The higher cost of tuition at CLS almost makes up the difference.

It's encouraging to hear some PI-oriented 1ls leaning toward CLS, which definitely excites me. The two things that annoy me most in this debate are 1. CLS has a better name/is an ivy and 2. NYU is cool, hip and PI while CLS is competitive and corporate.

With all that said, whether it's housing, the local neighborhood, specific faculty in your interest, or just overall feel, I think this decision has to come down to the hair-splitting details. As someone who made this decision 2 years ago, I still feel that there is a miniscule amount that separates these two schools. I LOVE CLS (and our awesome PI programs ), but had I attended NYU, I am certain I would still be having a great law school experience.

From an academic and social perspective, law school will be a mix of what the schools offer and what you make of it. NYU and CLS both offer more than any one student can take advantage of in just about every way possible. If you go to either school and have a crappy experience, I would say that the fault rests with you.


Good luck in making your choices, and always, post/pm me any questions you have about CLS, particularly if its about PI or experiential stuff (i.e. clinics/externships).

thnx for the help

Now that another set of back-to-back CLS/NYU ASWs has passed, this thread needs some more life!

I was impressed by CLS, and surprisingly disappointed by NYU. I suppose, in a way, their respective reputations regarding general happiness set CLS up to impress and NYU up to disappoint.

I'm glad someone found this thread - I've been looking forward to seeing other prospectives' comparative experiences!

I went to NYU at the beginning of March and Columbia this week... I had a great time at NYU - it was my first one, and it got me excited about law school, and it was definitely impressive. But, as the weeks went on and they kept sending faculty interest letters, I didn't really see anything that made me excited about law & technology there. Columbia on the other hand is making a big investment in that area, and it showed at the event.

Also, in terms of Columbia, I was pleasantly surprised. The lounge areas & classrooms are better (much better in terms of the lounge areas) - even though the building looks so crappy from the outside, it's amazingly pleasant inside. The library does suck, and the expansion probably won't be ready until after we'd graduate - but, I use libraries for research versus studying anyway, so that's not a major factor for me.

The housing was a HUGE difference. NYU housing made me sad. CLS housing had the opposite effect - for $850-900 you can get a really comfortable unfurnished share, which trumps anything NYU offers. I guess if it's studio vs. studio it's not such a big difference, but again, that's not my consideration. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Morningside Heights neighborhood - after intensive city life for the past several years, I'm ready for a place with more parks and that's less hectic - but it's still 30 minutes from downtown.

As for the students & faculty - fantastic. The students were a lot of fun; definitely broke any stereotypes about them. The faculty seemed really cool, and everything I heard about them was really positive. The class visits were encouraging - I had Heller & Cleveland, and those were fun, and the mock class with Ferguson was great; he's such a sweetheart. I didn't really feel it was all that corporate necessarily - I did meet enough students who are more public interest motivated that it seemed like you could find your community if you're into that.

Overall, I got the feeling that CLS wasn't overtly selling themselves like NYU - it was more just presenting their positive aspects... not sure how to quantify that feeling, and it might just be bias reinforcement at this point. I clearly really liked Columbia, and my decision is a lot easier now I think NYU's great, but it's not for me, at this point in my life / career / with the interests that I have.

I too was really impressed by the professors at CLS. I sat in on Persily's Con Law - it was fantastic! I was in Hemphill's mock class, and he was also very engaging and effective. I also really liked the Columbia students I talked with. The students were generally friendly, and emphasized that they enjoy CLS and that their classmates are not competitive.

On the other hand, I sat in on a couple classes at NYU, and I was thoroughly disappointed by both. One of the classes was the worst I saw at any of the schools I visited. I found the quality of the classes both disappointing and troubling... maybe I just landed in two unusually bad classes. I'm sure most of NYU's classes are pretty good - after all, it is a top school. Even so, my two class visits certainly left me with a negative impression. NYU students, however, lived up to their friendly and upbeat reputation - people were so nice!

which classes did you sit on in NYU and with what professors? i'm curious to know which ones weren't that great.

Responded via PM because:
1. I don't want to publicly embarrass any profs. I'm sure they're brilliant people.
2. My assessment of the two classes is purely subjective. Other people may have loved the classes.
3. My personal opinion of the two classes I observed aside, NYU is an incredible school. I'm sure NYU provides a great education, and it's post-grad outcomes are definitely fantastic.

Anyone else have comparisons?

May not have a chance to visit so I'd love to hear more views!

Do you mind sending me the same PM? I may visit on my own and am trying to get as much info as possible.

I didn't go to the admitted students weekends, but I visited on my own and went on student-led tours. After that visit, I was SURE Columbia > NYU. I then got the Dean's Scholarship offer from NYU for total $25K, but I'm pretty sure that the difference is still too big for me to turn it down:

1. The study space in general felt more comfortable at CLS. This is debatable (as every other opinion I have), but my personal feeling was that I would be happy sitting around in the law buildings and working in study groups. Also, it was really nice having the undergraduate campus right across the street...it seems like there are a lot of great libraries there (my tour guide said that since she went to undergrad there and was used to the library, she continues to use it now in law school).

2. I didn't look at the housing in NYU...I saw Lenfest at CLS which was very nice but far too expensive. Judging from others' posts though, it seems like CLS wins with housing. Also, the gyms are apparently really far....not that I'm opposed to exercising on the way to working out, but being from the south I think I would rather a quick commute to a warmer exercise climate.

3. Ok I know that this is purely by chance and should not be a reflection of the entire student body, BUT my tour guide at NYU seemed pretty....spacey? Granted, it could have been that he was having a rough week or something, but he just didn't seem as happy or passionate or interested in selling the schools as my Columbia tour guide did.

4. Not a fan of how crowded the Village felt...especially with all the construction that seemed to be going on around the school.

5. In general, the recruiting and career guidance at Columbia seemed better. I don't have any stats or facts to support that, but student guides that I talked to made it sound like Columbia did a much better job helping its students network.

6. While Columbia is going to be more expensive that going to NYU, I figure that the career prospects will allow me to pay off my debt in relatively the same amount of time (since it's only like a 25K difference in debt and Columbia's name might potentially give me better options), or, if I decide to go into PI immediately, I will have it paid off for me relatively quickly. Hopefully this doesn't backfire.


Again, this is all a lot of speculation based on single day experiences, but looks like I'll be going to Columbia in the fall...at sticker. Blech

i doubt this person has extensive experience with NYC. the village is dirty, but it's also teeming with activity and life. it's an interesting place to be. columbia's area may be more conducive to living comfortably for less and for 'getting away from it all' and getting work done. if you can't get used to 'shady city stree folk', don't come to NYC.

Do you mean to say mean the difference between CLS and NYU *is* big enough for you to turn it (NYU) down? Sorry, I'm just a bit confused by the bolded part of your post.

Anyway, I'm in the same boat, and I definitely prefer CLS. I'm just in the process of trying to weigh the cost difference, and determine whether my preference for CLS is worth $25,000. I'm beginning to think it could be, but I definitely need to put some serious thought into the matter... NYU's offer isn't massive by scholarship standards, but it's still a lot of money.

Sorry, yea it's a little ambiguous...I meant that my different feelings toward the two schools ARE big enough for me to turn down the NYU scholarship...if it was full tuition, I would probably be singing a different tune though.

I almost feel like, with the way I felt about CLS, NYU, and other schools, if I were going to go for the money, then I would go for an even lower school that ensured I would have very very little debt afterward so that even if my career prospects were much lower, I wouldn't be under pressure to get the highest paying job.

I feel your frustration though.

Yeah i am not a NYC city person (as I'm from Los Angeles). I don't think that you cant get used to city folk and such. I was just saying that the atmosphere is different because of the different city immersion degrees. I am sure you get used to it, and it doesn't really bother me much, but I know it does bother some people. For those types who still want NY experience, Columbia probably would be a less intense experience

I also went to both Columbia and NYU back-to-back last week, and I was completely sold on NYU. That said, after reading this thread I think most people go into the ASWs with a slight bias in one direction or another (maybe you're attracted to Columbia for the Ivy League name, or maybe NYU because you want to be in the Village) and then subconsciously want to like one more than the other. Both schools put on great events, but at the end of the day I think I really wanted to like NYU (I went to Columbia as an undergrad, loved it, but want to try something new), so they could do no wrong at their ASW, whereas I found myself a little disappointed with the Columbia ASW.

I felt that NYU offered a lot more events, and gave you a choice so that you could pick what you wanted to hear about (Columbia limited you a little bit in this respect). The NYU business & law event was REALLY good, and so was the financial aid session. By the end of the day I assumed everyone would have been sold on NYU, but there were plenty of people still undecided, so I may have gotten a more flattering look at the place than some other people (e.g. the events I chose to attend were really great, and that may not have been typical).

I definitely didn't give Columbia much of a shot, and I even ended up leaving on Thursday at around 3 to cut over to NYU's ASW, so I'm FULLY aware of my clear bias at this point, and I'm okay with it. I will be happier trying something new at NYU than spending another three years at Columbia and wondering what school elsewhere might be like.

That said, all the current students I asked at each school LOVED it, so you really can't go wrong. I think once you visit each school there will be one that just feels more natural to you, and that should be enough to make the decision for you.

As a 1L at NYU, there are just a couple of things here that I think you might have gotten the wrong impression of during your visit:

1) The hub of the undergrad campus is right around the law school. I walk by the undergrad library every day on my way to school from one of the law school dorms; it's just a couple of blocks from the law buildings. If for some reason the law library didn't strike you right, you would have no problem studying there.

2) I don't think the gyms are really that far away. Looking them up online, there is one just a couple blocks from my dorm, and there are others scattered around that might be more convenient depending on where you live. Either way, there are several within easy walking distance of campus. I have heard they are nice quality, but I haven't been in any so I can't say for sure. I also haven't had any problems with housing. Granted, it's more expensive than at Columbia, but you're living in the Village. I think the proximity to restaurants/fun things to do outweighs the cost, but if you don't, it's easy to commute in from cheaper places like Brooklyn or even New Jersey.

3) Sorry you got a bad tour guide! But I promise, most NYU students really are happy.

4) Fair enough, if you don't like crowded spaces, the Village is probably not going to be your idea of heaven.

5) This is hard to address without any specifics. But I have never heard anyone here complaining that the administration didn't help them get jobs. NYU has a concrete advantage if you're interested in public interest, because the annual New York Public Interest Job Fair is held here, and there are some home court advantages built into the rules. There are also lots of panels and networking events where you can learn about different fields and get to meet practitioners. And there have been several different chances for even 1Ls to meet BigLaw folks this year, from large Meet and Greets to intimate dinners at tables with representatives.

Of course, if you really got a better vibe from Columbia, follow your heart! They're both great schools and I know you'll be happy at either. Good luck in making your decision!