Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, Cornell Forum

[MICHELECARTALK]

Not sure what kind of law I want to practice but probably litigation and probably for government or other public interest. Not sure where I want to live either but ideally in northeast or possibly chicago.

[decimalsanddollars]

Given that you've made a broad post about the exact same choice (minus Cornell) twice before, what specific insight(s) are you looking for that you didn't get in the previous threads?

[MICHELECARTALK]

OUCH! WANT TO GET MORE OPINIONS FROM MORE PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY

[cavalier1138]

OUCH! WANT TO GET MORE OPINIONS FROM MORE PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY

Your caps lock appears to be broken.

If you want to get different/more advice than your last threads, you have to provide more information. What's your total cost of attendance at these schools? Current GPA/LSAT?

[MICHELECARTALK]

Found out last week that I was accepted at Columbia law school! Don't know if will get any money from them.

Getting 50% tuition scholarship from Duke and Georgetown and Cornell. 75% tuition scholarship from Vanderbilt.

gpa-3.99 lsat-171 2 years WE

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[The Lsat Airbender]

Found out last week that I was accepted at Columbia law school! Don't know if will get any money from them.

Getting 50% tuition scholarship from Duke and Georgetown and Cornell. 75% tuition scholarship from Vanderbilt.

gpa-3.99 lsat-171 2 years WE

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks!

50% tuition at Duke is still your most solid option by far, although Columbia would probably beat it out (for your needs) if they also offer you something around 50% (CLS would still be more expensive even then because it's more expensive to live in NYC for three years.

[decimalsanddollars]

Congrats on Columbia!

Agreed w/ above that 50% off at Duke is probably your best option right now, but make sure to get the numbers from Columbia before making a decision (it's probably a better choice for similar, or only slightly more, money). IIRC, Columbia also has some form of need-based aid, if that's applicable.

Based on your PI focus, NYU would also be an excellent choice. Have you heard back?

[zeglo]

Duke or Cornell. They both do well job-wise.

Georgetown is a big factory in DC, not worth it IMO. A little more uncertain with jobs at Georgetown. Vanderbilt is a tier below these. Probably fine if not at sticker.

Out of all four, I'd rank Duke first by a lot, then Cornell. Cornell also places into primarily NY with Duke having a bit more diversity of destination.

[MICHELECARTALK]

So got $100,000 from Cornell. Haven't received aid package yet from Columbia. $90,000 from Duke. Narrowed down to those 3 schools.

Columbia appeals to me because I have always wanted to live in NYC and think it would be cool to go to law school in NYC. Columbia also is higher ranked on US News- not sure how important that is to one's career though....

Would appreciate any constructive feedback!

Thanks!

[trebekismyhero]

So got $100,000 from Cornell. Haven't received aid package yet from Columbia. $90,000 from Duke. Narrowed down to those 3 schools.

Columbia appeals to me because I have always wanted to live in NYC and think it would be cool to go to law school in NYC. Columbia also is higher ranked on US News- not sure how important that is to one's career though....

Would appreciate any constructive feedback!

Thanks!

If you for sure want to work in NY after law school, then take Cornell. If you think you want NY, but might also want to keep the door open on other markets, go with Duke. If you can get Columbia COA within 50K of Cornell or Duke, then probably worth it to go there. But not at sticker

[decimalsanddollars]

If you for sure want to work in NY after law school, then take Cornell. If you think you want NY, but might also want to keep the door open on other markets, go with Duke. If you can get Columbia COA within 50K of Cornell or Duke, then probably worth it to go there. But not at sticker

+1. Also note that, last I checked, Columbia has some form of need-based aid, so a net reduction of $40k total cost of attendance below sticker is probably enough to make Columbia the best option, given what you've got in front of you. As for ranking, the rank numbers themselves don't matter nearly as much as the employment outcomes and value for the price; Columbia has stronger employment outcomes than Duke and Cornell, but not by so much so that it's worth an extra $100k+ of debt.