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Hi all,

Just making sure picking UT here is defensible:

Choosing between
UT @ 24K COA
GULC @90K COA

- Financing tuition through Commercial Loans (International Student) and parents will help with COL.
- My goal is to work in corporate law (M&A, Securities, Bankruptcy) and eventually transition In-house.
- 3.69 UGPA, 3.66 Master's of Finance GPA & 167 LSAT (Taken three times and scored within my 164-168 PT range).
- I have no geographical preference whatsoever, meaning I would be as satisfied killing myself in NYC BigLaw as I would be living like a king in Houston.
- Spent six years in Florida, but no ties to any lawyers or law firms, and no particular interest in returning to Florida after graduation.

Wanted to make sure attending UT - Austin at 1/3 of the price is worth passing on the prestige of attending a "T14"

Thanks for all your help.

I don't know many international students at UT but I can't think of any that got big law. Your goals would be quite tough out of UT for a native Texan to achieve, I'm not sure I would advise rolling the dice on that one. 24K debt is obviously a great price but still.

Georgetown would give you a lot more leeway to get that kind of job, but I'm not sure how probable it would be. Someone who knows more about international students getting hired in big law will hopefully chime in.

I'd honestly take GULC in your case and gun for NYC biglaw if you're correct with the COA estimates. I'm assuming you need a firm to cover you for a visa/whatever credentials you need to stay in the US, and for this I'd put all of my eggs in the NYC basket and GULC should give you a better shot at that.

ETA: somewhat scooped, but anecdotally I've heard of quite a few international students with decent grades at T14s struggling to get biglaw.

Sorry, no useful advice here. Just also very curious about International Student employment options. H1B lottery is a frightening foe.

< --- UT student

Without much hesitation I would advise GULC here.

Is that a 150k scholly at GULC, or are you counting savings as scholly money? COA is tuition + COL - scholarship money.

If it is actually scholly money take it, if its savings/mom and pop instead, retake, score a 170, and ED NU for 150k. Easiest 150k you'll make in your life.

Is the COA per year or total for 3 years?

Winston1984 wrote:Is the COA per year or total for 3 years?

3 years.

Winston1984 wrote:Is the COA per year or total for 3 years?

If you look at his old posts it's total I think.

OP- An old post said your scholarship at Cornell is the same as Georgetown, is that still true?

90K debt at Cornell would wipe the floor with these other options.

BigZuck wrote:

Winston1984 wrote:Is the COA per year or total for 3 years?

If you look at his old posts it's total I think.

OP- An old post said your scholarship at Cornell is the same as Georgetown, is that still true?

90K debt at Cornell would wipe the floor with these other options.

Unfortunately GULC upped their scholarship, Cornell did not. I have 45K at Cornell, bringing my financed COA to 135K...

Just out of curiosity, UT's projected COL is like $20k. How do you get 24k for 3 years? Do you have some kind of built in savings by going to UT vs GULC?

IsThisForReal wrote:Just out of curiosity, UT's projected COL is like $20k. How do you get 24k for 3 years? Do you have some kind of built in savings by going to UT vs GULC?

I am lucky enough to have family taking care of COL, leaving me with only tuition to worry about. I have In - state + 25,000/year at UT, bring COA to 24K.

BrazilBandit wrote:

IsThisForReal wrote:Just out of curiosity, UT's projected COL is like $20k. How do you get 24k for 3 years? Do you have some kind of built in savings by going to UT vs GULC?

I am lucky enough to have family taking care of COL, leaving me with only tuition to worry about. I have In - state + 25,000/year at UT, bring COA to 24K.

With your aims, Cornell may still be worth the extra $$, given how much better their BL placement is. You could consider asking them to raise it by less than what you got from Georgetown, maybe they'll bite. How bad are the terms of the private loans you would need to take out?

I want to say Cornell but with tuition increases and interest your debt will be well above 135k at repayment. I might still take it though. Second the question about the terms of the private loans.

also, OP, consider that more than likely, some student self-select into BIGFED coming from Gtown moreso than UT. so i would factor that a little into the ABA numbers

I would think as an international student you need NYC biglaw so, GULC wins here.. But idk I could be wrong. GULC at that price is a really good deal though. UT is of course a steal at that price.

Hmm. Cornell might be worth that extra money over GTown. You should be choosing between that and GTown, not UT.