BU vs Fordham Poll please help a confused student in need Forum

[Iseethelight]

Greetings TLS'ers having reached the end of my cycle I now am put in a dilemma between BU Law and Fordham law.

Please disregard price of tuition as a factor in your decision, location preference should be disregarded as well.

The only factor i would like you to consider is which school will put me in a better position to make more money in the future.

Answers like it depends if you want to work in NYC then Fordham and if you want to work in Boston then BU are not helpful solely consider salary after graduating from either school.

[Iseethelight]

seems pretty even in opinion...

[nymario]

My guess is that everyone who wants to go to Fordham and is WL voted for BU and vice versa.

[SAE]

Without considering career goals, costs and location, the USNWR is your guide.

[Cupidity]

I went to both asd's. I wasn't even close. Landslide for BU.

[SAE]

I went to both asd's. I wasn't even close. Landslide for BU.

Time to change the avatar?

[Blindmelon]

BU - higher big firm % + more mobility = more options and opportunities to make $.

[tram988]

BU - higher big firm % + more mobility = more options and opportunities to make $.

+1

[Cupidity]

I went to both asd's. I wasn't even close. Landslide for BU.

Time to change the avatar?

Yes

[OperaSoprano]

"Make money in the future" needs to be better defined. How and where do you want to make this money? Going to any law school with the sole ambition of making bank is a really bad idea. The Columbians told me about a number of their own 3Ls who were no-offered this year, and if ATL is reliable, the same thing happened at HLS. I am not suggesting that either of these schools is a bad investment, and it happens that I think BU and Fordham are both worthy investments as well, but I strongly caution people not to do this for the money.

That said, if you are looking for a firm job at OCI, you will want to run a NALP search: --LinkRemoved--

I ran an advanced search for law firms conducting interviews at BU (I limited the search to these two factors only) and got 137 firms. The same search for Fordham turns up 253 firms.

I am trying to find the specific salary breakdown for BU; ours is here: http://law.fordham.edu/career-planning/17281.htm

I imagine they are fairly similar. In 2009 and 2007, BU posted a higher percentage of grads going into NLJ250 jobs, however, in 2008, 2006 and 2005, Fordham beat BU. I should point out that there is some underreporting in the NLJ250 data (IE: some firms that employed both Fordham and BU grads declined to make mention of these new hires), which is why we should also look at BU's data. We don't know the response rate for the NLJ250 reports, which is frustrating, because they are just about the only unbiased source for this information. Schools are obviously not unbiased, but they do let us know what percentage of grads sent in salary and employment data.

It is notable and undisputed (by me) that BU can point to national placement. Fordham is working on convincing grads to leave NYC, but there is a great deal of self selection at play here; 97% of incoming students said that NYC was their first choice market. I admit that I checked the NYC box, so I am guilty as charged. I did look into our alumni network, however, and found that we have alumni groups in Miami, and in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles, among other cities, which made me happy.

My general opinion is that BU is a great school; I visited during my own application season. BU and Fordham are very much peer schools; as much might be suggested merely by the number of cross admits who have to decide between them every year. I hope this post gives the OP meaningful numbers to compare, but in the end, personal happiness will out. People should pick the school where they will be happiest for the next three years. I love my school and I am glad I chose Fordham, though I didn't have this exact decision to make.

[Iseethelight]

"Make money in the future" needs to be better defined. How and where do you want to make this money? Going to any law school with the sole ambition of making bank is a really bad idea. The Columbians told me about a number of their own 3Ls who were no-offered this year, and if ATL is reliable, the same thing happened at HLS. I am not suggesting that either of these schools is a bad investment, and it happens that I think BU and Fordham are both worthy investments as well, but I strongly caution people not to do this for the money.

That said, if you are looking for a firm job at OCI, you will want to run a NALP search: --LinkRemoved--

I ran an advanced search for law firms conducting interviews at BU (I limited the search to these two factors only) and got 137 firms. The same search for Fordham turns up 253 firms.

I am trying to find the specific salary breakdown for BU; ours is here: http://law.fordham.edu/career-planning/17281.htm

I imagine they are fairly similar. In 2009 and 2007, BU posted a higher percentage of grads going into NLJ250 jobs, however, in 2008, 2006 and 2005, Fordham beat BU. I should point out that there is some underreporting in the NLJ250 data (IE: some firms that employed both Fordham and BU grads declined to make mention of these new hires), which is why we should also look at BU's data. We don't know the response rate for the NLJ250 reports, which is frustrating, because they are just about the only unbiased source for this information. Schools are obviously not unbiased, but they do let us know what percentage of grads sent in salary and employment data.

It is notable and undisputed (by me) that BU can point to national placement. Fordham is working on convincing grads to leave NYC, but there is a great deal of self selection at play here; 97% of incoming students said that NYC was their first choice market. I admit that I checked the NYC box, so I am guilty as charged. I did look into our alumni network, however, and found that we have alumni groups in Miami, and in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles, among other cities, which made me happy.

My general opinion is that BU is a great school; I visited during my own application season. BU and Fordham are very much peer schools; as much might be suggested merely by the number of cross admits who have to decide between them every year. I hope this post gives the OP meaningful numbers to compare, but in the end, personal happiness will out. People should pick the school where they will be happiest for the next three years. I love my school and I am glad I chose Fordham, though I didn't have this exact decision to make.

I appreciate the thoughtful response and yes all these factors in this thread are helping me make my decision. As far as "where do you want to make this money" like I said before that is irrelevant to me. Where ever it is would be fine with me (location is irrelevant).

[Always Credited]

I went to both asd's. I wasn't even close. Landslide for BU.

TITCR. I was also at both ASD. BU blew Fordham out of the water in every conceivable way. As for salary, that will depend far more on where you place in your class than on which school you attend.

Go BU, IMO.

[Iseethelight]

My guess is that everyone who wants to go to Fordham and is WL voted for BU and vice versa.

I thought of this before but seeing as how both schools have waiting lists and people on both I will hold this as a variable that is counterbalanced.

[OperaSoprano]

"Make money in the future" needs to be better defined. How and where do you want to make this money? Going to any law school with the sole ambition of making bank is a really bad idea. The Columbians told me about a number of their own 3Ls who were no-offered this year, and if ATL is reliable, the same thing happened at HLS. I am not suggesting that either of these schools is a bad investment, and it happens that I think BU and Fordham are both worthy investments as well, but I strongly caution people not to do this for the money.

That said, if you are looking for a firm job at OCI, you will want to run a NALP search: --LinkRemoved--

I ran an advanced search for law firms conducting interviews at BU (I limited the search to these two factors only) and got 137 firms. The same search for Fordham turns up 253 firms.

I am trying to find the specific salary breakdown for BU; ours is here: http://law.fordham.edu/career-planning/17281.htm

I imagine they are fairly similar. In 2009 and 2007, BU posted a higher percentage of grads going into NLJ250 jobs, however, in 2008, 2006 and 2005, Fordham beat BU. I should point out that there is some underreporting in the NLJ250 data (IE: some firms that employed both Fordham and BU grads declined to make mention of these new hires), which is why we should also look at BU's data. We don't know the response rate for the NLJ250 reports, which is frustrating, because they are just about the only unbiased source for this information. Schools are obviously not unbiased, but they do let us know what percentage of grads sent in salary and employment data.

It is notable and undisputed (by me) that BU can point to national placement. Fordham is working on convincing grads to leave NYC, but there is a great deal of self selection at play here; 97% of incoming students said that NYC was their first choice market. I admit that I checked the NYC box, so I am guilty as charged. I did look into our alumni network, however, and found that we have alumni groups in Miami, and in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles, among other cities, which made me happy.

My general opinion is that BU is a great school; I visited during my own application season. BU and Fordham are very much peer schools; as much might be suggested merely by the number of cross admits who have to decide between them every year. I hope this post gives the OP meaningful numbers to compare, but in the end, personal happiness will out. People should pick the school where they will be happiest for the next three years. I love my school and I am glad I chose Fordham, though I didn't have this exact decision to make.

I appreciate the thoughtful response and yes all these factors in this thread are helping me make my decision. As far as "where do you want to make this money" like I said before that is irrelevant to me. Where ever it is would be fine with me (location is irrelevant).

My priorities were a bit different, because location was tied with career prospects for my most important consideration. I'm not counting on biglaw, so salary was not the draw for me, though of course I took note of it. Always Credited is correct in that the money you make will be correlated with your class rank at either school, and in my case, I knew success and personal happiness would go together. I think this is true for a lot of people, which is why I said you should go where you will be happiest. I was admitted too late to go to my own ASD, but I visited many times, and I'm glad I did. Definitely visit the schools, and consider the role your comfort level will play in your academic performance.

[Always Credited]

"Make money in the future" needs to be better defined. How and where do you want to make this money? Going to any law school with the sole ambition of making bank is a really bad idea. The Columbians told me about a number of their own 3Ls who were no-offered this year, and if ATL is reliable, the same thing happened at HLS. I am not suggesting that either of these schools is a bad investment, and it happens that I think BU and Fordham are both worthy investments as well, but I strongly caution people not to do this for the money.

That said, if you are looking for a firm job at OCI, you will want to run a NALP search: --LinkRemoved--

I ran an advanced search for law firms conducting interviews at BU (I limited the search to these two factors only) and got 137 firms. The same search for Fordham turns up 253 firms.

I am trying to find the specific salary breakdown for BU; ours is here: http://law.fordham.edu/career-planning/17281.htm

I imagine they are fairly similar. In 2009 and 2007, BU posted a higher percentage of grads going into NLJ250 jobs, however, in 2008, 2006 and 2005, Fordham beat BU. I should point out that there is some underreporting in the NLJ250 data (IE: some firms that employed both Fordham and BU grads declined to make mention of these new hires), which is why we should also look at BU's data. We don't know the response rate for the NLJ250 reports, which is frustrating, because they are just about the only unbiased source for this information. Schools are obviously not unbiased, but they do let us know what percentage of grads sent in salary and employment data.

It is notable and undisputed (by me) that BU can point to national placement. Fordham is working on convincing grads to leave NYC, but there is a great deal of self selection at play here; 97% of incoming students said that NYC was their first choice market. I admit that I checked the NYC box, so I am guilty as charged. I did look into our alumni network, however, and found that we have alumni groups in Miami, and in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles, among other cities, which made me happy.

My general opinion is that BU is a great school; I visited during my own application season. BU and Fordham are very much peer schools; as much might be suggested merely by the number of cross admits who have to decide between them every year. I hope this post gives the OP meaningful numbers to compare, but in the end, personal happiness will out. People should pick the school where they will be happiest for the next three years. I love my school and I am glad I chose Fordham, though I didn't have this exact decision to make.

I appreciate the thoughtful response and yes all these factors in this thread are helping me make my decision. As far as "where do you want to make this money" like I said before that is irrelevant to me. Where ever it is would be fine with me (location is irrelevant).

success and personal happiness would go together

Some might say that the two are actually one and the same

[bigben]

You are not getting a high paying job at graduation. Go somewhere cheap or free.

[Always Credited]

You are not getting a high paying job at graduation. Go somewhere cheap or free.

Its true. No graduates of either Fordham or BU will ever get 100k starting salaries. Give up now and forever.


...

[OperaSoprano]

success and personal happiness would go together

Some might say that the two are actually one and the same

Haha, true. Trying hard to avoid the high GPA = guaranteed happiness fallacy. I do absolutely think that happiness makes it easier to concentrate, focus in, and do well, however.

To address bigben: I've always maintained that it shouldn't be about making money, but that doesn't mean that you won't. The risks and rewards need to be fairly evaluated, and there are always a few factors that are very hard to quantify.

[Iseethelight]

You are not getting a high paying job at graduation. Go somewhere cheap or free.

This is a fail comment. Lets break it down shall we

"You are not getting a high paying job at graduation" - Here you are assuming you and I have the same idea of what high paying is. Not only do i omit my definition of high paying but i also do not declare that it is my goal. I asked which school will earn me a higher salary when compared to one another... ex. one schools graduates could earn a median of 30k and another's could earn 40k...

Another interesting thing to note with this comment is the certainty with which you have. Referring to ME would indicate some knowledge of my capacity as a student, and future job prospects. Unless you are GOD, a prophet or some kind of seer then you do not have this information.

"Go somewhere cheap or free" Again you are too dumb to notice how cost was declared irrelevant. Here you assume not only that these schools are expensive for me but that they are not free for me to begin with...

Every other comment however has been very helpful thanks guys

[Iseethelight]

after doing a little research theres a topic that is often overlooked that can add to this decision..

Fordham's fitness centers are open until 6AM-12AM M-F and 930-930 S Sun whereas BU facilities are open only until 11PM M-F and close at 8PM S and Sun

[SAE]

after doing a little research theres a topic that is often overlooked that can add to this decision..

Fordham's fitness centers are open until 6AM-12AM M-F and 930-930 S Sun whereas BU facilities are open only until 11PM M-F and close at 8PM S and Sun

From what I hear, the Fordham gym is a joke. Can't speak for BU.

[legalease9]

For cash I say no question. You have to do BU.

[StrawberryRed89]

Well as long as we're talking about relevant details here..lol the BU gym--FitRec--is pretty amazing.

[sullidop]

after doing a little research theres a topic that is often overlooked that can add to this decision..

Fordham's fitness centers are open until 6AM-12AM M-F and 930-930 S Sun whereas BU facilities are open only until 11PM M-F and close at 8PM S and Sun

From what I hear, the Fordham gym is a joke. Can't speak for BU.

BU's is new. I'm jealous of it.

[Iseethelight]

BU deposit is 200
Fordham deposit is 400