NYU or UCLA? Forum

[Aelizabethh]

I'm really struggling to decide between NYU or UCLA (decision needs to be made by Monday). UCLA gave me $90,000, and UCLA gave me $65,000-$75,000 (depending on job placement in my 2L summer). I am from California and attended UCLA for undergrad, so I know the area and love the school. I've also never lived outside of California, so I would love a new experience in New York. I eventually want to end up back in California, but I would not mind working for a few years after law school in another state first. I'm scared of the debt I will incur if I choose NYU - it would be about $75,000 more than what I would owe if I went to UCLA, by my rough estimation. From my research, it looks like it would be much easier to land a high-paying job after graduation from NYU, but is the much greater debt worth the potential for a greater salary? I am very new/naive to the loan process, so any advice would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you!

[kengh]

I'm really struggling to decide between NYU or UCLA (decision needs to be made by Monday). UCLA gave me $90,000, and UCLA gave me $65,000-$75,000 (depending on job placement in my 2L summer). I am from California and attended UCLA for undergrad, so I know the area and love the school. I've also never lived outside of California, so I would love a new experience in New York. I eventually want to end up back in California, but I would not mind working for a few years after law school in another state first. I'm scared of the debt I will incur if I choose NYU - it would be about $75,000 more than what I would owe if I went to UCLA, by my rough estimation. From my research, it looks like it would be much easier to land a high-paying job after graduation from NYU, but is the much greater debt worth the potential for a greater salary? I am very new/naive to the loan process, so any advice would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you!

If you are trying for LA biglaw UCLA is great. But it will depend on your grades and being at least median and NYU places extremely well in NY. Both would be great choices.

[Aelizabethh]

Thanks! Do you think I could do Big law in LA easily from NYU?

[kengh]

Thanks! Do you think I could do Big law in LA easily from NYU?

I would not say easily. UCLA/USC places the best in LA bigaw. Many of the BL lawyers in LA are from those schools, thus they hire. I think UCLA, for example, makes up 30% of the BL hires in LA. NYU, if you have good grades, would provide you a good shot, but if you are median or below median it will be much harder than securing BL in NY. I tell everyone, that if you are confident about getting above median grades and are not a terrible interviewer, go to UCLA/USC for socal BL. But as you will find out, good grades are not a sure thing in law school.

[cavalier1138]

Thanks! Do you think I could do Big law in LA easily from NYU?

I would not say easily. UCLA/USC places the best in LA bigaw. Many of the BL lawyers in LA are from those schools, thus they hire. I think UCLA, for example, makes up 30% of the BL hires in LA. NYU, if you have good grades, would provide you a good shot, but if you are median or below median it will be much harder than securing BL in NY. I tell everyone, that if you are confident about getting above median grades and are not a terrible interviewer, go to UCLA/USC for socal BL. But as you will find out, good grades are not a sure thing in law school.

That last point is the most important one.

NYU is worlds better for biglaw placement, and you can absolutely get back to LA with ties. If you care more about biglaw than you do about working in LA immediately after graduation (and it seems like that's the case for OP), NYU is definitely worth an extra $75k.

That said, if you got into NYU with a scholarship, you likely have other offers in the T13 with bigger scholarships. Where else did you get in, and what are your numbers?

[trebekismyhero]

NYU is the better choice of these two. But as cav said, if you got money from NYU, you almost certainly got more money elsewhere in the t14 if you applied everywhere.

[Aelizabethh]

Thank you all for your insight! I also got a sizable offer from Georgetown, but I decided that it was truly down to UCLA and NYU for me in terms of personal preference. So now, I just need to bite the bullet and choose one - I'm really struggling with this!

[crazywafflez]

Gonna echo the other posters here. NYU, at these prices, is TCR. You can still get Los Angeles or San Diego BL with an NYU degree; but as a fall back, if you strike out, you can be in the NY market a few years and then lateral on over. If you strike out from UCLA, you're in trouble. UCLA is a good school and certainly dominates socal, NYU is a great school and will open more doors for you. I normally am a save the money type person, but at these prices I think NYU is the right move.

[plurilingue]

I went to NYU. YLS partners at elite Bay Area and Los Angeles firms told me, repeatedly, they considered Berkeley a “good” law school, and NYU an “excellent” one, and hired accordingly. UCLA didn’t even enter into the conversation because it is not a target school.

[LBJ's Hair]

I agree with others. Many large law firms simply do not hire from UCLA unless you're near the top of your class. Those same law firms extend 50+ offers to NYU students every year.

We're in a recession, and debt is bad, but graduating under/unemployed is much worse. The extra ~$30K UCLA is offering isn't nearly enough to make up for the advantages in employment outcomes NYU offers. This isn't a close call - NYU.

[The Lsat Airbender]

I agree with others. Many large law firms simply do not hire from UCLA unless you're near the top of your class. Those same law firms extend 50+ offers to NYU students every year.

We're in a recession, and debt is bad, but graduating under/unemployed is much worse. The extra ~$30K UCLA is offering isn't nearly enough to make up for the advantages in employment outcomes NYU offers. This isn't a close call - NYU.

Agree, but to be clear, the scholarship gap understates the price difference—with in-state tuition, UCLA is "only" $48k/yr. (If this is counterintuitive it's because other state schools in the T20 tend to have tiny in-state discounts.)

[kengh]

I went to NYU. YLS partners at elite Bay Area and Los Angeles firms told me, repeatedly, they considered Berkeley a “good” law school, and NYU an “excellent” one, and hired accordingly. UCLA didn’t even enter into the conversation because it is not a target school.

What are these elite firms that wouldn't even consider a UCLA Law grad? I'm genuinely curious.

[cavalier1138]

I went to NYU. YLS partners at elite Bay Area and Los Angeles firms told me, repeatedly, they considered Berkeley a “good” law school, and NYU an “excellent” one, and hired accordingly. UCLA didn’t even enter into the conversation because it is not a target school.

What are these elite firms that wouldn't even consider a UCLA Law grad? I'm genuinely curious.

They said that UCLA wasn't a target school for these firms, not that the firms wouldn't consider a high-performing UCLA student for a SA position.

[kengh]

I went to NYU. YLS partners at elite Bay Area and Los Angeles firms told me, repeatedly, they considered Berkeley a “good” law school, and NYU an “excellent” one, and hired accordingly. UCLA didn’t even enter into the conversation because it is not a target school.

What are these elite firms that wouldn't even consider a UCLA Law grad? I'm genuinely curious.

They said that UCLA wasn't a target school for these firms, not that the firms wouldn't consider a high-performing UCLA student for a SA position.

I misinterpreted it.