Cornell ($$$) or WashU ($$$$+) Forum

[NickTheSpear]

Not quite sure what to do here. I've toured both and they felt roughly the same. Not sure what my career goals are or where I want to be. Have some extended family in St. Louis. Total COAs are

Cornell 133k
WashU 40k

and maybe the difference should be considered slightly more because those are using the housing rates of the apartments I intend to live at and the WashU apartment is much nicer. So maybe knock off 10k for WashU's COA for equivalent housing. I've sent a negotiation request to Cornell but given how big the scholarship already is, it is likely to get declined and best case they add 15k. The cost differential would be taken out in loans. WashU's offer is a fellowship so it includes nonfinancial perks like mentoring from faculty and alumni.

What should I do? Any and all thoughts greatly appreciated.

[talons2250]

Where do you intend to practice ultimately? Are you interested in BigLaw in a major global city (NY, DC, Chicago, SF, LA)?

[becodalapa]

Not sure what my career goals are or where I want to be.

If you don't have any sense of what kind of work you would like to do and where you would prefer to do that work, it's going to be pretty tough for anyone here to help. That said, since you apparently don't have goals that are more attainable from Cornell than WashU, I'd go with WashU since it's significantly cheaper and also a pretty good school.

[CanadianWolf]

Wash U is the better choice in your situation due to lower COA & due to lack of desire for NYC biglaw.