WUSTL ($$$) v. UIUC ($$$) v. Michigan ($)

[dkitty520]

I have a $34K/yr. scholarship to Washington U, a $40K/yr. to Illinois, and a $15K/yr. scholarship to Michigan.

Do I take the money and run at a T20 school? Or is it worth the extra money to go T10? Any thoughts?

[ntiger]

Take the $$ and run.  WashU is king in St Louis and Chicago.  And cheap cost of living to boot.

I think all 3 schools are so good that choosing one or the other won't make a ton of difference.

[nealric]

Michigan for most people (may depend on what you want out of your law degree).

WashU is king in St Louis and Chicago.

WashU is most certainly not king in Chicago. Are you forgetting UChi and NU?

[SS451]

No easy answer. bigcope's not wrong to say that prestige is important in this economy, but so is keeping your debt down. Michigan is an excellent school, but it won't necessarily guarantee you a well-paying job if you don't do well academically. (Then again, maybe it will--it depends on what the market for legal services looks like in 2012.)

My personal choice in your situation would be Michigan, but that takes into account my personal career goals and aspirations, which are presumably different than yours.

[Jamie Stringer]

Take the $$ and run.  WashU is king in St Louis and Chicago.  And cheap cost of living to boot.

I think all 3 schools are so good that choosing one or the other won't make a ton of difference.

Ann Arbor is cheap, too.

I'd take Michigan and it's not even close.

[just Trev]

what do you want out of your life?

this may make giving advice a little easier...

do you care about extra debt?

do you want [guaranteed] BIGLAW!!!?

do you want to live in St. Louis?

help us help you...

[dkitty520]

what do you want out of your life?

this may make giving advice a little easier...

do you care about extra debt?

do you want [guaranteed] BIGLAW!!!?

do you want to live in St. Louis?

help us help you...

Fair enough...

I am getting out of undergrad without debt, so the money might be less of a concern than for other (although it will still be well over $100K at Michigan). I don't know anything about St. Louis, but I do like Chicago a lot. As far as a career, I'm not sure whether Biglaw is what I want, but I definitely wouldn't rule it out and I would definitely want to have the option of going that route. School has always been easy for me, and I feel like it is time to challenge myself. I think it would be good for me to not be the smartest person in my group of friends. As far as the economy (and speaking as an econ major) it would be a concern if I were graduating from law school this coming year, but three years from now things will have settled down.

Thanks for all your input, unfortunately my friends aren't quite as experienced in these kinds of decisions as everyone here seems to be.

[nerfco]

Michigan, definitely. Better job options, smarter classmates, etc. Plus, everyone that visits (I never have) seems to love the place. Go to ASW there.

[woeisme]

Michigan, definitely. Better job options, smarter classmates, etc. Plus, everyone that visits (I never have) seems to love the place. Go to ASW there.

Not everyone. I didn't care for my visit. I didn't look at UIUC, OP, but I preferred WUSTL to Michigan. Still, I would have chosen Michigan between these three - simply because of its national reach. But yeah, try and visit these places - see what feels right.

[woeisme]

Michigan, definitely. Better job options, smarter classmates, etc. Plus, everyone that visits (I never have) seems to love the place. Go to ASW there.

Not everyone. I didn't care for my visit there, really (and I LOVED WUSTL). Still, I think I'd choose Michigan of the three for its national reach. But yeah, it depends on your career goals. OP, visit these schools and see what feels right for you.