Prestige vs. debt free?

[Administrator]

Below is a question from a prospective law student and a response by admissions guru Dave Killoran.

C Elizabeth: "Hi Dave,

I was hoping you could provide me with some insight regarding my current situation (that of prestige vs. debt free).

I have been out of undergrad for 6 years and I am certain that I want to pursue public interest law. I have been working in deportation defense in AZ for the past 2 years and although I thoroughly enjoy immigration law, I would like to take advantage of the opportunity to explore other areas of public interest law (particularly international public interest law). My dream career would be in international human rights law, perhaps working abroad for an NGO.

My options are:

University of Arizona- Full ride- I am not 100% sure that I would like to stay in AZ but it is a great location to study and practice immigration law. The cost of living is cheap and I would graduate with very little debt. UA has a great immigration program, however, I feel like choosing UA would virtually eliminate the possibility of working in international human rights law let alone outside of the state of AZ.

University of Minnesota- 50% scholarship on resident tuition + selected as a Robina Public Interest Scholar (guaranteed summer funding and direct guidance and counseling). UMN has a strong International Human Rights Law program including a center and a certificate as well as a great immigration clinic. MSP is also a bigger city which means more opportunities for public interest externships/ field placement etc. However, I do not see myself staying in the midwest (although it seems like a JD for UMN is more versatile than UA).

UC Berkeley- sticker price- my “reach”/dream school. I love that the school is committed to social justice and many students are pursuing careers in public interest. Strong LRAP program and a strong International Human Rights Clinic.

I am typically very risk adverse. I took a full ride scholarship for my B.A. and M.A. and currently I have zero student debt.

*I am also in at Georgetown (sticker price) but at this point, I would choose Berkeley over Georgetown.

Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Dave Killoran: "Hello C Elizabeth,

Thanks for the message! First, congrats on a very successful cycle. You’ve gotten in to some great schools and you should be proud Second, let’s turn to your choices. My take here is that you are looking at a classic lineup of options, and that means the choice will be difficult. For those reading, in a nutshell it looks like this:

A T50 school for free.
A T25 school for 50% off.
A T10 school at full cost.

You also have a very diverse set of locations in play, and in some respects they couldn’t be much different as schools and cities. We don’t have final COA, which would help here since your Minnesota scholarship is based on resident tuition. It would be interesting to know exactly how much more Berkeley would be for you, but costs would seem to be something like Arizona = $0, Minnesota = $130K, and Berkeley = $300K.

Let’s start with Arizona vs Minnesota, using https://www.lstreports.com/compare/ariz ... /berkeley/ as a base referral point. You can see immediately that Minnesota has strongly superior placement outcomes, and in a sense that’s what you are paying for if you go here. It’s also a T25 school and has been very stable over time. I’m from Minnesota, and totally understand the desire not to live there (lol) but at least it’s the best school in a reasonably sized metropolis. Arizona isn’t even the best school in the state or in the biggest city in the state (as you obviously know). That said, I have a good friend at UA who took the money over ASU and she’s enjoyed it so far and has had excellent outcomes (or did, until covid-19). Either way, for me the Robina actually makes a difference here since it’s matched to your clear and strong desire for public interest law, and it connects you to support and a network aimed at that career. The greater degree portability and focused support on the Robina probably tilt me towards Minnesota, but if you went the other way it would make sense to me as well. There’s risk here with the debt but you are indeed buying better employment outcomes with that debt.

That leaves Minnesota vs Berkeley. Now we add a significant amount of debt for outcomes that are even better (although not as much as the improvement from Arizona to Minnesota). Berkeley is obviously great, and I’ve sent hundreds of students there over the years who loved it. The name opens doors and the activism aspect of the school is extremely strong and well-known. They key to me is the LRAP repayment and how that would affect your debt outcome. In fact, it’s so important that I don’t think you can make this decision without spreadsheeting the costs to see the final difference between the three schools. It’s quite likely that Berkeley ends up being a better deal than Minnesota, and that might end up being a small enough difference to allow you to mentally release the Arizona full ride.

So, that’s what I’d do if I were you: chart every cost and get a full picture of how things look with the LRAP in full force. then feel free to hit me back–I’d fascinated to see the numbers!

Thanks!"