Hi Ash,
Thanks for the questions! Robert has added some very cool insights on some aspects to consider, so I'm going to add in some bigger picture elements that I hope you will find useful
First, we've written about this
exact same question on our blog, and I recommend you read the article at:
Scholarship vs. Prestige: When to Take the Money and Run? I'd also strongly recommend that you read the comments on that blog. Students have asked about a number of specific scenarios, and as I answered each question I often talked a bout what to prioritize and revealed the methods I use to compare law schools.
Second, two of the resources I like to use are 1. The Law School Transparency Reports, at
https://www.lstreports.com/national/. These reports provide snapshots view of things like overall costs, employment figures, where graduates are placed, etc. There's also a lot more detailed in the Pro version, at
https://www.lstreports.com/. And 2, the Above the Law rankings at
http://abovethelaw.com/careers/2016-law ... -rankings/, which focus on employment, job quality, and costs. Neither of those make the decision, but they do help provide some factual underpinning the decision you do make
Next, let's talk about your school options. Let's first see how other people rate them:
- Arizona State:
US News #25 ATL #50 (notably down 14 places from the prior year)
Boston College: US News #26 ATL #16
Utah: US News #44 ATL #NR
(ATL only ranks the top 50, so if a school is not ranked (NR), it is lower than 50.
US News comes from
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-sc ... w-rankings, ATL is Above the Law, as linked above.
As you already know, these are good schools. ATL doesn't love Utah, but aside from that, this just solidifies the picture. So let's move on to costs and debt.
You'll see it on the discussion on the blog, but one thing I think is worth valuing is debt avoidance, and that underpins all my conversations about schools unless a student specifically states that money is no object at all (rare, but it does happen). Law school debt is non-dischargeable. That means it can't be removed via bankruptcy, and thus once you have it, it
never goes away unless it is paid off. So, you are right to seriously debate these choices and to look carefully at each option. The first step is to use the LST Reports above to get a look at your debt load after you graduate each school. Here's that breakdown:
- Arizona State: ~$190K
(this is an estimate since I can't tell the size of your scholarship the first year, so I assigned it as about $10K)
Boston College: $261K
Utah: $0
(with a full ride this results in basically a zero doubt outcome, and is obviously very attractive!)
Numbers come from LST.
This is where is suddenly gets quite clear what the value of that Utah scholarship is (assuming that it includes cost of living, etc; if not, the debt would jump to around $60-65K). This is a pretty good school giving you a chance at a education with no strings attached. For me, that means that ASU or BC had better have a really big advantage for you to go pay $190K or more.
With employment, you can again use LST for a rundown, so I'll speak generally. LST shows that BC has a better placement rate at big firms and for federal clerkships (which are blue chip jobs). Utah and ASU don't do nearly as well, and in fact ASU and Utah are very similar. It's very hard for me to see how ASU edges out Utah in this unless there's some sort of family connection there or lifelong commitment you have to the area.
With BC, this is the classic money vs prestige/jobs decision. BC is way more expensive but it gets better placement. If you want to be in Boston or go Biglaw, then this is the best school for that. But it comes at what I think is a hug cost, and frankly it's hard for me to get past that kind of debt load when there's a solid option sitting there for free. You mentioned a California connection, but for BC it's nothing special:
just 2.7% of grads went to CA. In the northeast is where the BC name has pull; outside of that area the prestige factor drops way off, and if you are thinking of living outside of the northeast, you won't get nearly the bang for the buck from BC (and I don't mean to sound negative about BC—I'm not, and I actually like the school a lot!).
One other thing: you mentioned that you liked BC the most. That's important in my opinion: first year grades will have a massive impact on your job chances, and so you want to go to a school that you like because that ultimately increases your chances of doing well (people perform better when happy and comfortable). So, you should put some weight on that, especially if you don't like the other options. Someone who hates a school will find themselves suffering for three years, and that's not only an awful spot to be in, it usually affects your grades negatively. So that's a point for BC.
In the end, you have some clear-cut factors in play, and it's really a decision about what you value about debt, job opportunities, and where you want to live and practice. the one thing that could affect all this is if you were to approach BC and attempt to negotiate for a scholarship. It doesn't always work, and you typically need a good offer from a school ranked at or above the school in question, but that is an approach that some people use to change the calculus of their decision.
Please let me know if that helps, and if it impacts your thinking at all. Thanks!
