WUSTL/Harvard/Chicago/Duke Forum

[moejoe193]

-The schools you are considering
School - Scholarship (COA)
WUSTL - Dean's Fellowship ($65K)
Harvard - ? (<180K)
Chicago - 60K (180K)
Duke - 105K (125K)

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
I will be living with my SO if I go to Harvard, so that will remove COL expenses if I go there. Everything else will be loans.

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
From a Midwest state that has no legal market. Want to end up either in the Midwest or in the Northeast. For personal and professional reasons, would prefer to reside near a large city.

-Your general career goals
Spend a few years in big law to help pay off debt before transitioning to a nonprofit or PI. Would love a clerkship along the way if I could get one. Like to focus on IP law. Since I don't know ultimately where I want to end up, flexibility is huge for me.

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
174 (2nd try)/3.88

I blanketed the T14 save for Columbia, Berkeley, Stanford, and GULC. Waitlisted at Michigan, yet to hear back from Virginia, Northwestern, and Cornell (am expecting waitlists/dings).

I have yet to receive my aid package from Harvard. Based on my assets and my parent's assets, I would anticipate a substantial award, but I am reluctant to rely on that. Moreover, I'll have to decide on my WUSTL offer before I get my Harvard award anyway. The 180K is the maximum I would have to take out in loans for Harvard, with the actual amount depending on financial aid.

[zombie mcavoy]

harvard for less than 200K i'd do that

[RunnerRunner]

Lol man, so many WUSTL Dean's Fellow questions lately! I'm guessing they just released these all at once? And Harvard OP. You want a clerkship, you want PI long term = not WUSTL, and since COA at Harvard is the same (edit: similar) as your non-Harvard options... Harvard!

[Mack.Hambleton]

Harvard

No one should be going to wustl with those stats

[Other25BeforeYou]

Yeah, a few years in biglaw to pay back $180k seems well worth the combo of more opportunities from going to Harvard and living with SO during the three years of law school.

[RunnerRunner]

Harvard

No one should be going to wustl with those stats

Another important point. Did you really put all that work into retaking and get a 174 to go to WUSTL? (Which is a great school and all, no disrespect intended to them, they're just not 174 great).

[Username123]

Harvard. Go be with your SO, while going to the school that gives you the best chance to attain your goals at a relatively reasonable price. Good luck!

[Big Dog]

start a poll, but HLS is no-brainer.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Harvard

No one should be going to wustl with those stats

WUSTL is ridiculous bc you have amazing stats
I actually think H is maybe the best choice bc your SO is there (180k is a lot of money, but the economy is improving, the school reputation is amazing, and you will be able to get big law).

[jbagelboy]

As everyone's pointed out, Harvard is easy here

[CanadianWolf]

Negotiate. See if you can get WashUStL to throw in a medical degree & a housing stipend before rejecting them.

On a more serious note, Harvard because your stats, while impressive, do not assure you of placing in the top half of WashUStL.

[moejoe193]

Thanks for the input everyone. I've been pretty much leaning towards Harvard; it's just nice to hear from outside opinions to make sure I'm not being an idiot for taking on 100K+ more in debt for HLS.