Top Law Schools

Note: this is a serious thread. I have an actual, real conflict on my hands and I need the moderators to stop this thread from becoming a circus. Thank you in advance.

I've been doing a lot of thinking this weekend. Now that I'm starting the process of financial aid, reality is starting to kick in. I've never taken out this much debt before. I received a generous offer (no exact figures for privacy purposes) from American. This surprised me because they generally do not give a lot of financial aid. They have been following up with me periodically by phone or e-mail. I think their reaching out to me is a nice personal touch, I find it very impressive.

I'm not going to base the decision purely on financial aid. I also have to think about my long term career goals. This means – my goal of building a network in DC, and my goal of running for office back home.

In terms of building my network in DC, I can do so from either school. Attending G/G will obviously open more doors. But I am a very strong networker, and I have no doubt that at American I will stand out. I see a slight advantage for GW, but not enough to justify all of the extra cost.

In terms of running for office back home – this is the part that really stumps me. My future constituents aren't looking at a US News ranking. To a layperson, I'm not sure the difference between GW and AU is so great. Furthermore, graduating from AU magna cum laude may be more prestigious than graduating from GW.

What are your thoughts on this. Note that I am not that interested in what legal insiders believe, I want to know what laypeople believe. Again, I'm reiterating that this is a serious thread about a serious choice that I have on my hands. Please, please, please do not attack me or turn this into a GW bashing thread.

look he did it again!

Laypeople will believe the local regional law school > American & GWU.

brianiac wrote: Note that I am not that interested in what legal insiders believe, I want to know what laypeople believe. A

Wow here we go again...

Brian, why are you asking this on a top law school forum then? Why don't you just walk around DC or your hometown and ask random people on the street?

If you can negotiate a good scholly at American, land yourself in top 10%, then transfer after the first year to G/G it's a win win. You save money your first year plus you have two networks the AU network and the G/G network.

the punchline is that we are the lay people

Mack.Hambleton wrote:look he did it again!

Please, no personal attacks.

Rigo wrote:Laypeople will believe the local regional law school > American & GWU.

The local school isn't on the table right now. Let me reframe this. If you were going to hire someone for your firm and you had two applicants who were equal in every way. One had the GW boost. The other went to American but graduated magna cum laude. Assume you do not keep track of law schools or US News. Which do you choose?

downbeat14 wrote:

brianiac wrote: Note that I am not that interested in what legal insiders believe, I want to know what laypeople believe. A

Wow here we go again...

Brian, why are you asking this on a top law school forum then? Why don't you just walk around DC or your hometown and ask random people on the street?

I have been asking people I know. They don't think there's much of a difference between GW and magna at AU.

DCfilterDC wrote:If you can negotiate a good scholly at American, land yourself in top 10%, then transfer after the first year to G/G it's a win win. You save money your first year plus you have two networks the AU network and the G/G network.

That's a really good point. But I don't know how transfer GPAs are calculated when it comes to latin honors. It occurs to me this could backfire if I do really really well 1L and then lose all of my grade advantage when I transfer.

If the thread title says "or top 10%" because you are assuming you will be there and are still a 0L, go ahead and jump off the Brooklyn bridge now and save yourself some sleepless nights.

Just take the scholarship. Debt minimization should be your priority.

You can't guarantee you will end up top 10% at American, so you shouldn't use that in your calculations.

I don't think the average joe on the street sees any difference between American and GW at all. They're both non-Ivy private schools in DC.

DCfilterDC wrote:If you can negotiate a good scholly at American, land yourself in top 10%, then transfer after the first year to G/G it's a win win. You save money your first year plus you have two networks the AU network and the G/G network.

Solid plan. OP, I'm sure you can count on outperforming over 300 people, none of whom also plan to gun and be in the top 10% so they can transfer. I mean, if your LSAT and GPA are above the 75th percentile, it's pretty much guaranteed that you're gonna make law review right? American sounds like a great idea.

Assuming you'll land top 10% anywhere is completely asinine.

Layman prestige mostly lies within the Ivy League... average people don't know/care about GW or AU. Just tell everyone you got into Princeton Law but decided to stay at your local TTT to 'contribute to the community'.

brianiac wrote:Note: this is a serious thread. I have an actual, real conflict on my hands and I need the moderators to stop this thread from becoming a circus. Thank you in advance.

Ok, and you're welcome.