<p>Hm, thought I'd post something here, see what y'all think of these choices. I have narrowed my law school search down to three schools, columbia, uva, and michigan. I have not yet received my financial aid package from Columbia, and UVA and Michigan have both offered me about half-tuition scholarships (with UVA offering about 5K more per year).</p>
<p>I enjoyed each school when I went to visit. However, being a small town guy, I'm not sure I could handle living in New York for three years. I liked the feel of both Ann Arbor and Michigan.</p>
<p>But for the purposes of this little survey, I don't want to go SO far in describing what I'm looking for. Rather, I was hoping that some of you, given my choices, could tell me which YOU would choose, and why. Would love to hear any opinions! Thanks!!</p>
<p>What kind of job do you want after graduation? If you want Big Law, hand downs Columbia especially for the NY area. The IVY name will help for other Big Law type markets in other cities as well. If you want public interest, check out each school’s LARP (or whatever it is called) programs. I think Virginia would be great for the DC area. It has high clout everywhere, but in that area it can do wonders. Michigan is national as well because it is a T14, but I do not know much about what area they are the best at. I would choose Columbia personally. I am biased for Columbia though, since that is my dream school. I am trying to get in there early with the ALLE program. I don’t know if I will be able to get that 170+ though :(. My GPA is great as it is over a 3.9 though. I think I gave you pretty good things to consider though despite my bias. What were your stats, major, and undergrad if you don’t mind sharing? You seem to have gotten into some great schools.</p>
<p>You are right in the fact that any of the schools are fine for Big Law. I do remember reading some statistics somewhere that did give Columbia an edge for the NYC legal market at least. From the looks of things, it doesn’t really matter in this case since he doesn’t appear to like NYC that much anyway.</p>
<p>UVA law is in a small city called Charlottesville. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains but offers many amenities of a larger city. UVA also does not rank its students. You don’t have to worry about being in the bottom half of your class because that information won’t be provided to employers.</p>
<p>hah, definitely a freudian slip - meant to say that I liked both Ann Arbor and Charlottesville! errr</p>
<p>Since someone asked, I had a 172/4.0 from a very large state school (not a prestigious one either), and majored in Classics.</p>
<p>If anyone is curious, these are the results of my cycle:</p>
<p>Harvard - Haven’t heard (assume reject)
Columbia - In
NYU - In with 10K per year
Chicago - In with 11K per year
Penn - In with 20K per year
Michigan - In with 18 a year
Virginia - In with 25 K per year
Duke - In with 22 per year
Georgetown - In with 11K per year
Vanderbilt - In with 25K a year
George Washington - Waitlisted</p>
<p>So yea, can’t say I’m not thrilled with how my cycle turned out. Would’ve loved to get into Harvard, but hey, who am I to be greedy. I will say that every acceptance phone call/letter I received mentioned that they liked my personal statement, so I guess I did something right there!</p>
<p>I would be more than happy to answer any questions anyone has about the law school applciation process in general.</p>
<p>JP- you did real good. Congratulations. Such wonderful choices. It is great to see that State U grads really can succeed in the law school admission process. Of course, a 172/4.0 helps alot.
my very best wishes.</p>
<p>JPArsenal87, what do you think happened at George Washington? It is a very find law school, but several of the schools you got into were materially better than George Washington.</p>
<p>JP: Things might be different this year, but <em>historically</em> the rumor is that Harvard admits their first round off of LSAT scores, but fills off their waitlist for GPA. I have no idea how true this rumor is, but there seem to be a few good examples among my friends. Whatever school you choose, I wouldn’t necessarily settle into housing plans just yet. Since you’re obviously a candidate they’re thinking hard about, I suspect the likely outcome will be a waitlist.</p>
<p>All your other choices are amazing, fantastic schools. I think you’re right to narrow your choices down to Columbia, UVa, and Michigan. I suspect I’d prefer Charlottesville, but most people our age prefer Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>If your career aspirations mostly involve the practice of law, any of those schools should be fine. If you might have an interest in government or overseas work, Columbia might provide an advantage.</p>
<p>I agree that you will probably like Charlottesville, but I think New York could be a wonderful experience - challenge yourself - get out of your comfort zone. Charlottesville is the safe choice and would be my personal last choice geographically. However, I am from rural Virginia so am not objective. I love Ann Arbor too - great college town. Any of them will serve you well career-wise.</p>
<p>Oooh – I grew up in a major coastal city, which is why I said I’d have picked Charlottesville (all else being equal). Of course cartera’s right – go to whichever environment is least similar to where you grew up.</p>
<p>If cost is an issue, I would suggest that your living expenses in Ann Arbor or Charlottesville will be significantly lower than in NYC. </p>
<p>Remember, too, that you can always choose to practice law in a big city like NYC after you graduate. You are less likely to find permanent legal employment in Ann Arbor or Charlottesville. If you don’t choose NYC now, you can always do so down the line.</p>
<p>So true Sally. If a student were to really feel uncomfortable in a city like a New York, then going to school there would not be a great idea. My personal preferences were sneaking in there - I couldn’t pass up New York for Charlottesville.</p>