Top Law Schools

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Thank you, everyone!

I never thought this day would come, but I'd go with Georgetown. A full ride+mentorship is a pretty sweet deal, and is a very defensible option here. The name alone won't carry you though, and Georgetown (as well as DC overall) is very much an "it is what you make of it" school/city, so be prepared to hustle and milk the school for every opportunity you can.

I'd also point out - what exactly didn't you like about the environmental law faculty at Duke? If that's the only thing you have against the school, I would urge you to reconsider. People's interests tend to change in law school, so anything having to do with how you feel about a particular specialty should have little to no bearing on your decision

I think GULC with the full scholly is probably the right call, especially because it would probably give you a great chance to do relevant externships.

In general though I don't really think faculty should be much of a factor in ls choice.

Georgetown or Duke.

Have you tried negotiating?

Edit: are these numbers the COA or the scholarships you received?

I also lean GULC on this one. Full name scholly + mentorship. I am very jealous! Good work.

Georgetown is a great option here. DC is a fantastic city if you want to get into that sort of work and you can't beat free (at a school like GULC).

bwaldorf wrote:Georgetown or Duke.

Have you tried negotiating?

Edit: are these numbers the COA or the scholarships you received?

Sorry, these are scholarship! Not COA. I only tried with Berkeley, don't expect to get very far. Haven't tried with Duke or Michigan.

floatie wrote:I never thought this day would come, but I'd go with Georgetown. A full ride+mentorship is a pretty sweet deal, and is a very defensible option here. The name alone won't carry you though, and Georgetown (as well as DC overall) is very much an "it is what you make of it" school/city, so be prepared to hustle and milk the school for every opportunity you can.

I'd also point out - what exactly didn't you like about the environmental law faculty at Duke? If that's the only thing you have against the school, I would urge you to reconsider. People's interests tend to change in law school, so anything having to do with how you feel about a particular specialty should have little to no bearing on your decision

Lol, ya'll still have me worried about GULC, anyway. Their drop in rankings didn't surprise me, but I am concerned if future drops happen while I'm there...

I suppose it's not that I don't like them (talking about Duke now), my focus and experience has been in toxics, environmental justice, and public health, so I want to stick with that and do research in those areas while I'm in law school. I didn't think there would be as many opportunities there, and talking to other environmental law and policy folks I was told similarly, that the focus there is pretty limited to resource management and ag. I guess I was generalizing about environmental faculty based off of the clinical faculty for the environmental law clinic (which is inaccurate, so my apologies. I'm writing this in somewhat of a frenzy as I try to book flights for the remaining places I haven't visited ), but if that isn't the case then I'm definitely reconsidering.

As a practicing enviro PI attorney, I say go with GULC hands down. That's an amazing offer.

GULC has a lot of experiential opportunities (top-notch enviro clinic and tons of enviro organizations in DC at which you can do externships during the semester) and their LRAP is decent (for the little COA loans you'll require).

mikachu wrote: Lol, ya'll still have me worried about GULC, anyway. Their drop in rankings didn't surprise me, but I am concerned if future drops happen while I'm there...

I suppose it's not that I don't like them (talking about Duke now), my focus and experience has been in toxics, environmental justice, and public health, so I want to stick with that and do research in those areas while I'm in law school. I didn't think there would be as many opportunities there, and talking to other environmental law and policy folks I was told similarly, that the focus there is pretty limited to resource management and ag. I guess I was generalizing about environmental faculty based off of the clinical faculty for the environmental law clinic (which is inaccurate, so my apologies. I'm writing this in somewhat of a frenzy as I try to book flights for the remaining places I haven't visited ), but if that isn't the case then I'm definitely reconsidering.

Unless you're planning on hardcore going into academia (in which case forget law school and go get your PhD), having the right "research area" matters so, so, so little when it comes to picking a law school. Plus you're not going to have as much time to research in law school as you did in undergrad/postgrad. Everyone's first year is basically the same, and after that you have 2 years to do classes, clinics, externships, etc. If you want to do research on something that interests you, get on a journal and focus your note on a topic of interest. If you want to work in those areas, your prior experience will help you and a lot of training for lawyers ends up being on-the-job anyways; law school is mostly for developing a set of skills and making the connections you need to get a job. Even if professors aren't exactly in your niche area of interest, they'll still be able to help you get where you want to be.

GULC gets a lot of (often, but not always, well-deserved) shit on here, but at lot of it is directed at people who think Georgetown at sticker is a good idea, or people who think biglaw is a sure thing from Georgetown. A one-point drop in rankings isn't really something to be super worried about, and 15 is still not a bad ranking. I wouldn't let the rankings influence you - if you like the school, it's a really good place to be with a full ride.

mikachu wrote:

bwaldorf wrote:Georgetown or Duke.

Have you tried negotiating?

Edit: are these numbers the COA or the scholarships you received?

Sorry, these are scholarship! Not COA. I only tried with Berkeley, don't expect to get very far. Haven't tried with Duke or Michigan.

It'd probably be helpful if you posted what you plan on taking out in loans for each one and an approximation of your current debt level.

I'd try to negotiate with Duke and Michigan using each of their offers against each other, if that makes sense.

GULC hands down currently. But pitting Duke v UM seems very feasible if you want to go to UM

Nebby wrote:As a practicing enviro PI attorney, I say go with GULC hands down. That's an amazing offer.

GULC has a lot of experiential opportunities (top-notch enviro clinic and tons of enviro organizations in DC at which you can do externships during the semester) and their LRAP is decent (for the little COA loans you'll require).

Thanks for weighing in It is an amazing offer, which is why I'm trying to vet it pretty seriously. It seems like for my specific interests it would be the best choice, and it's helpful getting your opinion as someone already practicing. It would be nice to have to flexibility to take on meaningful work out of school without having to worry about too much debt.