Need help deciding on a school!

The_Jayster

Hello, all! I've been agonizing over this decision the past few weeks and would like some help deciding which school to attend. My narrowed-down options are:

• Half-tution at Vanderbilt
• 1/3 tuition at Cornell
• Columbia, likely with only a little need-based aid

My family is unable to make any contribution, I don't have a spouse, and my savings are minimal (only a few years out of undergrad). I'll be financing law school on my own. I'm a Texan, but I'm not set on practicing law in the south. I see myself working in the private sector. I haven't explored PI much, but I would like to have that as an option as well.

My heart is set on Columbia, but is it truly worth the crippling debt? I attended their ASD, and it seems the most common path is big law for 2-5 years to pay the loans down.

tringo335

Congrats on getting accepted to those great schools!

jknauf

Even with half tuition at Vandy, it's still a significant amount of debt.

Columbia.

JustDoIt

Columbia for sure. Congrats!

Bevs ScooterMinion

Well done, indeed! Go where your heart is set on or you'll always be "what--if-ing."

danielznelson

Have you tried leveraging these schools off of one another? I imagine you could get more money from at least one of these schools. Way to have those options though!

The_Jayster

@danielznelson Vandy wouldn't negotiate. Sucks because I visited Nashville last month and absolutely loved the school/city. I'd feel terrible negotiating with Cornell since I said they were my top choice in my "Why Cornell." Plus, I can't really make a debt argument with the Columbia acceptance since I'm receiving zero merit aid there.

Sprinkles

@jknauf said:
Even with half tuition at Vandy, it's still a significant amount of debt.

Columbia.

Yeppers. I second Columbia. Congrats!!!

dennisgerrard

I will go for Columbia. The social network and alumni will play a great role when you graduate. You just can't reject the NYC.

Vanderbilt is less attractive regarding the location and job market. Go for the big one!!!

Chipster Study

Columbia for sure. Congrats on a great cycle.

Alex

Congrats on the acceptances!

Do you know what area(s) you're most interested in practicing? Also, how did you like NYC? If you're interested in big law, and liked NYC, I would choose Columbia. Cornell feeds well into NYC big law, but Columbia has the highest BL placement of any school.

Mellow_Z

Did you get accepted to anywhere between Cornell and Columbia? Seems like a huge gap; a gap that could lead to a lot of scholarship offers. If you got into Columbia you would likely get in at Duke, where the CoL is ridiculously lower with very impressive Big Law placement. If you didn't apply to anything in between, and you are debt adverse, I would recommend investigating into the middle of the T13. You will get very comparable job offers but will likely get more scholarship.

The_Jayster

@Mellow_Z No, I had a really strange cycle. I applied to the entire T20 minus Yale, NYU, and UVA. I was waitlisted at most schools and haven't heard back from 5.

Reasons I might have had a strange cycle:
- I have a mid-160s LSAT and a 3.8
- Hispanic, so that definitely gave me a little bump
- Applied mid-January

I thought maybe there was something wrong with my essays, but my Columbia acceptance and Harvard interview/waitlist says otherwise. I had many people look over my app materials to provide feedback and feel I submitted my best work.

I have one LSAT take left. I'm thinking of taking the June test. I could deposit at Columbia in the meantime. If I score higher (high 160s+), I could sit out this cycle and reapply early in the fall. Thoughts?

The_Jayster

@"Alex Divine" Thank you! I really enjoyed NY. Columbia is in a quieter neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle of downtown NYC, so I definitely appreciated that. I got great vibes from the professors and current students. I was also told that the student culture is not super competitive since nearly everyone there gets a great job after graduation. I feel like there would be less pressure to be at the top of my class than at say, Vanderbilt.

I'm interested in business law, but I really wanted to use law school to explore all my options, as I'm not currently set on any one path.

Mellow_Z

If you're sitting on the WL at that many schools in the T13, I would start blanketing them with "Why X" and LOCI. If you express interest in schools, I think primarily NU, Duke, Mich, you could end up with some really good offers if you negotiate and use the others as leverage. I would write one to WUSTL as well. They are typically seen as being very generous with their scholarship offers (at least to high LSAT scorers, can't speak of URM or reverse splitters unfortunately).

I would always keep the option of sitting out as a possibility. Especially since you applied somewhat late and have such abnormal results. If you think you can do better on the LSAT, I would say do it. If you can get to median or 75% LSAT scores (which is likely a few more points in your case), you should see huge increases in scholarship offers.

I know 170 might be a reach, but to put into perspective how MUCH the increase is worth, check out these two cycles ;
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/elchapo
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/azaleafire

Azalea got 200k+ to Michigan, 230k to Chicago, and accepted to literally every school on the list. The distinction is not only LSAT, but that this individual applied in early October. You have a bomb GPA, make the most of it my friend.