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boiiiii if you dont get your ass to Cornell. Unicorn goals are great but youre right to put more emphasis on realistic/probable outcomes. Your likely outcome from both these schools in NYC biglaw. One route is just 200k more expensive. Even if you get a clerkship, you still end up in the same biglaw bucket after its over.

I think everyone can understand why you might be tempted by Columbia/NYU, but that's a lot of money! And 10% still get clerkships out of Cornell. imo you have to go to Cornell!

Yeah, NYU/Columbia are tempting but a Cornell law degree with no debt is a VERY good option. Of course COL, books, etc. are to be taken into consideration but your parents will be covering COL so Cornell sounds like a great idea.

I'm also from NYC, went to undergrad in NYC, then chose Cornell over NYU for the $$$--and the $ difference wasn't even as big as the difference you're talking about here. Will be clerking after graduation, then back to NYC for biglaw. So the exact same outcome I would have had at any other school, for much less money. I'm sure Columbia is worth some premium over Cornell both for the boost in biglaw chances and for your location preference. But I doubt it's worth $200,000.

Cornell, no question about it. Congrats and good luck.

I would take the scholarship at Cornell and never look back (until you are making fun of the debt-fucked T6 grads at your firm).

Columbia provides an advantage for the jobs you want, but that margin of added placement is dwarfed by the colossal debt burden, which limits your flexibility and restricts your options more than the name of any school. You'll get NYC biglaw out of both schools, and even if the firm out of CLS would be a smudge fancier, you can leave a lot earlier from Cornell. The CLS applicant's file might get the earlier glance at chambers, but from Cornell you could actually make the decision to take multiple years to clerk without a major disruption to your personal life. And when the time comes to transition to government, not having student loans remaininf to be paid will mean so much more for your decision and opportunities than which Ivy league school you attended.

The people who go to Columbia in your position are those from wealthy families who don't have to consider personal finances. If you're one of those people, great. If not, take our advise.

Cornell 100%, but just chiming in to say that I don't even think it's between Cornell and CLS, but Cornell and NYU. CLS isn't worth that extra 50k, so if you're taking NYU off the table, there's no reason not to pick Cornell over your other options

I mean it might be different if your goal was California and your other choices were Berkeley and Stanford, but if your goal is NYC it's clear cut.