Nyu vs. Vandy vs. University of Texas?

[Should I choose Vandy or Texas or NYU?]

Should I choose Vandy or Texas or NYU?

NYU

 16 (64%)

Vandy

 4 (16%)

Texas

 5 (20%)

Total Members Voted: 25

[lightsafe]

Hello all.

Given the job prospects for NYU compared to Vandy and Texas, should I choose Vandy or Texas or NYU?

I have been accepted to NYU, Duke, Cornell, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and the University of Texas. With the exception of UT I have not heard anything yet regarding any money, but I am trying to decide between the bunch. Texas has offered me $68k.

I like NYU for its BigLaw and clerkship placement statistics, but Vanderbilt is the only school with family nearby, and paying 17k per year at Texas vs. 40k anywhere else is very appealing.

I am from the midwest. I am married and have a 1 year old daughter. My wife works in accounting earning close to $40k a year. My wife and daughter would be coming with me to either location.

In choosing which law school to attend I don't want to close any doors (both in terms of job prospects and job location). I know that Vandy and Texas are great schools, but my concern is that they is more highly regarded in the Southern states, and I am not sure I would want to stay in the South after law school.

Any thoughts?

P.S. I have posted a similar post on the TLS discussion board.

[CTL]

Go to NYU.  There are presumably more accounting positions in NY (yes, even ITE) than in Nashville or Austin.  More importantly, NYU is leaps above all the others insofar as the opportunities you will have. 

Plus, NYC is a great place to study and have a young family.  You can take your daughter to all the museums and central park!

[goaliechica]

Texas sounds like the right combination of price and opportunities to me, particularly given the difference in cost of living between Manhattan and Austin. NYU will have the strongest placement, but neither Vandy nor Texas would definitely limit you to the South, especially not Texas. Texas will have stronger national placement than Vandy, and it sounds like the price is better, although you could try to get some scholarship money out of Vandy given your other options. I can't speak to how important it is to you to have family nearby, but I can certainly understand why that is a consideration with a 1-year-old daughter.

[zippyandzap]

Somebody made an eerily similar post on Top Law Schools! GRRRRR!


 

[penni_rose]

I think it probably depends on where you want to be. I know that NYU is the best choice if you don't know where you want to practice, but NYC is so expensive, so you might want to consider that.

Austin is very cheap (at least in comparison). Texas is skewed regionally, but does get national attention. I think the same is true of Vandy, but I don't know as much.

I'm not telling you that you shouldn't go to NYU, but I just want to make sure someone mentions the expense. I would assume that you'll be a single income family while you're in law school. Getting an apartment remotely close to NYU that has enough space for you and your family is going to be painfully expensive. That's why I didn't go to NYU for grad school. If you don't think the money is a problem, then definitely go to NYU, it's the best option.

[CTL]

You and your family can certainly afford NYU, especially if your wife continues working.  Salaries are higher in the city, and she could presumably make 60K/yr. at an accounting job.  Yea, if you want to live in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan you'll be looking at spending around 2K/mo. for a 2 bedroom.  However, you could do a 30-40 minute commute from Queens and save some money.

I think people are making too much of the expenses and not enough of the opportunities.  NYU is T5.  It has been solidly T5 for the past 10 years.  NYU is such a cut above Texas and Vanderbilt. 

[penni_rose]

You and your family can certainly afford NYU, especially if your wife continues working.  Salaries are higher in the city, and she could presumably make 60K/yr. at an accounting job.  Yea, if you want to live in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan you'll be looking at spending around 2K/mo. for a 2 bedroom.  However, you could do a 30-40 minute commute from Queens and save some money.
I think people are making too much of the expenses and not enough of the opportunities.  NYU is T5.  It has been solidly T5 for the past 10 years.  NYU is such a cut above Texas and Vanderbilt. 

How much money are we talking about? I live 20 minutes from UT now and my rent is about 1/3 of what I was paying in Boston. When I looked at listings in Manhattan, it was often close to 2,000 for a one-bedroom.

I agree, though, that NYU is the best choice. I just went through an experience moving from Texas to Boston that blew my mind. I had no idea that it could be that much more expensive and I thought it should be brought up.

[NYCFed]

Yea, if you want to live in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan you'll be looking at spending around 2K/mo. for a 2 bedroom.  However, you could do a 30-40 minute commute from Queens and save some money.

I was about to call BS on this, but looked on craigslist, and rents have come down a tiny bit since I last looked.  A friend in Manhattan pay 1500 a month for a studio in a decent area in an old building.  I pay 1500 a month for a good sized 1 bedroom, but I'm in Queens (a good neighborhood and close to trains).

http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/CityOfAspiration.pdf Do look at page 11 here when considering cost and standard of living.  I know plenty of people from the midwest that moved here with families, making six figures here, who are very unhappy with the cost of living.

[CTL]

You gotta compare COL with QOL.  I would personally live in a box in NYC over a mansion in the midwest.  That's just me.  NY has so many intangible qualities that make it outstanding.  I also know plenty of people who hate it.

[CTL]

You gotta compare COL with QOL.  I would personally live in a box in NYC over a mansion in the midwest.  That's just me.  NY has so many intangible qualities that make it outstanding.  I also know plenty of people who hate it.

This is wrong.

Ummm...ok?