Top Law Schools

Hey guys,

I am still having a small debate about whether choosing to ED at NU for getting a shot at the full ride. Suggestions?

I have about 3 years of part time WE at law firms around india + a high court clerkship

Is it worth closing doors on HYSCCN?

When you're basically sitting at median everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if you got H, and you may even get S. You'll probably get 90k or so from UChicago, Michigan will throw something at you, and UVA will either YP you or give you 120k. Cornell might also majorly come through.

Me, personally, I'd rather have the full ride at NU than pretty much any other outcome excluding a full ride at CCN or Penn. And honestly, I don't think those are super likely. I would ED at NU.

Almost like a 'bird in hand situation' though right?

Since we get killed by the exchange rate, any kind of loan is triple times the burden. Ultimately it is all about jobs. Is a debt at HYS worth more than full ride at NU?

yashranade wrote:Since we get killed by the exchange rate, any kind of loan is triple times the burden.

Yeah, tbh, the loan burden is pretty bad for Americans... if you're in a situation where you can't access federal money or you're going to get killed on the exchange rate, you really have no business going anywhere for more than 90k total or so.

Ultimately it is all about jobs. Is a debt at HYS worth more than full ride at NU?

Northwestern definitely outperforms its rankings. If you look at LST, you'll see Northwestern places about as well as/better than UVA, Duke, Berkeley, etc. The big difference is, Northwestern has 3x-5x more "business" jobs than other T14 schools. This isn't an accident; a lot of Northwestern grads opt into business careers or do the JD/MBA and choose not to pursue law at all. By cutting class sizes a lot, CO17 will likely have even more favorable employment outcomes than did CO13.

That all said, a word of warning: the bottom 20%-25% of the class will in all likelihood still strike out at OCI. That's where HYS checks back.

H, which is where you probably have the best shot, will likely offer you a substantial amount of need based aid. I'd probably guess around 25k a year, which would probably put your overall cost of attendance at 170k or so. What H offers you that Northwestern doesn't is an insurance policy that even if you end up in the bottom 20% of the class, you'll still have a biglaw job, but more than that, being above median at H will easily get you into secondary markets you want to end up in rather than being forced to be in Chicago or NYC. If that matters a lot to you, maybe H has some value.

To me, I'd have a very hard time working in biglaw if I wasn't getting close to 100% of my post-tax salary. I value my ability to walk off the job at any time and not feel like I have to live like a peasant/not save up for a house or career change/etc. There's something unique about depositing your entire paycheck in the bank. You're in an even more divisive situation since you have economic concerns most TLSers don't have. So while I'd say "Take the money and run" by EDing to NU to pretty much anyone in this situation, I'd emphatically say it to you.

Still unsure whether it is worth 'testing the market' for $$$ at CCN, + UVA, UPenn, Mich.

#Stumped #Nervous