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So right now I am deciding between an opportunity scholarship at GULC (157.5k or 52.5k/year) and a 105k or 35k/year scholarship at Duke. I am interested in clerking and would prefer a to work in a mid sized to big law firm, but am not opposed to the idea of working in a smaller firm or government as long as my debt is not overwhelming. Is Duke worth around 50k (probably a bit less due to COL difference) more than GULC? Have to decide by Monday so some advice would be appreciated

51% landed BL/FC last year at Gtown.

77.7% at Duke.


Easy answer.

I would also take Duke for 105k

Duke.

Congrats on the amazing options and the generous scholarships being offered to you! Feel proud of yourself in this moment.

SmokeytheBear wrote:Duke.

Congrats on the amazing options and the generous scholarships being offered to you! Feel proud of yourself in this moment.

Thank you! I am very grateful for both of these options and realize that I am extremely fortunate to be in this position, and I appreciate your advice and that of everyone on here.

Duke

Duke.

Consensus seems to be Duke, I expected as much, especially considering their stellar employment prospects this year. However, I am still torn for a couple reasons, A. DC is more convenient because I likely will not have a vehicle to bring to school and supposedly Duke is a school where a vehicle is required (however if people know ways around this please chime in!) and I will not have a vehicle to bring with me to school. And B. Because I am very tantalized by the idea of graduating from a top ranking school for possibly less than 6 figures in debt. However I am at this point leaning toward Duke, if it weren't for the vehicle situation it would be more of a slam dunk.. if anyone familiar with the area could clarify I would be very grateful! Do I absolutely need a car or could I manage with a bicycle in Durham?

Choose Duke. More than 3/4ths of their students had an optimal outcome and you're attending at a reasonable price.

Duke.

thk29 wrote:Consensus seems to be Duke, I expected as much, especially considering their stellar employment prospects this year. However, I am still torn for a couple reasons, A. DC is more convenient because I likely will not have a vehicle to bring to school and supposedly Duke is a school where a vehicle is required (however if people know ways around this please chime in!) and I will not have a vehicle to bring with me to school. And B. Because I am very tantalized by the idea of graduating from a top ranking school for possibly less than 6 figures in debt. However I am at this point leaning toward Duke, if it weren't for the vehicle situation it would be more of a slam dunk.. if anyone familiar with the area could clarify I would be very grateful! Do I absolutely need a car or could I manage with a bicycle in Durham?

You can definitely walk from a couple of different apartments in Durham (Trinity Commons/Lofts at Lakeview). Its a 15 minute walk from there to the law school. Those are definitely nicer apartment complexes though, so you should be prepared to pay around ~1,000+/month for a single there or 900ish per person for a 2BR (expensive for Durham standards lol, I pay about 500 a month). For the most part, those are the students I know who walk to school, I know there are some that bike to school from smaller apartment complexes in the area, but don't know any personally.

ithrowds wrote:

thk29 wrote:Consensus seems to be Duke, I expected as much, especially considering their stellar employment prospects this year. However, I am still torn for a couple reasons, A. DC is more convenient because I likely will not have a vehicle to bring to school and supposedly Duke is a school where a vehicle is required (however if people know ways around this please chime in!) and I will not have a vehicle to bring with me to school. And B. Because I am very tantalized by the idea of graduating from a top ranking school for possibly less than 6 figures in debt. However I am at this point leaning toward Duke, if it weren't for the vehicle situation it would be more of a slam dunk.. if anyone familiar with the area could clarify I would be very grateful! Do I absolutely need a car or could I manage with a bicycle in Durham?

You can definitely walk from a couple of different apartments in Durham (Trinity Commons/Lofts at Lakeview). Its a 15 minute walk from there to the law school. Those are definitely nicer apartment complexes though, so you should be prepared to pay around ~1,000+/month for a single there or 900ish per person for a 2BR (expensive for Durham standards lol, I pay about 500 a month). For the most part, those are the students I know who walk to school, I know there are some that bike to school from smaller apartment complexes in the area, but don't know any personally.

Thanks for the info, I'm going to take a look at Zillow and see if there is anything reasonable within walking distance.