Edit: I just received an acceptance offer from NYU. My doubts became even bigger. Can you guys keep helping me? I have to decide until friday. :)

NYU - located in NY (pro), many big law firms in the area, great atmosphere, ranked 6th according to USNEWS, my girlfriend also received an offer from NYU.


Original message:
Hello,
I have recently been admitted to the 3 universities above, but I just can't decide which one to reply positively.
I am still waiting for 3 more responses from other institutions, but I need to know which one of the confirmed ones I'd choose. Could you help me think about it?
I want to study topics such as business, IP and technology law, and all of them seem to great at these subjects.
Each one has a lot of pros and a few cons:

GW - located in Washington, near the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Supreme Courte etc; great IP tradition, specially patents; an IP based LLM; top 15-20 US Law School.
UVa - top 7 US Law School, according to USNEWS; 4th hardest to be accepted at; great IP courses; best quality of life, according to Princeton Law Review; employers, such as law firms, go there to recruit students; general llm, which allows students to select courses from a broad curriculum; located in a small city.
Berkeley - top 7 US Law School (USNEWS, tied with UVa); best specific technology llm (USNEWS); 6th hardest to get in (Princeton Review); located near the sillicon valley.

I would be really grateful if you helped me make this important decision.
Thank you in advance.

Hi, gustavoferrer! it is definitely GWU is the best among the three because of its excellent location (Washington DC) where all the primary government institutions and US Patent and Trademark Office are situated -- where you can able to connect to these related institutions in your field. this would certainly be helpful especially if you want to gather data in your research and wide experience in IP. aside from that, the professors are well versed and considered experts in IP at GWU and there are scholarly publications there with the guidance of faculty. if i were you, i would choose GWU because nothing can match the experience you can gain from living and studying in the nation's capital...

hope this can help you in making your decision!! good day there!

GW is located in the middle of the city which is a very exciting place to be. It is NOT located next to the Patent and Trademark office as offered earlier by LadyJustice. The patent office is in Alexandria, VA -- across the river from DC. I know this because I work at PTO (patent and trademark) and live about 5 mins from their office. GW has a reputation for offering an excellent education in a laid-back sort of setting. (My husband went to GW).

UVA is about 3 hours south of DC in Charlottesville, VA. It's a sleepy but fun town with a small population. There isn't much around (AT ALL!!!) and every time I drive there, it looks like civilization was abducted by aliens or something. UVA is a GREAT school -- I sat in on one of the JD classes last year and the method of teaching is socratic -- the students get very involved in discussions. Polly, the associate Dean of grad studies is REALLY nice and seems to be quite respected there. My sis in law went there and loved it but hated the drive back and forth to civilisation.

My friend from Pakistan went to Berk and he LOVED it. He told me the town is very nice, lots of friendly open-minded people. He had done an external programme (don't remember what school but maybe UoL). Immediately after graduation, he was able to score a job in DC at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell and currently is employed as a "special legal consultant" and making 6 figures.

I hope this helps :-)

Jitana.

Thanks Jitana for correcting that patent office is in Alexandria, VA -- across the river from DC. he..he..he.. anyway, it is somewhere located within the geographical range of DC. thanks again he..he.he.. i also loved how you described each school of GWU, UVA and Berk in terms of location and the surrounding environment. i trust that our info will enlighten gustavoferrer in choosing what school he might end up with..

Again, thanks Jitana :-)

Ladyjustice,

lol :-). I don't think I really answered his question though :-). I don't really know about the quality of their programs -- I know more about what people *say* about their experiences at the schools.

Honestly, I think it's way better to go to a school with folks you like than be stuck in hell at a school with amazing ratings. I certainly place happiness at the apex of my own life and not numerical margins.

If *I* had to choose, I would go for Berk. I live on the East coast -- just ten mins from the throng of Washington DC and this area is just so conservative. West coasters have a much better attitude. This town is all about politics and money.

Hope you are having a wonderful day (or evening).

Smiles,

Jitana.

Thank you for the reply! I am gathering as much information as I can, but it is still very hard.

Wow! I just got accepted at NYU! And my gf received their acceptance yesterday! Wow!
Decision is getting even harder!
Now I am between Berkeley and NYU.

Go for newyork for sure

Hahahahaha! Dubai_123, first you send me a message asking if I am going to reject Berkeley (which means you probably are on its waitlist), then you say "go to ny" without even saying why.

Thank you, bro, but your opinion wasn't very helpful.

Oh man! We are supposed to be helping each other with information and not sabotaging like crabs in a barrel!!

Hahahahaha! Dubai_123, first you send me a message asking if I am going to reject Berkeley (which means you probably are on its waitlist), then you say "go to ny" without even saying why.

Thank you, bro, but your opinion wasn't very helpful.

Hahahahaha! Dubai_123, first you send me a message asking if I am going to reject Berkeley (which means you probably are on its waitlist), then you say "go to ny" without even saying why.

Thank you, bro, but your opinion wasn't very helpful.

If you click on his username, you will see that he is waitlisted.