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offers from firms in nyc ranked higher than firms in dc. practice area i'm most interested in has a strong regulatory component, so i favor dc in that regard. i have a shit ton of debt so dc's lower COL is attractive too. don't necessarily love dc as a city, though. should i be weighting v20 nyc exit options more heavily in my calculations?

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This is impossible to answer in the abstract. What firms, what practice area, etc.?

Anonymous User wrote:offers from firms in nyc ranked higher than firms in dc. practice area i'm most interested in has a strong regulatory component, so i favor dc in that regard. i have a shit ton of debt so dc's lower COL is attractive too. don't necessarily love dc as a city, though. should i be weighting v20 nyc exit options more heavily in my calculations?

Can you name the D.C. firms? Are these D.C.-based firms or satellite offices?

If you want to do regulation you do DC, no questions asked.

Second, vault doesn't mean shit in DC. It doesn't mean shit outside of NYC transactional work, and even then it's still roughly shit.

A lot of really decent DC firms are in the bottom of the V100. Don't trade that for White and Case.

I'm a little confused.

Most v100 firms will either pay market or something that looks like it. DC also has a lower cost of living, as you pointed out. You also want to get into some kind of regulatory work, and DC is the better option for that.

So you're weighing all of this against...prestige?

Is there anything drawing you to the NY firms except for the vault ranking? If you could be more clear about any other reasons you want to be in NY, this would make a little bit more sense. Alternatively, if you could be clear about why you don't want to be in DC (maybe it's with one of the firms paying less than market? maybe you just hate DC?), then it would be easier to answer as well.

thanks guys. firm i'm leaning towards is dc-based. i know that it probably makes the most sense; i guess i have cold feet when most of my classmates will be in nyc + dc feels pretty suburban to me.

The firm in DC has a stellar reputation. If you want DC and want to do the work they're good in, they are a legitimately defensible choice. I know someone who summered there last year, and they really liked it (for what that anecdote is worth). My guess is your exit options will be pretty good from there, at least for things involving politics, regulatory work, lobbying, etc. Good choice to have!

Edit add: I noted later you aren't sure about DC. That makes it tougher. It's hard to find the sweet spot between geography, practice area, and exit options. COL and lower taxes in DC will probably save you 500-1000 / month, which is great for debt payments. That said, I'm making a similar choice in the opposite direction, probably. You gotta figure out what's important to you

Anonymous User wrote:thanks guys. dc firm i'm leaning towards is #70 on vault (i am paranoid about this coming up in a google search, for no real reason). i know that it probably makes the most sense; i guess i have cold feet when most of my classmates will be in nyc + dc feels pretty suburban to me.

DC isn't surburban, it's got a weird feeling to it. It's a big city but not really a big city. But it doesn't smell of garbage and piss. So DC 1- NYC 1