Hello, I asked this question earlier but I don’t believe I added enough detail.
I am stuck. Though I am still waiting on a few schools, I wanted to inquire which is more valuable for my goals.
To premise:
I want to attend law school, ideally T10.
I want to conduct research and have it published.
I want strong academics. My high school struggled with academics, being ranked pretty lowly in my area.
Unless I get into my top choices, I’d like to keep my options for transferring to my top choices open.
I value going out of state, though in the right circumstances I’d consider staying in-state. I understand that finances in-state often are better, but having lived here all my life, I truly hope to have a new experience, especially if its in a city. I know there are options to do so at any university but nonetheless.
With that being said, I am torn between two schools.
School 1:
- Much more well known and prestigious
- Higher ranked (around 60)
- Out of state
- Finances TBA, I understand how difficult this makes my question but alas
- Strong sense of school camaraderie, which is something I value
- Ranked A+ on Niche
- Highly ranked professors
School 2:
- Ranked poorly compared to school 1 (ranked over 400)
- Offered thousands of $$$ to conduct research on behalf of the university
- Offered essentially a full ride
- Offered place in honors college (5% of school only)
- Haven’t even received financial aid, so very good finances
HOWEVER - in-state
- small town (less opportunities)
- smaller campus
- lower ranked academics
- ranked B+ on Niche (compared to A+ for school 1)
- Less prestigious
Though I love the incentives of school 2, I like school 1 better if both offered the same thing. I have some time so I am not too stressed, but would appreciate the advice!