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I want to practice environmental or energy law in the southeast; Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia-I love Nashville and Charlotte, but could get along in Atlanta, Charleston, really anywhere. Vandy has always been my dream school.

I have a $15k/year scholarship at Emory. I just got off of the waitlist at Vandy, which is extremely unlikely based off of my LSAT, so I’m ecstatic- but no scholarship; full $56k/year tuition. Is there any justification in going to Vandy over Emory for $45k more? I’d be happier in Nashville.

I don’t need to hear ‘don’t go to either for that much’, or ‘retake for scholarships’. I am going to one of the two schools this fall.

Eli23 wrote:I want to practice environmental or energy law in the southeast; Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia-I love Nashville and Charlotte, but could get along in Atlanta, Charleston, really anywhere. Vandy has always been my dream school.

I have a $15k/year scholarship at Emory. I just got off of the waitlist at Vandy, which is extremely unlikely based off of my LSAT, so I’m ecstatic- but no scholarship; full $56k/year tuition. Is there any justification in going to Vandy over Emory for $45k more? I’d be happier in Nashville.

I don’t need to hear ‘don’t go to either for that much’, or ‘retake for scholarships’. I am going to one of the two schools this fall.

There's a problem here, and it's your attitude.

Vandy is probably worth $15k/yr more than Emory. However, Vandy is not worth full price and Emory is not worth only a $15k/yr scholarship. You indicate that your LSAT is low, so you really need to sit out a cycle and retake for a higher score. Both of these options are way too expensive with way too much risk.

If you want to saddle your future with tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt more than you need to because you're too prideful or impatient to sit out and retake, then that's just an objectively poor decision. If your LSAT is low for Vandy's standards, then you're probably at like a 160 or below, which is inexcusable. Nobody (barring a major learning disability) reaches their potential at 160.

Retake.

At those prices, neither would be "worth it" for me. Raising your LSAT score is the second easiest thing you can do that's law school related.

If you don't want to listen to the advice above (also the post above, which is solid IMO), go to Vandy if you really want to work in Nashville. It will be easier doing interviews and you can figure out how to sell your ties to the city if you're already there. Getting into Nashville from Emory is a lot tougher if you don't have ties. Hiring in southern markets is very provincial. Go to school where you want to practice.

Emory grads working in Atl BL (biggest mkt you noted) — commonplace. Albeit, Vandy grads hired by Atl BL, not uncommon.

To be clear - when you say environmental or energy law, do you mean work for a firm? I wouldn't go to either of these schools, for that kind of money, unless I planned to do BigLaw. As someone who works in the public sector, you will have significant problems paying off those loans without a very generous LRAP (etc.) program. I was also extremely debt averse before law school, so that weighed heavily for me.

That said, I understand your hesitancy to retake and hold off another year, and I would say don't do that if you're already into August with the intention of starting law school in a few weeks, but the decision really should come down to the BigLaw or not. If BigLaw, then go to Vandy and the extra $45k is justified. If not BigLaw, then go to the cheapest option possible within the permissible range of schools (i.e. at least top 40). Did you get into anywhere else that would cost less? Did you apply to UNC or Wake Forest? I would go to either of those schools for significantly less money (assume you would, or have, received more money at those schools if you got money at Emory) over $15k at Emory. Both schools do reasonably well in NC if that's a state where you would want to practice.

I imagine most people interested in environmental/energy law before law school aren't necessarily driven by the corporate interests in those fields. I also would do research on what type of work firms do related to environmental/energy law before deciding whether you want to work for a firm.