Ohio state university V Emory university

Hi,
I am caught between accepting admission offer from Ohio state university and Emory university. I am an international student and I applied for General LLM program in both universities. Ohio state university is offering $17600 scholarship offer while Emory is offering $18000. I am caught between both schools and am very confused.
I want opinions with respect to opportunities open to me in either of the schools, weather condition,cost of living and so on.

OSU’s tuition for out-of-state students is considerably lower then Emory’s, so considering you have the same scholarship from both, your cost of attending Emory will be a lot higher, at least $20K/year more. If money is a concern, go with OSU - it’s a good school.

Have you calculated your TOA (total cost of attendance) for both schools?

@hipsdontlie when did you find out about your scholarship to both? And how? Was it in your email, or snail mail? How long after your acceptance?

The big difference in cost of living would be housing, where Ohio State would be much cheaper.

Wouldn’t you be living on campus?

Weather obviously Atlanta is much warmer.

Ohio State is a Big Ten school so it will have a social life that is much bigger than Emory which revolves around sports.

Ohio State is one of the best state schools in the country, one of the most selective, a bona fide public Ivy.

I personally would go to The, don’t forget that, Ohio State University.

The game against Michigan is at OSU this year so don’t miss it. This is among the biggest rivalries in college sports.

Are you talking about a law degree LLM? If so, you should probably ask this question in the Law School forum. Emory’s law school is generally more highly regarded than Ohio State’s law school.

Thanks for the tips everyone. @Skylar11 I found out about the scholarships just last week via email from both institutions respectively. I have till April to make a decision.
@spayurpets yes am talking about a degree in LLM.
@ScaredNJDad1 would you mind sharing your opinion based on opportunities that may be available in both institutions .
I am considering the financial aspects of both schools also, but i just like to weigh both based on all possible aspects.

If finances are a concern, I’d go to Ohio, which previous posters noted has a strong sports scene, along with a highly regarded honors program. That being said, comparing Ohio State as a huge public university to Emory, a medium sized private university, should be helpful (positives and negatives to both.) I’m sure both schools have plenty of community service programs and clubs. Only you can decide which environment you can successfully thrive in academically and socially.

My D is a junior at Emory and has been very happy; I think her graduating class will be about 1,400 students. The faculty is willing to work closely with undergrads and class sizes average 15-20 students (even less in some foreign language courses.) The academics are challenging but not overwhelming, and she’s found her peers to be supportive rather than cut-throat. The performing arts scene is much stronger here than sports, since it’s a Div. III school and doesn’t have a football team. Emory is one of the most diverse private universities in the US and has many international students. Emory is located in one of the most desirable suburbs 5-6 miles outside Atlanta, a major hub for airlines and a former host of the Summer Olympics.

If you’re going for Law, then football is unlikely to be a factor, and rather iwhch law degree will be recognized in your country .

Moved to the law school forum.

Emory’s law school is better regarded than Ohio State’s in the U.S. You should probably do some poking around to see which one is more widely recognized in your home country, if you intend to return there to work.

Weather is subjective, but I tend to prefer Atlanta’s weather to Columbus’s. Hot summers, cool-to-warm winters. It can get sticky and muggy particularly in July and August, but the trade-off is that January and February are warmer (doesn’t really dip below the 40s most days) and given the southern location you don’t really deal with 4:30 pm darkness like you do in the northern reaches of the country.

Columbus and Atlanta have a similar cost of living - Columbus is slightly cheaper overall, particularly for housing. But compared to most cities of its size and stature, Atlanta’s housing is dirt-cheap. You can rent a one-bedroom apartment in a decent suburban neighborhood for $600-700 a month. (In the city center, it’s more expensive, but Emory is on the edge of Atlanta almost in a suburb itself. Gorgeous neighborhood. I grew up about 15-20 minutes driving distance from Emory.)

Neither school has great job prospects.

A more important question, what is your goal?

  • To work in the US?
  • To go back home, or otherwise work internationally?

If your goal is Big Law in the US, just note that Emory only places a quarter of its grads into Big Law; for The Ohio State, its 17%. Thus, the odds are poor for everyone, and I would guess even more difficult for an international. (Language issues could make your first year more difficult, and anyone hiring you would have to incur the added expense of a work visa.)

I always considered Emory to be a good school. It probably has a lot more prestige to the “common man” than Ohio State does, whatever the rankings may actually be. I would go there, since Atlanta won’t be scorching hot during the school year.

@hipsdontlie : Why would you be doing this ?
Will that add something to your cv to find a job back home ? If your goal is to be hired in your country, what university has the most prestige there ?

The whole purpose of these general LLMs is to make international students eligible to take the bar through a shorter route. And while general reputation counts, the rankings are based on JDs, not general LLMs. But it’s pretty tough to give OP advice, as OP hasn’t been back to answer the many good questions posted above, starting with “Why would you be doing this?”

Contrary to the incorrect information in a prior post, Ohio State is not considered a “public ivy” and is not one of the best or most selective public schools. The public ivy schools are generally considered to be the Universities of Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, California Berkeley, UCLA, Texas, William and Mary and Miami University. According to U.S. News it is tied for #16 among public universities, about the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. Ohio State law school is pretty far down in the rankings. The previous poster apparently let his bias/loyalty overcome the facts.