Harvard vs UChicago ($75k) vs Northwestern ($120k) Forum

[LikelyThrowaway]

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I'm from the west coast and would probably like to end up that way eventually. I really liked the city of Chicago when I visited, haven't been to Boston yet.

I'll be paying for law school myself.

Thoughts from the infamous TLS?

[cheaptilts]

Your interests are pretty general, so I would take NU. You wouldn't be crazy to take UChi, but that's a couple years (not months) of loan payments from UCHI you'd have to make while working the same job you would've gotten from NU...assuming your law school career leads you down the same path as over 70% of both NU and UCHI students, i.e., biglaw and clerking.

You could still get government work from both schools too. But outside being in the top few students in your class, academia would be foreclosed from NU. But it probably aint gonna happen at UChi either, if we're looking at the odds. Tough decision.

Easy decision is eliminating H though.

[presidentspivey]

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I'm from the west coast and would probably like to end up that way eventually. I really liked the city of Chicago when I visited, haven't been to Boston yet.

I'll be paying for law school myself.

Thoughts from the infamous TLS?

If you're unsure about your career aspirations, I'd go for the school that will leave you with the least debt, which in this case, appears to be NU.

[Purple Ranger]

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I'm from the west coast and would probably like to end up that way eventually. I really liked the city of Chicago when I visited, haven't been to Boston yet.

I'll be paying for law school myself.

Thoughts from the infamous TLS?

If you're unsure about your career aspirations, I'd go for the school that will leave you with the least debt, which in this case, appears to be NU.

I'd argue that if you're unsure you'd want to keep all your options open.

[UVA2B]

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I'm from the west coast and would probably like to end up that way eventually. I really liked the city of Chicago when I visited, haven't been to Boston yet.

I'll be paying for law school myself.

Thoughts from the infamous TLS?

If you're unsure about your career aspirations, I'd go for the school that will leave you with the least debt, which in this case, appears to be NU.

I'd argue that if you're unsure you'd want to keep all your options open.

Is it worth it to pay $200k for a vague sense of "keeping your options open?" Harvard gives a non-negligible boost in most of the things OP is looking to do, but does not seem laser-focused on those goals. NU is the safest choice because it limits debt and still gives you flexibility to figure out what you want your legal career to be. It's unlikely they'll ever go into academia, but you know why that is? It's frustratingly difficult to break into unless you have a Ph.D, even from Harvard. I typically advise against unicorn goals for people when it doesn't fit and they aren't likely to get it, but it becomes especially inappropriate when those unicorn goals aren't even that critical because they're open to so many things.

Go to NU OP. Five years after graduating and being finished paying off your debt, you'll thank yourself.

[trebekismyhero]

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I'm from the west coast and would probably like to end up that way eventually. I really liked the city of Chicago when I visited, haven't been to Boston yet.

I'll be paying for law school myself.

Thoughts from the infamous TLS?

If you're unsure about your career aspirations, I'd go for the school that will leave you with the least debt, which in this case, appears to be NU.

I'd argue that if you're unsure you'd want to keep all your options open.

Is it worth it to pay $200k for a vague sense of "keeping your options open?" Harvard gives a non-negligible boost in most of the things OP is looking to do, but does not seem laser-focused on those goals. NU is the safest choice because it limits debt and still gives you flexibility to figure out what you want your legal career to be. It's unlikely they'll ever go into academia, but you know why that is? It's frustratingly difficult to break into unless you have a Ph.D, even from Harvard. I typically advise against unicorn goals for people when it doesn't fit and they aren't likely to get it, but it becomes especially inappropriate when those unicorn goals aren't even that critical because they're open to so many things.

Go to NU OP. Five years after graduating and being finished paying off your debt, you'll thank yourself.

This exactly

[usn26]

Need both total COA and debt at repayment. With that scholarship at NU it seems like that'd run you about 100-120k debt at graduation, give or take? If so I'd definitely choose H based on stated interests/goals, but obviously that's a decision that you'd regret if you ever decided to chase the cash.

[UVA2B]

Need both total COA and debt at repayment. With that scholarship at NU it seems like that'd run you about 100-120k debt at graduation, give or take? If so I'd definitely choose H based on stated interests/goals, but obviously that's a decision that you'd regret if you ever decided to chase the cash.

The only thing that would make Harvard worth it would be significant need based aid. Everyone is a bit different WRT debt aversion and the boost Harvard would give in achieving their goals, and I didn't mention above that Harvard could make sense if need based aid is on the table to mitigate the difference in cost between NU and Harvard.

If need based aid is on the table, H>NU>Chicago
If not, NU>Harvard>Chicago

I completely agree that accurate COA calculations at all three are necessary, and I shouldn't have glossed over that fact. But without need based aid, in no way is Harvard worth $200k over NU. If you disagree, so be it.

[dm1683]

Isn't NU like the worst school for PI/gov in the T13? I feel hesitant about recommending it in this case... OP didn't you apply to berkeley or nyu or something?

[Alpal29]

Isn't NU like the worst school for PI/gov in the T13? I feel hesitant about recommending it in this case... OP didn't you apply to berkeley or nyu or something?

Dat Pritzker money is going a lot towards PI and NU is making a huge push to up their PI numbers. Lots of resources, not a lot of students using them right now because lol no one came to NU for PI.

It's really not a bad place to be if you want PI/Gov but you're going to be on the beginning of that push so you have no precedent.

[jbagelboy]

I would take Chicago here. It's worth the extra cash over NU for these goals. And it's substantially similar in all your designated goals to HLS so with a $75k scholarship it's a superior value proposition.

[star fox]

I'd go Northwestern. $45K is a lot for some vague undefined goal when it sounds like you're just gonna do BigLaw out of school anyways ("wouldn't be opposed" -> See you at OCI)

[pyramidenergy888]

At a glance it seems like Chicago is the best value.

[RedPurpleBlue]

At a glance it seems like Chicago is the best value.

At a glance, it doesn't seem like $45k more debt is worth the same outcomes.

[jbagelboy]

At a glance it seems like Chicago is the best value.

At a glance, it doesn't seem like $45k more debt is worth the same outcomes.

Its not really the same. It's tough to argue Northwestern and UChicago place equally into the types of jobs OP hopes to attain.

[star fox]

Problem is OP has no clue what he wants to do

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

[WheninLaw]

Problem is OP has no clue what he wants to do

Interested in government work, clerkships, academia, maybe public interest (so still pretty unsure about career aspirations). Not opposed to working BL for a bit to pay off loans and pad my resume.

I feel like most of these people just end up in big law, so I'd take NU.