Best School in NY?

[Pancho]

well.... nyu's location is certainly better

Also true.

[Kittyl30]

come on the best school in NY is OBVIOUSLY pace

[chombi3]

i won't make any claims as to their quality, since both NYU and CLS are obviously great schools.  however, nyu has been noted as having several advantages, location being one. 

more substantially, however, i have also heard that NYU has a much more collegial atmosphere.  from what i've heard, columbia is very competetive and not very friendly.  an almumna also told me that the assumption at cls is that everybody is going into corporate...if you want something else, you have to really seek it out, and you don't get much help.  furthermore, nyu has a much more solid reputation in the area of public interest, so if that's what you're looking for, i don't think there's any competition between the two. 

i'm sure there's more, but those are some general points. 

[Dirt McGirt]

FWIW, I like CLS's location better (as some place I'd like to live - and not simply visit)

[as436]

yea i was thinking of buying a nice house in harlem as well

[getinsomewhere]

This is a funny discussion.

I think its especially amusing that people care so much about location when these schools are less than 7 miles apart.  Even in Manhattan, its only a 15-20 minute sub ride from one to the other.

I don't think, within reason, location should matter that much.  I mean, New Haven is more Detroit than Paris, but people sure seem to want to go there.

[as436]

i dont think it should matter much either.. i was just saying nyu is in a better location

[98765432]

If my assumptions are true, taking the money at the lesser school may make sense to a lot of people if they are paying for school themselves and if they take the time to think about it.  First, the Cardozo Editor will probably get a very nice clerkship, the Columbia grad probably will not.  The Cardozo Editor's best shot at teaching is at Cardozo, which isn't likely, but neither is the Columbia middle-of-the-roader.  Even without a clerkship, they will both make the market rate for top graduates, $125.  Someone point out what I'm missing.

FWIW the experiences of people I know lead me to believe the name on your JD has implications beyond the first job after graduation.  My sister graduated from Columbia in the middle of her class and her SO graduated from Rutgers at the top of his class.  They both received $125K offers.  Now with several years of experience under their belts, they've both been looking to change firms.  My sister got an offer within a month.  Her SO, who is highly respected at his firm, is having trouble even getting to the interview stage.

That runs counter to what I usually hear.  Give me more details if you would; I'd like to know about it.  How long have they been working?  You said they both paid $125 to start, but is there a difference in the prestige of the firms?  Anything else that could account for it other than education?

[ACK!]

This is a funny discussion.

I think its especially amusing that people care so much about location when these schools are less than 7 miles apart.  Even in Manhattan, its only a 15-20 minute sub ride from one to the other.

I don't think, within reason, location should matter that much.  I mean, New Haven is more Detroit than Paris, but people sure seem to want to go there.

 

[98765432]

They both started their law careers at the same firm (they met on the job), i.e. no difference in prestige or area of practice.  Their undergrads are comparable in terms of esteem/national recognition if that counts for anything: top 15 university vs. seven sisters.  Also, sis has a Masters.  The main difference is that her SO graduated from law school a couple of years earlier and thus has two additional years of experience in relation to her.  My sister changed firms after her third year; her bf started looking around the same time with five-plus years exp.  I haven't seen his resume, but he is extremely articulate and is a skilled writer (he was on law review) so I doubt that the problem is in the presentation.

Anyhow, they both are of the opinion that he's not getting the good phone calls b/c his resume sinks lower in the pile compared to others who have similar legal experience but brand name schools.  Naturally, the school you attend could very well have less impact the longer you've been out.  I'm guessing the people you've spoken with were further along in their law careers when they changed firms?

Another thought though on your post from yesterday: Assuming you knew for a fact that you wanted to practice in NY for the rest of your life, it might be possible to justify taking a full ride at Cardozo over Columbia.  But say hypothetically that one day you're married to a god/goddess of a spouse who gets a job offer that's too good to decline in SF.  Which one would you want on your resume?

Her master's degree may be distinguishing them too.  Also, don't many firms pay their associates based on experience and nothing (or nearly nothing) else?  For instance, I am under the impression that many firms do not negotiate each associate's salary, but rather simply pay based on how long they have been out of school and working.  This might mean that they would have little choice but to pay your sister less than her SO.  Given that her extra degree probably more than offsets his two years extra experience in their minds, perhaps the fact that they could pay her much less than him accounts for her wealth of offers and his dearth.

But it is good to hear the story that challenges the belief, expecially because I plan to pass up some money for a better school. 

Let me say this though, (speaking of Cardozo specifically), I live in a very conservative state, both politically and morally, and the only openly gay state legislator here went to Cardozo.  I certainly don't think he had a hard time traveling with his degree.  Also, I work for what I believe is the largest law firm in my small state (perhaps 70 lawyers in this office and 500 lawyers total) and we only have one lawyer here who got his JD from a top ten school, NYU.  We have about a dozen who received their degrees from 11-14, Berkeley, Duke, GULC, etc.  But the rest of the office is made up almost entirely of people with JD's from one of the local schools.  We have some Yaleies and other people from top undergraduate schools, but still, the local schools occupy most of the jobs.