Top Law Schools

I got into NYU today so I figured I would make a new poll. I am currently at BU/BC in the top 10%. I missed law review but made a secondary journal. I have 50K in scholarship left on the table from my current school. Really love my school and would only leave for good reason.

At NYU, I can live at home and do an hourlong commute to the city each day to minimize room and board costs. Not sure how feasible a 1.5 hour trip is each day, but it would def cut down costs. NY/NJ area is my target market.

Penn- I would have to live there but that can be done relatively cheap. Guess the whole ivy league thing is cool. Like that I could take classes at Whartob since I've always loved business.

you have the best problems in the world. lol. congratulations!! I vote NYU but I don't vote for the long commute. I know Penn has the ivy thing going on but NYU just seems amazing. Did you apply to HYS?

Don't consider Penn. Since you want NYC, I would probably transfer to NYU. My answer would change if you were like top 5% and LR at BC/BU. Also, how much money are you giving up at BC/BU?

Yes I would transfer to Penn or NYU, whichever suits you the best.

ndirish2010 wrote:Don't consider Penn. Since you want NYC, I would probably transfer to NYU. My answer would change if you were like top 5% and LR at BC/BU. Also, how much money are you giving up at BC/BU?

25K scholarship over 2 years = 50k total. Its the commuting that im worried about. NyU is otherwise too expensive. Whereas Penn I could live at without a commute and without breaking the bank.

Still though...you're likely to get biglaw at BC/BU. You'd be saving 50K in case you don't. I mean I would think you're just as likely to strike out at NYU as BC/BU (not that likely). That's a lot to give up.

COL is cheaper in Philly then in New York but it isn't THAT cheap.

I know someone who transferred last year from BC to NYU and doesn't regret it one bit.

Transfer to NYU. Forget about Penn. I would only stay put if you wanted Boston or if you would have made LR.

I agree with Helm. No LR makes it easier to leave. Personally, I'd do NYU and the commute (or find somewhere in NJ to live that isn't super expensive and is on one of the better NJT lines).

ndirish2010 wrote:Still though...you're likely to get biglaw at BC/BU. You'd be saving 50K in case you don't. I mean I would think you're just as likely to strike out at NYU as BC/BU (not that likely). That's a lot to give up.

I don't doubt that I can secure NYC biglaw out of BU. But doesn't one also transfer for the long term benefits (I.e. using the school name when seeking new jobs in the future, etc.)?

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WhirledWorld wrote:Why give up top 10% for anywhere but YHS? You're going to do very well during OCI. Law review shouldn't matter much when you have those grades. And if you love the school and have a scholarship, why consider transferring at all?

Again, its the long term prospects that im a bit hazy on. Are the long term benefits.of NYU really worth 50K more? And what exactly are those long term benefits? Because, as I mentioned, I don't think it would be too difficult to get NYC biglaw at top 10% of my current school.

So I ask those voting NYU, are you just choosing it because of ease of obtaining my first position? Or is there more to it?

Can you stomach NYU folks? If so, go for it.

WhirledWorld wrote:Why give up top 10% for anywhere but YHS? You're going to do very well during OCI. Law review shouldn't matter much when you have those grades. And if you love the school and have a scholarship, why consider transferring at all?

I would think prestigious NYC biglaw would be much easier to get going through NYU OCI than BU/BC OCI. But I can't say for certain. Really haven't seen detailed OCI stats for BU/NC on what you need to get for particular NYC biglaw firms.

K.R.I.T. wrote:Can you stomach NYU folks? If so, go for it.

Lol.. just curious, but wut?

My vote is NYU- congrats!!

As I thought, overwhelmingly NYU. Im leaning heavily toward NYU but looking to see if there is any decisive reason to stay.

kaiser wrote:As I thought, overwhelmingly NYU. Im leaning heavily toward NYU but looking to see if there is any decisive reason to stay.

Wanting to live/work in Boston would be a good reason to stay.

Also, how much total debt would you have at BU vs. NYU? If you would have more than $100k total debt at BU, then you should definitely leave.

Based on savings, scholarship, and everything else combined, im looking at roighly about 25K of debt out of BU and probably about 75K out of NYU if i live at home and commute the 1 hr ride to NY.

Are there any transfers out there from T20 or T30 schools who moved up to the CCN or MVP range who can comment on whether they feel it was worth it? I'd like to hear from anyone who was in the same situation, especially if you had to give up scholarship money to make the change. As my last post mentioned, I'm looking at about 25K in debt from BU vs. about 75K from NYU, but that is assuming I live at home and do an hour-long train ride to NY each day. Were I to live in NYC, NYU would cost something like 115K, which is a huge change.

I, unfortunately, cannot speak from personal experience. But, I do know someone who made the BC --> NYU move and does not regret it at all. He just graduated with a biglaw job he does not believe he would have gotten at BC.

kaiser wrote:Are there any transfers out there from T20 or T30 schools who moved up to the CCN or MVP range who can comment on whether they feel it was worth it? I'd like to hear from anyone who was in the same situation, especially if you had to give up scholarship money to make the change. As my last post mentioned, I'm looking at about 25K in debt from BU vs. about 75K from NYU, but that is assuming I live at home and do an hour-long train ride to NY each day. Were I to live in NYC, NYU would cost something like 115K, which is a huge change.

Here are the advantages to staying at BC/U: assume you can land a firm job that pays market both if you stay and if you transfer (if you practice interviewing, you probably can if you stay - despite lack of LR - because of your class rank, and i'm sure that a large number of boston firms participate in your OCI).

You debt situation is pretty similar to mine, and i calculated that loan payments are about $400/mo if you stay versus about $1250/mo if you transfer. Both of those are on a 10 year plan. Of course, you can easily pay $800/mo if you stay and pay it off in 5 years, thus paying much less in interest. NOW, add on top of that, the COL difference between Boston and NYC.

The end result is that you're looking at a difference in your biglaw salary that is pretty substantial. Combining the difference in loan payments (about $800) + COL difference between NYC and Boston (housing AND taxes), it's probably between $1,000 and $2,000 per month (ballpark $5000 and change versus over $7000 and change after taxes and loan payments).

That's a lot of money each and every month, that you could use for something like a cool car, or jet setting to paris/rome every couple of months with the significant other... some very nice discretionary spending.

in short, if you could magically divine that you WILL get a biglaw job if you stay and if you go, is it worth it? Do you have other reasons to transfer besides the increased employment prospects (which, IMO, aren't tremendously different considering the caliber of the school you're at and the boston legal market). Do you like boston? have family or friends in either city? Considering that you would have more money in your pocket every month AND a bigger+nicer apartment in boston, it's pretty compelling to stay, IMO.

ETA - ah, i missed the NY/NJ target market and family part. that certainly changes things.

And how about commuting? Does anyone have any experience with making a commute to school? Keep in mind that this is 2L year, not 1L, so there isn't the same urgency and fear of 1L year. But is it just too unworkable to take a 50 min train ride into NYC every day?