UVA v. GULC v. Duke v. Vandy ($$) Forum

[triadolpho]

See the title. Ideally, I'd work in DC after graduation. Assuming these are my options, what do you guys think? (Vandy scholarship is $25000/year, btw)

If you take UVA out of the equation, does that change your opinion any?

Edit for lack of plan.

[iwasgoingtobeasenator]

See the title. Ideally, I'd work in DC after graduation, probably leaning toward international law. Assuming these are my options, what do you guys think? (Vandy scholarship is $25000/year, btw)

If you take UVA out of the equation, does that change your opinion any?

Seeing as I am hopefully going to have nearly all of those options (-Duke) if I were YOU, I'd do Georgetown. Georgetown is best for DC placement (maybe 2nd behind UVa) and they have a great infrastructure for getting into international law. However, all too many people "say" they want international law, but they really don't know what they're talking about. Do you want to sit behind a desk here in the United States and just ship and receive mail from other countries? You know you aren't going to be spending most of your time traveling the EU or parts of the world right? Also, WHAT interests you in international law? International economic arrangements? WTO Dispute Resolution? Trying war criminals? Maritime law? Saying I want to do international law is like saying I want to go into law to help people... doesn't mean much without a plan.

[bulls312]

Take Vandy. Everyone in DC is from a George. Another school may stick out. Plus I would take Vandy over UVA. But Georgetown or Duke over Vandy.

I know, I guess comparatively, I'm odd.

[MITGradStudent]

I am facing the same situation as well... I am interested in intellectual property law; for that reason, Duke and GT immediately top the list but it is really difficult to give up that kind of money from Vandy.

Any additional thoughts???

[nellie06]

It's a matter of choice. If you simply want to 'guarantee' yourself biglaw and you're afraid of taking a little risk, then go to uva, which is your highest ranked option and dc firms will reach the lowest into uva's class when they recruit out of the aforementioned options. Personally if i had a large scholly from a top 25, i'd take it in a heartbeat, because if you're just slightly motivated, get a b plus avg, getting a job coming out of a school like vandy won't be difficult.

Based on oci's for dc firms:

gtown: 56 firms
uva: 54 firms
vanderbilt: 23 firms

Basically the more prestigious dc firms may not go to oci's for vandy, but if simply making market is your concern vandy won't really hurt you there. It's a personal choice of if you want to take a little risk or just go with the safest option.

[normalien]

I'm facing the exact same situation (except Vandy only gave me 20k, and I haven't ruled out NU or Cornell).

my impression as of today is something like this:

GULC/UVA > Duke/Vandy+$$

but not by much. UVA seems to place extraordinarily well in biglaw; Leiter's data makes out that, after Harvard and Chicago, UVA's placement is the "most nationwide," and a step up from the other 3 in terms of academia. However, GULC is awesome, great international prospects, and DC is tight as well. I was really impressed by the QOL I saw at admitted students' weekend in January.

Duke and Vandy are great options as well, especially for the South (as everyone seems to agree).

There really isn't that much separating these schools. They're all great options, and none really stands out, everything else being equal.

[RudyGay]

am i correct in thinking some of these schools have not finished dishing out merit aid? cause i am facing the same thing almost and hoping for something from a school that puts me over the top

[normalien]

^ yeah I think that's right

[bauerahl]

Not sure whether you are still looking at international law. If you are unsure, I probably wouldn't take that into account too much. If you are relatively sure, GULC is known for a very good international program. I've heard decent things about Duke and I know nothing about Vandy. UVA's international law program is decent but not as good as GULC. There are, however, 2 caveats. First, UVA's national security program is top in the nation. I mention this because it has a fair amount to do with international law. Second, UVA's international law journal is considered the best (or really, really close to it) international law journal in the country.

With that being said, if you are looking for international law, GULC over UVA/Duke/Vandy. If biglaw (or general) UVA over GULC/Duke/Vandy.