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How much more would you pay for Georgetown than for GW? Assume D.C. Biglaw and federal clerkship are goals

When I was a 0L I would have been willing to pay sticker for GULC over significant money at GW. In hindsight, I would have been wrong to do so (I ended up at Boalt so it was all moot). Knowing what I know today (heading into my 5th year of practice), I wouldn't spend any more than an additional $50-75K to go to GULC over GW. Instead, I'd take what I could get at GW and commit to finishing as high in the top of my class as I could.

Shaggier1 wrote:When I was a 0L I would have been willing to pay sticker for GULC over significant money at GW. In hindsight, I would have been wrong to do so (I ended up at Boalt so it was all moot). Knowing what I know today (heading into my 5th year of practice), I wouldn't spend any more than an additional $50-75K to go to GULC over GW. Instead, I'd take what I could get at GW and commit to finishing as high in the top of my class as I could.

At what point in your law school career did you get the impression that commitment was all it took to end up at the top of the class?

I'm not saying that your price point is incorrect, but median students at GW cannot expect the same employment options as median students at Georgetown.

MrLions wrote:How much more would you pay for Georgetown than for GW? Assume D.C. Biglaw and federal clerkship are goals

I'm virtually certain I would have been unemployed from the great recession had I attended GW instead of Georgetown (I was around top 1/3 at the height of the financial crisis). Just a year before, median at GW was getting biglaw. By the height of the great recession, it was basically just the top 10%/LR types at GW, but top 1/3 at GULC was mostly squeaking through. It is very, very hard to accurately value the risk calculus, especially without knowing how the economy will look in a year.

That being said, if your primary ambition is D.C. Biglaw (not just any biglaw) and a federal clerkship, you would be wise to hold out for at least CCN.