Chicago v. Harvard v. Stanford Forum

[chelco]

The schools you are considering
Chicago (full tuition ride) v. Harvard (more than half tuition) v. Stanford (more than half tuition)

The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each
Chicago – total debt at repayment: 94k
Harvard* – total debt at repayment: 183k
Stanford* – total debt at repayment: 186k

*Both H and S’s COA have been calculated on the assumption that my second- and third-year grant will be in the same amount range as my first-year grant. I have no idea if this is true; can anyone share some insight?

How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
Entirely funded by loans and grants.

Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any).
From the Southwest US and aiming to work in any major US city, no preference for either coast.

Your general career goals
Hazy – leaning towards public interest (with an undecided area/issue) but I recognize that can easily change.

Your LSAT/GPA numbers
165/4.0 + URM

How many times you have taken the LSAT
Once


Thank you for any clarity you guys can offer!!!

[transferror]

The COAs seem a bit on the high side, and especially Chiacgo (just for CoL, no?)

[tiltedwindmill]

Take the money at Chicago

[OhBoyOhBortles]

Take the money at Chicago

[Mack.Hambleton]

94k for Chicago COL is a bit much, and for S/H any 1l or 2l will reduce your grant a lot

I would go Chicago easily

[TasmanianToucan]

If your career aspirations and geographical preferences are really as vague as you describe, there is no reason at all that I can see not to go for the cheapest option, especially when that option is a full ride at Chicago.

Take the money and run!

[ticklemesilly]

Chicago is full tuition or Ruby with stipend?

[CanadianWolf]

Chicago is the safest option from a debt standpoint. Of course, a paid 2L summer could substantially reduce your debt at graduation for Chicago and to a lesser extent at the other options.

[arklaw13]

Take the Ruby for sure.

[CanadianWolf]

Is it a Rubenstein award ? If so, then your Chicago COA seems high.

My vote is for Chicago. Also, do you have any existing student loan debt ? If so, don't even consider another $183,000 of debt, in my opinion.

[chelco]

The COAs seem a bit on the high side, and especially Chiacgo (just for CoL, no?)

94k for Chicago COL is a bit much, and for S/H any 1l or 2l will reduce your grant a lot

I would go Chicago easily

Yeah, maybe my COAs are a little wacky. I used the stickied calculator/comparison spreadsheet, but didn't enter anything for summer internships to offset the $27,000~ COL/acculumated interest debt (speaking of Chicago's COL specifically). Does this seem to be where I went wrong?

Chicago is full tuition or Ruby with stipend?

Full tuition, not a Ruby. It is a named scholarship.

[ticklemesilly]

Stanford! At least with Stanford you have nice weather. And supposedly attending law school at Stanford doesn't make you want to shoot yourself and your classmates so there's that

[stoopkid13]

If your career aspirations and geographical preferences are really as vague as you describe, there is no reason at all that I can see not to go for the cheapest option, especially when that option is a full ride at Chicago.

Take the money and run!

+1. Among those options, debt will likely be a bigger career constraint than school name.

[malleus discentium]

Stanford! At least with Stanford you have nice weather. And supposedly attending law school at Stanford doesn't make you want to shoot yourself and your classmates so there's that

[WheninLaw]

Stanford! At least with Stanford you have nice weather. And supposedly attending law school at Stanford doesn't make you want to shoot yourself and your classmates so there's that

0L, I take it?

[ticklemesilly]

Stanford! At least with Stanford you have nice weather. And supposedly attending law school at Stanford doesn't make you want to shoot yourself and your classmates so there's that

0L, I take it?

yes

[CanadianWolf]

Will Stanford & Harvard reduce their grant-in-aid awards if you have substantial summer earnings ?

If so, then Chicago becomes even more attractive from a financial standpoint.

[Indifference]

Harvard will reduce grant by 90% of your income above a minimal living allowance (around 7500 this year). So yes a 2L SA will impact grant aid. PI over summers much less likely to have any substantial imoact.

Dunno bout S.

But OP, I think this is an easy choice. Chicago.

[LoganCouture]

Quoting myself from another thread.

Plan for more like 14-16K reduction if you have a high paying SA.
Stanford: https://www.law.stanford.edu/sites/defa ... ndbook.pdf

Student’s Contribution from Summer Income
In determining tuition fellowship eligibility for all students, any earnings over $6,000 will require 57% of the amount over $6,000 as a resource. For continuing students, if you opt not to work during the summer, we will still expect a minimum contribution of $2,000. If you are volunteering for the summer and your organization can document your employment, the minimum contribution for the student may be waived. For returning students, total summer earnings are determined by taking gross weekly earnings and multiplying by a minimum of ten weeks or up to a maximum of twelve weeks.

Harvard: http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/sfs/student ... er-income/

Summer 2014 Gross Income (max. 12 weeks)
Less Taxes
Less Base Summer Living Allowance ($7,400 in 2014)
Equals Net Income
Times 90%
Equals Student Contribution From Income

[Emma.]

Take the money at Chicago

[RunnerRunner]

Chicago. The cost of attendance gap between C and H/S here is larger than the employment opportunities gap. Easy choice IMO.

[2014]

This thread and dilemma is stupid

[jbagelboy]

if you have a full ride at Chicago, your debt will be more like $80k unless you're gonna live that kardashian life. sup with all the bloated COA approximations on here these days. It used to be everyone undershot their costs, now they all overshoot.

Chicago here, but I think it's not an easy decision. My thoughts are that low debt will provide more flexibility and you seem pretty open. If you had more specific, unique goals, arguments could be made for Stanford but I'm not seeing them here.

[omegaweapon]

Chicago seems like a pretty clear choice, since you don't have any goals that are really enhanced by Stanford. If you change your mind and do biglaw, you probably graduate with closer to 60k debt. Their COA estimate is really high, and you should be able to get substantial SA money.

If you stick with PI, you'll be fine with their LRAP. In the worst case, where PSLF explodes, (pretty likely) and Chicago doesn't work something out for current students (unlikely) you still have a livable debt load.

Honestly, since you don't have any specific PI goals and are open to firms, it's pretty likely that you end up at one, and 60k can be paid off in 2 years in Chicago or 3 in NY without that much lifestyle imposition, at least compared to 180k, which is probably a minimum of four years if you're a hermit.

[sandwhich]

"Is Harvard club access worth $90,000?"

This thread and dilemma is stupid