Top Law Schools

No scholarship info at Harvard yet
NYU (87.5k)
UofC (75k)

3.9/174

I'm leaning towards biglaw, probably followed by in-house, but I'd consider other options. I really enjoyed NYU's ASW, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to see the other two schools. I like that Harvard leaves a lot of options outside of biglaw open as well. I'm not sure my current scholarship offers warrant turning down Harvard with their standard ~20k/year, or even sticker if I don't get that.

did you try negotiating more? I feel like you could get more from Chicago or NYU given your numbers! if they upped the offers a lot I'd say choose one of them, but at current standing Harvard probably wins out

lnlia707 wrote:did you try negotiating more? I feel like you could get more from Chicago or NYU given your numbers! if they upped the offers a lot I'd say choose one of them, but at current standing Harvard probably wins out

I'm not even sure how to go about negotiating. Should I start by sending NYU my Harvard acceptance?

R2D7point5 wrote:

lnlia707 wrote:did you try negotiating more? I feel like you could get more from Chicago or NYU given your numbers! if they upped the offers a lot I'd say choose one of them, but at current standing Harvard probably wins out

I'm not even sure how to go about negotiating. Should I start by sending NYU my Harvard acceptance?

For Chicago, you'd probably want to start by showing them NYU's higher scholarship/ any other T10s that exceed their $$$ offer. There's been lots of news this cycle of the awards being upped -

From the Chicago Admitted Students website:

If you have concerns about your scholarship award:

We understand that financial considerations are often a significant factor for an admitted student in deciding which law school to attend. While we do not have a matching scholarship program, we are committed to mitigating financial concerns for those who are truly interested in studying law at UChicago and are happy to learn more about your circumstances. You may request a review of your financial aid package by emailing financialaid@law.uchicago.edu. We will send you a link to an electronic form where you can provide additional information about your situation, including other scholarship offers that you are seriously considering. We will review these requests in late April. Although we simply do not have the ability to adjust all scholarship awards, we are still very interested in discussing your situation and alleviating your concerns as best we can.

lnlia707 wrote:

R2D7point5 wrote:

lnlia707 wrote:did you try negotiating more? I feel like you could get more from Chicago or NYU given your numbers! if they upped the offers a lot I'd say choose one of them, but at current standing Harvard probably wins out

I'm not even sure how to go about negotiating. Should I start by sending NYU my Harvard acceptance?

For Chicago, you'd probably want to start by showing them NYU's higher scholarship/ any other T10s that exceed their $$$ offer. There's been lots of news this cycle of the awards being upped -

From the Chicago Admitted Students website:

If you have concerns about your scholarship award:

We understand that financial considerations are often a significant factor for an admitted student in deciding which law school to attend. While we do not have a matching scholarship program, we are committed to mitigating financial concerns for those who are truly interested in studying law at UChicago and are happy to learn more about your circumstances. You may request a review of your financial aid package by emailing financialaid@law.uchicago.edu. We will send you a link to an electronic form where you can provide additional information about your situation, including other scholarship offers that you are seriously considering. We will review these requests in late April. Although we simply do not have the ability to adjust all scholarship awards, we are still very interested in discussing your situation and alleviating your concerns as best we can.

Do you know if there is a deadline to negotiating for most schools?

First, OP, how are you financing your COA?

Also, do not even for a second assume you'll get $20k from Harvard, short of you being over 29, in which case it's likely.

As things are now, I think the Chicago offer is your best offer. Of course try to get as much as you can from them and start by sharing the NYU offer with them. Do you not have a Columbia offer as well? I'd expect that to be there for you too.

FWIW, $20k off/year at Harvard would leave you at rough equivalence to Chicago at your current costs imo.

fliptrip wrote:First, OP, how are you financing your COA?

Also, do not even for a second assume you'll get $20k from Harvard, short of you being over 29, in which case it's likely.

As things are now, I think the Chicago offer is your best offer. Of course try to get as much as you can from them and start by sharing the NYU offer with them. Do you not have a Columbia offer as well? I'd expect that to be there for you too.

FWIW, $20k off/year at Harvard would leave you at rough equivalence to Chicago at your current costs imo.

The rest will be financed by loans. I'm on hold at Columbia so no offer. I'm not over 29, just middle class with a sibling in a rather expensive undergrad school so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Any bigger offers from schools further down the rankings?

Tiago Splitter wrote:Any bigger offers from schools further down the rankings?

Nope. Still waiting for Cornell and Duke. Penn offer wasn't great. WL at UM, still waiting to hear from UVA, but expecting WL there too.

If Chicago goes up to ~$90k (which they should with your numbers), that would be the strongest choice. At current levels, it's a pretty even decision. I don't think HLS is worth $90k more for your goals than NYU, but I can see how others might feel differently. At current numbers I would probably go Chicago unless you have a real preference for living in NYC, in which case I'd go to NYU. If my parents were supporting me I'd go to Harvard.

For biglaw, the differences between these schools are negligible.