Passing up Columbia Law for a Tier 2...am I crazy???

<p>Hi everyone! Sorry to be a bother, but I’m back. Since I posted about Vanderbilt vs. Temple, I’ve been accepted into Columbia. It’ll be at least two weeks until I receive my financial aid package [I just submitted it this past week...late, I know :(]and I’m hoping to receive grant money, but I don’t expect it. My question is: is Columbia worth $200,000 in loans? I’ve heard from all my schools, so my final decision comes down to:
Columbia
vs.
Temple (full tuition scholarship, but with living expenses, I expect to be about $36,000 in debt)
vs.
U Maryland (I just received a $20,000 scholarship today. I’m out of state, so I’ll probably graduate about $75,000 in debt, after factoring in living expenses). </p>

<p>Maryland wants an answer by Friday, so this is a rather hectic time!
Thanks everyone! :)</p>

<p>It depends what you want to do. If you’re going to want a job in a major firm where you can pay off your debt in a few years, then go for Columbia.</p>

<p>That’s my say, anyway.</p>

<p>Yes. You are crazy if you pick either of those over Columbia unless you don’t care about being gainfully employed.</p>

<p>There are several considerations here. If you are interested in remaining where either Temple or Vanderbilt is after graduation then the school in your preferred location will give you a “home field advantage” because firms (and other area employers) will recruit more heavily from their own schools. This is especially true as firms slash their own travel and recruitment budgets. If you are interested in working for a high profile national firm, you either have to go to Columbia and do decently well or be on law review at one of the other places. </p>

<p>If you are not really interested in the big money, well-known firms, then you have a bit more leeway. While Columbia will open all sorts of doors for you in any market for any type of legal work, you will still get a law degree from the other places. And with less financial stress after graduation, you can be more adventurous with your career path. </p>

<p>Law school is not like undergrad–it’s vocational education and employers like to pick from big name schools because they assume that their new hire is smart and it looks good when a prospective client sees that the lawyer working on their case went to a blue chip school.</p>

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<p>First, considering the living expenses in the major cities where BIGLAW law firms are located, no one with $200,000 of student loans is going to be able to pay off those loans in “a few years,” even with a huge salary coming in. It is more likely to be 6-10 years of paying off loans (and that is on an accelerated pace from what the terms of the loans would require) with not insignificant sacrifices along the way to make those extra loan payments.</p>

<p>Second, there is no guarantee right now or in the future that anyone, including a student from a T14 law school, will land a BIGLAW job. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that BIGLAW will continue to pay the rediculously high starting salaries that they are currently paying. </p>

<p>If, in light of these factors, you still choose to go to Columbia Law, I wouldn’t blame you at all. For many lawyers, the name brand of your law school will carry a tremendous amount of weight throughout your career. Yes, someone who doesn’t attend a “name brand” law school can certainly do very well, and yes, their experience and skill as an attorney over the years may allow them a significant level of recognition; however, a name brand law school on your resume will almost always cause recruiters, law firms and companies to give you the benefit of the doubt right out of the gate. That can be a significant factor in the opportunities you have throughout your career.</p>

<p>Best of luck with your decision!</p>

<p>Someone I know is a big lawyer–partner in a firm. He was meeting with MIT about some big case and he had to bring other lawyers with him, and said, “I can’t bring in some lawyer from a no-name college. I need to impress the client.” So, in that case, the prestige of an Ivy League education served as armor even without considering the actual merits of the lawyer’s skills.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE=sallyawp]

First, considering the living expenses in the major cities where BIGLAW law firms are located, no one with $200,000 of student loans is going to be able to pay off those loans in “a few years,” even with a huge salary coming in. It is more likely to be 6-10 years of paying off loans (and that is on an accelerated pace from what the terms of the loans would require) with not insignificant sacrifices along the way to make those extra loan payments.</p>

<p>Second, there is no guarantee right now or in the future that anyone, including a student from a T14 law school, will land a BIGLAW job. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that BIGLAW will continue to pay the rediculously high starting salaries that they are currently paying.

[/quote]
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<p>I agree that you have to factor in everything including cost. The scenario you put forth has a lot of relevance to my future situation.
I’m currently a 3rd year PharmD student in a 6 year accelerated program from HS. I’m also an Officer Candidate with a commissioning date of Sept 09 in the NJ Army National Guard.
In NJ, we have a 100% tuition waiver for members in the NG for any degree, any number of credits, at any public institution in NJ. I’m currently paying nothing for my PharmD.
The opportunity cost of attending a T14 law school is just too high for me when I could be going to Rutgers Law for absolutely nothing. In terms of acquiring a JD, I hypothetically have 2 options:</p>

<p>Option A
Attend a T14 law school full time for 3 years
Net cost: -$200000</p>

<p>Option B
Attend Rutgers Law School part-time for 4 years while working full time in the pharmaceutical industry (cost = $0)
Net benefit +$500,000</p>

<p>

Yes and no. If you’re talking with respect to the OP and I assume his only educational background is an undergrad degree, then I’d agree with most people here. Go to the best law school that you could possibly go to.</p>

<p>I’d still recommend Columbia. I’ll admit it’s a tougher choice than it was a few years ago, but on balance, I still think Columbia is a better option. </p>

<p>I know Columbia has a loan forgiveness program, but I don’t know the specifics. Sally has pointed out some caveats for such programs, but I’d look through what it says. To me, it’s less scary to borrow a larger amount of money you might not have to pay back if the job you want or the only job you can get is with a public interest organization paying a lot less than the going rate than it is to borrow a smaller sum you have to pay back no matter what. YMMV. </p>

<p>One of the problems with Temple and UMaryland is that they are both regional schools. In this lousy economy, some cities are suffering more than others. I’d want a degree that would give me the flexibility to get a job anywhere–and IMO Columbia is in that league. I don’t know much about the Philly economy, but I think a city of its size would offer a finite number of jobs and that Temple grads would be competing with folks from lots of law schools for them–UPenn, Dickinson (whatever it’s called now–I can’t remember), Villanova, etc. as well as national law schools. I’d be hesitant to limit my future employment prospects to one region–especially a region in the Northeast. (From abovethelaw, I know that the Philly DA rescinded the 12 offers it had made to current 3Ls to begin working there in the fall. I don’t think that’s a good omen. )</p>

<p>Good luck with the decision!</p>

<p>First off, Beasley is a fantastic law school, and I assure you that if you do well, you will have no problem getting a fantastic job. As far as our school being regional, I dont know much about law school job placement outside of the northeast, but considering our nice sized alumni network on the west coast, I’d imagine you’d be able to land a job. I guess a lot of things depend on where you imagine yourself living.</p>

<p>Columbia obviously has a very good law school, but would it be worth a downpayment on a house over Temple and Maryland? I’m not sure. If you want to work for a major law firm, Columbia would help because they all recruit at Columbia. In Temple’s case, I know some, but not all of them do.</p>

<p>Thanks, duvid! It took about two months from the date I submitted my application.</p>

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Does anyone think going to a T14/brand name school vs. a regular state law school when you already have a doctoral-level degree is worth a immediate $700,000 differential in costs and benefits?</p>