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In last year's LST data, Northwestern actually had a greater percentage of the class go to NY than Duke (21% vs. 20%).

Disclaimer: I'm going to NU.

I would take NU here. Both schools can get you to NYC. And as the poster above mentioned, it doesn't look like Duke does a better job of getting you there than NU.

lawzzz wrote:Do you think Duke's NYC biglaw advantage is worth the difference? Do most NU students self-select into Chicago biglaw, or are they less able to crack other major legal markets? Will Duke open more doors back in my home market than NU? Any information with respect to these options and these questions would be greatly appreciated!

Duke and NU are peer schools, there is no advantage for either school. The only places where their placement ability may be different would be in their home regions where each would have an advantage. Especially looking at either going to CA or NYC they have the same placement power. If you have some other reason to prefer Duke then I'd just try to use the NU scholarship to negotiate for them to match, otherwise if your goals are as you've stated I don't think Duke would make any sense in this situation.

ETA: this really just pertains to biglaw, fedgov is a lot weirder and I'm not as familiar with it so I can't say if Duke has any advantage there.

NW, also whats your home market?

I don't think Duke is worth $37000 more than Northwestern. I also have never seen any data suggesting that Duke has an NYC biglaw advantage over NU; where are you getting that idea from?

NU, hands down. Better price (than Duke) and comparable BL/clerk placement as well as comparable placement into NYC (NU: 21% vs. Duke 20%).

I've definitely heard that idea on TLS (that if NY is your target market, Duke trumps NU). But obviously the data just doesn't support that. I also think a cursory review of their employment reports (which indicate the most popular destination of Duke grads is NY, and Chicago for NU) led me to this unfounded belief. I mainly just wanted to try to determine whether or not the majority of grads simply want Chicago biglaw, or if they were, to whatever extent, limited to Chicago biglaw. It seems like this is certainly not the case. Thanks for your advice!

I have heard from several NU students that even for them it's easier to get NYC than Chicago. There's definitely a lot of self-selection at play, although of course the same can be said for Duke.

Have you tried to negotiate at all? I'd take the NU off to Duke and see what they're willing to do.

I have shown the NU offer to Duke, but haven't heard anything yet.

ETA: As far as non-numerical preferences, I much prefer Durham. However, I don't think I would be unhappy in Chicago.