Northwestern vs. Georgetown vs. Michigan Forum

[hearsay77]

This is an update to a thread I posted a couple of weeks ago, with updated scholarships after negotiations and after narrowing down the list of schools I'm considering.

Schools/Scholarships/Debt at repayment:
Northwestern ($60k) - $153,000
Georgetown ($75k) - $137,000 $130,000 (I miscalculated something)
Michigan ($36k) - $162,000 $141,000

I will be financing almost everything through loans. I will likely have a little family assistance (around $5k - $10k per year), which I didn't calculate into my debt numbers above because its not completely guaranteed so I don't want to count on it. I want to go into big law (and then maybe in-house at a large company a few years down the road), and plan to contribute as much of my summer income to my tuition as possible so I did subtract a little bit as an assumed contribution from internships. I'm from southern California, have ties there, and want the option of going back, if not immediately after law school then a few years later. I'm open to working in another market (DC/Chi/NY) for a couple of years as well. I'm currently leaning toward choosing between GULC and NU, because I like the idea of being in a big city rather than in Ann Arbor and because of the lower costs, but if Michigan increases their offer (which I highly doubt they will) (Update: which they just did) I would be very open to it as well.

168/3.5X, took the LSAT once.

Also got into UT, Vandy, UCLA, WUSTL, USC, GW, Notre Dame, Emory, BC, and W&M and got scholarships to all of them. On the waitlist at Duke and on reserve at Cornell.

Any and all advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[zombie mcavoy]

What is your COA at UCLA and USC? Those might better options than Mich and Gtown, if California is really important to you.

Fair amount of debt to pay for Northwestern though; I think that's a defensible investment. Definitely better than Mich or Gtown here, IMO. Good luck.

[CanadianWolf]

Northwestern.

[ILoveYou]

At those numbers, with your goals, I think it's NU and it's not particularly close. If you would be comfortable with a significantly lower chance of landing biglaw, and you have a fully, UCLA or USC might be solid choices.

[Hand]

What everybody else said. Also, those are really solid results with your numbers, good work.

[hearsay77]

What is your COA at UCLA and USC? Those might better options than Mich and Gtown, if California is really important to you.

Fair amount of debt to pay for Northwestern though; I think that's a defensible investment. Definitely better than Mich or Gtown here, IMO. Good luck.

UCLA - $115k $119k (Accidentally added need aid in for all three years but its not guaranteed after first year)
USC - $130k

I was considering UCLA seriously for a long time, but they refuse to budge on my scholarship and my heart just isn't in it, especially at that price. I really want to get out of LA for law school, and am not even 100% sure I want to come back (but I want the flexibility to be able to).

[Hand]

What is your COA at UCLA and USC? Those might better options than Mich and Gtown, if California is really important to you.

Fair amount of debt to pay for Northwestern though; I think that's a defensible investment. Definitely better than Mich or Gtown here, IMO. Good luck.

UCLA - $115k
USC - $130k

I was considering UCLA seriously for a long time, but they refuse to budge on my scholarship and my heart just isn't in it, especially at that price. I really want to get out of LA for law school, and am not even 100% sure I want to come back (but I want the flexibility to be able to).

well, in that case, NU, or retake.

[zombie mcavoy]

Yeah NU no question then (or retake). Good job, think you over performed your stats a fair bit.

[hearsay77]

What everybody else said. Also, those are really solid results with your numbers, good work.

Yeah NU no question then (or retake). Good job, think you over performed your stats a fair bit.

Thanks! I've been very pleasantly surprised throughout the cycle and feel very lucky to have these options. I was considering a retake earlier in the cycle but am not anymore because I think even with 1 or 2 more points I'd likely have very similar options.

[Winston1984]

Yeah NU no question then (or retake). Good job, think you over performed your stats a fair bit.

[hearsay77]

No one thinks GULC is worth considering at that price? I like NU better but what feeling pretty torn between the two since GULC is cheaper, but everyone here seems to think NU is the clear answer.

[WeeBey]

No one thinks GULC is worth considering at that price? I like NU better but what feeling pretty torn between the two since GULC is cheaper, but everyone here seems to think NU is the clear answer.

16k cheaper isnt enough to compensate for the BL+FC numbers. NU =65, GULC=48.

[Serett]

No one thinks GULC is worth considering at that price? I like NU better but what feeling pretty torn between the two since GULC is cheaper, but everyone here seems to think NU is the clear answer.

IMO, if you'd rather end up in Chicago, do NU, and if you'd rather end up in D.C., do GULC. I don't think either gives you a substantially greater chance on getting back to CA, and you'll want to be happy with whatever other main market you have to work with. For what it's worth, NU sends a higher percentage of its class there (around a 5-7% difference) than GULC going back to at least 2011. I'm not sure it's worth much without knowing how many CA residents attend each school in the first place. If it's a toss-up, though, hedge toward NU.

NU's BL+FC numbers are significantly better, but I'd hesitate to overreact to that. GULC has almost 20% more people going into PI/Gov.'t than NU. It has a large number of transfer students in its numbers who don't necessarily reflect how a normal incoming student fares. It has a lower percentage of unemployed - seeking and solo practice students. Don't go in blind to the difference, but realize that alarmism over BL+FC numbers tends to overstate its reliability as an absolute metric. There are many reasonable explanations (I would argue MORE reasonable than the alarmism) for the discrepancy between GULC's and NU's BL+FC percentages other than "you have a significantly lower chance of getting biglaw at GULC."

[hearsay77]

No one thinks GULC is worth considering at that price? I like NU better but what feeling pretty torn between the two since GULC is cheaper, but everyone here seems to think NU is the clear answer.

IMO, if you'd rather end up in Chicago, do NU, and if you'd rather end up in D.C., do GULC. I don't think either gives you a substantially greater chance on getting back to CA, and you'll want to be happy with whatever other main market you have to work with. For what it's worth, NU sends a higher percentage of its class there (around a 5-7% difference) than GULC going back to at least 2011. I'm not sure it's worth much without knowing how many CA residents attend each school in the first place. If it's a toss-up, though, hedge toward NU.

NU's BL+FC numbers are significantly better, but I'd hesitate to overreact to that. GULC has almost 20% more people going into PI/Gov.'t than NU. It has a large number of transfer students in its numbers who don't necessarily reflect how a normal incoming student fares. It has a lower percentage of unemployed - seeking and solo practice students. Don't go in blind to the difference, but realize that alarmism over BL+FC numbers tends to overstate its reliability as an absolute metric. There are many reasonable explanations (I would argue MORE reasonable than the alarmism) for the discrepancy between GULC's and NU's BL+FC percentages other than "you have a significantly lower chance of getting biglaw at GULC."

This is helpful. Thank you.

[hearsay77]

Update: Michigan increased my scholarship! And it looks like I slightly miscalculated the cost of Georgetown, so the OP has been updated with the new costs. If this changes anyone's opinion I'd love to know. NU is now the most expensive option, but I still think its the best for my goals and am inclined to think that it would be worth the extra $23k. What do you think?

[WhiskeyAndCupcakes]

[OhBoyOhBortles]

At these prices, I would pick Northwestern (disclaimer: 0L). I think any of them are a fine option, though, and I think it just comes down to where you would most like to attend.

+1.