Thanks for the quick response. About how far of a car drive is Hyde from the "city proper" of Chicago? I currently live in Arlington, VA, which is right across the river from Georgetown and the rest of downtown Washington, DC, and I love my living conditions. Often living right in the heart of a city is very expensive, very crowded, and I imagine very noisy/dirty. So I wouldn't be averse to living right next to a downtown area instead of right in the middle. Usually your living space is a lot nicer in these situations too.Dany wrote:I love Hyde Park and still feel connected to the city and go downtown a lot. Some people hate Hyde Park and complain about it. It's all personal preference, so it just depends on what you're looking for.echamberlin8 wrote:No real questions here. Just popping in to say that I'm very interested in applying to UChi this fall. Do you guys feel close enough to downtown Chicago to feel connected at all to the city?
What are your overall thoughts on UChi? Is it worth going to over, say, NYU? I plan to work in NYC, but I figure that maybe taking a break in another city before going there might be worth it, but I've heard that Chicago is somewhat far away from the actual city, and feels isolated/somewhat depressing. I am considering it, though.
Is it true that they look more at the LSAT than at your GPA in comparison to other peer schools? I've heard that before, but Columbia/NYU seem to be more willing to accept people in with high LSATs and low GPAs. For reference, my GPA is a 3.73. Studying for the October LSAT now....
UChicago is a great school, but so is NYU. Among CCN, I'm a huge proponent of following the money. I was lucky that UChicago was my first choice and gave me by far the best scholarship, but had NYU given me more money, I would have attended NYU. I also think "somewhat far" and "isolated/depressing" are pretty silly. You can live downtown if you want. Coming from small towns/suburbs, I think getting into the city is a breeze and much prefer the cheaper rent here in Hyde Park, but really, it's all just personal opinion.
GPA is more important here than at peer schools in recent years. Our median GPA is a 3.87, which is well above NYU and Columbia.
Yes, I've noticed that Chicago does have very high GPA numbers as of late. That's why I thought it was weird when I read that it cared more about the LSAT and less about the GPA than do some of its peers. I actually read that here on TLS's write-up on Chicago: http://www.top-law-schools.com/chicago-law-school.html.
Has their GPA median shot up in the last year? Only a year ago, in 2011, their 75% GPA was only a 3.79. Now that is well below their median.
That doesn't bode too well for me. I only have a 3.73. Would you say they place less emphasis on the LSAT than their peers because of this GPA-heavy strategy? Are most of the students at Chicago K-JD's or otherwise very young, or do most of them have work experience? I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I should be heading into law school at age 26 (I'm 24 right now). By that point, I should have 3-4 years of work experience, 2 of them at a V25 firm as a project assistant/paralegal. I'm hoping this helps my somewhat underwhelming (by T6 standards) GPA, assuming I get a 170+ LSAT.
Thanks for taking my questions. I appreciate it.
PS: What do you think of UChi at sticker vs. NU with a scholarship if one's goal is NYC BigLaw?
