Top Law Schools

Hi there,

I've recently been accepted to both NYU and Michigan. However, Michigan offered me $25,000 a year while NYU is offering me no scholarships--not to mention, Michigan's ticket price is already $10,000 cheaper than NYU (including living expenses).

I am interested in studying international law, but am also very interested on working in the public sector, making financing my education important. NYU is higher ranked in general and it is the top ranked school for international law. Michigan isn't all that far behind in the rankings, and also has a decent international law program, but not necessarily the best. Its location is also much less appealing than that of NYU.

I don't know how to value the added benefits of going to NYU relative to the additional debt I would have to incur. Any input?

cri03 wrote:Hi there,

I've recently been accepted to both NYU and Michigan. However, Michigan offered me $25,000 a year while NYU is offering me no scholarships--not to mention, Michigan's ticket price is already $10,000 cheaper than NYU (including living expenses).

I am interested in studying international law, but am also very interested on working in the public sector, making financing my education important. NYU is higher ranked in general and it is the top ranked school for international law. Michigan isn't all that far behind in the rankings, and also has a decent international law program, but not necessarily the best. Its location is also much less appealing than that of NYU.

I don't know how to value the added benefits of going to NYU relative to the additional debt I would have to incur. Any input?

"International law" is not a real field; you need to research what the legal job job market is actually like. And both of those COAs are way too high for pub interest work unless you are comfortable taking the LRAP gamble.
Did any lower T14s or good regionals offer you a full ride?

"International law" is not a real field; you need to research what the legal job job market is actually like. And both of those COAs are way too high for pub interest work unless you are comfortable taking the LRAP gamble.
Did any lower T14s or good regionals offer you a full ride

All my interests and professional goals lay in the international field. As such, I favor schools that provide me more preparation in that area. Nor am I married to the idea of working in public interest, which is what allows me to continue to consider NYU. As far as specific professional fields, I am interested in international transactional law in the private sector, international economic policy/development policy in the public sector.

Also, I am fortunate enough that I will have some financial support from my parents. I would still need to take out loans in both cases, but nothing damning in the case of Michigan.

Sorry I didn't provide more detail before. I hope that this helps.

oh look another rich parents thread

Do you mind sharing how much in loans you will have to take out from each school?

IMO, these options are pretty borderline, but you should also go into either one with the expectation that you will very likely not be working in international law or public interest immediately after school. Both schools are pretty good for public interest, but a lot of PI focused kids end up working in Biglaw first (if fortunate enough to have that option) because they need the money to pay down student loans or they want to learn how to get better at practicing law before moving into PI which doesn't have the same amount of patience for inexperience lawyers.

jingosaur wrote:Do you mind sharing how much in loans you will have to take out from each school?

IMO, these options are pretty borderline, but you should also go into either one with the expectation that you will very likely not be working in international law or public interest immediately after school. Both schools are pretty good for public interest, but a lot of PI focused kids end up working in Biglaw first (if fortunate enough to have that option) because they need the money to pay down student loans or they want to learn how to get better at practicing law before moving into PI which doesn't have the same amount of patience for inexperience lawyers.

Really? 75K at Michigan is borderline? Is the legal market that far into the doldrums? Big Blue's had a rough go of it the last few years, but a near half-scholly at a T14 isn't such a bad outcome.

Sticker at NYU sounds far sketchier.

There isn't a wrong decision. You know you really want to go to NYU, just do it.

PredatoryWasp wrote:There isn't a wrong decision. You know you really want to go to NYU, just do it.

This sort of idiocy should be bannable.

ymmv wrote:

PredatoryWasp wrote:There isn't a wrong decision. You know you really want to go to NYU, just do it.

This sort of idiocy should be bannable.

Meh.

I figure there has to be at least one person in any given one of these "X vs Y" debates that should err on the side of impracticality.

Post removed.

Post removed.

Power_of_Facing wrote:

jingosaur wrote:Do you mind sharing how much in loans you will have to take out from each school?

IMO, these options are pretty borderline, but you should also go into either one with the expectation that you will very likely not be working in international law or public interest immediately after school. Both schools are pretty good for public interest, but a lot of PI focused kids end up working in Biglaw first (if fortunate enough to have that option) because they need the money to pay down student loans or they want to learn how to get better at practicing law before moving into PI which doesn't have the same amount of patience for inexperience lawyers.

Really? 75K at Michigan is borderline? Is the legal market that far into the doldrums? Big Blue's had a rough go of it the last few years, but a near half-scholly at a T14 isn't such a bad outcome.

Sticker at NYU sounds far sketchier.

OP said he had some parental support and NYU has a super strong LRAP program so if they paid a decent portion of the tuition bill, it could be a viable option especially for someone who's gunning hard for PI. Michigan is a viable choice at $75k, but NYU has had significantly better job placement over the past few years and a much stronger public interest network so the difference could be worth it if OP has financially well-off parents to fall back on.

What's your backup plan? Since "international law" probably won't happen, what else are you interested in?

Don't worry OP, when I first started thinking of law school I told everyone I wanted to do first amendment stuff

Not much question-- Michigan.

International policy or international commercial disputes? The latter is a thing, and you'll want big law. For human rights and NGO stuff, good luck. Both degrees will open some doors, there just aren't a ton of great doors. I defer to those in the field, but that is my take.

Mich ... unless your parents are legit rich. In that case you should disclose how much debt you'll actually be in. No one cares what your scholarship is, unless it can be used to help calculate your COA. Vaguely hinting at some help isn't useful for crowdsourcing.

(stupid richers)

ya read this thread op
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=206299

given the limited amount of info you've provided it's hard to give you advice
but i suspect that umich is the right call here

anyriotgirl wrote:oh look another rich parents thread

don't hate bro

Would someone explain how they think NYU could possibly be a better choice at roughly $100,000 more? That turns into about $1,200 a month in loan payments for a good chunk of your life. Reality is that if you want big law you can probably get it from either school, and if you don't, you should focus on affordability. Either way, Mich is the better choice.

HP5450 wrote:Would someone explain how they think NYU could possibly be a better choice at roughly $100,000 more? That turns into about $1,200 a month in loan payments for a good chunk of your life. Reality is that if you want big law you can probably get it from either school, and if you don't, you should focus on affordability. Either way, Mich is the better choice.

If a person is relying solely on LRAP to pay back loans on PI salary then NYU might be justifiable. I still think this is way too big a risk though and would probably never advise someone seeking PI law to pay more than $60, maybe $70k cost of attendance max wherever they go.

Michigan; there are basically no reasons for spending $100k more to get an NYU JD over a Michigan one. Maybe if your parents were covering AND you had an SO in the city who couldn't move AND you had justifiable career reasons for V10 or bust. But for you, definitely Michigan.