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Hello! I am deciding between these two schools. My dream is a PI job, but am willing (and fully expecting) to go into corporate/biglaw for a bit to pay off student debt.

I would rather live in NYC, but know that Chicago is the conventionally "better" school.

Which should I choose?

Thank you in advance

What kind of PI? Why do you need biglaw when you can go into PI and take advantage of the schools' LRAP programs? How much will it cost you to attend each of them?

I echo all of nixy's questions. I don't think you should assume you have to do biglaw at all.

And just to push back on Chicago being the "better" school: Differences between schools this close in the rankings are pretty minute. But Chicago is one of the least PI-focused schools in the T13, and NYU is one of the most PI-focused schools. Unless you'd be saving bundles of cash by going to Chicago (and can't negotiate a higher scholarship from NYU), then there's really no reason it should still be in the running.

I was making this exact same choice nine years ago, and I also consider myself public interest-ish. I agonized because I was convinced that Chicago was the "better" school, especially because I wanted to clerk and, at the time, I thought I was interested in academia (lol). Ultimately, I chose NYU because it was closer to my friends and family and because I preferred NYC. Also, I knew that I wanted my legal career to be in NYC, and everyone told me (correctly) that the difference between Chicago and NYU was so small that the geographic edge should be determinative.

I'm so happy that I chose NYU. I did two public interest law clinics that allowed me to work at the headquarters of national impact litigation nonprofits. Plus, the whole community of lefty public interest folks at NYU was really great and kept me engaged. After graduation, I did NYC biglaw for a year, did two clerkships (court of appeals and district), and now I work at a private public-interest firm in NYC. I didn't have super impressive grades at NYU, but nevertheless did well (top 25% but not top 10%). Obviously, it's conceivable that I'd be in the same position now had I gone to Chicago, but somehow I know I wouldn't be as happy. Hope this helps.

NYU LRAP is one of the most generous, why go to big law if you can just not pay your loans at all? IMO, the only reason to go to UChicago would be if you definitely want to end up in the city of Chicago post-grad

Update:

I received a very small (15k/year) merit scholarship from NYU. Nothing from Chicago yet. I also was accepted to UVA and received 30k/year from them.

I do think Chicago is out of the running at this point per the advice I have received.

Would I be an idiot to still choose NYU despite getting a "better" offer from UVA? I want to live and practice in NYC. Would also be open to negotiating.

Thank you all for your input

Congrats on your scholarships!

First, you should absolutely try to negotiate with NYU to get a higher scholarship, and you should use your UVA offer to do it.

To answer your question: Even if NYU refuses to give you more money, you would not be an idiot to still choose NYU despite getting a "better" offer from UVA. You clearly want to go to NYU deep down, or else you probably wouldn't have posed the question this way. I do think that, for someone who wants to live and work in NYC after law school, NYU is the superior choice compared to UVA. There are tons of NYU grads everywhere in NYC, at all the top firms and top PI and government employers (ACLU national, U.S. attorneys' office, etc.) The same cannot be said for UVA. (That's probably because there are fewer UVA grads and fewer of those grads choose to go to NYC, but still.)

That said, I think you should be really frank with yourself about your financial situation. The cost of attendance at NYU is going to be significantly higher. You'll have to take out a greater amount in loans, unless your family is rich and/or otherwise willing to provide you with living expenses for three-years living in the NYC area with no real salary. As has been discussed on this thread, however, NYU has very generous LRAP, which mitigates this issue. And if you go into NYC biglaw, the salary will be high enough that you'll likely be able to handle your loans in a few years, if you repay aggressively.

1) Debt shouldn't be a major consideration (or one at all) if you go all-in on LRAP which seems like a good route for you
2) Even if you don't get an LRAP job, a $15k/yr diff (or even $30k with cost of living) still isn't all that significant when you'd be taking out $220-250k total. It's not nothing but don't think it's enough to move the needle if you have good reasons for NYU (which you do). Would be tougher if the scholly gap were quite a bit wider + if you were indifferent about NYC

So, agree with prior posters that NYU is still a no-brainer here

talons2250 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 8:47 am

Congrats on your scholarships!

I do think that, for someone who wants to live and work in NYC after law school, NYU is the superior choice compared to UVA. There are tons of NYU grads everywhere in NYC, at all the top firms and top PI and government employers (ACLU national, U.S. attorneys' office, etc.) The same cannot be said for UVA. (That's probably because there are fewer UVA grads and fewer of those grads choose to go to NYC, but still.)

Utterly false re: UVA. UVA kids are at every single top firm in NYC (except a few less at Wachtell because they don't recruit on grounds).

Sorry. There are *fewer* UVA grads at all the top firms and top PI and government employers in NYC compared to NYU grads.

Ultimately, both good schools. Can’t go wrong with either. But I don’t think one can reasonably doubt that NYU has stronger ties to the NYC market.

Go to whichever is cheaper, or if roughly equal, whichever one you want. There’s no meaningful difference for 99% of people at those schools.