still not that convinced the school's worth it at that price.

I really have no regional preference but I do have strong ties to the west coast and don't feel all together comfortable in big cities like Boston and NYC. While Boston U's employment score trends look favorable, I'm worried that I'll lose out on using law school to network to a location that I may be better suited to, like the Midwest or west coast. On the other hand, I don't want silly fears to keep me from getting the most out of law school. Does that make sense?

Alternatively, I'm also considering a full tuition scholarship to UICU (ehh), or a much more substantial scholarship at UC Davis (not looking into biglaw and the school's proximity to Sacramento may work in my favor), and I've asked for deadline extensions from a few other schools. However, these are the three options I find the most realistic (166/3.5). So I guess my question is, as someone who is not necessarily planning on working in Boston, is Boston U at all a viable option at this price? Would I be passing up a good opportunity to study elsewhere?

Completely up to you and what you are comfortable with. If you are not looking for big law, which is the biggest advantage for BU over your other options, perhaps the lack of proximity to home, immense increase in cost (including how expensive Boston is just to live in) may be worth a second thought. Look there is no doubt BU is conventionally a "better" school than the other options, but law school sometimes is more about "fit" than rankings/prestiges/LST scores. You don't want Big Law? You don't like the city of Boston? And it costs far more money? What then are the advantages? If at the end of the day you think you can reasonably achieve your goals, while living in a place you are far more comfortable and saving a ton of $$$, you probably should go that route. But......if you are looking to have options, more mobility, the chance at big law (maybe your plans change?) BU is definitely the choice. All about you and what you want (and maybe how sure you are that these goals will eventually still be your plans) Take with a grain of salt as i am a big BU proponent, but trying to be as even keeled as possible

corifornication wrote:After some negotiating, I got my scholarship up to $25/year, which while helpful, will still leave me with a tremendous amount of debt. I have a lot of financial support coming from my family, but I'm still not that convinced the school's worth it at that price.

I really have no regional preference but I do have strong ties to the west coast and don't feel all together comfortable in big cities like Boston and NYC. While Boston U's employment score trends look favorable, I'm worried that I'll lose out on using law school to network to a location that I may be better suited to, like the Midwest or west coast. On the other hand, I don't want silly fears to keep me from getting the most out of law school. Does that make sense?

Alternatively, I'm also considering a full tuition scholarship to UICU (ehh), or a much more substantial scholarship at UC Davis (not looking into biglaw and the school's proximity to Sacramento may work in my favor), and I've asked for deadline extensions from a few other schools. However, these are the three options I find the most realistic (166/3.5). So I guess my question is, as someone who is not necessarily planning on working in Boston, is Boston U at all a viable option at this price? Would I be passing up a good opportunity to study elsewhere?

Yes. You have a decent GPA and should retake to hit above 170. BU is worth no more than maybe $50k total debt, if that, and its placement is heavily regional. Full ride at UICU would be the smarter option if you want to work in IL.

Once you retake, try for a full ride at Minnesota or a partial at NU if you want to work in the Midwest, or a full scholly at one of the UCs if you want to work in California. USC or UCLA might be worth taking a little debt for, but again probably no more than $50k total or something similarly manageable.

Regardless, retake. Get above 170 and NU (or one of the decent regional west coast schools) should make you a good offer. In any case don't take out that much debt for BU. Especially if you don't want biglaw.

So you're considering BU over UIUC and UC Davis, knowing that you'd prefer the midwest or west coast? I don't think that makes sense. BU is a regional that does well mainly in MA and NY.

If the $$ is right, UIUC is a better choice for the midwest, UC Davis is better for the the west coast. Emphasis on 'if the $$ is right'.

Also, what are your goals OP? That's super relevant.

Max324 wrote:So you're considering BU over UIUC and UC Davis, knowing that you'd prefer the midwest or west coast? I don't think that makes sense. BU is a regional that does well mainly in MA and NY.

If the $$ is right, UIUC is a better choice for the midwest, UC Davis is better for the the west coast. Emphasis on 'if the $$ is right'.

You hit the nail on the head exactly. I guess that was really my question--my family's in law, and they all assure me that BU's reputation is nationwide, but everything I've seen job-wise points to primarily NYC and Boston, unless you get a spectacular externship. As far as goals go, I'm primarily looking into PI, but it really depends. I may take another year and retake the LSAT, but I'd like to review my options in context first.

Ngoblue2014 wrote:Completely up to you and what you are comfortable with. If you are not looking for big law, which is the biggest advantage for BU over your other options, perhaps the lack of proximity to home, immense increase in cost (including how expensive Boston is just to live in) may be worth a second thought. Look there is no doubt BU is conventionally a "better" school than the other options, but law school sometimes is more about "fit" than rankings/prestiges/LST scores. You don't want Big Law? You don't like the city of Boston? And it costs far more money? What then are the advantages? If at the end of the day you think you can reasonably achieve your goals, while living in a place you are far more comfortable and saving a ton of $$$, you probably should go that route. But......if you are looking to have options, more mobility, the chance at big law (maybe your plans change?) BU is definitely the choice. All about you and what you want (and maybe how sure you are that these goals will eventually still be your plans) Take with a grain of salt as i am a big BU proponent, but trying to be as even keeled as possible

And thank you as well. Honestly, you have no idea how much better just reading this made me feel about my concerns and priorities.

corifornication wrote:After some negotiating, I got my scholarship up to $25/year, which while helpful, will still leave me with a tremendous amount of debt. I have a lot of financial support coming from my family, but I'm still not that convinced the school's worth it at that price.

I really have no regional preference but I do have strong ties to the west coast and don't feel all together comfortable in big cities like Boston and NYC. While Boston U's employment score trends look favorable, I'm worried that I'll lose out on using law school to network to a location that I may be better suited to, like the Midwest or west coast. On the other hand, I don't want silly fears to keep me from getting the most out of law school. Does that make sense?

Alternatively, I'm also considering a full tuition scholarship to UICU (ehh), or a much more substantial scholarship at UC Davis (not looking into biglaw and the school's proximity to Sacramento may work in my favor), and I've asked for deadline extensions from a few other schools. However, these are the three options I find the most realistic (166/3.5). So I guess my question is, as someone who is not necessarily planning on working in Boston, is Boston U at all a viable option at this price? Would I be passing up a good opportunity to study elsewhere?

Have you tried talking them up a bit? You've got an LSAT point on me (165), yet they offered me 25k as well, I feel like you could get another 5 a year out of them.

glad i could help. I am 99% going to BU in the fall (just put in the 2nd deposit) but it sort of sounds like it just isn't what you're looking for. Unless of course you want to keep some options open just in case your plans change

full ride at UIUC and UCD aren't bad options, especially if you don't care about big law(and your COA should make it so that you don't have to get biglaw just to pay back your debt, at least in Urbana-Champaign. Not sure about UCD's COL)

If you really don't want to work in a big city in the Northeast, I don't think you should pick BU and subsequently take on a level of debt that you're not comfortable with.

Yeah it really looks like out of your three offers BU makes the least sense.

Go to illinois if you're for sure going this year. Champaign is a low COL area especially compared to a big city like boston so you'll graduate without a whole lot of debt. Big law is at least obtainable if you do well enough as there's a large alumni base in Chicago.

Comparing the two..

University of Illinois - 72.3 % longterm JD, 24.7 % large firm, 3.5 % Federal Clerkship, 16.5 % Public Service, 18.2 % Underemployment, 10.4 % School Funded

Boston University - 66.0 % longterm JD, 24.1 % large firm, 2.5 % Federal Clerkship, 19.4 % Public Service, 21.9 % Underemployment, 14.7 % School Funded

Absolutely no reason to pay more for BU than UIUC. Are you falling into the US News and World Report Rankings trap? BU being #27 and Illinois being #40 means absolutely nothing. No reason to think paying 20 grand in tuition to BU is good while a full ride from Illinois is "meh".

john7234797 wrote:Go to illinois if you're for sure going this year. Champaign is a low COL area especially compared to a big city like boston so you'll graduate without a whole lot of debt. Big law is at least obtainable if you do well enough as there's a large alumni base in Chicago.

Comparing the two..

University of Illinois - 72.3 % longterm JD, 24.7 % large firm, 3.5 % Federal Clerkship, 16.5 % Public Service, 18.2 % Underemployment, 10.4 % School Funded

Boston University - 66.0 % longterm JD, 24.1 % large firm, 2.5 % Federal Clerkship, 19.4 % Public Service, 21.9 % Underemployment, 14.7 % School Funded

Absolutely no reason to pay more for BU than UIUC. Are you falling into the US News and World Report Rankings trap? BU being #27 and Illinois being #40 means absolutely nothing. No reason to think paying 20 grand in tuition to BU is good while a full ride from Illinois is "meh".

This is wise, especially considering OP wants PI (ie, no money). However, the geography really matters here. OP appears to be picking schools based on USNWR rather than geography and goals.

OP, what are your other options?

What BU is worth depends somewhat on what your current job situation is. In my opinion, if you've been struggling to find a job with benefits for a couple years then I would be willing to spend as much as 90k on BU (this includes cost of living). The chance of being unemployed is simply too high to spend much more. It gives you a solid chance of biglaw, but its still an unlikely outcome. If you've already got a decent career then I would hesitate to spend more than 50k total.

cron1834 wrote:

john7234797 wrote:Go to illinois if you're for sure going this year. Champaign is a low COL area especially compared to a big city like boston so you'll graduate without a whole lot of debt. Big law is at least obtainable if you do well enough as there's a large alumni base in Chicago.

Comparing the two..

University of Illinois - 72.3 % longterm JD, 24.7 % large firm, 3.5 % Federal Clerkship, 16.5 % Public Service, 18.2 % Underemployment, 10.4 % School Funded

Boston University - 66.0 % longterm JD, 24.1 % large firm, 2.5 % Federal Clerkship, 19.4 % Public Service, 21.9 % Underemployment, 14.7 % School Funded

Absolutely no reason to pay more for BU than UIUC. Are you falling into the US News and World Report Rankings trap? BU being #27 and Illinois being #40 means absolutely nothing. No reason to think paying 20 grand in tuition to BU is good while a full ride from Illinois is "meh".

This is wise, especially considering OP wants PI (ie, no money). However, the geography really matters here. OP appears to be picking schools based on USNWR rather than geography and goals.

Goodness, no, not USNWR, but I was concerned that I may have been locking myself out of a market because of silly fears. Those stats are very helpful as well, thank you.

I've been comparing LST and Above the Law stats for both UCD and UICU a lot the past few days, but it does bother me that there's so little information about UICU available outside of that.

Yea All Right wrote:OP, what are your other options?

As I said, I may defer a year and retake, and a few other schools have given me deadline extensions, but these two have offered me the most substantial scholarships, ergo they are the ones I am most seriously considering.

Idk I got a similar scholarship for BU and have substantially worse #'s. If your getting family support it might be worth it if you wanted the NE. No USC?

If you don't want biglaw and are happy working with where you go to school, UIUC at full ride or UCD at near full-ride(you just said substantial...don't know what that means) are both good options.

corifornication wrote:

cron1834 wrote:

john7234797 wrote:Go to illinois if you're for sure going this year. Champaign is a low COL area especially compared to a big city like boston so you'll graduate without a whole lot of debt. Big law is at least obtainable if you do well enough as there's a large alumni base in Chicago.

Comparing the two..

University of Illinois - 72.3 % longterm JD, 24.7 % large firm, 3.5 % Federal Clerkship, 16.5 % Public Service, 18.2 % Underemployment, 10.4 % School Funded

Boston University - 66.0 % longterm JD, 24.1 % large firm, 2.5 % Federal Clerkship, 19.4 % Public Service, 21.9 % Underemployment, 14.7 % School Funded

Absolutely no reason to pay more for BU than UIUC. Are you falling into the US News and World Report Rankings trap? BU being #27 and Illinois being #40 means absolutely nothing. No reason to think paying 20 grand in tuition to BU is good while a full ride from Illinois is "meh".

This is wise, especially considering OP wants PI (ie, no money). However, the geography really matters here. OP appears to be picking schools based on USNWR rather than geography and goals.

Goodness, no, not USNWR, but I was concerned that I may have been locking myself out of a market because of silly fears. Those stats are very helpful as well, thank you.

I've been comparing LST and Above the Law stats for both UCD and UICU a lot the past few days, but it does bother me that there's so little information about UICU available outside of that.

What do you mean exactly? If you have questions about Champaign in general you can pm me.

If you can keep your debt under 100k at graduation (including interest accumulation), BU is a decent deal.