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I have two standing offers. 110k from Vanderbilt and 30k from Michigan. The COA's are roughly even (about 210k total or 70k a year). I've got enough savings to pay the interest down on my loans during law school but that's about it. Debt at graduation estimates are 100k for Vanderbilt and 180k for Michigan. The goal is Biglaw and I'm willing to work wherever (NYC or DC or TX or TN) to get it. What would you guys do?

What are your stats? Ties? K-JD?

Below both medians gpa and LSAT, great work experience, excellent softs

Even if the $ was equal the decision would be vandy. Mich has been a sinking ship for a long time and I guarantee you that in 10 years the vandy name will be better than Michigan, and already the hiring numbers are comparable.

Vanderbilt is a top notch southern regional school. Kind of like Emory. Given the money it is a good choice. It seems around 30-40% stay in the south. It is a particular fit if that is where you are from.

desola wrote:Even if the $ was equal the decision would be vandy. Mich has been a sinking ship for a long time and I guarantee you that in 10 years the vandy name will be better than Michigan, and already the hiring numbers are comparable.

There's a 14% gap in BL+FC. Might not be worth the cost differential for OP but the bolded is false.

jnwa wrote:

desola wrote:Even if the $ was equal the decision would be vandy. Mich has been a sinking ship for a long time and I guarantee you that in 10 years the vandy name will be better than Michigan, and already the hiring numbers are comparable.

There's a 14% gap in BL+FC. Might not be worth the cost differential for OP but the bolded is false.

Yeah I mean heaven knows I'm biased, but I've been seeing a lot of Michigan hate lately... and I'm wondering what the cause of that is. Their trends (seen here: http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ ... ends/2015/) haven't been that unhealthy, their LST employment scores have been stable, their biglaw and federal clerkship numbers have been steady, and their numbers are reasonably competitive with the other lower-end T14's.

In terms of OP's post, I tend to agree that Vandy makes sense, especially given your lack of a geographical preference. Congrats on having 2 solid options!

desola wrote:Even if the $ was equal the decision would be vandy. Mich has been a sinking ship for a long time and I guarantee you that in 10 years the vandy name will be better than Michigan, and already the hiring numbers are comparable.

Stop posting before someone actually thinks you have something to contribute to the choosing threads. These are people's lives.

OP here. I do want to add that I am relatively debt adverse. I want to have a reasonable chance to get a job and have under 50k debt after hopefully 3-4 years of Biglaw (a level at which I may have value to other elite firms and potential jobs if I choose to go another route). Does this info change anything? Also I had minimal debt from undergrad so that shouldn't affect any aforementioned numbers. Also at what dollar difference would Michigan be more financially prudent from an investment standpoint?

I'm honestly a little surprised Michigan is winning so easily right now...

Goldchain wrote:...I've got enough savings to pay the interest down on my loans during law school but that's about it...

this makes no sense. just use your savings to pay for tuition or rent and take out less loans as a first year.

Michigan easily. Get on PAYE. The better opportunities are worth the extra 80K in my opinion. You'll pay the same each month in debt re-payments either way

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OP, are you a URM? I ask because it's odd to get $ when both numbers are below median.

If you're a URM, finding a biglaw job is markedly easier so I'd just go with Vandy. I wouldn't be surprised at all if median URM from Vandy doesn't struggle much finding biglaw.

Michigan isn't worth that extra cost.

Can you retake for more $$$? Mich places 14% more into biglaw + federal clerkships than Vandy. Vandy is a regional school with limited placement outside of TN/the South, so that'd make me pick Michigan, but I also think spending $200k on law school is too much.

In terms of recruiting, my NYC firm takes top 10% at Vandy versus median at Michigan....I think there's a pretty big recruiting gap outside of TN/the South, especially in NYC and DC. Vandy is still a very regional school.

That said, biglaw is AWFUL and I would try to limit your debt as much as possible so you can leave biglaw if you hate it (and you likely will). And I wouldn't go to Vandy in the first place if you want to work at a biglaw firm - their most recent placement into biglaw and federal clerkships was 47% so you're more likely than not to not get a firm/clerkship at Vandy.

Vandy 3L here.

Probably need more information, but if you don't want PI, I wouldn't take out that much debt at Mich. You'll probably get biglaw, but that's going to take a really long time to pay off. That's just my personal preference, though. I'm not going to say Vandy is the right call without more information, but Vandy at 100k is defensible most of the time.

Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions.

If you want big law, the difference between OCI at Michigan and Vandy is HUGE. How many firms come, what type of firms, location of the firms, etc. Not saying there aren't opportunities at Vandy but you'll have to hustle much harder at any given rank.

Michigan is worth the 80k premium in this case. Biglaw opportunities at Michigan are considerably better and its not like you have to add 150k. Also, taking that 100k for Vandy and then missing the biglaw boat will not be a pleasant experience. Better be 180k in debt but with BigLaw than 100k in debt and without. Sure you can still get biglaw from vandy, but you never know how things will go, so add the money for that considerable extra cushion to seal your future more.

Last question on this thread. I can probably save some money if I get a 1l and/or 2L SA. How hard is it to get a 1L SA at either school?

desola wrote:Even if the $ was equal the decision would be vandy. Mich has been a sinking ship for a long time and I guarantee you that in 10 years the vandy name will be better than Michigan, and already the hiring numbers are comparable.

Confirmed retard.

Goldchain wrote:Last question on this thread. I can probably save some money if I get a 1l and/or 2L SA. How hard is it to get a 1L SA at either school?

Pretty hard. Wouldn't count on it in your budgeting.

For 2L SA I'd say 50% chance at Vandy and 75% at Michigan.

jbagelboy wrote:

Goldchain wrote:Last question on this thread. I can probably save some money if I get a 1l and/or 2L SA. How hard is it to get a 1L SA at either school?

Pretty hard. Wouldn't count on it in your budgeting.

For 2L SA I'd say 50% chance at Vandy and 75% at Michigan.

Isn't 50% a bit generous for Vandy? Pretty sure its a notch below that (40% ish, and even then, if you are top 40% you have a decent chance to miss the boat).

Shootin wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:

Goldchain wrote:Last question on this thread. I can probably save some money if I get a 1l and/or 2L SA. How hard is it to get a 1L SA at either school?

Pretty hard. Wouldn't count on it in your budgeting.

For 2L SA I'd say 50% chance at Vandy and 75% at Michigan.

Isn't 50% a bit generous for Vandy? Pretty sure its a notch below that (40% ish, and even then, if you are top 40% you have a decent chance to miss the boat).

Nah, Vandy's had half the class get biglaw/fedclerk for the past two years, 50% is fair. This is honestly a toss up. Nashville might be a little more expensive than Ann Arbor.

If you have a preference for Southern markets (TX, GA, TN) then Vandy is better, if you'd prefer NY, CHI, DC then Michigan is the better option. Especially for Chicago.