GW vs. Fordham

[alannaf96]

Hi,

I have been accepted to Fordham and GW, with slightly more scholarship money from Fordham. I attended Fordham's Admitted Students Day recently and enjoyed the visit. I have always felt strongly about attending law school in NYC as I plan to live and practice law there in the future. However, I am very interested in government and politics and am leaning towards public interest law in my future career, but really am not set on what I would do straight out of law school.

That said, I am interested in hearing your thoughts on GW vs. Fordham. Would GW's higher ranking and DC/government component only have an advantage over Fordham if I am planning on working in DC? I'm drawn to Fordham's strong NY network and have gotten the impression it would help set me up for success in a government/public interest career in NY as well.

Additionally, I am on the preferred waitlist at Georgetown. Should I be accepted, what are your thoughts on Georgetown vs. Fordham given my interests and career plans? I would be more hesitant to turn down Georgetown due to it being T14, having a highly reputable degree, particularly when pursuing government.

I would appreciate your thoughts, advice or suggestions for how to proceed in making a decision

[Dave Killoran]

Hi,

I have been accepted to Fordham and GW, with slightly more scholarship money from Fordham. I attended Fordham's Admitted Students Day recently and enjoyed the visit. I have always felt strongly about attending law school in NYC as I plan to live and practice law there in the future. However, I am very interested in government and politics and am leaning towards public interest law in my future career, but really am not set on what I would do straight out of law school.

That said, I am interested in hearing your thoughts on GW vs. Fordham. Would GW's higher ranking and DC/government component only have an advantage over Fordham if I am planning on working in DC? I'm drawn to Fordham's strong NY network and have gotten the impression it would help set me up for success in a government/public interest career in NY as well.

Additionally, I am on the preferred waitlist at Georgetown. Should I be accepted, what are your thoughts on Georgetown vs. Fordham given my interests and career plans? I would be more hesitant to turn down Georgetown due to it being T14, having a highly reputable degree, particularly when pursuing government.

I would appreciate your thoughts, advice or suggestions for how to proceed in making a decision

Hi Alanna!

We've talked extensively about how to make decisions between schools as well as the data required to do so over at:

https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/schola ... ey-and-run (see the many comments there)

As well as in episode 5 of our podcast too: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-po ... cceptances

So, to make a comparison, we request that you post the employment/financials/ranking comparables here, including exact financials for each school with scholarships accounted for (this would help specify what "slightly more scholarship money" means, among other things). Once we have all the data, we can point out some of the more interesting numbers at each school. Note however, those are just numbers, and that an incredibly important part of this process comes from you and how you feel about each location. That can't be quantified!

Thanks!

[alannaf96]

At GW I received a total scholarship of 60k, at Fordham 90K. It is not a huge difference overall which is why I didn't mention it and while money is certainly a consideration, I am more interested in your thoughts on the difference between schools based on my career and location interests as mentioned kind of regardless of scholarships offered.

If you could provide any insight to that regard I would appreciate it.

[Malila Robinson]

Hi alannaf96,
I think it would help us to know how much each school would cost in addition to how much they offered you. Additionally, we would need to know about the employment info that is published by the schools (which means how many of their former students are employed in the field of law after the graduate). When we have that sort of info we can give you a better response.
Regardless, congrats on your accomplishments!
-Malila

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Alanna,

Ok, so the basic school comparison data that we wanted is below. This is the kind of data we want posted not only so we can see it, but so that any other readers can see the metrics as well so they understand the differences:

• From: https://www.lstreports.com/compare/fordham/gw/.
  
  Overall, the employment numbers aren't all that difference, with two notable exceptions being that Fordham has a better Biglaw placement rate, and GW has a better federal clerkship rate.
  
  Location-wise, Fordham is obviously strong in NY, with 87% of grads staying in state. Placement into DC is very low, at 0.3%. GW places 42% into DC (plus 15% into VA), and 15% in NY.
  
  Given that they cost about the same, Fordham will be about 30K cheaper to you via your scholarships.

The schools are so similar that it really comes down to your preferences. If you are set on NY, Fordham is great for that. If DC is going to be your home, GW is better. I think of Fordham having a slightly smaller national profile than GW, but that difference isn't enormous, sow here you want to be (and which school you like the most) should be the controlling factor here.

Thanks!