Public Interest -GW or American

[eclpse845]

I'm torn between attending GW at a 60% scholarship or taking a full-ride at American. I'm interested in practicing public interest law in DC, focusing on women's rights. Pros of American would be:full tuition, public interest focus, great clinical program, alumni connections in DC and in public interest, faculty seems to be very engaged and interested in helping students land jobs. Pros of GW: Much more highly ranked, less pressure to be at top of class than at American, ability to switch to non-public interest focus and still have job opportunities.

I didn't pay for college, so I've never had to deal with significant debt. I am debt averse but I also don't want to get a degree for free if it limits my job opportunities. I'm also currently on waitlists at Columbia, NYU, Northwestern, and Georgetown. Interested to hear your thoughts.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Eclpse,

Can you share what your final debt total would be from GW after all three years? I like to know for sure before making any comments since different calculations can be made depending on COL, etc.

By the way, the "degree for free" saving grace is that even if it does limit your opportunities somewhat, the pressure is near zero since your debt is also zero. This is the part of the tradeoff that is nearly unavoidable. Otherwise, if there was no possible limitation, taking the free degree would be the decision every time

Thanks!

[eclpse845]

Thanks for the response! According to the COA posted on GW's website, it would be roughly $150,000 for the three years.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Eclpse,

Thanks for the reply! Well, that's a rather stark set of outcomes: no debt vs $150K. I tend to be debt averse since it's the best "guarantee" you can have, but let's examine job outcome comparisons and see what the "cost" is (all date from LSTReports.com, a site I highly recommend perusing):

George Washington University:

• 2016 Graduates: 555
  Large Firm: 31.7%
  Small Firm: 5.8%
  Federal Clerkship: 3.8%
  Public Service: 20.4%
  
  67.2% of graduates were known to be employed in long-term, full-time legal jobs.
  82.9% graduates were employed in long-term jobs.
  86.8% graduates were employed in full-time jobs.
  
  Employment Score: 67.2%
  Under-Employment Score: 19.5%

American University:

• 2016 Graduates: 415
  Large Firm: 13.3%
  Small Firm: 5.8%
  Federal Clerkship: 3.1%
  Public Service: 22.4%
  
  52.8% of graduates were known to be employed in long-term, full-time legal jobs.
  71.1% graduates were employed in long-term jobs.
  73.5% graduates were employed in full-time jobs.
  
  Employment Score: 52.5%
  Under-Employment Score: 27.2%

Of course, here's where the cost of the "free" education becomes more apparent: job outcomes for GW grads are better than AU, especially in the large firm arena (which is actually the difference). But that indicates that at least in the legal market, the top GW grads are getting the bigger jobs are a rate almost three times greater than the AU grads. The middle GW grads are fighting the upper AU grads for the next set of jobs and so on, which results in an employment advantage for GW.

The question is, are those slightly better job outcomes worth $150K? I don't know, and for me probably they aren't worth that kind of debt. You made a good analysis above, and if you are debt averse, then taking the AU offer is pretty clear. There are many people who would say that is the obviously better decision because it guarantees you minimal debt, and thus you avoid the worst outcome (which is an expensive education with limited job prospects if grades don't go your way). The counter point would be if you had a burning desire to get a biglaw job, which, if it worked out, would erase that debt more quickly. But that's always a gamble. The overall best outcome would be to take AU and then obliterate your first year grades and come out near the top. Then you'd have a free education and solid job offers. No guarantees though.

Please let me know what happens. Thanks!

[eclpse845]

Thank you for this helpful and detailed analysis. LST is a wonderful site, very glad it exists. American would actually cost about $60K plus interest (to cover cost of living in DC for the three years). I've decided to go to GW instead. I had a gut feeling that I just had to go with, despite really wanting to want the no-debt option. Thank you again.

[Dave Killoran]

Ok, so the equation wasn't $0 vs $150K, but $60K vs $150K? That does change things.

Best of luck to you at GW!