BC or Fordham Forum

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BC or Fordham?

Fordham(15k/year)
12
35%
BC(18k/year)
22
65%
 
Total votes: 34

generaltoast

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BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:36 pm

Background: I am fully deposited at Fordham Law, they are offering 15k/year. I just got in to BC off of the waitlist, with an offer of 18k/year. BC's tuition also appears to be about 9 or 10k cheaper than Fordham in general. My #'s are 164/3.63

I estimate the total COA to be:
160k for Fordham
120k for BC

I am from upstate NY and would like big law. I have never been to Boston in my life, and applied to the school based entirely on its regional reputation and job prospects. I know this essentially comes down to the question "Would you rather work in NYC or Boston?", but I would just like some opinions on whether the savings in COA are worth completely changing gears and attending BC. Thanks.

Informative

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by Informative » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:40 pm

BC has better placement stats and it appears it will be cheaper. I'd go with BC.

generaltoast

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:47 pm

Informative wrote:BC has better placement stats and it appears it will be cheaper. I'd go with BC.
Thanks for the input. I hear a lot of talk about having "ties" to the region you would like to be employed in. Do you think my never having lived in Boston could have a detriment on my employment prospects?

Ti Malice

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by Ti Malice » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:54 pm

At your stated costs (more about that in a second), Fordham would be insane, and BC would be a bad idea.

Are your parents paying some, or are you debt-financing all of the cost? If the latter, you are badly understating your debt load at repayment. From BC, you would owe ~$175K at repayment if you debt-financed everything. From Fordham, you would owe ~$235K.

In either payment situation, don't go to either school. Retake.

generaltoast

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:59 pm

Ti Malice wrote:At your stated costs (more about that in a second), Fordham would be insane, and BC would be a bad idea.

Are your parents paying some, or are you debt-financing all of the cost? If the latter, you are badly understating your debt load at repayment. From BC, you would owe ~$175K at repayment if you debt-financed everything. From Fordham, you would owe ~$235K.

In either payment situation, don't go to either school. Retake.
My parents are willing to to throw me 17k for the first year, and probably a lesser amount for the following years. I will be contributing 5k in savings. I guess I hadn't quite taken the interest into accoun. Those debt loads are indeed horrifying.

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RoaringMice

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by RoaringMice » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:51 pm

generaltoast wrote:
Informative wrote:BC has better placement stats and it appears it will be cheaper. I'd go with BC.
Thanks for the input. I hear a lot of talk about having "ties" to the region you would like to be employed in. Do you think my never having lived in Boston could have a detriment on my employment prospects?
No. But you really should visit BC and Boston before you make this decision.

And I second the option of having you pick neither right now. Retake the LSAT, and reapply, hoping for more $$$ in scholarship.

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RetakeFrenzy

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by RetakeFrenzy » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:17 pm

Living in NYC is too costly...and BC seems quite portable to NY. I'd take BC :)

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TheThriller

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by TheThriller » Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:53 pm

can you retake?

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guano

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by guano » Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:01 pm

BCand Fordham are effectively peer schools. No way one is worth $40k more than the other

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timbs4339

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by timbs4339 » Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:36 pm

Retake if all you want is biglaw. That debt level is too high for what is a substantial risk of not getting biglaw out of either school and a few more points will get you T13.

Your chances of not getting biglaw, and having to pay the debt back on a 60K salary, is probably about 65-60% from both schools.

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jbagelboy

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by jbagelboy » Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:46 pm

Boston College between the two.

FWIW I had similar stats to yours as a senior in college (mid 160s, 3.6x); I prepped my application , PS, LoRs, ect, and then bailed and took a consulting job instead at fall recruiting when I saw the schools Id likely be admitted to.

I waited to apply until after id graduated (raised my GPA to over 3.7), worked consulting as solid WE, retook to 172 and got into CCN w/ $ and below with some WLs at HYS.

Consider the opportunity cost of a year of work/retaking vs having a significantly more employable degree or much lower debt.

Good luck

generaltoast

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:18 pm

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm currently attempting some last minute haggling for increased scholarship at BC. Retaking is an option I have highly considered. I interviewed all summer for paralegal jobs to get some WE, but came out with nothing.

hephaestus

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by hephaestus » Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:28 pm

generaltoast wrote:Thanks for the advice guys. I'm currently attempting some last minute haggling for increased scholarship at BC. Retaking is an option I have highly considered. I interviewed all summer for paralegal jobs to get some WE, but came out with nothing.
I would really encourage you to retake. I know it would suck to burn the deposit, but it's worth it for getting into a better school. I'd even work retail/something else random over a year to improve your outlook.

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generaltoast

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:17 pm

Figured I would come back and update one of my very first TLS posts.

I ended up going Fordham and not retaking. Ended up 124K in the hole after graduation and interest capitalization, would have been much more had I not lived dirt cheap in the Bronx and financed my first year living with savings.

Scored biglaw, but at times I still wish I had taken the advice in this thread and retaken for a better school with more money. The debt load is a major buzzkill, even at a 180K salary.

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TasmanianToucan

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by TasmanianToucan » Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:13 pm

generaltoast wrote:
Thanks for updating! I wish everyone who did one of these threads would post an update. Congrats on having an ideal outcome under the circumstances.

generaltoast

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Re: BC or Fordham

Post by generaltoast » Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:43 pm

No problem. I'd also like to add that I got biglaw by the skin of my teeth, despite being top 12%. Came out of OCI with one offer (maybe just a crap interviewer). Just noting that I could have landed myself in a very precarious situation, and biglaw is never a certainty.

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