Boston College, Madison, or U of MN?

[ApesAMB]

I have been debating over this for quite a while, so I thought I would ask for some help.  I have narrowed my choices down to Boston College and Madison, and I am deferred at the University of Minnesota, so I thought I'd throw that one in here too. 

I guess I would like to go to Boston the most, but it will cost me about $15,000 a year more than the other schools.  I don't really know where I want to live when I'm done with school, so I would like to keep my options open as much as possible.  I'm from the midwest and would like the chance to live somewhere else, but I am having a lot of trouble with the idea of paying around $50,000 more to go to a city I'd rather be in.  Educationally they are all great schools, and they are all somewhat regional when it comes to jobs...So is it really worth that much more money to go to Boston?  From what I can tell, a degree from Boston will probably be a little more national than one from the other schools, but will my job prospects be that much better that they would make up for the extra cost?

Any advice?

[vercingetorix]

no.  it is not worth that much to live in boston.  if we were talking harvard, maybe, bc, no.  go to madison. great school.  do ok to well at madison and you will get a good job.  full disclosure.  i attend madison.

[ApesAMB]

Haha, thanks for your unbias opinion    Did I meet you at ASW?

[vercingetorix]

prolly not.  seriously though.  you're talking about a huge difference in debt. even if you land the sweetest firm job (if there is such a thing, working slavish hours with some senior associate's d!ck in your craw) you'll be making around 160k.  sounds awesome until you consider you're towering debt load coupled with the cost of living in many of the cities that have firms which offer such large paychecks.  i have friends who went to great expense placing themselves through law school who are still laboring under the debt 10 years later.

[nukelaw]

BC troll here.

If you want to work on either coast, but especially the East Coast, go to BC. If you'd be happy in the midwest, not including Chicago which would be competitive due to several feeder schools, go to Madison.

Ultimately, this decision should come down to where you want to end up.

[ImACuckoo]

UW and BC were both schools I really liked. There were a few schools that I was considering but in the end I decided to go to BC despite the fact that it was by far the most expensive of my options. There were a lot of things that went into the decision, but I think (hope) BC will be worth the extra $$.

[ApesAMB]

I'm glad to see a BC troll on here!  I thought you and bamf might be too busy with finals to convince me to go to BC!

I agree that it does depend on where I want to live, but the problem is that I don't know where I want to live! 

ImACuckoo- Are you going to BC in the fall, or are you already a student there?

[ImACuckoo]

I'll be a 1L in the fall so I'll reserve my judgment on my decision till later. I think I made the right decision though, at least the right one for me.

[vercingetorix]

BC troll here.

If you want to work on either coast, but especially the East Coast, go to BC. If you'd be happy in the midwest, not including Chicago which would be competitive due to several feeder schools, go to Madison.

Ultimately, this decision should come down to where you want to end up.

actually by the numbers Madison has a strong presence in Chicago, just as UC and Northwestern have a strong presence in NY.  i would add that you can absolutely work on either coast as a UW grad (we have 2Ls going to work for Cravath this summer for example, a list of where students are working this summer and upon graduation is available on the school website) although nuke is probably right that BC enjoys an advantage in the NE markets. if you are unsure where you want to live then i think financial considerations should trump.  you'll have more money leftover to move if you don't like Wisco AND the benjamins to do it with. In terms of quality of education, the schools are tied.  So everything else being equal, and if you don't know where you want to live, I think the edge presently goes to UW.

[lawboy81]

I think  Minnesota is the most prestigious of the 3.  It's a perennial Top 20.  However, I'm not sure that it's placement is really any more national, perhaps if you're yop 10% or something.  But I've been deferredthere so pick Wisconsin or BC -- sounds like you have a personal prference for one of those schools anyway.