UVA ($$$) vs NYU ($$) vs Columbia ($) Forum

[orchid1]

Hi! Long-time lurker, but trying to make a decision and would love a bit of input! Still haven't heard back from Yale (expecting a WL/Ding this week) or about scholarships from Penn, but these are my current options. I've taken into account into these COA's assistance from some family contribution.

1. Dillard at UVA: COA: ~$60,000. If I attended UVA, I would work with my own savings/family contribution so as to not take out federal loans for it.

2. NYU with a Dean's Scholarship totaling $75K so long as I do a PI 2L job-- COA: $ 126,491 in loans (plus ~21K ideally in personal contributions)

2. Columbia with Grant totaling $40K: COA: $188,680 (plus ~21K ideally in personal contributions)

Grew up on the East Coast, and hope to work somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region (or elsewhere in the Northeast). I want to go into public interest work-- I know for sure what area issue-wise within PI I want to do (don't want to give too many details, but could provide more via PM if super helpful). I anticipate working in a non-profit setting, though it is feasible I could pursue government prosecution work for this. Stats are 3.8X and 172 (took twice). I plan on appealing NYU and Columbia, although not expecting much improvement from them.

ETA: My biggest concern is whether or not it could be worth taking out debt at NYU/Columbia-- I know I would likely get LRAP, but that's still a bit of a gamble for quite a few reasons, and also the notion of taking out debt when I don't necessarily have to seems like it's not particularly responsible, so I'm not sure whether the opportunities at NYU or Columbia are significantly better to make it worth it.

Thanks!!

[arklaw13]

Columbia should be out if you want PI.

Personally I'd take the Dillard and run, but I don't think NYU is entirely indefensible either.

Your COA calculations for NYU seem low-balled though.

59,225 x 3 - 75k = 102k in tuition, plus three years of NYC COL, say 25k per year, so there's 175k, plus interest accrued by graduation and you're looking at 190k in debt. Am I missing something?

edit: I think I see what you did? You shouldn't include your own contributions in the COA numbers. That's still money you're paying. Family you can leave out if you choose.

[CanadianWolf]

Virginia or NYU. Virginia because of low COA & great job placement; NYU because of reasonable COA & loan repayment option for PI work & strong placement in public interest work.

[monsterman]

I know NYU has great PI placement but not sure of the resources the CSO offers to help with certain interests. I'd say the Dillard for the lower COA. Disclaimer: UVA 1L

[orchid1]

Columbia should be out if you want PI.

Personally I'd take the Dillard and run, but I don't think NYU is entirely indefensible either.

Your COA calculations for NYU seem low-balled though.

59,225 x 3 - 75k = 102k in tuition, plus three years of NYC COL, say 25k per year, so there's 175k, plus interest accrued by graduation and you're looking at 190k in debt. Am I missing something?

edit: I think I see what you did? You shouldn't include your own contributions in the COA numbers. That's still money you're paying. Family you can leave out if you choose.

Thanks for the feedback (everyone)! Yes, that is what I did in the calculations--I didn't want to include my own contributions when figuring out how much interest would accumulate, but I'll edit and fix the COA numbers.

I think what still has me a bit hung-up re: Columbia is whether the name could help with certain PI jobs, and also some programs/externships that are really relevant to my interests there. But at its current COA, I'd fairly certainly not go. If I got a miracle-level appeal, that could change things, although even if they doubled the grant, I'd still be looking at a whole lot of debt...

[Mack.Hambleton]

appreciable difference in PI/Gov hiring between CC and UVA is very small. The Dillard will give you a lot more flexibility

[Rigo]

Take the Dillard and run.

[Yea All Right]

That is a great price for UVa. You should go

[Clearly]

uva

[orchid1]

Thank you everyone! That's what I had been thinking too, but it's helpful to hear it from others as well.