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Is SO helping with living expenses if you stay in DC?

Dipper wrote:Is SO helping with living expenses if you stay in DC?

Slightly - I'm sure he'll help out with groceries and general COL stuff, but nothing significant.

I think your GULC offer is at a reasonable level. That's your best option for your goals/SO situation. Not really sure how much a retake would help with your gpa to be honest.

I would go to GULC in your situation. Could you sign up for the June test? Maybe see how you do then?

Jessicakes90 wrote:Bankruptcy in BigLaw [...] Significant other lives in DC [...] I'd like to be in DC [...] No ties to ATL. [...] I still have a decent amount of undergrad loans I'm paying off.

Sorry to hack up your OP, but these are the things that should probably factor into your decision the most (outside of total costs). There's really very little reason to go to Emory if you have no ties to Atlanta/want to be in biglaw. As a stand-alone option, 130k for GULC is pretty decent. That said, what kind of undergrad debt are you looking at? If you have 70k+ in undergrad debt, it might (disturbingly enough) make more sense to take out sticker debt at a higher-ranked school because the difference between 200k+ and 400k+ is pretty negligible once you're in the "definitely doing IBR" category. Whereas at which point, you probably maximize your chances of biglaw.

Alternatively, if non-biglaw is an option for you, I would run to Cardozo.

edit> actually, I would spend the extra 10k and go to Howard.

edit2> But if Howard's scholarship stipulations are brutal, then go back to Cardozo.

Winston1984 wrote: Could you sign up for the June test? Maybe see how you do then?

Definitely comfortable re-taking (I only took it once) for potentially scholarship increases, but re-applying in a new cycle isn't an option. Would you recommend re-taking just for potential scholarship bumps?

twenty wrote:That said, what kind of undergrad debt are you looking at? If you have 70k+ in undergrad debt, it might (disturbingly enough) make more sense to take out sticker debt at a higher-ranked school because the difference between 200k+ and 400k+ is pretty negligible once you're in the "definitely doing IBR" category. Whereas at which point, you probably maximize your chances of biglaw.

Alternatively, if non-biglaw is an option for you, I would run to Cardozo.

edit> actually, I would spend the extra 10k and go to Howard.

edit2> But if Howard's scholarship stipulations are brutal, then go back to Cardozo.

In terms of undergrad loans, I'm looking at about 40K. So, ideally, keeping my total debt under 200K is the goal.

Howard's scholarship stips require stay above 3.0 IIRC. Cardozo is so cheap because I could live at home. And I know the NYC BigLaw firms tend to recruit fairly frequently from schools like Dozo and Fordham, but I'm really more interested in having the mobility of a degree from a higher ranked school.

Re: Emory v. GULC, would a student performing in the top, say, 30% of their class at GULC outperform a student performing top 10-15% at Emory? Obviously, you can't ever bank on grades. Everyone thinks they're going to be top 10%, and 90% of the class isn't - I'm certainly not going in with a "special snowflake" mentality. But I think the environment at Emory is a little more nurturing and hand-holding and *for me* conducive to academic success. Not to say I wouldn't bust my ass at GULC, but I think it'd be slightly more difficult with the significantly larger class size.

Jessicakes90 wrote:

Winston1984 wrote: Could you sign up for the June test? Maybe see how you do then?

Definitely comfortable re-taking (I only took it once) for potentially scholarship increases, but re-applying in a new cycle isn't an option. Would you recommend re-taking just for potential scholarship bumps?

Yes, take for a scholarship bump. But if you hit 170+ it might be worth it to sit out. I honestly don't know much better your offers could get with your gpa though. I would go over to the URM form and ask those guys and do some looking around on LSN.

GULC. Emory's employment outcomes are garbage.

To your question about academic performance - Yes. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Winston1984 wrote:Yes, take for a scholarship bump. But if you hit 170+ it might be worth it to sit out. I honestly don't know much better your offers could get with your gpa though. I would go over to the URM form and ask those guys and do some looking around on LSN.

Yeah, I've done some perusing but not to much avail, unfortunately. I'll try starting a thread over there, thanks for the suggestion! I don't imagine much will change because GPA is just so low - for the record, I was supporting my family financially through undergrad, which I wrote about in addendums. Not sure it matters much though.

lawdoggy wrote: Yes. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So comforting to hear, gratsi.

Also, in terms of mobility, GULC is by far and away the best choice. Emory is extremely regional, despite what they might tell you.

Depends. How upset will you be if you borrow all that money for Georgetown and don't get biglaw? Your chance at biglaw is only a little better than a coin flip.

Nomo wrote:Depends. How upset will you be if you borrow all that money for Georgetown and don't get biglaw? Your chance at biglaw is only a little better than a coin flip.

I mean, that's a tough question to answer. I think really anywhere is a gamble with BigLaw except for the T6 schools so I'm definitely going in eyes wide open. I'm just curious as to whether the cost-benefit analysis shows GULC being a better choice than Emory, all factors considered. I think, arguably, I'd be equally upset at being 80K in debt as 130K if it means being in a position where I can't afford to pay off my loans. In my ideal situation, I'm taking on 80K of debt with a good BigLaw job, but it sounds like the likelihood of Emory producing a strong Biglaw job isn't that high....

You should be looking at the data here: http://abovethelaw.com/careers/2014-law ... -rankings/

With a JD from Emory you are 5% more likely to end up working for the school and being paid with pocket lint than you are to land a big law job.

The big Delaware bankruptcy shops were recruiting 1L's at GULC this year. Might want to check if they even go to Emory.

BmoreOrLess wrote:The big Delaware bankruptcy shops were recruiting 1L's at GULC this year. Might want to check if they even go to Emory.

Good suggestion. Apparently, Emory does decently with NY biglaw (Emory in NY program). Not too sure about Delaware bankruptcy though. I'll look into it!

You didnt apply to other T14s?

Idk if you would get more $$$, but you'd get better offers at probably the same amount of $$$. Not to mention The rest of the T14 place 60% in biglaw/fedclerkships (except mich and berk - high 50s) whereas GULC only did 46% last year.

WeeBey wrote:You didnt apply to other T14s?

Idk if you would get more $$$, but you'd get better offers at probably the same amount of $$$. Not to mention The rest of the T14 place 60% in biglaw/fedclerkships (except mich and berk - high 50s) whereas GULC only did 46% last year.

Oh I did. Haven't heard back from CLS, NYU, Northwestern, UPenn and Duke yet. I didn't even bother with HYS because *LOL* not with my GPA. CLS/NYU/UPenn were the result of pressure from fam to "just apply and see what happens!" Cornell is the only school I wish I applied to that I didn't.

Sorry to hack up your OP, but these are the things that should probably factor into your decision the most (outside of total costs). There's really very little reason to go to Emory

Absent other T14 w/money, GULC is a no-brainer here.

Seems like there are a lot of situational factors here that also make GULC a real no-brainer. I'm really not sure why Emory is in this conversation at all.

lawdoggy wrote:Seems like there are a lot of situational factors here that also make GULC a real no-brainer. I'm really not sure why Emory is in this conversation at all.

Primarily because Emory is significantly cheaper. I'm quite debt-averse and unsure if the difference in potential outcomes from both schools warrants the additional ~50K in debt I'd be taking on, situational factors aside. Based on ABA reports etc, there is obviously better job placements coming out of GULC... but it's not Yale, lol. But hearing everyone's perspective, it seems like it definitely is worth the additional debt for the security and job prospects of GULC over Emory.

Thanks, y'all!