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Hi all,

Basically, I'm trying to see if there are circumstances under which it would make sense for me to go to UT. This cycle has gone much, much better than I planned for (so, you know, great problems to have). UT was my first choice for a long time--I'm an Austin-area resident, went to undergrad out of state so I could live somewhere else before coming back to the state for law school, and want to live and practice in the Austin area. But as NYU is nearly ten ranks higher than UT it feels wiser to go there.

EDIT: I'm looking to study IP law--the plan as it currently stands is Biglaw for a couple years (though of course I wouldn't mind in-house or a boutique firm) then see what my options are and possibly go into the FBI (which doesn't have a field office in Austin, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I also think a clerkship would be really cool, but I know what a long shot those are at even schools like NYU.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Definitely NYU.

NYU, no question.

NYU. Can still get TX big law from NYU with your ties. The reverse (TX --> NYC) is not as strong of an option if you go to UT.

Congrats on the results.

Wait a second...I don't see why this is such a slam dunk. You are Austin through and through and you want to stay in Austin. It's hard for me to accept that NYU will place you better in Austin than the University of Texas. This seems like a case of letting magazine rankings drive your decision.

The fact that Texas won't place you well back in NYC is irrelevant because you don't want to be in NYC.

Hopefully Zuck will come in and give his opinion.

I agree UT will place best in Texas, but median at UT does not guarantee biglawl, whereas median at NYU would (ostensibly)

Also I assume (note: conjecture) not that many people from NYU apply to TX, so that may help you as well since you have ties

Why are we assuming that OP wants to work biglaw? He only said he wanted to be in Austin.

OP, beyond location, what do you want to do?

fliptrip wrote:Why are we assuming that OP wants to work biglaw? He only said he wanted to be in Austin.

OP, beyond location, what do you want to do?

totally fair, my bad, all this talking about big law and how it sucks to be an associate got my mind warped

OP if you don't want to do biglaw, then I agree its a closer decision due to NY's insane COL

fliptrip wrote:Why are we assuming that OP wants to work biglaw? He only said he wanted to be in Austin.

OP, beyond location, what do you want to do?

I'm looking to study IP law--the plan as it currently stands is Biglaw for a couple years (though of course I wouldn't mind in-house or a boutique firm) then see what my options are and possibly go into the FBI (which doesn't have a field office in Austin, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I also think a clerkship would be really cool, but I know what a long shot those are at even schools like NYU.

Thanks for the replies, y'all!

SowhatsNU wrote:

fliptrip wrote:Why are we assuming that OP wants to work biglaw? He only said he wanted to be in Austin.

OP, beyond location, what do you want to do?

totally fair, my bad, all this talking about big law and how it sucks to be an associate got my mind warped

OP if you don't want to do biglaw, then I agree its a closer decision due to NY's insane COL

It depends which is more important to you. If the main priority is being in Austin, TX then going to UT for free is probably the move. If the main priority is prestige top firm, FBI? elite job than go NYU.

I know some people who are FBI agents (not lawyers)...recruiting has much less to do with pedigree. You have to take like two written exams, do a psych exam plus a big physical examination (which most lawyers would inevitably fail). Not sure if you want to be an FBI agent, but that's completely different from law and where you go to school matters a lot less. FBI agents are often ex-military/buff dudes who can kick lots of ass. And then throw in some other types - regardless, I don't see how where you go to law school even matters for FBI agent recruitment.

NYU's upper hand is in NYC biglaw placement. Not sure it will give that big of an advantage in Texas. however, if you ever want to work elsewhere outside of Texas, I'd probably go to NYU.

I think it is a slam dunk. At best, UT will provide you the same opportunities in Austin as NYU. Much more likely, NYU will in fact make you more sought after than UT.

Now, in order to avoid the situation where UT students are taking the positions you're hoping for, you should fully commit to coming back to Texas from the very beginning of law school at NYU. That means networking with Austin lawyers now and 100% spending your 1L summer there. You could even do a semester of study or externship in the Austin area while at NYU.

I can't imagine Austin firms turning away an Austin native who went to an objectively better law school out of state while fully committing to coming back from the start.

To cover all your bases, hopefully someone who is more familiar with Austin hiring should chime in. It also wouldn't hurt actually reaching out to attorneys at Austin firms and finding a way to directly ask them which school you should choose.

fliptrip wrote:Wait a second...I don't see why this is such a slam dunk. You are Austin through and through and you want to stay in Austin. It's hard for me to accept that NYU will place you better in Austin than the University of Texas. This seems like a case of letting magazine rankings drive your decision.

The fact that Texas won't place you well back in NYC is irrelevant because you don't want to be in NYC.

Hopefully Zuck will come in and give his opinion.

Little late to the party and not sure what the OP's post looked like before the edit but I think NYU is the easy choice here

If the OP really aspired to work at, like, the TX Attorney General's office or something I could see an argument for UT but not really if the OP wants to work at a big firm.

BigZuck wrote:

fliptrip wrote:Wait a second...I don't see why this is such a slam dunk. You are Austin through and through and you want to stay in Austin. It's hard for me to accept that NYU will place you better in Austin than the University of Texas. This seems like a case of letting magazine rankings drive your decision.

The fact that Texas won't place you well back in NYC is irrelevant because you don't want to be in NYC.

Hopefully Zuck will come in and give his opinion.

Little late to the party and not sure what the OP's post looked like before the edit but I think NYU is the easy choice here

If the OP really aspired to work at, like, the TX Attorney General's office or something I could see an argument for UT but not really if the OP wants to work at a big firm.

Agreed. And OP: Big-law-Firm IP---> FBI is a very unusual path. Are you interested in investigating computer crimes or something? If so, doing IP lit at a firm first might not make a lot of sense.

I'm also fairly sure that unless you became an agent (which is presumably tough, especially if you don't have other law enforcement background), you're not going to work on computer crimes for the FBI. Lawyers for the FBI tend to do personnel/contracts stuff, with some policy work - more like being an in-house lawyer, but in-house to an agency. To do computer crime work as a lawyer you will probably need to go to DOJ.

(Assuming that you have any interest in computer crimes, and your goal is not to become an agent. So admittedly lots of assumptions.)

A. Nony Mouse wrote:I'm also fairly sure that unless you became an agent (which is presumably tough, especially if you don't have other law enforcement background), you're not going to work on computer crimes for the FBI. Lawyers for the FBI tend to do personnel/contracts stuff, with some policy work - more like being an in-house lawyer, but in-house to an agency. To do computer crime work as a lawyer you will probably need to go to DOJ.

Agree with all of this.