Depaul Law Partial Scholarship vs. MSU Law Full Tuition Forum

[lawgirl087]

DePaul Law vs. MSU Law...on the surface, easy decision, but financial matters complicate things a bit:

DePaul Law (Tier 2)-$45,000 scholarship ($15,000 per year)
MSU Law (Tier 3)- full tuition scholarship
both with fairly low gpa requirement to renew (2.5 and 2.3)
(recently withdrew from Loyola, not offered scholarhip)

I am from the Chicago area and would ultimately like to return, I know that DePaul's alumni network is much stronger here and there may be opportunities to clerk during the 2L or 3L school year if I can't secure something during the summer, but since neither school is a t-14, I'm not sure if its worth $60,000 in loans! With time quickly running out, am having a hard time turning down a full ride at MSU and the idea of graduating debt-free.

Advice is appreciated, especially from anyone who has experience with either school!

[etwake]

Tough Call. I think MSU law is a pretty underrated school, from what I've read. When you factor in COL, MSU is probably going to be about $100-150k cheaper in the long run (complete guess). If both schools were in the same city, I'd say that MSU takes the cake. However, you're going to be stuck in one of the largest undergrad populations in the world. Personally, I already did my 4 years of undergrad, and am ready to move on to a big city. Normally, my advice out of attending Tier1 would be take as much money as you can get, but I'd personally take DePaul because

a) I LOVE chicago (and already did 4 years in East Lansing, have no desire to go back to college for another 3 years)

b)After UChicago and NU, Loyola and Depaul are two pretty good schools in Chicago. I'm not sure how the emploment prospects are, but I assume that because its in the city, the proximity to a large amount of law firms will help you out.

My vote is DePaul.

[QW3R7Y]

I am from the Chicago area and would ultimately like to return

Return as in work in Chicago after law school? If your answer is yes, you should be attending DePaul.

If your only concern is money, then attend MSU.

Sounds simple, but I think in this case it really is. You have a low chance of gaining employment in Chicago if you go to school at MSU. Of course you can play the what-if game and talk about getting top 10% or top 5% of your class, but the truth is most law students have that same goal of class placement. You won't really know where you are going to place until you start attending law school. Since that is the case, you have to rely on other determining factors. Plainly put, if you want to return to Chicago for work then you should go to law school in Chicago (esp. when comparing the two schools you've mentioned).


P.S. -- I think you posted this in the wrong forum... it should be in the "Choosing a Law School" forum (of course, I may be incorrect). Just fair warning to you in case you want to get a larger response

[QW3R7Y]

I'd also keep in mind that a full tuition scholarship doesn't necessarily handle your COL (Cost of Living) expenses. Plus, if you're from Chicago and choose to attend DePaul, you may be able to live at home with your parents and save COL expenses that way. You've really got to do the calculations on this and see just how much you would really be saving by attending MSU--and also how much do you really want to return to Chicago (and how soon)?

I think if you answer those questions, it should be pretty clear where the best place is to attend for your specific situation/goals.

[lawgirl087]

Thank you all for your words of wisdom! (and also for the tip on the forum, just re-posted:) The advice is much appreciated! My instincts say DePaul, I guess I just needed a little reassurance to turn down a debt-free JD!

[ndpfn]

Anybody this cycle facing a similar decision between MSU and DePaul?

[Kobe_Teeth]

Deciding between Loyola (no $, yet), DePaul (45k) and Kent (still in review...applied in mid Jan.).

I vote DePaul.

Myself, I'm leaning towards Kent.

[ndpfn]

I've got 45 from DePaul and about 70 from MSU.

I'm just trying to figure out how well - if at all - MSU will travel to Chicago. I'm definitely leaning DePaul but minimizing debt is a huge priority of mine right now.

DePaul's gonna have competition from NW, Chicago, Loyola, Kent, UIUC, Michigan, ND, and I'm sort of thinking MSU is the safe play right now if I put my desire to work in Chicago on the back burner.