2 Hours to Decide - Chicago vs. Duke Forum

[wareagle11]

As the title implies, I have roughly 2 hours to decide between these two schools. Scholarship info changed at the last minute so I'm making a second post.

I'm primarily interested in practicing in a secondary southeastern market. At the same time, I'm also entertaining the idea of DC Biglaw, academia, clerkships, prestigious public interest, etc. (if my grades allow). If I had to say, I'm 80% interested in working in a secondary southeastern market (where I have a lot of connections) and 20% interested in working somewhere else. If I strike out at big law firms in my home market (assuming that's the path I decide on), I would much rather work at a larger firm in a primary market than write wills or focus on $99 divorce cases in my secondary market.

After scholarships, cost of living, etc. are taken into account, I'm looking at taking out $200k in loans to attend UChicago and $125k in loans to attend Duke. Personally, I like the feel of Chicago a little more. But it's hard weighing the $75k cost differential against increased clerkship placement, better big law placement, better academia, etc. Making things even more complicated is the fact that in my home market every attorney that I have spoken with has recommended going to Duke if it's $75k cheaper (they said it won't make a difference in hiring in my home market).

So TLS, can you give me some good advice?

Also please don't quote - I wrote this in maybe 2 minutes so I'll either delete or heavily edit later

[Traynor Brah]

I would vote for Duke, especially considering you want to be the southeast long-term

[PeanutsNJam]

Duke is a fine school, and academia/clerkships/prestigious PI are far from a guarantee at Chicago. The only different is you might need slightly less stellar grades at Chicago than you would at Duke for the fancy stuff but it's not worth 75k to have an extra 10% class rank margin for something you only sort of want.

[urbanist11]

I vote Duke here. It seems better for practicing in the area you want to work in and I don't think it's worth the extra $ to pay for any of the things you mention - all of which are either heavily grade dependent or difficult to obtain. Clerkships are always going to be competitive, and Duke does fairly well at placing into them. Biglaw chances are slightly better at Chi, but still very strong at Duke, and academia will always be challenging - even from Chi.

If I were you I'd feel more comfortable running with the sure thing here - the money - and knowing that Duke is a great pick for your primary goal of practicing in the SE.

[wareagle11]

Well I ended up not listening to the advice and going with UChicago. Thanks for the advice everyone

[jumbocolumbo]

[Serett]

Well I ended up not listening to the advice and going with UChicago. Thanks for the advice everyone

This might as well be the Choosing a Law School forum's subtitle.

[somethingElse]

Well I ended up not listening to the advice and going with UChicago. Thanks for the advice everyone

This might as well be the Choosing a Law School forum's subtitle.

Maybe so. But I for one am happy that OP had the stones/cojones/testicular fortitude/balls to update us with his/her decision.

[landshoes]

I made a similar decision! Good luck with everything.

[cron1834]

Well I ended up not listening to the advice and going with UChicago. Thanks for the advice everyone

This might as well be the Choosing a Law School forum's subtitle.

[guynourmin]

Well I ended up not listening to the advice and going with UChicago. Thanks for the advice everyone

Well that is a lot of money, but if you're going to spend it there aren't many better places to do it! Most people who go to Chicago have that much debt, so I imagine its doable, right?