Top Law Schools

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At similar prices, I'd go to Vandy. Don't think about the externships at all.

I wouldn't be surprised if WashU went up near a full scholarship for you, which could make it a decent option.

That said, either school wanting to only do NYC corporate work is a gamble.

EDIT: You're not going to lose $10k in breaking the lease. Maybe the security deposit, but that's it.

Call WUSTL and tell them your situation. They're much more likely to bump up your offer due to competition with Vandy. If they see that competing offer, I am sure they will be open to negotiating with you.

With no increase, that's a lot of debt from either school while set on NYC biglaw, which isn't either schools' specific market. What happens if you aren't able to land NYC biglaw and are stuck with that debtload?

Uschoolqb10 wrote:Call WUSTL and tell them your situation. They're much more likely to bump up your offer due to competition with Vandy. If they see that competing offer, I am sure they will be open to negotiating with you.

Just my 2 cents, and it's certainly worth a try, but WUSTL did not move their scholarship when faced with Vandy's offer. Although I had 105k scholly at WUSTL to a 45k scholly at Vandy.

That's more than people are going to say you should pay for vandy but with that gpa that's not bad value.

Big Red wrote:That's more than people are going to say you should pay for vandy but with that gpa that's not bad value.

Yeah the problem is that your GPA really isn't going to give you better options. You're going need to do really well at either school to land NYC biglaw though.

Looking at the numbers, vandy looks like the right move at similar prices. I would also vastly prefer the location, though that's a personal choice.

But yikes that is a lot of debt for less than a coin flip at biglaw. Godspeed.

scottidsntknow wrote:

Big Red wrote:That's more than people are going to say you should pay for vandy but with that gpa that's not bad value.

Yeah the problem is that your GPA really isn't going to give you better options. You're going need to do really well at either school to land NYC biglaw though.

Idk about "really well" at Vandy you're probably gonna have to be above median but NY big law is definately attainable even if you're not top of class. Not sure about WUSTL though.

rahulg91 wrote:

scottidsntknow wrote:

Big Red wrote:That's more than people are going to say you should pay for vandy but with that gpa that's not bad value.

Yeah the problem is that your GPA really isn't going to give you better options. You're going need to do really well at either school to land NYC biglaw though.

Idk about "really well" at Vandy you're probably gonna have to be above median but NY big law is definately attainable even if you're not top of class. Not sure about WUSTL though.

I figured you'd have to do similarly well considering WUSTL and Vandy do the same NYC hiring fair, but yeah you have more room for error at Vandy. WUSTL you're "safe" for NYC biglaw at top 10%, decent shot with top 20%, and you really need top 1/3 to get a look because everything is 100% preselect.

Looks like Vandy here. My impression is that it's a half-step up from WUSTL.

Crazy that a sub 3.0/168 gets a half-scholarship to Vandy (I realize off WL) these days. I wish I was a 0L right now.

Don't go or change your goals.

It's more likely than not that you'll be wasting three years of your life and however many thousands of dollars if you are only interested in biglaw.

Retake and go to NW if you have financial help

Close call, in my opinion. Negotiate & see what happens. Ask both schools for more scholarship money.

Neither are worth the debt, imo. But if you absolutely had to pick, then Vanderbilt.

CanadianWolf wrote:Close call, in my opinion. Negotiate & see what happens. Ask both schools for more scholarship money.

Based solely on LSN, it's clear both of these schools are chipping in for anything 167+ (which totally makes sense). Make sure you totally exhaust this route.

I'll throw out a 0L disclaimer as I should, but I can't in good conscious tell you to retake and reapply with that GPA when you need a 4-5 point bump to make this worth the risk. If you don't feel that you took the LSAT seriously and got that score, RETAKE. Otherwise, imo negotiate and strongly consider one of these two offers

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Mtn327 wrote:Thanks for all the responses.

I just visited Vandy and loved it, but then WashU increased to 35. I'm not sure if I can justify paying double for Vandy. Is the biglaw placement really that different between schools? The numbers I've seen show a difference of about 5 percentage points. On the other hand, Vandy has much better placement in federal clerkship.

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is if Vandy is worth $45,000 more to you than WUSTL, with your intended goal of NYC biglaw (this isn't including the difference in COL).

Vandy rising 3L here.

What's the total COA for each school? If it's around 50k more for Vandy, I don't know if that's worth the extra biglaw chance. On the other hand, it seems like my class did really well in terms of biglaw compared to previous years (there are reasons for this). Just going from our recruitment handbook, it looks like around 50% of us ended up with biglaw SAs, and I was being conservative when I counted (only firms that I knew were 100 or more). Around 10% of us ended up in NYC biglaw. Maybe a WUSTL 3L can chime in with a comparison.

If you have any questions, feel free post them here or PM me.

OP: Have you asked Vanderbilt for an increased offer in light of your increased offer from WashUStL & in light of your visit induced enthusiasm for Vanderbilt ?

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: Have you asked Vanderbilt for an increased offer in light of your increased offer from WashUStL & in light of your visit induced enthusiasm for Vanderbilt ?

Sadly, Vandy doesn't negotiate

Maybe they will "reoffer" after you share that WashUStL made you an offer that you couldn't refuse.

adil91 wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: Have you asked Vanderbilt for an increased offer in light of your increased offer from WashUStL & in light of your visit induced enthusiasm for Vanderbilt ?

Sadly, Vandy doesn't negotiate

The worst they're going to say is no and you'll be in this situation again. The best is they reoffer you something with more money. It doesn't hurt to ask them.