Evaluating "lower end" NYC/Long Island schools Forum

[Jmazz88]

Just as a disclaimer- I am not going to Law School this fall. I will be retaking the LSAT this September and applying for Fall, 2015. So please don't bash me saying retake, don't ruin your life by going here or there etc. My GPA is very low, and while I hope to mitigate it with a high LSAT, there's a good chance I might end up at one of these schools. I am just curious to see everyone's opinion on this.

Here are the LST Employment Scores for these types of "lesser" schools in the region. Yes, I am excluding Fordham from this list, along with NJ schools.

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

Now i'm not saying these are good employment scores, as you clearly are at a disadvantage going to any of these schools. Also, I purposely am not bringing up Big Law/FedClerkship numbers because frankly you're more than likely not getting that at any of these schools.

So, as an example, a student gets 15% tuition off lets say Brooklyn Law, and gets then 75% tuition at Touro. Lets say COL is the same. Why would a student choose Brooklyn over Touro? 100k for 5% better chance at being a lawyer doesn't sound reasonable. And technically, Brooklyn is a "much better school" according to the godly US News Rankings. I just don't understand why a school like Touro is completely shunned on this site/rankings etc, even for free, while schools like Brooklyn or St. Johns are almost always a better option for the student. And no, I am not endorsing Touro, just usuing it as an example.

What are everyone's thoughts on these "lesser schools" in the region? Just curious.

[Ricky-Bobby]

Show me one example of anyone on this forum suggesting Brooklyn over Touro at those prices.

Stop looking at US News and go study for the LSAT.

No one cares about your ridiculous straw man.

[timbs4339]

My thoughts as a lawyer who works in the region are only go if given a full ride with a stip no worse than top 80% (at 10K per year BLS and Dozo might be worth it) and only if you banish from your mind any expectation of working in a prestigious job or making more than 60K out of law school. Only go if you really want to practice law and help real clients, not if you just want to be able to tell people you're a respected professional working in a tall building.

[moonman157]

The advice is never "Take Brooklyn over Touro." It's "Neither, retake"

[catfished]

Honestly? Here's the deal:

In the past (like, the f*cking past man) these schools were the place to go for your average NYC-Brooklyn "small town" attorney. You will find hundreds (if not thousands) of one-two man shops smattered around NYC, filled with lawyers who went to these schools. And they're doing fine, if not great! Good for them.

They are NOT you. You know why? Because that was then. You're NOW.

What's confusing to a lot of "0Ls" (is this even a thing?), is that when you talk to A LOT of these NYC solo attorneys (you know, at a BBQ, bar, parents' Christmas party, etc. etc.) they will be really proud of their alma mater. AND WHY SHOULDN'T THEY BE. Most of them will be doing well, and those schools helped get them to where they are. That's f*cking FAN TAS TIC. And that's why this profession is so esteemed by Boomer-Mommy and Daddy. Because at one time, you went to law school, and you were no longer doing the blue collar work your parents did. Maybe you even became "rich." (JK, if you want to get rich do NOT practice law, newb). But they lived good, upper-middle class lives. You know, had a townhouse in Queens, WITH A F*CKING GARAGE. That's living my man.

Look. St. John's, Hofstra, Brooklyn, Touro, CUNY, sh*t even Pace are going to give you a shot at the NYC market. But you're going to have to work 1,000x harder than your peers at EVERY SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES - not just the NY-metro - the goddamn US, to find a job there. The reason? Your parents' friends ain't hiring. And to get a coveted spot at a big firm (why are these spots coveted again?) you will need to be in the top 2% of your class, on law review, and have the mentality that makes you ZERO friends in law school because your ONLY priority will be stomping out your peers, so you can get to the top.

Another anecdote. Opening a shop isn't as easy today as it was when your Uncle's, mechanic's, nephew did in '76. Now that hiring is so rough, TOP attorneys (we're talking like, goddamn Williams Connelly WWII veteran with a phD who got the unibomber off death row 14 times), are opening their own shop. So you have to compete with them. And you can't.

But if you can, go to Harvard.

[donewithannarbor]

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

These are the values on the current job market. Get yourself LSAT/GPAs that suffice to obtain financial aid to get you close to or beating these numbers. IF the job market unexpectedly improves or applicants continue to fall off, the values of Cardozo, Fordham, Rutgers, and Seton MAY go up, but the others have little upside. Pro tip: eliminate everything below Cardozo from consideration at any price, and apply in north Jersey instead.

[Jmazz88]

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

These are the values on the current job market. Get yourself LSAT/GPAs that suffice to obtain financial aid to get you close to or beating these numbers. IF the job market unexpectedly improves or applicants continue to fall off, the values of Cardozo, Fordham, Rutgers, and Seton MAY go up, but the others have little upside. Pro tip: eliminate everything below Cardozo from consideration at any price, and apply in north Jersey instead.

donwithannarbor- Quick question. Let's say you'd prefer to work on Long Island as opposed to NYC. Would Hofstra or Touro be more favorable of an option opposed to BLS,SJU,NYLS etc? Or does it not really matter? Thanks.

[catfished]

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

These are the values on the current job market. Get yourself LSAT/GPAs that suffice to obtain financial aid to get you close to or beating these numbers. IF the job market unexpectedly improves or applicants continue to fall off, the values of Cardozo, Fordham, Rutgers, and Seton MAY go up, but the others have little upside. Pro tip: eliminate everything below Cardozo from consideration at any price, and apply in north Jersey instead.

donwithannarbor- Quick question. Let's say you'd prefer to work on Long Island as opposed to NYC. Would Hofstra or Touro be more favorable of an option opposed to BLS,SJU,NYLS etc? Or does it not really matter? Thanks.

Finding a job is going to be all about who you know coming from these schools. If you know many attorneys in LI, you're better off going to school in LI. If you know 15 attorneys in LI that went to Hofstra, and 30 that went to Touro, you ought to bet on Touro.

In addition, you should go to school close to the law office where you want to work. Most schools, if not all, will be happy to give you 1 or 2 credits to work at a law firm during the semester. If you know a Touro alum with an office nearby, tell him you'll work for free during the semester, and try to impress him. In terms of being able to handle tasks, you're not going to know anything more about the practice of law after your first or second year of law school than you do now. Start now. Hustle. Work at a different firm each semester if you can, and another different firm during the summer.

[timbs4339]

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

These are the values on the current job market. Get yourself LSAT/GPAs that suffice to obtain financial aid to get you close to or beating these numbers. IF the job market unexpectedly improves or applicants continue to fall off, the values of Cardozo, Fordham, Rutgers, and Seton MAY go up, but the others have little upside. Pro tip: eliminate everything below Cardozo from consideration at any price, and apply in north Jersey instead.

donwithannarbor- Quick question. Let's say you'd prefer to work on Long Island as opposed to NYC. Would Hofstra or Touro be more favorable of an option opposed to BLS,SJU,NYLS etc? Or does it not really matter? Thanks.

Finding a job is going to be all about who you know coming from these schools. If you know many attorneys in LI, you're better off going to school in LI. If you know 15 attorneys in LI that went to Hofstra, and 30 that went to Touro, you ought to bet on Touro.

In addition, you should go to school close to the law office where you want to work. Most schools, if not all, will be happy to give you 1 or 2 credits to work at a law firm during the semester. If you know a Touro alum with an office nearby, tell him you'll work for free during the semester, and try to impress him. In terms of being able to handle tasks, you're not going to know anything more about the practice of law after your first or second year of law school than you do now. Start now. Hustle. Work at a different firm each semester if you can, and another different firm during the summer.

All excellent advice. Even if these small firms or DA/PD offices can't get you a job, the lawyers might know someone who can. An even if they don't, you want to be the entry-level applying with a resume that looks like you have 2 years experience, not someone who aced their 3L corporations class but can't find the courthouse.

[Mal Reynolds]

Those schools are abysmal options at any price.

[catfished]

Those schools are abysmal options at any price.

While this may be TCR, people will continue to go to these schools. The best advice you can give them is to help them make the most of it. I'd highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind.

All I can say is that if you want to come out of ANY of these schools with a job, you need to put in the work, and not just make the grades. "Externing" at a local law firm is far and away the best way to do this. A good externship will bring you to court for the smallest sh*t, but it is ALL IMPORTANT. If a lawyer brings you to a DUI hearing, you thank him profusely and beg him to introduce you to the prosecutor. Make friends with EVERY attorney you meet, every judge you "observe." One of these people *might* have a job for you when you graduate. And if you played your cards right, it ain't going to be because you made law review.

[jingosaur]

There are 20 law schools that place more student in NY than any other state. Another 16 place at least 10% of their class in NY. Those 36 schools include every top 14 and several Tier 1 schools. NY is a market that could not take any new lawyers for 6 or 7 years and still not have a lawyer supply shortage.

By attending one of the "lower end" NYC schools, you're basically starting out in the bottom half of lawyers in a market that doesn't need more lawyers. Even with a half scholarship at any of these schools, except CUNY, you're still looking at around $200k in debt. Do you like those odds?

Also, keep in mind that schools are gaming LST employment scores now by placing kids in temporary school funded "fellowships" and traffic court clerkships and counting them as full-time jobs. I'd bet that over 2 out of 3 students will seek unpaid work at some point and still struggle to come up with anything. Is your family rich enough to support your cost of living in NYC while you work for no salary? Because you'll be competing for jobs against people whose parents will do that for their kids and jobs will be taken out from under you because one of your fellow grads will offer to work for less or nothing.

[Mal Reynolds]

Those schools are abysmal options at any price.

While this may be TCR, people will continue to go to these schools. The best advice you can give them is to help them make the most of it. I'd highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind.

All I can say is that if you want to come out of ANY of these schools with a job, you need to put in the work, and not just make the grades. "Externing" at a local law firm is far and away the best way to do this. A good externship will bring you to court for the smallest sh*t, but it is ALL IMPORTANT. If a lawyer brings you to a DUI hearing, you thank him profusely and beg him to introduce you to the prosecutor. Make friends with EVERY attorney you meet, every judge you "observe." One of these people *might* have a job for you when you graduate. And if you played your cards right, it ain't going to be because you made law review.

I don't give advice about the best ways to commit career suicide; nor should this board.

[catfished]

Those schools are abysmal options at any price.

While this may be TCR, people will continue to go to these schools. The best advice you can give them is to help them make the most of it. I'd highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind.

All I can say is that if you want to come out of ANY of these schools with a job, you need to put in the work, and not just make the grades. "Externing" at a local law firm is far and away the best way to do this. A good externship will bring you to court for the smallest sh*t, but it is ALL IMPORTANT. If a lawyer brings you to a DUI hearing, you thank him profusely and beg him to introduce you to the prosecutor. Make friends with EVERY attorney you meet, every judge you "observe." One of these people *might* have a job for you when you graduate. And if you played your cards right, it ain't going to be because you made law review.

I don't give advice about the best ways to commit career suicide; nor should this board.

Hate to break it to you bro, but $100 says OP still goes to [insert name of school listed above], regardless of the anonymous warnings he received on this forum. This forum's role should be to mitigate the damages.

[Mal Reynolds]

Hate to break it to you bro, but $100 says OP still goes to [insert name of school listed above], regardless of the anonymous warnings he received on this forum. This forum's role should be to mitigate the damages.

I'm not an idiot.The goal should be to convince the people lurking in the shadows who are still potentially undecided, not the idiots who aren't asking for advice but looking for someone to confirm their already-made decision. So you are still wrong and your intentions retarded.

[jbagelboy]

Hate to break it to you bro, but $100 says OP still goes to [insert name of school listed above], regardless of the anonymous warnings he received on this forum. This forum's role should be to mitigate the damages.

I'm not an idiot.The goal should be to convince the people lurking in the shadows who are still potentially undecided, not the idiots who aren't asking for advice but looking for someone to confirm their already-made decision. So you are still wrong and your intentions retarded.

also, people who post and seem to have already decided on a bad choice actually do change their mind (sometimes) when they take enough concentrated and intelligible heat on here. "mitigating damages" sounds uncomfortably in tacit approval

[star fox]

Hate to break it to you bro, but $100 says OP still goes to [insert name of school listed above], regardless of the anonymous warnings he received on this forum. This forum's role should be to mitigate the damages.

I'm not an idiot.The goal should be to convince the people lurking in the shadows who are still potentially undecided, not the idiots who aren't asking for advice but looking for someone to confirm their already-made decision. So you are still wrong and your intentions retarded.

This is a great point.

[PepperJack]

I would say Brooklyn is better than Touro in your hypothetical. They're both terrible options, and make it very statistically probable you are really hurting your entire future as for 90%+ you're going to struggle to pay off those loans while making a low salary (possibly the same $10-15/hour jobs you can get now).

But Touro has pretty close to 0 value, and arguably has a negative value. Even if you were #1 in the class there's such a stigma that you won't get a great firm job, and it'll be an uphill battle your entire career. You also can't even transfer anywhere with decent employment prospects for transfers so it's a even if you win you lose situation.

Brooklyn at least makes it possible you can succeed coming out of there (though 90% won't), and the top of the class can transfer into NYU and Columbia. It's a school with some value. One concern is that it's the sort of not great but not terrible school where people who get into much better ranked schools attend on a full ride. Admissions #'s have been demonstrated to have great predictive value in extremes, but little to no difference on the margins. A random 3.7 and 165 at Brooklyn is a very good bet to do well, while someone just over both medians is no more likely to do better than someone just below. This is to say you're going to have very high competition for the top 10% at Brooklyn, and you're going to need to be top 10% to not be fucked. I'm sure you can study hard and be above median, but this is no where near enough to meet the threshold performance needed to get what you want.

The prudent move is to either not go or make it at least a 50-50 proposition, and bet on yourself on 50/50 odds. But I'd rather spend more for a chance of not shooting myself in the foot than virtually guaranteeing you're out tens of thousands of dollars. Touro is really giving you lottery type odds for a payoff that's no where near mega millions.

[NYSprague]

You shouldn't go to any of these schools. It sounds as if you are in New York and there are many different jobs and careers to be found here. There is absolutely no excuse for going to any of these terrible schools, for any price. You are wasting valuable years of your life.

What kind of job do you think you will get? How much do you expect to make?

This is so absurd. These schools prey on people who don't know better. You can not possibly believe going to one of these schools is your best investment in time and energy.

[03152016]

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

These are the values on the current job market. Get yourself LSAT/GPAs that suffice to obtain financial aid to get you close to or beating these numbers. IF the job market unexpectedly improves or applicants continue to fall off, the values of Cardozo, Fordham, Rutgers, and Seton MAY go up, but the others have little upside. Pro tip: eliminate everything below Cardozo from consideration at any price, and apply in north Jersey instead.

if touro is worth $1, cardozo is not worth $60k
and how on earth is nyls worth $30k

i would advise against attending every school on this list

if u want to attend ls in the metro area go to columbia or nyu

fordham may be an okay option w $$
but as has been discussed here before, they've been circling the drain the last few years

when u subtract out school funded, brooklyn cardozo and st johns are peers
in terms of employment, underemployment, bl+fc
at this point, i don't believe one is substantially better than another
no amount of debt is acceptable attending these three schools

touro, cuny, hofstra, nyls, and pace are all raging dumpster fires
touro is a real trainwreck of a school, they are actually the least selective law school in the entire state, and seem to attract students mainly by throwing $$ at anyone who can spell their name with fewer than two mistakes (and of course, the scholarships come w terrible stips)
cuny is an "inexpensive school" with a "reputation for public service", except a coa well into the six figures isn't "inexpensive", and most of the public service jobs aren't legal jobs (they do well w city/state gov't, my friend there works for a city council member)
hofstra has some local name recognition bc of its undergrad but that's basically it; they also have the dubious distinction of being the #2 law school on long island
pace touts its "great environmental program", when i lived in westchester i knew a couple pace kids who managed to convince themselves they wanted 2 do "environmental law", one is a now a doc review slave n the other is a carpenter
nyls claims that the fact that it's in the financial district is an advantage, but everyone knows the real advantage is that maybe someday a hungover hiring partner at Shitlaw & Shitlaw LLP will misread ur alma mater as new york university law school and invite u 2 interview
these schools should all probably never be attended under any circumstance

ny needs six law schools at most
columbia nyu cornell
fordham as the strong downstate regional
one of brooklyn/cardozo/st johns as the downstate ttt
one of albany/buffalo to serve upstate
close the rest

[Ti Malice]

Those schools are abysmal options at any price.

While this may be TCR, people will continue to go to these schools. The best advice you can give them is to help them make the most of it. I'd highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind.

All I can say is that if you want to come out of ANY of these schools with a job, you need to put in the work, and not just make the grades. "Externing" at a local law firm is far and away the best way to do this. A good externship will bring you to court for the smallest sh*t, but it is ALL IMPORTANT. If a lawyer brings you to a DUI hearing, you thank him profusely and beg him to introduce you to the prosecutor. Make friends with EVERY attorney you meet, every judge you "observe." One of these people *might* have a job for you when you graduate. And if you played your cards right, it ain't going to be because you made law review.

I don't give advice about the best ways to commit career suicide; nor should this board.

Hate to break it to you bro, but $100 says OP still goes to [insert name of school listed above], regardless of the anonymous warnings he received on this forum. This forum's role should be to mitigate the damages.

No. Dozens upon dozens of posters here have avoided terrible decisions because people on this board offered clear advice about making the best possible decision instead of telling people how to possibly soften the potentially ruinous blow of an awful and uninformed decision.

Law school attendance numbers are plummeting, and many of the very worst outfits are getting hammered the hardest. There are many more people who read this board than who post on it, and the good advice given here has no doubt had a positive impact on many of these invisible visitors.

This site's posters should continue providing the best evidence-based advice possible so that people who aren't simply looking for validation for an awful decision that they've already made can continue to avoid wrecking their lives. I feel much less bad for the people who choose poorly despite encountering all of the information necessary to make an intelligent decision than I do for people who choose poorly only because they never encountered that information in the first place (because they failed to question the still-prevailing idea among the public that a law degree is a ticket to a comfortable life, because they reasonably assumed that their pre-law advisor would have something other than completely idiotic and wrongheaded advice to offer, because they don't have the kind of cultural capital that many of us take for granted and which -- in the aggregate -- gives us easier access to better information, and so forth).

[dixiecupdrinking]

Honestly? Here's the deal:

In the past (like, the f*cking past man) these schools were the place to go for your average NYC-Brooklyn "small town" attorney. You will find hundreds (if not thousands) of one-two man shops smattered around NYC, filled with lawyers who went to these schools. And they're doing fine, if not great! Good for them.

They are NOT you. You know why? Because that was then. You're NOW.

What's confusing to a lot of "0Ls" (is this even a thing?), is that when you talk to A LOT of these NYC solo attorneys (you know, at a BBQ, bar, parents' Christmas party, etc. etc.) they will be really proud of their alma mater. AND WHY SHOULDN'T THEY BE. Most of them will be doing well, and those schools helped get them to where they are. That's f*cking FAN TAS TIC. And that's why this profession is so esteemed by Boomer-Mommy and Daddy. Because at one time, you went to law school, and you were no longer doing the blue collar work your parents did. Maybe you even became "rich." (JK, if you want to get rich do NOT practice law, newb). But they lived good, upper-middle class lives. You know, had a townhouse in Queens, WITH A F*CKING GARAGE. That's living my man.

Look. St. John's, Hofstra, Brooklyn, Touro, CUNY, sh*t even Pace are going to give you a shot at the NYC market. But you're going to have to work 1,000x harder than your peers at EVERY SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES - not just the NY-metro - the goddamn US, to find a job there. The reason? Your parents' friends ain't hiring. And to get a coveted spot at a big firm (why are these spots coveted again?) you will need to be in the top 2% of your class, on law review, and have the mentality that makes you ZERO friends in law school because your ONLY priority will be stomping out your peers, so you can get to the top.

Another anecdote. Opening a shop isn't as easy today as it was when your Uncle's, mechanic's, nephew did in '76. Now that hiring is so rough, TOP attorneys (we're talking like, goddamn Williams Connelly WWII veteran with a phD who got the unibomber off death row 14 times), are opening their own shop. So you have to compete with them. And you can't.

But if you can, go to Harvard.

This is pretty good.

[bugsy33]

Brooklyn Law- 56.5%
St. Johns Law- 55.7%
Cardozo Law- 54.3%
Touro Law- 51.7%
CUNY Law- 48.6%
Hofstra Law- 47.3%
New York Law School- 44%
Pace Law- 40.8%

I'd just look at these under the lens of total acceptable cost to pay.

Brooklyn: 60k, but less if you don't have connections likely to furnish a job in place
St. John: 50k
Cardozo: 60k
Touro: $1 but don't go
CUNY: $1, go only if you have a specific public-minded career path readymade
Hofstra: $20k and go only if you have connections likely to furnish you a job
NYLS: $30k, same as Hofstra
Pace: $1, same advice as above

Fordham: 60k
Rutgers-Newark: 60k
Seton Hall: 60k, but less if you are lacking NJ connections, particularly political/judiciary connections

This is an example of a classic TLS shitpost. Under normal circumstances you cannot go to any school in NY, especially in NYC for a TCOA of 50-60k. Living expenses alone will be more than that unless you plan on living with your parents. If you had high enough scores to justify a full-ride+stipend, then you wouldn't even be looking at these schools.

Telling someone to go to Fordham for 60k is laughable. Those who have scores to get close to a full ride have the scores to go to Cornell. There is not a single person on LSN that has a scholarship high enough to make the Fordham TCOA under 80k. Again with Cardozo, the people with full rides have scores to get into T-14 schools. Even those people will be paying 60k+ COA.

Rutgers-Newark might be doable for 60k, but why would you make the ideal cost for Rutgers the same as Fordham. It also doesn't place nearly as well in NY.

OP, take the stuff you read here with a grain of salt. Just max out your LSAT retakes and apply broadly. Maybe also reevaluate where you want to work. There are really solid regionals in the South and Midwest which might better fit your academic profile.