HELP! Just got in off NYU's waitlist...

[Betsy 1]

So I'm looking for opinions...

I am interested in international public service jobs...but I haven't started school yet so who knows if I might change my mind.  Is NYU (no $) worth going to over Michigan (21k/yr)?  These aren't the only options left, but the other two are choices I'll do if I decide I would rather graduate with very little debt, so if I choose better job placement, it will be between these two.  Michigan I'll likely graduate with somewhere around 100k in debt, NYU with 165k.  NYU does guaruntee summer public interest/service internship funding, while at Michigan it seems you have to compete for it.  I'm also under the impression that other than Harvard, NYU is the #1 school for international public service jobs, and I think that their LRAP is better than the federal one, and would benefit me more if I decide to go public service route.  However, if I decide to go private practice, I have no interest in BIGLaw hours, so I would likely be at a lower-paying firm...and paying of 165k on an 80k salary does not sound appetizing.  And if I end up getting married sometime in the next 13 years, sucking up that much money from my spouse doesn't sound that nice either.  But NYU has so many amazing programs for my interests...

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Please help!

[t L]

So I'm looking for opinions...

I am interested in international public service jobs...but I haven't started school yet so who knows if I might change my mind.  Is NYU (no $) worth going to over Michigan (21k/yr)?  These aren't the only options left, but the other two are choices I'll do if I decide I would rather graduate with very little debt, so if I choose better job placement, it will be between these two.  Michigan I'll likely graduate with somewhere around 100k in debt, NYU with 165k.  NYU does guaruntee summer public interest/service internship funding, while at Michigan it seems you have to compete for it.  I'm also under the impression that other than Harvard, NYU is the #1 school for international public service jobs, and I think that their LRAP is better than the federal one, and would benefit me more if I decide to go public service route.  However, if I decide to go private practice, I have no interest in BIGLaw hours, so I would likely be at a lower-paying firm...and paying of 165k on an 80k salary does not sound appetizing.  And if I end up getting married sometime in the next 13 years, sucking up that much money from my spouse doesn't sound that nice either.  But NYU has so many amazing programs for my interests...

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Please help!

How are you figuring $165,000 for NYU?  Their budget last year was ~$65,000.  That's $195,000 without considering the likely tuition increase this year.

IMO, I would go to Michigan.  NYU is a great school, but it's not worth paying $87,000 more than Michigan (this is your scholarship plus the COA difference between the two).  I don't think the opportunities are THAT much greater.  Now if you hate the idea of living in Ann Arbor and would prefer to live in NYC, that's another story.  But I wouldn't make a decision based on the difference in job opportunities.  The difference in cost negates any job opportunities that NYU can provide that Michigan can't.

[laurenlaw]

From your post, it really seems like NYU is your best option.  I personally don't think that 65k more debt over 3 years is worth taking a cut in the quality of educational opportunities, especially since those opportunities are geared towards what you want to do: international public interest.  At NYU, there are also clinics and seminars (small classes, where you usually write your required paper and work intimately with a professor) that will help you decide once and for all, if international work is for you.  Plus, Michigan is hard to compare to NYC for international opportunities, just based on location alone.  I'd suggest NYU, but then again, I underemphasize debt, and am a little biased.

[SteelersandGators]

This is a pretty hard decision, and while it may sound too cliche, go with your heart on this one. You're probably leaning a certain way deep down in your gut.

I will say this though. There is not a 65K difference for attending these two schools. NYU is going to run you around 200K total. If you actually live a normal lifestyle in NY, I think COA would be around 70K/year. NYU lowballs their COA.

What I would do? I would go to Michigan. But I don't particularly like NYU. It sounds like you do. Go with your gut...

[SteelersandGators]

From your post, it really seems like NYU is your best option.  I personally don't think that 65k more debt over 3 years is worth taking a cut in the quality of educational opportunities, especially since those opportunities are geared towards what you want to do: international public interest.  At NYU, there are also clinics and seminars (small classes, where you usually write your required paper and work intimately with a professor) that will help you decide once and for all, if international work is for you.  Plus, Michigan is hard to compare to NYC for international opportunities, just based on location alone.  I'd suggest NYU, but then again, I underemphasize debt, and am a little biased.

USNWR is not a measure of the quality of educational opportunities. Just because NYU is at #5 and Michigan is at #9 doesn't mean there is a world of difference in the opportunities available to its graduates. In fact, if you break down the rankings and read them the right way, Michigan actually has better reputation scores.

Michigan is a big player in international public service. While NYU is a sligthly bigger player, it's not worth the difference in money in my opinion. Just because NYU is in NYC doesn't mean its students are hobnobbing with Kofi Annan at dinner parties. You're only going to be at school for about 24 months (minus summer and winter breaks). You'll be in NYC during the summers to work. I think the location card is overrated.

[Resident CLS Troll]

I would go with NYU, personally.

But I might be biased.

[mathlete]

Go to NYU. There's a reason the tiers in the T14 include MVP being lower than CCN.

[EarlCat]

Sucks not to have any bad options, doesn't it?

[mnewboldc]

I've heard from others that NYU's public interest loan forgiveness programs are to die for - though I imagine that any school of comparative rank (like UMich) will have similar programs. If the two schools are relatively equal in the field you want to enter, and you're absolutely convinced that you'll be entering this field, and if this field doesn't pay a lot of money, then I think you're better served by evaluating a school not on the basis of how much money they're offering you right now, but on the basis of how much they'll reimburse you in the future.

[happypeople]

I've heard from others that NYU's public interest loan forgiveness programs are to die for - though I imagine that any school of comparative rank (like UMich) will have similar programs. If the two schools are relatively equal in the field you want to enter, and you're absolutely convinced that you'll be entering this field, and if this field doesn't pay a lot of money, then I think you're better served by evaluating a school not on the basis of how much money they're offering you right now, but on the basis of how much they'll reimburse you in the future.

TITCR