Top Law Schools

Right now I'm trying to decide between NU and Duke, and need to do so quickly because of Duke's enrollment deadline. I'm interested in doing something with international law, possibly public interest, but I'm pretty open. I have approximately 20k in savings, and the rest of my legal education will be financed by loans. I really like the city of Chicago and didn't really like Durham, but Duke is much closer to DC.

NU offered 150k, Duke 120k.

gpa/lsat: 3.8x, 172.

Also was accepted to UChicago (60k), NYU (60k), Columbia (still waiting), UVA (nada), Michigan (120k), Georgetown (nada). Columbia is my top choice but I can't imagine them giving much more than Chicago or NYU and I don't think I could choose that over the other scholarship offers I've gotten.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

BruiserWoods wrote: I'm interested in doing something with international law, possibly public interest,

NU is not really compatible with those goals, but otherwise it's the right choice here: it's offering you a lot of aid and you like the city of Chicago.

If you can adjust your goals and accept the likelihood of a career in big law, then definitely Northwestern. If you really want to go for an international law/PI thing, then try to get more money out of NYU.

NU is your best option, but Duke at that price is a good option too. It would help if we knew geographically where you want to end up after LS, but not knowing that, I'd go NU.