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I've been hearing mixed reviews regarding Vanderbilt's name recognition / alumni network / prestige over WashU's so wanted to gauge your guys' opinion.

I want to do biglaw in NYC (yes - I know it's a shitty situation either way, no - I cannot retake/reapply), which gives me that better edge?

WashU is the highest ranked it's been (18) with Vandy being the lowest it's been in a while (17) but generally Vanderbilt is known as a better school.

I'm getting 30K / year from WashU and 10K / year from Vandy.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

A key difference between the two law schools is where, geographically speaking, each places most of its students. Do you prefer the Midwest or the South if you don't get NYC biglaw ?

Thanks for your reply.

I am pretty indifferent either way between those two, if it came to that. In the Midwest, I wouldn't mind being in Chicago. While in the South, I wouldn't mind being in Austin/Houston.

But like I said, the main goal is NYC biglaw and both seem like they have comparable stats there.

The Above the Law rankings, however, favor Vanderbilt (#14) heavily over WUSTL (#26).

From a financial standpoint, I'd go with WUSTL. 60K difference over three years may not seem like much until you have to start paying it back.

Both schools have around the same big law placement, but Vandy has the edge for overall placement. Vanderbilt hires more of their graduates however, (11% compared to 5.4%).. So basically they almost have the same stats employment wise.

I agree with both of the earlier posters, but I wanted to ask--have you negotiated at all? Seems like the kind of situation in which you'd want to try and get any kind of bump you can.

coolcat08 wrote:Thanks for your reply.

I am pretty indifferent either way between those two, if it came to that. In the Midwest, I wouldn't mind being in Chicago. While in the South, I wouldn't mind being in Austin/Houston.

But like I said, the main goal is NYC biglaw and both seem like they have comparable stats there.

The Above the Law rankings, however, favor Vanderbilt (#14) heavily over WUSTL (#26).

Did you apply to UT?

Thanks for your response, withoutapaddle.

That's similar to what I've been hearing when asking people too. Some say that a Vanderbilt JD on a resume may go farther simply because it is more recognizable than a WashU JD but I'm not sure the validity of that statement.

Also, I've heard differing things about how the two schools rank/grade and that in that case, Vanderbilt is beneficial. In other words, WashU ranks while Vandy doesn't. Vandy only has Dean's list for 1L (top 20%) so someone with a 3.3 or something could actually be bottom percentiles, but it wouldn't show to employers and would come off as a reasonable GPA.

Obviously, I'm going in trying to do the best I can and not coast by any means, but just thinking of worst case scenarios.

Thanks also to ILoveYou and OhBoyOhBortles.

I did try to negotiate multiple times but this is as successful as I've been. I applied to UT - didn't work out.

ILoveYou wrote:have you negotiated at all? .

It's rare for Vandy to change their offer, but WUSTL might. OP - maybe WUSTL will give you an unsolicited bump still. They've done it a couple of times this cycle.

If you're financing law school with loans, that's a lot of money for either school. And simply way too much for Vandy, even though I think it's a slight step up ladder from WSUTL.

WUSTL might not be a terrible option but you're still looking at six figure debt, which will be a bitch to pay back (especially if you don't land NYC/Chicago biglaw).

With NYC biglaw goals and these options, I'd say:

Find another career >> WUSTL >>> Vandy

If you just wanted to practice in Texas with $$$ to SMU or Houston or something, I'd say do that. But it sounds like you're gunning for NYC biglaw or Houston/Chicago/Austin biglaw, all of which probably won't happen from either school if you end up at median. Even if you do well and get biglaw, it'll still suck to be paying off the debt.

dont go

CanadianWolf wrote:A key difference between the two law schools is where, geographically speaking, each places most of its students. Do you prefer the Midwest or the South if you don't get NYC biglaw ?

This is an excellent question because if your Wash U. grades/class rank do not merit a NYC Biglaw position, then you won't be beating out NU / UofC / top tier U of I / top tier ND students for Chicago Biglaw.

Thanks for everyone's input, really appreciate it.

I have gone through enough of these forums/NALP data/ABA reports to realize it's not the best situation to be in knowing my goals, but at this point I'm definitely going with one of them. I appreciate the caution from everyone, but I already know of its existence and of course the reality of debt.

But knowing all of these cautionary facts and data, I guess I just wanted to gauge from the community here if Vanderbilt was better enough of a place to warrant foregoing the scholarship from WashU.

Anyone else? I almost am trying to find a justification for Vandy...

This honestly shouldn't be a question unless there are some extenuating circumstances.

If you're 100% set on law school, not retaking, not sitting out a year etc etc. then you go to WUSTL. 30k a year is a fair amount of money, though you'll still be in 120k of debt. Vandy at roughly 200k debt is just not worth it - many would argue NO school is worth 200k debt.

Thanks for your reply, gnomgnomuch.

My parents this week said they'd be willing to pay for my rent during my duration of law school, which is very generous of them. Do you think this would bring Vandy back into the mix? Or is it simply too close to WUSTL to warrant going there for that much more money still?