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I'm having a really hard time with this decision so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cornell offered me 90,000 (30k per year) and Georgetown offered 105,000 (35k per year).

I want to pursue a public interest career (particularly some sort of impact litigation or advocacy surrounding racial justice and reproductive rights) but I'm also aware of the debt I'm taking on and wouldn't be against working for a few years at a firm if it develops the skills I'll need to move forward with PI.

I know both schools are great but I'm going crazy and I'm driving my family crazy so someone please make this decision for me LOL. Thank you!!

Welcome to TLS, and congrats on your great offers!

At a total $15k differential over 3 years, given that you're at least somewhat interested in BigLaw, and given that you're genuinely torn, I think this is a pretty clear choice for Cornell here, due to its much stronger BigLaw placement.

At Cornell, you have some shot at doing the kind of PI work you want to do right off the bat, and an almost guaranteed shot at BigLaw, followed by going into PI after a few years. At Georgetown, you have a somewhat bigger shot at getting the kind of PI work you want right off the bat, but also much bigger downside risk (of striking out of both your desired kind of PI work and BigLaw). So in terms of risk/reward, I don't think Georgetown's worth the gamble in your case.

Did you get offers at any other schools?

Will also say the DC is more expensive than Ithica if that is a consideration. It has less to do as well, but is a really pretty area of upstate new york. I'd take Cornell in your shoes.

Are these really the only options?

Cornell; not even close

QContinuum wrote:Welcome to TLS, and congrats on your great offers!

At a total $15k differential over 3 years, given that you're at least somewhat interested in BigLaw, and given that you're genuinely torn, I think this is a pretty clear choice for Cornell here, due to its much stronger BigLaw placement.

At Cornell, you have some shot at doing the kind of PI work you want to do right off the bat, and an almost guaranteed shot at BigLaw, followed by going into PI after a few years. At Georgetown, you have a somewhat bigger shot at getting the kind of PI work you want right off the bat, but also much bigger downside risk (of striking out of both your desired kind of PI work and BigLaw). So in terms of risk/reward, I don't think Georgetown's worth the gamble in your case.

Did you get offers at any other schools?

Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it.

I received offers from the following other schools:

6. NYU-- Waitlist
13. Cornell (30,000/ yr)
14. Georgetown (35,000/ yr)

23. GW (22,000/ yr)
24. Emory (28,500/ yr)
24. UF (6,000/yr) (310)

64. Northeastern (full ride)

sammuf19 wrote:Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it.

I received offers from the following other schools:

Happy to help. I think you were right to rule out the other offers. You're getting less money at the T1s for whatever reason, and Northeastern's just not even remotely in the same league in placement power.

Stay on NYU's WL for now; if you get in, we can reevaluate, taking a closer look at your PI aspirations and comfort relying on PSLF and NYU's LRAP. But for now, Cornell's the clear choice, IMO.

Congrats again!

sammuf19 wrote:

QContinuum wrote:Welcome to TLS, and congrats on your great offers!

At a total $15k differential over 3 years, given that you're at least somewhat interested in BigLaw, and given that you're genuinely torn, I think this is a pretty clear choice for Cornell here, due to its much stronger BigLaw placement.

At Cornell, you have some shot at doing the kind of PI work you want to do right off the bat, and an almost guaranteed shot at BigLaw, followed by going into PI after a few years. At Georgetown, you have a somewhat bigger shot at getting the kind of PI work you want right off the bat, but also much bigger downside risk (of striking out of both your desired kind of PI work and BigLaw). So in terms of risk/reward, I don't think Georgetown's worth the gamble in your case.

Did you get offers at any other schools?

Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it.

I received offers from the following other schools:

6. NYU-- Waitlist
13. Cornell (30,000/ yr)
14. Georgetown (35,000/ yr)

23. GW (22,000/ yr)
24. Emory (28,500/ yr)
24. UF (6,000/yr) (310)

64. Northeastern (full ride)

If between these schools, I agree Cornell is the winner on paper due to the superior large law firm + clerkship placement. I can’t help but feel, though, that what will get you the position you want in your desired fields (i.e., impact litigation and racial justice) is going to be a lot of networking. Needless to say, it is much easier to network, extern and intern your way to niche PI from Georgetown than from Cornell due to location. So between these two, I think it’s a tougher call than what you see in the posts above. Neither school has a better brand than the other in this field, and neither will alone carry you to these coveted and competitive positions. But I generally agree that Cornell is a slight winner here.

In the event you do go the large law firm route, once you get your 2L SA at a large law firm, it will be especially important at Cornell to take a lot of PI-focused classes and do as many internships as possible. As an aside, you can also try to spend your 3L year at Georgetown or NYU as a visiting student to the extent it does not affect your financial aid and get the D.C./New York experience that way.

OP, if you want PI, I think you should go to Georgetown. You will be able to extern during the year in 2L and 3l, go to PI events, and go to interview with PI orgs in DC (many PI employers don’t reimburse for interview expenses and may be more reluctant to interview someone from out of town).

Cornell would still be a totally reasonable choice, but if you don’t really want a firm, I don’t see a clear advantage in going there.