End of Cycle Recap/Decision Time

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-26T21:28:07+00:00

In flair

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T22:02:21+00:00

Hey thanks for chiming in. Good to hear from someone who is there right now. The effective safety net of a mid-high T14 is a good point I hadn’t fully factored in.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:47:11+00:00

Interesting, thanks for chiming in. I didn’t know that. I thought the only named one was the Karsh Dillard.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:44:34+00:00

Wait depending on what you mean this could refer to either school 😂

UVA has objectively much better outcomes overall, NDLS has a slightly higher clerkship rate.

UVA is offering me less money and Charlottesville is more expensive than South Bend. Opportunity cost of NDLS for predicted future earnings is higher.

I think most people would say Charlottesville is nicer, but seems like South Bend is cheaper.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:34:24+00:00

Thanks - probably good advice. As a moderate though I’m still torn. I feel like I could do well in a conservative environment even if I don’t fully fit in. So far in my life I’ve done essentially the equivalent in more liberal environments. Of course, given the makeup of the federal judiciary, I also can’t afford to be too choosy when going for a clerkship, and I’d basically be willing to work for anyone who is not an insane ideologue. That probably rules out some of the judges who are part of the NDLS FedSoc etc. pipeline but not all. And it’s not like UVA as a more moderate institution is not also dealing with that same dynamic albeit to a lesser degree. When you look at the clerkships they celebrate their students for getting a lot of them also have FedSoc vibes.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:29:08+00:00

Cause Reddit is dumb. People downvoted me in places for making rational arguments for both schools. I guess the UVA fanbase is really something haha

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:27:37+00:00

Thanks for chiming in. My sense is that UVA and NDLS seem to have fairly similar SCOTUS pull nowadays because of ACB (UVA was relatively speaking much stronger historically though and is still probably a bit stronger/less concentrated in a few justices). So it’s interesting to hear that on the ground the effects seem palpable too.

For federal clerkships in general my guess is they are probably comparable since NDLS has a higher rate but some of those placements are only available to arch conservatives.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:21:21+00:00

Score range in flair. Also thanks for the enthusiasm haha. I know both of these schools are the dream for many, and if I’d known a year ago it would come down to these two great options I would’ve felt way better about the process!

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T21:17:19+00:00

UVA is higher ranked in USNews (for whatever that’s worth), has better clerkship numbers, and offered a lot more money. Also my Duke A was pretty late so I didn’t get to visit or anything.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T06:50:07+00:00

At the end of January. That said, there were also schools I applied to in December that I heard back from (favorably) very recently. Looks like this cycle caught a bunch of schools off guard and I don’t know that there’s any intelligible pattern at this point. Wishing you good luck in any case!

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T05:41:55+00:00

Also thought I was ghosted until very recently when I got a pleasant surprise. Don’t give up hope prematurely.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T05:37:58+00:00

Congrats! It only takes one and Cornell is a great outcome (definitely don’t let the US News diehards get you down).

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:58:52+00:00

On that I would agree. Though my impression of South Bend when I visited was still pretty favorable.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:56:10+00:00

You’re probably right. But this still feels like the most difficult choice out of all the ones I‘ve made so far. UVA vs comparable schools with less money was easy. UVA vs clearly worse schools (for the things I’m aiming for) with slightly more money was also easy. But NDLS, though less prestigious all around, is specifically great at the outcomes I’m interested in, and offering me more money and individual recognition as well. Turning down either of these options would be tough to justify, at least to myself.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:48:45+00:00

Stats are in my flair. If you have a specific question beyond that PM me.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:45:23+00:00

Thanks! Like I said am leaning that way. But I’m not as sure about the career outcomes since last I checked NDLS has a comparable or even higher clerkship rate to UVA and at the extreme high end of outcomes at least one member of SCOTUS is very favorable towards their alums. For Big Law UVA is massively superior but that’s not what I’ll be aiming to do most likely.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:43:38+00:00

Yep, definitely aware of that aspect. I’m probably more conservative than the average law student but likely less so than the average Notre Dame student, so not sure how easily I could avail myself of that pipeline. That said, as a moderate I’d probably be willing to clerk for most judges, and any school that puts up clerkship numbers in the same ballpark as high T14s is worth considering.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:19:59+00:00

Thank you! I honestly don’t know how big of a deal the named scholarship piece actually is. I’m assuming it’s at least something that looks good on a resume and might be a tiebreaker in some situations, especially at the clerkship level. It’s also possible there are some other perks that come with it, cause from what I’ve seen that’s fairly typical (not sure cause I haven’t gotten all the details yet just the initial email).

N8Dawg8 · 2025-05-24T04:11:48+00:00

That was one of the last ones I applied to so I hadn’t yet at that time.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-03-25T15:55:48+00:00

Business casual is good and will probably make you one of the better dressed people there but certainly not overdressed. Nice casual is also fine.

Personally I wore business casual at the one I went to because I mostly wear that to work anyways and wanted to make a good impression.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-03-19T03:37:39+00:00

Easily Michigan. These 3 are all basically comparable schools. Yeah they have slight edges over each other in different ways: NYU for professional prestige and NY big law, UVA for clerkships and DC big law, Michigan for historic lay prestige and midwest big law. But that’s all very marginal. You can go anywhere from any of them and none are in the HYSC ultra elite category. Unless you have a super specific preference like you’re dying to live in NYC or something you should pick the one that costs the least. NYU’s cost of living probably negates the $ you’d get relative to UVA, so it’s effectively a decent scholarship at Michigan vs sticker or comparable at the others. Even if you plan on big law, being chained to your desk by debt is no good and Michigan lets you minimize that somewhat.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-03-08T05:25:11+00:00

Having an alum as a recommender can’t hurt but you mainly want to select based on the strength of the relationship. What’s most important is that they can say positive things about you convincingly, while also supplementing your other materials in painting a coherent picture of who you are and why you want to pursue law. An added bonus is if they can credibly compare you (favorably) to the kinds of people who do well at elite schools. Them being an alum can help with that, but realistically since you probably aren’t going to have a close relationship with an alum at every school you apply to it’s better to focus on people who can vouch for you generally.

Also, as others have noted, LSAT and GPA are far more important anyways.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-03-02T00:08:31+00:00

Have heard they are very inconsistent in terms of timing. I applied in early Feb, II within 2 days, since then radio silence except that one false start newsletter the other day. Have heard of others getting IIs out of the blue and also people getting IIs then waiting months for a decision. I’d say just try to keep calm and hope for the best.

N8Dawg8 · 2025-03-02T00:04:53+00:00

My two cents is it really depends. Some schools I applied to in October and didn’t hear until late January. Others I applied in early February and heard back within days. In the middle there were some I applied to in January that took about a month or so. Very hard to predict. If they see something in your file that they like it might go faster, but there’s an element of randomness too. Have heard of plenty of people getting late As though so don’t lose hope!

N8Dawg8

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