UCLA vs Emory vs Colorado Forum

[peregrine]

UCLA with 110k
Emory with 159k
University of Colorado with full tuition 1st year and 10k/year after that

I'm interested in environmental law, which is why I"m really considering Colorado even though it's not as highly ranked overall. I went to the CU open house and had a really good feel there. I like that it is a smaller school and I really like the Boulder-Denver area (could definitely see myself wanting to be there after school). I really like UCLA but I'm less enthusiastic about living in LA, particularly if I will be tied there after graduation. With scholarships, CU and UCLA are about the same tuition-wise with the main difference being the insane COL in LA. (But UCLA also has a more robust LRAP.)

I don't have any existing ties to any of these places and I'm not really dead set on a specific geographic location after law school.

Does it make sense to go to CU when I could be going to a higher ranked school for the same price (UCLA) or a lower price (Emory)? I know all three are pretty regional schools, but (for environmental law) would UCLA give me the most geographic options? If I know I am going to go into public interest, should I take the money from Emory to minimize debt?

Also: Should I be trying to get more money from Colorado? Would the Emory or UCLA offer be a better for negotiating that? If I could get closer to full tuition at CU it would be a a lot easier to justify walking away from UCLA.

Thank you!

[sparkytrainer]

FYI specialty programs are not a thing. Plus doing high level environmental organization work is pretty exclusive and you are going to need to go to a t13 for that type of work.

Honestly these are three different regions of the country and you are going to be limited geographically. Colorado is out due to the cost.

Now the decision is whether you want to work and live in the LA region or the Atlanta region. If you are not okay with being stuck in either location, then these aren't good options and you should retake and reapply.

[deadpanic]

Are you sure that UCLA and CU are the same cost of attendance (COA)? Post the COA of each and your stats. I can't believe they would be the same.

Present your UCLA and Emory offers to CU and try to get a full ride without any stipends.

What do you mean by environmental law? Working for preservation of the environment? If so, then the cheapest and most favored location, which will likely be CU given what you have said. If you mean getting paid big bucks in BigLaw to represent oil and gas companies, then UCLA will give you a better shot at that (but can't advise whether it is worth it without more info like total COA.) CU will also give you a (much smaller) shot at that if you are at the top of your class, I suppose.

Emory doesn't make any sense here other than using it to get more $ from CU (and possibly UCLA, but I don't think they are peer schools, so good luck).

[nealric]

I'd go to UCLA without hesitation unless you were Colorado or bust for location. Also, keep in mind that most environmental law jobs (the vast majority) involve working for industry. The Sierra Club type jobs are unicorns.

[peregrine]

FYI specialty programs are not a thing. Plus doing high level environmental organization work is pretty exclusive and you are going to need to go to a t13 for that type of work.

Honestly these are three different regions of the country and you are going to be limited geographically. Colorado is out due to the cost.

Now the decision is whether you want to work and live in the LA region or the Atlanta region. If you are not okay with being stuck in either location, then these aren't good options and you should retake and reapply.

What do you mean by "specialty programs are not a thing"? I'm not super worked up about it because UCLA has a really strong environmental law curriculum and program, but not all schools do. Do you mean that outside of the curriculum, specialization is more defined by externship experiences? Otherwise, why do the specialty rankings even exist then?

[sparkytrainer]

FYI specialty programs are not a thing. Plus doing high level environmental organization work is pretty exclusive and you are going to need to go to a t13 for that type of work.

Honestly these are three different regions of the country and you are going to be limited geographically. Colorado is out due to the cost.

Now the decision is whether you want to work and live in the LA region or the Atlanta region. If you are not okay with being stuck in either location, then these aren't good options and you should retake and reapply.

What do you mean by "specialty programs are not a thing"? I'm not super worked up about it because UCLA has a really strong environmental law curriculum and program, but not all schools do. Do you mean that outside of the curriculum, specialization is more defined by externship experiences? Otherwise, why do the specialty rankings even exist then?

Specialty rankings exist because schools pay USNews for slots on those rankings.

Literally there is not such thing as specialty programs. It merely means they have X amount of classes on this topic (that may or may not actually be offered when you are there) and possibly a clinic on that topic. If you want to work in environmental law, its much more important to get experience working for those organizations during your summers/externships.

Saying a school has a great specialty ranking in program x is full of shit. No lawyer or organization hires anyone because they went through some specialty program.

[superjoseth333]

Curious what your stats are peregrine if you don't mind sharing.

[peregrine]

Curious what your stats are peregrine if you don't mind sharing.

169/3.86