Ed CLS vs. ED NU with potential Full Scholarship Forum

[CaliforniaBear]

I am debating whether I should Ed Columbia or ED Northwestern.
I have 3.66 and 166/172 from a Top 10-15 school and also have 2 years of WE from a law related field.
As it stands, it looks like I will be a marginal applicant at both schools now that Northwestern is giving $150000 for their ED acceptees.
Which school should I ED?
Am I wasting my ED by applying to either of these school?
Is ED to NYU or Penn a better option?

[Mavraides87]

Do you know what type of stats NU had for ED admits last cycle with the special scholarship?

Just curious how much higher they were than their median numbers.

[CaliforniaBear]

I saw one applicant with my stats that got in ED last cycle.
I do not have other details so I do not know what this means.

[crumpetsandtea]

Here is a list of a bunch of people from last cycle who got into NU with their ED program (IGNORE Samara, armstrot, and pilaw on that list, they just logged their hold/wl -> acceptances incorrectly).

http://northwestern.lawschoolnumbers.co ... =3&type=jd

As you can see, they all have GPAs within your range and a low to mid 17X score. IMO, you're a shoo-in for the (almost) full scholly with an NU ED.

As for the other questions, it really depends on how risk-averse you are, where you want to work, and what you want to do. If you want Chicago biglaw, ED NU. It's just as strong as UChi when it comes to the Chicago Biglaw market, and you'll thank me when you're making 6 figures and have little to no debt to pay off.

If you want NY biglaw, NU is still a good choice because NY is the easiest market to break into from a different city because there are so many jobs. Again, there's the issue of risk-aversion: are you willing to gamble with taking out a lot of loan $$ (remember, COL in NY is higher as well)? I think you have a good shot at getting into NYU, Penn, and CLS even without an ED.

If you want PI in NY, NYU might be a better choice because of their strong PI ties/alumni base/focus. Again, it depends heavily on your preferences and how much debt you personally want to take on. If I were you, I'd ED to NU in a heartbeat (but I'm a current 1L at NU and I'm having the time of my life, so I may be biased )

[CaliforniaBear]

I am from California and if I want to come back to California, is NU still a good option?

[crumpetsandtea]

I am from California and if I want to come back to California, is NU still a good option?

I'm in the same situation. Honestly, since NU is in the T14 it's got pretty good portability. There's a shocking number of CA students here, I'd say probably a good third of the students are from CA (that's just off the top of my head, so it might be a lie lol). I honestly don't think that it would be an issue. Anecdotally, I know people who are in our situation and have had no trouble finding work back in CA, but I can't speak to the class as a whole.

If you're REALLY worried about it, I would agree that CLS/NYU probably have slightly more portability in the sense of prestige since they're in the T6, but I honestly think it's negligible, especially if you want to do biglaw. And honestly in my opinion the money you'd be receiving from NU more than outweighs the potential slight difference in portability. $150,000 (not even including all the INTEREST that builds over 3-10 years) is a looooooot of money.

[bk1]

I am from California and if I want to come back to California, is NU still a good option?

It's okay. It's essentially in a giant ten way tie for 5th, behind HYS/B (though CCN might be marginally better). For free it's a pretty damn good option though your CA odds would be better from Berkeley.

[Lear22]

Here is a list of a bunch of people from last cycle who got into NU with their ED program (IGNORE Samara, armstrot, and pilaw on that list, they just logged their hold/wl -> acceptances incorrectly).

http://northwestern.lawschoolnumbers.co ... =3&type=jd

As you can see, they all have GPAs within your range and a low to mid 17X score. IMO, you're a shoo-in for the (almost) full scholly with an NU ED.

As for the other questions, it really depends on how risk-averse you are, where you want to work, and what you want to do. If you want Chicago biglaw, ED NU. It's just as strong as UChi when it comes to the Chicago Biglaw market, and you'll thank me when you're making 6 figures and have little to no debt to pay off.

If you want NY biglaw, NU is still a good choice because NY is the easiest market to break into from a different city because there are so many jobs. Again, there's the issue of risk-aversion: are you willing to gamble with taking out a lot of loan $$ (remember, COL in NY is higher as well)? I think you have a good shot at getting into NYU, Penn, and CLS even without an ED.

If you want PI in NY, NYU might be a better choice because of their strong PI ties/alumni base/focus. Again, it depends heavily on your preferences and how much debt you personally want to take on. If I were you, I'd ED to NU in a heartbeat (but I'm a current 1L at NU and I'm having the time of my life, so I may be biased )

Would you know how the scholly works if you ED for their AJD prog?
thanks!

[crumpetsandtea]

Here is a list of a bunch of people from last cycle who got into NU with their ED program (IGNORE Samara, armstrot, and pilaw on that list, they just logged their hold/wl -> acceptances incorrectly).

http://northwestern.lawschoolnumbers.co ... =3&type=jd

As you can see, they all have GPAs within your range and a low to mid 17X score. IMO, you're a shoo-in for the (almost) full scholly with an NU ED.

As for the other questions, it really depends on how risk-averse you are, where you want to work, and what you want to do. If you want Chicago biglaw, ED NU. It's just as strong as UChi when it comes to the Chicago Biglaw market, and you'll thank me when you're making 6 figures and have little to no debt to pay off.

If you want NY biglaw, NU is still a good choice because NY is the easiest market to break into from a different city because there are so many jobs. Again, there's the issue of risk-aversion: are you willing to gamble with taking out a lot of loan $$ (remember, COL in NY is higher as well)? I think you have a good shot at getting into NYU, Penn, and CLS even without an ED.

If you want PI in NY, NYU might be a better choice because of their strong PI ties/alumni base/focus. Again, it depends heavily on your preferences and how much debt you personally want to take on. If I were you, I'd ED to NU in a heartbeat (but I'm a current 1L at NU and I'm having the time of my life, so I may be biased )

Would you know how the scholly works if you ED for their AJD prog?
thanks!

Unfortunately I'm not particularly well-versed on the AJD program for NU, but I'm inclined to say no? Don't take my word for it though. If you're really curious I'd just call the school or email them to ask (only after you've done a thorough search on the website/internet yourself though, of course).

[Lear22]

Thank you.

And thank you for you initial reply about the ED. I scheduled my on-campus interview for 11/15 just a few days ago and thanks to your post I looked into the ED timeline and the last day to interview is the 15th. I quickly changed my date. So, thanks for your help

[indigomachine]

I am debating whether I should Ed Columbia or ED Northwestern.
I have 3.66 and 166/172 from a Top 10-15 school and also have 2 years of WE from a law related field.
As it stands, it looks like I will be a marginal applicant at both schools now that Northwestern is giving $150000 for their ED acceptees.
Which school should I ED?
Am I wasting my ED by applying to either of these school?
Is ED to NYU or Penn a better option?

I wouldn't ED NYU since I think you'd have a pretty good shot RD (don't know as much about Penn's GPA. Agree with bk on Berkeley though.

Full ride at NU sounds like a pretty sweet deal and I think for CA biglaw to be in contention you'd need relatively close to the same grades at CLS (maybe I'm wrong on this. anyone?); in which case you're probably fine for getting a job anyways and I think not having the debt would be a bigger deal. I'd vote ED NU if you're set for EDing one of them.

[CaliforniaBear]

" It's okay. It's essentially in a giant ten way tie for 5th, behind HYS/B (though CCN might be marginally better). For free it's a pretty damn good option though your CA odds would be better from Berkeley."

With my GPA, do you think Berkeley is in play? How about Stanford?

[Swimp]

" It's okay. It's essentially in a giant ten way tie for 5th, behind HYS/B (though CCN might be marginally better). For free it's a pretty damn good option though your CA odds would be better from Berkeley."

With my GPA, do you think Berkeley is in play? How about Stanford?

You have effectively no shot at Stanford. Berkeley isn't totally out of the question, but you're below their GPA median, which doesn't bode well.

[bk1]

" It's okay. It's essentially in a giant ten way tie for 5th, behind HYS/B (though CCN might be marginally better). For free it's a pretty damn good option though your CA odds would be better from Berkeley."

With my GPA, do you think Berkeley is in play? How about Stanford?

Even if you got B, a substantial scholarship to NU would be more prudent than close to sticker at B.