Hamilton/Rubenstein c/o 2015 Forum

[hellotherethisisme]

I took the Ruby (over Hamilton and Harvard....didn't apply to Stanford and still waiting to hear from Yale. I didn't apply to Yale until February, so I'm not surprised that I haven't heard back, yet).

[southwick]

Also turned down the Ruby. S'looking like S will be it.

[EdgarWinter]

Personally I think it would be a rough call to turn down the Ruby or Hamilton for H or S*, esp. if one intends on going into private practice. It would make me sick to turn down $$$ for those schools and then end up working at a firm next to a Chi or Columbia grad.** If you're gunning for academia/clerkships then maybe a T-3 (or just Yale) is worth it, but then again you can do that from a T-6 school too (esp. academia from Chicago) and I am sure that part of the T-3's success in those pursuits (again, esp. academia) is due to self-selection.

*barring massive financial aid
**very probable scenario.

[AspiringAcademic]

Personally I think it would be a rough call to turn down the Ruby or Hamilton for H or S*, esp. if one intends on going into private practice. It would make me sick to turn down $$$ for those schools and then end up working at a firm next to a Chi or Columbia grad.** If you're gunning for academia/clerkships then maybe a T-3 (or just Yale) is worth it, but then again you can do that from a T-6 school too (esp. academia from Chicago) and I am sure that part of the T-3's success in those pursuits (again, esp. academia) is due to self-selection.

*barring massive financial aid
**very probable scenario.

Pretty much my thinking (aiming for academia). I took a Ruby over Harvard and didn't feel like it was a hard call.

[jd5]

I haven't had to make a decision yet, since I have a Hamilton not a Ruby, but I had mostly made up my mind to take the Hamilton over Harvard and Stanford. Then I got into Yale yesterday. Yale had always been my top choice, other things being equal, so this really makes things tough. Barring significant financial aid, though, I still can't see how it makes sense to turn down the Hamilton (or the Rubenstein). CLS and Chicago open all the same doors as HYS; HYS just opens them a little wider. Is that worth $170k plus interest -- paid while you're in your 20s and 30s, perhaps looking to get married, start a family, buy a house?

First-world problems, I know. Still a pretty agonizing decision.

[soj]

I'm thinking along the same line as you, jd5. Unless I get a generous financial aid package and some external scholarships, I don't think I can turn down the Hamilton.

[nametaken]

I'm thinking along the same line as you, jd5. Unless I get a generous financial aid package and some external scholarships, I don't think I can turn down the Hamilton.

Did you turn down the Ruby for the Hamilton?

[EdgarWinter]

I didn't even apply to H or S. Bad press about the horrors of the legal field, my youth, and the initial insecurity of my answer to "do you want to be lawyer?" (how can one ever be sure if one hasn't been one yet?) all made me hesitant about going after schools for which I knew I wouldn't get any aid. Maybe I should have (Yale rejected me and a T-3 acceptance might have been a good option/leverage if scholarships had gone differently) but as it is I could scarcely be luckier. I don't think I would have turned down the Ruby for Yale even if I had gotten in, and I don't think I would have gone to H or S over any T-10 full scholarship. I understand people who do make these choices, but for me (and I think my circumstances are very similar to many law school applicants) the ability to graduate with utter financial freedom provides a level of security that it would be difficult for any LRAP or slightly-more-open-door to match. I might leave law in my 20s and open a bike shop or run for office or [insert radical possibility here]. Being without debt makes those choices possible, and in the end I think I would have been happy to trade T3 prestige for that sort of freedom.

Regardless of what people in this thread do (or already did lol), good luck pursuing what I'm sure are bright futures.

[20130312]

The most pretentious thread on TLS since "Admitted at Yale".

[EdgarWinter]

The most pretentious thread on TLS since "Admitted at Yale".

Guilty as charged.

[Elston Gunn]

I didn't even apply to H or S. Bad press about the horrors of the legal field, my youth, and the initial insecurity of my answer to "do you want to be lawyer?" (how can one ever be sure if one hasn't been one yet?) all made me hesitant about going after schools for which I knew I wouldn't get any aid. Maybe I should have (Yale rejected me and a T-3 acceptance might have been a good option/leverage if scholarships had gone differently) but as it is I could scarcely be luckier. I don't think I would have turned down the Ruby for Yale even if I had gotten in, and I don't think I would have gone to H or S over any T-10 full scholarship. I understand people who do make these choices, but for me (and I think my circumstances are very similar to many law school applicants) the ability to graduate with utter financial freedom provides a level of security that it would be difficult for any LRAP or slightly-more-open-door to match. I might leave law in my 20s and open a bike shop or run for office or [insert radical possibility here]. Being without debt makes those choices possible, and in the end I think I would have been happy to trade T3 prestige for that sort of freedom.

Regardless of what people in this thread do (or already did lol), good luck pursuing what I'm sure are bright futures.

TBF, COAP equally makes those things possible (and I think LIPP too), but of course no debt is better. Ultimately with the combination awesomeness of COAP and freedom to choose to work where I wanted to (and especially clerk hopefully) had me choose Yale, but, man, it was tough.

Good luck to you and everyone else as well.

[sailboat]

Being without debt makes those choices possible, and in the end I think I would have been happy to trade T3 prestige for that sort of freedom.

Does the Ruby provide a stipend for room/board/living expenses? (Hamilton doesn't, right?)

[Elston Gunn]

^^^It does. 10K/yr, so you still probably have ~30K. Essentially nothing, though.

[justinp]

I'm still up in the air, but have begun leaning toward Harvard over the Hamilton for a number of reasons, primarily my worry about a) the much lower chances of being able to secure a clerkship out of Columbia and the doors that that would close and b) Harvard's better national reach for people who want to work outside of the big NY/DC type hubs (which I probably do).

Still have some time to decide, though. Good luck, folks!

[soj]

I'm thinking along the same line as you, jd5. Unless I get a generous financial aid package and some external scholarships, I don't think I can turn down the Hamilton.

Did you turn down the Ruby for the Hamilton?

Yeah, but it was definitely a tough decision. The Ruby was more money and I had more close friends in Chicago, but I decided to turn it down for a few reasons.

I prefer NYC, both for law school and for post-graduation employment. I also thought Columbia was a better fit. For example, I was also really disappointed with Chicago's student organizations. A strong LGBT community was crucial for me, but I couldn't even find reps from Outlaw at the diversity reception. When I finally got in touch with someone in it, he bored me with the cliche about the ideological breadth of its members. I don't care if a school has conservative gays: I want to know if Outlaws has frequent and well-attended social and networking events. On that front, Chicago seemed to fall short of other schools, which had more interesting events year-round and had a much stronger presence at ASW.

Again, it was a tough decision. I'm already regretting turning down the extra money a little bit. I'd be lying if I said the early deadline had nothing to do with it. I'm still waiting for my SLS fin aid as well as some external scholarships because SLS would be my top choice if money weren't a factor. After my deadline extension request to Chicago got denied, not to mention pending appgate, I didn't much feel like paying a $500 deposit to hold my spot when I had an alternative I preferred.

[EdgarWinter]

TBF, COAP equally makes those things possible (and I think LIPP too), but of course no debt is better. Ultimately with the combination awesomeness of COAP and freedom to choose to work where I wanted to (and especially clerk hopefully) had me choose Yale, but, man, it was tough.

Good luck to you and everyone else as well.

Thanks! I'm sure you'll have an incredible time at Yale, hopefully one as incredible as that LSAT score .

[nametaken]

I'm thinking along the same line as you, jd5. Unless I get a generous financial aid package and some external scholarships, I don't think I can turn down the Hamilton.

Did you turn down the Ruby for the Hamilton?

Yeah, but it was definitely a tough decision. The Ruby was more money and I had more close friends in Chicago, but I decided to turn it down for a few reasons.

I prefer NYC, both for law school and for post-graduation employment. I also thought Columbia was a better fit. For example, I was also really disappointed with Chicago's student organizations. A strong LGBT community was crucial for me, but I couldn't even find reps from Outlaw at the diversity reception. When I finally got in touch with someone in it, he bored me with the cliche about the ideological breadth of its members. I don't care if a school has conservative gays: I want to know if Outlaws has frequent and well-attended social and networking events. On that front, Chicago seemed to fall short of other schools, which had more interesting events year-round and had a much stronger presence at ASW.

Again, it was a tough decision. I'm already regretting turning down the extra money a little bit. I'd be lying if I said the early deadline had nothing to do with it. I'm still waiting for my SLS fin aid as well as some external scholarships because SLS would be my top choice if money weren't a factor. After my deadline extension request to Chicago got denied, not to mention pending appgate, I didn't much feel like paying a $500 deposit to hold my spot when I had an alternative I preferred.

I don't think you should regret it. Feeling comfortable and part of a community is important and worth giving up a little extra money in my opinion. Sounds like you made a good choice!

[minnesotamike]

Any decisions or brilliant insights, crew?

[Twit]

Any decisions or brilliant insights, crew?

Turned down the Ruby and the Hamilton in the end for Stanford. I want to practice in the Bay Area, my wife isn't a fan of NYC or Chicago, and not thrilled about interning in SF for my student associateship while my wife holds the fort someplace else. Harvard full price AND across the country really didn't make sense.

$100k of debt (some financial aid at S) is going to suck, but I'm happy.

[jd5]

I turned down the Hamilton for Yale. Before getting into Yale, I had been pretty much set on taking the Hamilton over Harvard and Stanford. Yale had been my top choice all along, though, and the ASW confirmed that it was the perfect fit. I was also happily surprised to receive a financial aid package from Yale bordering on half-tuition; that, coupled with Yale's COAP, made it justifiable in my mind to turn down the money at Columbia. The only thing that had me on the fence for a little while longer was my desire to be in New York, but I decided that wasn't a strong enough reason to choose Columbia, especially with New Haven only a short, cheap train ride away from the city.