Cardozo v. Brooklyn

[Ampa]

I think that there have been discussion on comparisons for the two schools. I searched those, but ... what was wondering what you thought about:

Director of admissions at Brooklyn called me offering Part time day as a 1L and transfer to full time after 1st year.  I've been accepted to Cardozo full time (fall 2005) with 10K a year.  No word from Brooklyn on cash.  What do you all think?

[dave303]

Go to dozo. They are fairly equal right now and Cardozo has been rising. 

[jdw112]

They are basically the same as far as I can tell. The schools have the same rank, except it appears that one took a bit of a fall. The students are similar, in terms of grades and LSATS. They are also similar in terms of diversity. Employment prospects will require students at both to do very well to place in biglaw (if you are interested in that), and they are in the shadows of 3 excellent programs that clearly outclass them (CLS, NYU, & Fordham). I think Brooklyn has been around longer, so there are more alumni to help you out.

Brooklyn:
website:
Full-Time LSAT 164 161
Full-Time GPA 3.57 3.11

Part-Time LSAT 160 158
Part-Time GPA 3.43 3.00
usnews: LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile): 161-164

Cardozo:
website: median LSAT score was 164 and the median GPA was 3.45. Half of these students scored between 161 and 166 on the LSAT.
usnews:LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile): 161-166


Diversity:
Brooklyn:
African-American: 4.0%
American Indian: 0.1%
Asian-American: 14.7%
Mexican-American: 0.5%
Puerto Rican: 1.1%
Other Hispanic-American: 3.2%
White: 75.4%
International: 1.1%
Unknown: 0.0%  

Cardozo:
African-American: 4.1%
American Indian: 0.2%
Asian-American: 10.2%
Mexican-American: 0.0%
Puerto Rican: 1.1%
Other Hispanic-American: 5.1%
White: 77.3%
International: 1.9%
Unknown: 0.0%  


Cost:
Brooklyn: Tuition: $32,950 (full-time), $24,763 (part-time)
Room and board: $13,345

Cardozo: Tuition: $32,950 (full-time), $32,950 (part-time)
Room and board: $19,500


All things considered, I'd take Cardozo. The schools might as well join each other, but Cardozo is offering full time and $$. Unless you have a job, or have a desire to go to summer school, I'd take Cardozo if i were in your shoes. However, if Brooklyn comes through with significant $$, they beat Cardozo for the same reasons.

[wideawake]

I had the same discussion not even a week ago... it really seems to come down to what they are offering you that makes the decision for most people.  Brooklyn offered me $$... Cardozo gave me nothing, so clearly I'm Brooklyn bound unless BU pulls through with their Waitlist.  I would say take Dozo with the $$ over Brooklyn PT in a heartbeat.

[winslow757]

Money is the main concern when deciding between these two schools. I opted for BLS because I got about $20K from them and they have housing whereas Cardozo offered me about $13K. All things equal, I probably would have chosen Cardozo just because its in Manhattan. But the schools are virtually interchangeable.

[BoscoBreaux]

I think that there have been discussion on comparisons for the two schools. I searched those, but ... what was wondering what you thought about:

Director of admissions at Brooklyn called me offering Part time day as a 1L and transfer to full time after 1st year.  I've been accepted to Cardozo full time (fall 2005) with 10K a year.  No word from Brooklyn on cash.  What do you all think?

I like BLS, and love Brooklyn Heights, but with $10K from Cardozo and guaranteed full time, I'd grab the closest yarmulke and go to Yeshiva.

[Ampa]

Thanks for all your help. I am going to visit Brooklyn tomorrow, but I think Cardozo's a winner!

[nycesq2005]

I choose Brooklyn over Cardozo - for starters my list of intangibles at the time were

1. BLS ranked higher than Cardozo re: salary stats and large firm placement

2. BLS had more alumni than Cardozo, thus more of a "national" presence than Cardozo-Yeshiva

3. BLS is located next to all the major court houses and gov't agencies making it easy to shuttle to part time internships between classes

4. My loan debt from BLS would be less than at Cardozo

5. I was not Jewish.

6. BLS had a prettier library than Cardozo.

7. BLS is a stand alone school and not affiliated with any other educational institution. whereas Cardozo is part of Yeshiva University so gets an advantage in rankings because of that.

8. In 1998, Cardozo claimed they would be "Tier 1" and was considered an "up and coming" school. That was 1998 and it has YET to ever break the top 50. If anything, like BLS in 2005 Rankings, Cardozo also fell in the rankings  (to #68 or so) in 2002-2004.

9. The clinic offerings at BLS were more suitable for me than the clinics at Cardozo. Also, the process for getting onto a Journal/Moot Court at BLS is less competitive than at Cardozo.

I recommend you visit both schools before you make a deposit. Even if Cardozo is in Manhattan, most of your time will be spent in the library and in classrooms - so it doesn't really matter! LOL.

Good luck!