Law school is dicey right now. The job market is terrible. I would take the scholarship, because it will keep your loan debt as low as possible.

hmm. It's helpful to know what schools you are actually looking at. Do you want to live in Atlanta or do you want to live in Durham for the next 3 years? Where do you see yourself post graduation? If its in Atlanta I would lean towards Emory. If it is somewhere else- particularly outside of the Southeastern legal market, I would take Duke.
And I would definitely take Harvard if you get in. You would be crazy to go to Emory over Harvard.

PP here. Oops, replied before I read the whole thread.

Do not pay sticker for Duke. Take the free ride at Emory and follow my advice above, if you are dead set on doing biglaw. Chances are, you will get biglaw out of Emory with a very good class ranking (I am predicting this because you were offered a 2-year ride, so your numbers must be really good). But if for some reason you don't, you can either drop out or assess whether owing 1 year of tuition/living expenses is worth having the law degree.

And if your answer is you don't want to do biglaw, definitely don't pay sticker for Duke.

So, I actually think the only correct answer here is take the scholly at Emory.

I would only pay sticker for H, Y, S, maybe chicago or columbia. Would not do that for the rest of the T14.

If your top 10 is not one of the above, I would take the 2 year ride at a 20-25. In fact, you are in a sweet spot there, if you want to do biglaw. You have a free ride, and if you don't get a biglaw SA offer at 2L OCI, you know to cut your losses and drop out (because there is about a 10% chance of you ever ending up in biglaw at this point).

I would take the full ride. Emory is an excellent school. Graduating from law school with debt is a terrible idea when you have a fantastic alternative. If you believe you are going to do well in school (and it sounds like you will) than it is especially a no-brainer. Get grade grades, get on Law Review, do some interesting internships and good summers and you are set.

Agree with everyone who says this is about your long term goals. If you are set on Big Law, Duke may be worth it, esp. if you'll have the $ to pay off loans faster. If that is the case, you could find out what firms interview at Emory v Duke and if the firms impose interview criteria (top 10% of class only). My T5 law school allowed everyone to interview (through a lottery) for all firms. Other schools have criteria (or allow the firms to select). What do Emory or Duke do?

If your goal is public interest or non-big law, I agree take the scholarship money.

That being said, to me Duke v Emory does not seem that different, but I don't know what the view is in, for example, Atlanta.

Finally, I agree with all about thinking long and hard about going to law school. I personally like being a lawyer, but I do not like my current schedule at a Big Law firm.

What are your long term goals? Does Emory have a special program you re interested in? Because you're not going to be able to put on resume "accepted to Duke but went to Emory because cheaper." Also imagine a hiring director - with all the applications from unemployed lawyers, which school will have more weight? Of course, if you have less debt, then being unemployed won't be as painful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dealt with a similar situation 20 years ago I had an acceptance at a top 14 law school, and close to a full ride at a school that was somewhere around 25. I sought advice from a person involved in law school higher education. She said to me 'are you ***ing out of your mind, you would be crazy to go to the lower ranked school when you are in to the upper ranked.' I took her advice and have never regretted it.
If I was the type of person who was going to work hard enough to be at the very top of my class at the lower ranked school it might have been worth it, but I knew myself well enough to know that I was not.
You are always better off going to the better law school. This is even more intensely true when they are in the same city.

I agree with this, especially in this economy. Call the admissions office of the better school and say "I really want to go to X, but I've been offer $$ at Y; can you help me?". Often schools will respond. Nationally law school applications are way down and graduates cannot find employement. Definitely go to the better school even if it means taking out loan. You will have a MUCH better chance at getting a clerkship, a good place in a firm. - sign Havard grad.

Ok, but her choices aren't Putz U and Harvard. No loans is a big deal. And honestly, you probably feel the need to defend he value of your Harvard degree (which, don't get me wrong, is valuable, but still...)

Anonymous wrote:I dealt with a similar situation 20 years ago I had an acceptance at a top 14 law school, and close to a full ride at a school that was somewhere around 25. I sought advice from a person involved in law school higher education. She said to me 'are you ***ing out of your mind, you would be crazy to go to the lower ranked school when you are in to the upper ranked.' I took her advice and have never regretted it.
If I was the type of person who was going to work hard enough to be at the very top of my class at the lower ranked school it might have been worth it, but I knew myself well enough to know that I was not.
You are always better off going to the better law school. This is even more intensely true when they are in the same city.

I agree with this, especially in this economy. Call the admissions office of the better school and say "I really want to go to X, but I've been offer $$ at Y; can you help me?". Often schools will respond. Nationally law school applications are way down and graduates cannot find employement. Definitely go to the better school even if it means taking out loan. You will have a MUCH better chance at getting a clerkship, a good place in a firm. - sign Havard grad.

Anonymous wrote:Don't choose duke

OP, you really need to say what kind of law you want to practice and where.

Don't choose duke

Duke isn't impressive. Emory, definitely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just name the schools?

Duke vs Emory. Haven't heard from Harvard.

I was on the hiring committee of a Biglaw firm. I don't think Duke is worth the premium you will pay. Harvard or Yale v Emory would be a different story.

That was my instinct too, but interestingly Duke does well on ATL's ranking system so OP might try dig in and figure out why (if it's because they have more Scotus clerks or active federal judges that might not be all that relevant, but if it's because they are placing people in good jobs it might be).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just name the schools?

Duke vs Emory. Haven't heard from Harvard.

I was on the hiring committee of a Biglaw firm. I don't think Duke is worth the premium you will pay. Harvard or Yale v Emory would be a different story.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just name the schools?

Duke vs Emory. Haven't heard from Harvard.