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Assume sticker at both schools - is choosing Columbia over NYU a no brainer?

My main concern regards the student culture at Columbia - i have heard that it is unusually competitive and unfriendly. I haven't heard this about NYU. Can anyone speak to this?

I am hoping to receive some substantive pros and cons comparing the two schools.

randomusername wrote:Assume sticker at both schools - is choosing Columbia over NYU a no brainer?

My main concern regards the student culture at Columbia - i have heard that it is unusually competitive and unfriendly. I haven't heard this about NYU. Can anyone speak to this?

I am hoping to receive some substantive pros and cons comparing the two schools.

0L disclaimer, but Columbia's reputation for being cutthroat and competitive is a myth, from everything I've read and from current students I've talked to. Most people are targeting biglaw, and unless you're unable to put together a full sentence you're pretty much guaranteed at least something at OCI (or EIP as it's called there), so there's no need to compete because everyone's getting a job.

Columbia vs. NYU, assuming equal cost, comes down to which neighborhood you prefer to go to school in for three years. Either school is going to give you great career prospects.

ETA: Columbia may have more prestige among non-lawyers (i.e. people who will not be hiring you for legal jobs) because the undergrad is Ivy League, but that distinction is largely irrelevant for law schools and legal hiring.

There are literally so many threads on this. Use the search function

I don't think cls is necessarily a no brainer. If cost is equal then I think their placement is close enough that you should just pick the one you like more

And visit both if possible.

There might be some differences between student cultures, but its certainly not competitive versus non-competitive. I really don't know where CLS got that reputation; a lot of people are actually more like brilliant slackers, although of course there are tryhards everywhere.

I wouldn't recommend sticker at either school though. Columbia places better into elite firms but it's a small enough difference that you should choose whichever you strongly prefer at equal cost.

randomusername wrote:Assume sticker at both schools - is choosing Columbia over NYU a no brainer?

My main concern regards the student culture at Columbia - i have heard that it is unusually competitive and unfriendly. I haven't heard this about NYU. Can anyone speak to this?

I am hoping to receive some substantive pros and cons comparing the two schools.

After seeing the 10,000th of these threads, I'm curious as to where you heard this.

Assuming both at sticker, neither...