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Please delete
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:18 pm
by puppy
Removed
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:35 pm
by TLSDookie
You have a 174 and a 3.9. Why waste all that because you're too lazy to find a 12 month job? You can do literally any job, bag groceries, write a book, travel Europe. Just apply T-14 ED HYS apps out on September first. You'll save yourself $100K minimum at a better school than Cornell, basically taking a free year you'll thank yourself for taking for the next decade.
Cornell at 110K isn't an objectively bad outcome for almost anyone. But you could do better.
WUSTL is a joke of an outcome for your stats and you'll hamstring your career for the next 30 years compared to the position you should be in.
Disclaimer: 0L with eyes who can read LST
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:37 pm
by Tiago Splitter
I'd take Cornell. If you want that level of biglaw placement for less you'll have to try again next year.
@TLSDookie: OP has 150k at Cornell
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:42 pm
by seagan823
Apply to an Americorps position, do a year of community service for a little stipend, then go to CCN for free. You'll be so much better off.
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:42 pm
by acr
puppy wrote:Hi! I have a 174 and 3.9x GPA. I applied near the end of the cycle due to a late LoR, which probably accounts for my under-performance, but I do not want to wait a year and reapply because my job is temporary and I'm not in a good position to find another. I am not set on biglaw (but I would be willing to do it for a few years to pay off loans); the three most important factors in choosing a law school for me are 1. Low debt 2. Greatest job availability and variety upon graduation and 3. Transferable to my home base in the northeast (I'm from NY- not necessarily looking to stay in this part of the country but I want to have the option available). I will be financing my education primarily through loans, although a relative may provide up to 30k (complicated relationship). I currently have no undergrad or other debt.
These are the options I'm weighing most heavily:
Cornell with 150k scholarship (COA 105k after interest)
WUSTL with full tuition & 20k/year stipend (maybe COA 10k)
I was also accepted to, but am not considering due to price:
Duke with 110k schol
NYU with 75k schol
Columbia (still waiting on $)
I like WUSTL and think I would enjoy going there, and I think that graduating with no debt would really improve my quality of life. However, I have repeatedly read that St Louis is a very insular market, and I have no ties to the midwest at all otherwise. I would be okay with starting at a low salary since I wouldn't have loans- my concern is that I won't find a JD required job out of WUSTL at all.
I live close to Cornell and I think I would also enjoy going there. However, graduating with at least 90k in loans is scary to me- I don't want to be locked into a job that I dislike. At the same time, Cornell's career prospects are freaking stellar.
You have no debt. You have a 174/3.9. Your options should be better than WUSTL or Cornell.
WUSTL sounds nice with a 20K stipend, but believe me, if you're not in the top 20ish percent at WUSTL (which can easily happen since the school attracts T14 caliber applicants who turn down better schools for the WUSTL $$$), you will "pay" at graduation.
If I were you, I would do literally anything other than go to law school this year. Bartend, buy a motorcycle and ride across the country, work a minimum job wage that sounds fun, be a ski lift operator in Colorado, etc etc.
But if I
had to go this cycle, I would go to Cornell.
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:50 pm
by guynourmin
With your numbers you could honestly live off a credit card for a year while volunteering at an animal shelter then go to a school better than Cornell next year and have less debt at graduation. Seriously! Don't go to school. That debt at Cornell isn't going to 'chain' you to any job you don't like - $1,000/mo at most really isn't THAT much. Don't go to WUSTL with those numbers.
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:13 pm
by GreenEggs
I agree that sitting out is the best option by far, but if that's 100% off the table then a million times over take Cornell over WUSTL.
Re: Cornell ($$$) vs WUSTL ($$$$)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:21 pm
by RareExports
I think your debt calculations are off.
With a 20k/year stipend at WUSTL, you will not graduate with debt. And you will likely come out ahead (if not, you lived exceedingly comfortably). With 150k at Cornell, you will not be in six figures of debt. I am not familiar with cost of living in Ithaca, but assuming tuition will cost you around 40k including interest, you're assuming you'll blow 65k on living expenses (which seems about what you calculated for WUSTL). Again, that would require living exceedingly comfortably, I imagine.
I think reapplying is the right call here, but I think the decision is between reapplying, WUSTL at 0 debt (I think 10-15k savings too), Cornell at 85-95k debt, or reapply, which will likely yield you a CCN at similar debt to Cornell -- maybe a little higher because of NY/Chicago cost of living being higher than Ithaca's. With that decision, I think it's reapply.