@974 don't put The University of Chicago down man... alma mater and all that stuff. jk jk :D But in all seriousness @alexandergreene93842 If you want maximum options open for you including academia... and finances NOT being a (major) concern... go to Chicago... pound for pound that is the most well established superstar law faculty in the US... Geof Stone, David Strauss, Tom Ginsburg, Martha Nussbaum, Brian Leiter, the Judges Posner and Easterbrook, William Landes, Saul Levmore, Steven Levitt (of Freakonomics fame) and Dick Epstein also lectures there one quarter every academic year. Plus you have a ton of Nobel laureates in the Econ faculty whom you can take cross listed courses with. Stone seems intimidating but that is because he is thorough with his work... he and Tom Ginsburg were among my favorite profs there. If it were me and I had a choice between HLS and Chicago (and I know a number of people who have the same sentiment and have done this) I would opt for Chicaog eyes closed. That said... there are people who will not like the quarter system... and contrary to what pacifico says, there are not that many gunners or uptight people at UChicago - this is one of those unfortunate pieces of wisdom that float on the internet that are fueled by at least in part embellishments from various quarters - I had heard a lot about this before I went there for law school too - ( and at least - I didn't find any in the many classes that I took - I was the gunner there :P ( I made some great friends - who shot me their notes without asking when I missed class) - but yes... everyone is supposed to come prepared with their work - I have never seen a student pass on a question on socratic at Chicago - whereas at Penn - in Wachter's corporation class (the only one I took that applied a variant of the socratic method), I've seen that out of 10 times, 3 - 4 times a student would pass - so if you don't prep - you might feel the pressure yourself... Chicago is at Hyde Park which is a bit of a secluded neighborhood - the thing is - its an isolated part of the town - and is a food dessert - its also unsafe at night... you really would not want to be wandering about alone on campus after dark.. I did and there were no consequences... but then there have been regular shootings... so NW is DEFINITELY at a better spot locale wise. The social scene is definitely "better" if you mean downtown with a lot more people (UChi is a very selective school and attracts only a certain kind of person) and the biglaw placements are similar... in fact I would go on to say that NW has it slightly better (only slightly) in that department - this does not include placement in prestigious boutique firms such as Wachtell or Bartlit Beck but rather your traditional Simpson Thatcher/ Skadden kind of firms. If you take overall elite outcomes though (barring academia where Chicago is killing it w.r.t other schools except Yale an Harvard in that order) Chicago has a 10 % lead on NW (the best place to go for such an outcome would be Penn so congrats at @alexandergreene93842 ;) this is class of 2012 data but it usually does not change by much in such a short time barring some drastic event such as an admissions scandal etc. and evne then it takes years for the ripple efects to be felt: http://excessofdemocracy.com/blog/2013/12/ranking-law-schools-by-elite-employment-outcomes
But for some people biglaw is biglaw so as long as they get the salary they don't care about prestige and depending on their long term plans it wouldn't really matter as much about what firm it is as long as you can pay off your loans or make the right connections. The numbers are what they are, they show how many people are getting biglaw out of each school so it gives you a rough guideline of where you'd likely need to place in class to get biglaw. Obviously because some go to UChi for academia you could do a little worse there and still get biglaw, which is similar to how Yale and GULC's numbers are a bit skewed towards academia and clerkships and other interests, so you could do worse at those schools and still have a shot at biglaw.
@974 I think NU is less uptight, in a cooler part of Chicago, has fewer gunners, better social scene, and similar outcomes for biglaw (just under 50%).
While it may appear that NU has similar placement to Chicago, the numbers don't tell us the whole story. Chicago students have a better shot at the best firms and academia, and the school is better regarded than NU. The part about the bad social scene and school culture is a potential reason to not attend Chicago, but there is more to the numbers than what meets the eye.
I'm from a well off family but they live in Colombia and Law school expenses will be completely up to me and uncle Sam =D... So in the US I'm on my own and would be considered pretty much low class. Given the circumstances, I can expect to be $220k in debt provided that that is what law school costs and that I get no scholarship money.
Still, going to UChicago would totally makes sense for me if I got accepted. I hope that gives you perspective.
It all depends on your goals. If you want biglaw then as you can see here: http://tippingthescales.com/2015/02/the-2015-go-to-law-schools/ UChi is putting over 60% in biglaw and there are ways to live fairly modestly in Chicago so you could pay those loans off fairly quickly if you had the right situation going.
If you're looking in a different direction then sticker becomes harder to justify without loan forgiveness or something else helping you out. Of course if you were cool with the pressure of that much debt you could make other things work but you will likely be carrying that debt for decades.
FWIW if you can get into UChi with no money then you can definitely get into NU with money and personally I think NU is less uptight, in a cooler part of Chicago, has fewer gunners, better social scene, and similar outcomes for biglaw (just under 50%).
For me, yes. It is different for every individual though
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11 comments
@974 don't put The University of Chicago down man... alma mater and all that stuff. jk jk :D But in all seriousness @alexandergreene93842 If you want maximum options open for you including academia... and finances NOT being a (major) concern... go to Chicago... pound for pound that is the most well established superstar law faculty in the US... Geof Stone, David Strauss, Tom Ginsburg, Martha Nussbaum, Brian Leiter, the Judges Posner and Easterbrook, William Landes, Saul Levmore, Steven Levitt (of Freakonomics fame) and Dick Epstein also lectures there one quarter every academic year. Plus you have a ton of Nobel laureates in the Econ faculty whom you can take cross listed courses with. Stone seems intimidating but that is because he is thorough with his work... he and Tom Ginsburg were among my favorite profs there. If it were me and I had a choice between HLS and Chicago (and I know a number of people who have the same sentiment and have done this) I would opt for Chicaog eyes closed. That said... there are people who will not like the quarter system... and contrary to what pacifico says, there are not that many gunners or uptight people at UChicago - this is one of those unfortunate pieces of wisdom that float on the internet that are fueled by at least in part embellishments from various quarters - I had heard a lot about this before I went there for law school too - ( and at least - I didn't find any in the many classes that I took - I was the gunner there :P ( I made some great friends - who shot me their notes without asking when I missed class) - but yes... everyone is supposed to come prepared with their work - I have never seen a student pass on a question on socratic at Chicago - whereas at Penn - in Wachter's corporation class (the only one I took that applied a variant of the socratic method), I've seen that out of 10 times, 3 - 4 times a student would pass - so if you don't prep - you might feel the pressure yourself... Chicago is at Hyde Park which is a bit of a secluded neighborhood - the thing is - its an isolated part of the town - and is a food dessert - its also unsafe at night... you really would not want to be wandering about alone on campus after dark.. I did and there were no consequences... but then there have been regular shootings... so NW is DEFINITELY at a better spot locale wise. The social scene is definitely "better" if you mean downtown with a lot more people (UChi is a very selective school and attracts only a certain kind of person) and the biglaw placements are similar... in fact I would go on to say that NW has it slightly better (only slightly) in that department - this does not include placement in prestigious boutique firms such as Wachtell or Bartlit Beck but rather your traditional Simpson Thatcher/ Skadden kind of firms. If you take overall elite outcomes though (barring academia where Chicago is killing it w.r.t other schools except Yale an Harvard in that order) Chicago has a 10 % lead on NW (the best place to go for such an outcome would be Penn so congrats at @alexandergreene93842 ;) this is class of 2012 data but it usually does not change by much in such a short time barring some drastic event such as an admissions scandal etc. and evne then it takes years for the ripple efects to be felt: http://excessofdemocracy.com/blog/2013/12/ranking-law-schools-by-elite-employment-outcomes
Yeah I don't have dream of being potus or scotus. I want to make big law and maybe go in house after a few years using my corporate connections.
But for some people biglaw is biglaw so as long as they get the salary they don't care about prestige and depending on their long term plans it wouldn't really matter as much about what firm it is as long as you can pay off your loans or make the right connections. The numbers are what they are, they show how many people are getting biglaw out of each school so it gives you a rough guideline of where you'd likely need to place in class to get biglaw. Obviously because some go to UChi for academia you could do a little worse there and still get biglaw, which is similar to how Yale and GULC's numbers are a bit skewed towards academia and clerkships and other interests, so you could do worse at those schools and still have a shot at biglaw.
While it may appear that NU has similar placement to Chicago, the numbers don't tell us the whole story. Chicago students have a better shot at the best firms and academia, and the school is better regarded than NU. The part about the bad social scene and school culture is a potential reason to not attend Chicago, but there is more to the numbers than what meets the eye.
I am crazy though, and getting to NU with money like Pacifico suggested makes a lot of sense.
I'm from a well off family but they live in Colombia and Law school expenses will be completely up to me and uncle Sam =D... So in the US I'm on my own and would be considered pretty much low class. Given the circumstances, I can expect to be $220k in debt provided that that is what law school costs and that I get no scholarship money.
Still, going to UChicago would totally makes sense for me if I got accepted. I hope that gives you perspective.
It all depends on your goals. If you want biglaw then as you can see here: http://tippingthescales.com/2015/02/the-2015-go-to-law-schools/ UChi is putting over 60% in biglaw and there are ways to live fairly modestly in Chicago so you could pay those loans off fairly quickly if you had the right situation going.
If you're looking in a different direction then sticker becomes harder to justify without loan forgiveness or something else helping you out. Of course if you were cool with the pressure of that much debt you could make other things work but you will likely be carrying that debt for decades.
FWIW if you can get into UChi with no money then you can definitely get into NU with money and personally I think NU is less uptight, in a cooler part of Chicago, has fewer gunners, better social scene, and similar outcomes for biglaw (just under 50%).
Would you guys take sticker at U of Chicago over a full tuition scholarship @ WUSTL?
If you want a the odds to be in your favor in terms of Biglaw hiring, then yes, Chicago would be worth the cost.
The house I grew up in is not even worth half of that. Even though it is a amazing school I can't really justify the cost....
For me, yes. It is different for every individual though