Cornell / Northwestern / Duke / Penn / Retake Forum

[mtf612]

Hi all. 3.91/170. Waitlists at Harvard, Chicago, Virginia, Michigan, and Georgetown. Held at Columbia and still pending at NYU. Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley rejections.

Goal is NYC biglaw but I am open to a pursuing a clerkship. Am I making a mistake by taking one of these offers? I have taken the LSAT twice (first was a canceled score), I am three years out of undergrad, and I'm very much ready to start school this fall. If I hear good news from NYU/CLS it will be a miracle. Not expecting to get off the HLS waitlist but somewhat hopeful for Chicago being at both medians. Not worried about the other waitlists. Not debt averse, more concerned about employability. Considering studying for the June LSAT coming up, but I'll be honest in that I am not sure whether I honestly could get any more points...

School (Scholly / Cost = [Tuition + ABA CoL * 3] - Scholly)

Cornell (150k/122K)
Northwestern (120k/139k)
Duke (105k/159k)
Penn (105k/172k)


Please don't quote, planning to take this down eventually. I appreciate your comments!

[kingpin101]

IDK Cornell at near full ride seems pretty good to me.

[goldenbear2020]

IDK Cornell at near full ride seems pretty good to me.

+1. Especially for NYC biglaw.

[trebekismyhero]

IDK Cornell at near full ride seems pretty good to me.

+1. Especially for NYC biglaw.

Yeah, easy call. Go to Cornell

[mtf612]

Interesting. Would have expected the collective wisdom to be "retake" lol.

How much more would you say a Penn degree is worth over Cornell? Right now the diff is like 50k, at what point would it be worth the money?

As an addendum, would your choice of Cornell change if your family was funding your education?

[Lavitz]

Well, right now the difference is >150K since you don't have an actual Penn offer yet.

But idk. How much would you be willing to pay to spend 3 years in Philly instead of Ithaca?

[Po$eidon]

Well, right now the difference is >150K since you don't have an actual Penn offer yet.

But idk. How much would you be willing to pay to spend 3 years in Philly instead of Ithaca?

This. Don't count eggs before they've hatched is a good law apps rule.

[UVA2B]

Interesting. Would have expected the collective wisdom to be "retake" lol.

How much more would you say a Penn degree is worth over Cornell? Right now the diff is like 50k, at what point would it be worth the money?

As an addendum, would your choice of Cornell change if your family was funding your education?

When equal or damn near it. And no, family funding should not matter. Money is money, and Penn is not so substantially better at getting NYC Biglaw than Cornell.

[lilitiger99]

Why would you be mistaken? Cornell at nearly a full ride for NYC big law seems like a no brainer.

I know people on here can be prestige whores, but from talking to real life lawyers and the lawyers on here, everyone is going to say take the money and a lower t13 rather than pay sticker at Columbia, NYU, etc.

I'm most likely turning down my t6 offers @ sticker to go to Duke or Cornell depending which one will scholarship match, and I was at Cornell's ASW and was very impressed. Their employment offers & Big law stats are very good, though apparently only Columbia and up will get you Watchell etc.

[Keilz]

If your goal is nyc big law, take Cornell.

I don't think retaking will help you in this situation. Your WL at the mid t14 and lack of response from NYU/CLS most likely aren't due to your numbers, because they are already good enough for them.

[Malarkey]

Even if you receive the scholarship from Penn that you're hoping for, I'd choose Cornell here. Penn would have to come very close to matching Cornell's scholarship for it to be worth it.

[ponderingmeerkat]

I'll add to the "Cornell chorus" here.

For generic NYC biglaw, it'll do as well as Penn at 50K less. That's a win.

Hypotheticals: if Columbia was 50K more, I'd take Columbia. If you weren't sure but thought maybe possibly DC was a target market, I'd take Penn. If you were seriously considering a joint MBA/JD, Penn.

But, you want a vanilla JD and your goals are vanilla NYC biglaw...it's Cornell and it's not even close. Enjoy a great outcome! Good luck.

[Pure Applesauce]

cornell

[lakers180]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

[Pure Applesauce]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

[lakers180]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

[Po$eidon]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

Emphasis on 'shot'. Maybe OP gets CN free or maybe OP gets the exact same outcome. There are plenty of above both 75ths students that get squat.

[Pure Applesauce]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

But no guarantee at all. It is also likely he raises his lsat and has the same outcome

[Malarkey]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

So you're saying OP should take a year off for the possibility of increasing his/her LSAT score, which unless OP gets a full ride at Columbia or NYU, would result in OP paying significantly more for a degree that would get... what exactly? For OP's goals, the shot at a V10 over a V20? With no difference in pay?

If OP's goals were different, this might be a good idea, but as it stands I just don't see it.

[goldenbear2020]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

Emphasis on 'shot'. Maybe OP gets CN free or maybe OP gets the exact same outcome. There are plenty of above both 75ths students that get squat.

Maybe even a worse outcome if OP gets YPed from Cornell/other T13s after turning down their near full rides.

[Rigo]

I'd take a crack at negotiating since you have pretty competitive numbers and offers, but for NYC biglaw I'd probably just matriculate unless you really want to wait a year. This isn't a glaring retake situation and your scholarships are for the most part good. I'd pick Cornell.

Also even if you get H I wouldn't take it. No real benefit for NYC biglaw so not worth the debt.

[Traynor Brah]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

OK, but the opportunity cost of giving up a year of biglaw salary for the chance at a comparable scholarship at another school that will get him essentially the same job makes this a kind of silly idea.

OP, if you get a scholarship from Penn that makes the COA w/in like 50K, I don't think it'd be unjustifiable to choose Penn if you feel you'd be significantly happier spending three years in Philly, as that'd still be a reasonable debt load.

[Po$eidon]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

Emphasis on 'shot'. Maybe OP gets CN free or maybe OP gets the exact same outcome. There are plenty of above both 75ths students that get squat.

Maybe even a worse outcome if OP gets YPed from Cornell/other T13s after turning down their near full rides.

Hard agree

[Dr. Nefario]

what are your lsat breakdowns, i would try to sit out another year and retake...just 3 more points and you're looking at money ccn down and a chance at h y s

near full ride at Cornell with goal of NYC big law. What is the upside of waiting another year?

with that gpa and clearly proven ability on the lsat a few points means a shot at a near full ride at cn, which are better for ny biglaw

OK, but the opportunity cost of giving up a year of biglaw salary for the chance at a comparable scholarship at another school that will get him essentially the same job makes this a kind of silly idea.

OP, if you get a scholarship from Penn that makes the COA w/in like 50K, I don't think it'd be unjustifiable to choose Penn if you feel you'd be significantly happier spending three years in Philly, as that'd still be a reasonable debt load.

Time-value of money would clearly suggest going now rather than wait a year for a chance at a better outcome.

Not to mention, even assuming enough LSAT points to get 150k scholly at CN, COL in NYC for three additional years would be much greater than Ithaca for 3. NYU's placement this year was less than Cornell and Columbia is only 8 points ahead. Seems like a zinger for Cornell if you take that into account.

[jbagelboy]

If you get Penn at $105k, I'd probably do that. Otherwise Cornell.