Top Law Schools

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If you don't have any Chicago ties, going to a Chicago school is a little more important. But it's entirely cost-dependent.

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carsondalywashere wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:If you don't have any Chicago ties, going to a Chicago school is a little more important. But it's entirely cost-dependent.

I've heard that ties to Chicago are important, but are more loosely defined than secondary markets. For example, I was told if someone went to undergrad in Illinois and/or were from a secondary market in the Midwest, these would work as ties for Chicago.

1. Costs equal, pick NU
2. Costs at all not equal, pick the cheapest option

Your ties are enough to Chicago to get Chicago, but cost is still the prohibitive determinant here

UVA2B wrote:

carsondalywashere wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:If you don't have any Chicago ties, going to a Chicago school is a little more important. But it's entirely cost-dependent.

I've heard that ties to Chicago are important, but are more loosely defined than secondary markets. For example, I was told if someone went to undergrad in Illinois and/or were from a secondary market in the Midwest, these would work as ties for Chicago.

1. Costs equal, pick NU
2. Costs at all not equal, pick the cheapest option

Your ties are enough to Chicago to get Chicago, but cost is still the prohibitive determinant here

Okay, that's good to know, thanks!

I was in a similar situation this cycle. From nearish Chicago, and would prefer it over most other markets. I will now be going to the cheapest t13 option I had, which did not end up being either of the Chicago schools

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NU and Duke at equal price comes down to preference. They are peer schools. The employment numbers are practically identical, especially when you remember that Northwestern has a significant percentage of JD-MBAs every year (~10%) that head off to top notch six figure JD Advantage jobs. Overall, 5.4% of Duke graduates are getting awful outcomes (unemployed or PT) and 7.2% of NU students are getting those same outcomes. So, ~95% of students at each schools are grabbing some FT LT gig and more often than not that's BL, FC, or some other great job.

RedPurpleBlue wrote:NU and Duke at equal price comes down to preference. They are peer schools. The employment numbers are practically identical, especially when you remember that Northwestern has a significant percentage of JD-MBAs every year (~10%) that head off to top notch six figure JD Advantage jobs. Overall, 5.4% of Duke graduates are getting awful outcomes (unemployed or PT) and 7.2% of NU students are getting those same outcomes. So, ~95% of students at each schools are grabbing some FT LT gig and more often than not that's BL, FC, or some other great job.

Except OP's first choice is Chicago. Unless Duke is significantly cheaper, NU >> Duke for Chicago purposes.

cron1834 wrote:

RedPurpleBlue wrote:NU and Duke at equal price comes down to preference. They are peer schools. The employment numbers are practically identical, especially when you remember that Northwestern has a significant percentage of JD-MBAs every year (~10%) that head off to top notch six figure JD Advantage jobs. Overall, 5.4% of Duke graduates are getting awful outcomes (unemployed or PT) and 7.2% of NU students are getting those same outcomes. So, ~95% of students at each schools are grabbing some FT LT gig and more often than not that's BL, FC, or some other great job.

Except OP's first choice is Chicago. Unless Duke is significantly cheaper, NU >> Duke for Chicago purposes.

Righto.

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As a note to OP, Chicago biglaw pays like 40% more money than StL biglaw, and there are about 10 times as many SAs. So I'd really not get too hung up on StL here

Edit - Chargers scooped me on some of this above!

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RedPurpleBlue wrote:NU and Duke at equal price comes down to preference. They are peer schools. The employment numbers are practically identical, especially when you remember that Northwestern has a significant percentage of JD-MBAs every year (~10%) that head off to top notch six figure JD Advantage jobs. Overall, 5.4% of Duke graduates are getting awful outcomes (unemployed or PT) and 7.2% of NU students are getting those same outcomes. So, ~95% of students at each schools are grabbing some FT LT gig and more often than not that's BL, FC, or some other great job.

Very insightful, thank you

I have to make a decision within the next week. I'm very open to going to either school; I like Chicago, but it's not a do or die market for me.

carsondalywashere wrote:I have to make a decision within the next week. I'm very open to going to either school; I like Chicago, but it's not a do or die market for me.

I would do NU. I don't feel like Duke offers any real advantages for what you want, and NU is closer to home.

carsondalywashere wrote:I have to make a decision within the next week. I'm very open to going to either school; I like Chicago, but it's not a do or die market for me.

If you would prefer Chicago over NYC if you don't go St. Louis, I would go NU for sure though

^thanks to both of you!

I asked both schools to see if they would reconsider my scholarship, and will make a decision based off of that information. Even a little bit more money would make a big difference for me

If you're looking to the STL BigLaw, I don't think you can do wrong with either of these schools especially with STL ties. I know an associate at Bryan Cave that graduated from Duke. There are a few partners from NU at Armstrong. You might also look into the Dentons and Littler Mendelson Offices to see if they have any alums if you're looking for larger firms with multiple offices. You'll be competing with SLU, WUSTL, and Mizzou grads, but either school will give you a bump.

lucretius_ wrote:If you're looking to the STL BigLaw, I don't think you can do wrong with either of these schools especially with STL ties. I know an associate at Bryan Cave that graduated from Duke. There are a few partners from NU at Armstrong. You might also look into the Dentons and Littler Mendelson Offices to see if they have any alums if you're looking for larger firms with multiple offices. You'll be competing with SLU, WUSTL, and Mizzou grads, but either school will give you a bump.

Awesome, good to know!

I'll keep people updated if anything changes, but the advice so far has been great

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carsondalywashere wrote:Ended up sticking with Northwestern. Duke was very generous and increased their scholarship offer an additional 15k, but I felt like the extra money would be eaten up by car expenses/making a major move. Plus Chicago is cool.

Thanks for the advice as always TLS

Look forward to seeing you at NU next year. Welcome to the tribe.

carsondalywashere wrote:Ended up sticking with Northwestern. Duke was very generous and increased their scholarship offer an additional 15k, but I felt like the extra money would be eaten up by car expenses/making a major move. Plus Chicago is cool.

Thanks for the advice as always TLS

I work in Chicago biglaw and think you made the right choice. Firms care about ties but they can be easily overcome by demonstrating your desire to be in the city. That's worth 10-15k IMO.

Martin Brody wrote:

carsondalywashere wrote:Ended up sticking with Northwestern. Duke was very generous and increased their scholarship offer an additional 15k, but I felt like the extra money would be eaten up by car expenses/making a major move. Plus Chicago is cool.

Thanks for the advice as always TLS

I work in Chicago biglaw and think you made the right choice. Firms care about ties but they can be easily overcome by demonstrating your desire to be in the city. That's worth 10-15k IMO.

Cool, good to hear. Felt like in the grand scheme of things 15k wasn't worth sweating over. If the difference had been larger, I probably would have gone Duke though