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so i just found out that i'm on reserve at columbia, but i already have an acceptance from nyu.

i'm not sure what can make me more attractive to columbia...i won't have anything to offer them in the coming months other than a loci, as i'm just spending the year teaching abroad. my numbers are 170/176, 3.62 (3.49 gpa from my degree institution, i'm one of the lucky ones that got a bump from lsac), so i feel like i'm borderline as it is...also the thought of stretching this out over the summer makes my head hurt.

that all said, columbia was my first choice, and i'm shooting for nyc biglaw.

does it make sense to stick this out? is there really much of a difference between nyu and columbia in terms of my shot at biglaw in nyc? thoughts appreciated, many thanks in advance--

Columbia has substantially better biglaw placement. Some of this may be because NYU is more PI-focused and its students self-select more strongly away from biglaw, but Columbia has better biglaw placement than even HYS, so something is going on to benefit them, too. Normally, riding a waitlist can be painful because geographically you don't know where you'll end up--but Columbia and NYU are both in NYC. I would recommend staying on the waitlist at Columbia, sending a LOCI emphasizing what you like about the school (specific interests, professors doing work you like, etc.) and hoping. You might also be able to get another LOR from someone (the principal of the school you're teaching at?) in the mean time. Columbia culls its waitlist more often than other schools, so you may hear back faster from them than on most waitlists.

But, if you'd rather not have the stress, NYU is a great school with great placement, and you're certainly not settling by not pursuing the Columbia waitlist.

If you are intent on staying in NYC after graduation I think NYU will serve your purposes quite well. Columbia would serve them better, but as the above poster stated I think you should be fine either way. Outside of New York there is a greater difference, but inside the difference is more subtle once you account for NYU's PI focus. Waiting out the Columbia WL while preparing to attend NYU seems to be the best road to take in your situation.

Full disclosure- I'm in @ NYU and have no decision from Columbia yet.

If you check threads from previous years, the Columbia reserve process is pretty maddening and as far as I can tell, very few people are accepted.

For what it is worth, at Columbia's admitted student's day last week they announced they had record turnout. This may not bode well for getting in off a waitlist. Just FYI.

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Rand M. wrote:If you are intent on staying in NYC after graduation I think NYU will serve your purposes quite well. Columbia would serve them better, but as the above poster stated I think you should be fine either way. Outside of New York there is a greater difference, but inside the difference is more subtle once you account for NYU's PI focus. Waiting out the Columbia WL while preparing to attend NYU seems to be the best road to take in your situation.

Full disclosure- I'm in @ NYU and have no decision from Columbia yet.

I'm interesting in the question of whether Columbia has a substantial placement advantage outside of NYC.

Is there any actual proof of this? Do DC firms, for example, do OCI at Columbia but not NYU or go deeper in the Columbia class?