Law school questions

[Anonymous]

What kind of life do you want to have post law school? If he works at a corporate firm, he will not be home a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of life do you want to have post law school? If he works at a corporate firm, he will not be home a lot.

Which is why I don't see him at Big Law. He wants to be home. He may not even WANT to practice. It is, however, essentially free. We are very fortunate with that.

If he gets in to Penn, maybe I can convince him that it's a better opportunity. I'm holding out hope that he can get a job offer in the next 2 weeks or so in Philly and take the money from Temple to go there p/t. Not a great school, but he'll have a good job already.

I don't foresee him going to GW full time if they let him transition. His income at his job is very good.

He should also teach LSAT classes! But not right now

[Anonymous]

Of UPenn, GTown, GW, and Temple, the last one I'd advise someone to go to is Temple, even if it was basically a full ride. Working full time and law school in the evenings is a MASSIVE amount of work. JMHO, but if you must be in PA I would hold out for UPenn, or suck it up and stay in DC for law school then go wherever after that.

[Anonymous]

Unless he goes to Penn or G'Twn, he will be geographically tied to the place he gets the law degree. For example, if he goes to Temple, then the only market that will respect his JD is Philly, and then only if he knocks it out of the park. Same with GW. Penn or G'Twn will give him geographic mobility.

[Anonymous]

I agree with you: especially because it's free for him, going to Penn is a no brainer. If he doesn't get into Penn, I would not go part-time at Temple. Or go to Temple at all, frankly, given that he was also admitted to Georgetown and GW.

Going p/t is not a career killer, but it is a little different. The bigger issue is stress. Honestly, I don't think I could have handled working all day and then doing law school at night. Law school was mentally exhausting for me, and I didn't have a family to worry about, either. But plenty of people manage it, so maybe I'm just lazy!

Have you carefully priced out the differences if he went p/t or f/t? It sounds like you would quit your job if he goes f/t; does that mean you would let your nanny go? If he quits his job and you work, keeping the nanny, is that affordable? Run the numbers for 3 years vs. 4. You probably have already done this.

If he goes f/t, he may also be able to finish in 2.5 years. He could do a clinic or externship the summer after his first year, which would provide work experience AND course credits. If he takes a slightly heavier course load as a 2L, he could graduate in December of his third year. If he did want Biglaw or the DOJ Honors Program, graduating in December isn't an advantage because they hire on a pretty strict timetable, with new hires starting only in the fall. But because it sounds like he wants other types of work, so graduating a semester early and taking the February bar might make sense. Just another thought.

[Anonymous]

The curve at GT is tough. Penn's curve is more forgiving and it's ranking will make finding work easier.

Only do GT part time, so you have a job to fall back on. About 25 percent of the class has issues finding decently paying legal work.

I'd actually not go anywhere yet. I'd sit out a year and apply across the T-14 and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. You DH could get decent money from Northwestern or Michigan, which he can use to get more money from GT. He might also get into Columbia or Chicago or Harvard, Stanford, etc. That would net him extra living money at Penn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'd actually not go anywhere yet. I'd sit out a year and apply across the T-14 and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. You DH could get decent money from Northwestern or Michigan, which he can use to get more money from GT. He might also get into Columbia or Chicago or Harvard, Stanford, etc. That would net him extra living money at Penn.

I agree. Most law jobs are pedigree driven; I advise anyone who seeks my advice to attend the highest ranked school they can get into, unless they have a specialized niche interest and want to go to a school with a strong reputation in that niche. I have seen situations where interviewers comment on the caliber of an attorney's law school 20 years after they graduated...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:uhhh - if he got a 99th percentile on the lsat, why did he not apply to Y, H, or S?

With his non-trad background i would imagine he would def get into H (they have a large class size), if not Y.

a 99th percentile is a 173. He would've been competitive for H.

because we didn't want to live in New Haven or Boston. Or Cali. It was home or here.

As for business school, he's considered a PhD in Econ program (zzzz) but I have never heard him say a word about GMAT. He currently works in Intel. I could do a joint program, but I don't think he considers an MBA valuable for his interests (he is a very analytical thinker, loves history, constitional law/civil rights, ect. Not necessarily a "make money for someone" kind of guy, for better or worse.

I want him to be happy, I feel like I'm sacrificing by staying in DC, though - staying here at the expense of my own happiness.

And yes, he got a 173. Without any real studying. Hate him!

The issue is, with what he wants to ideally do - YHS would do a way better job opening up doors than Penn. The best government law jobs are even more prestige whores than all but v5 biglaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The curve at GT is tough. Penn's curve is more forgiving and it's ranking will make finding work easier.

Only do GT part time, so you have a job to fall back on. About 25 percent of the class has issues finding decently paying legal work.

I'd actually not go anywhere yet. I'd sit out a year and apply across the T-14 and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. You DH could get decent money from Northwestern or Michigan, which he can use to get more money from GT. He might also get into Columbia or Chicago or Harvard, Stanford, etc. That would net him extra living money at Penn.

A "3.32" is a tough curve? Wow. Back in ye olden times, curves were more around a 2.9 at many law schools. Grade inflation caught up to the DC market a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Going to school without applying broadly and negotiating is akin to taking 100K and burning it. It makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

A "3.32" is a tough curve? Wow. Back in ye olden times, curves were more around a 2.9 at many law schools. Grade inflation caught up to the DC market a few years ago.

Absolutely. That's a median. With GT's huge class size you are looking at hundreds of students below it. And that bottom quarter includes over 100 people who have horrific placement outcomes. So, yeah. Grade inflation helps with placement and schools who can get away with it are basically dumping the curve completely and/or getting rid of grade (HYS).

OP, like I said. Your husband needs to sit out, apply more broadly and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. With that LSAT score and a GPA over a 3.3, he's looking at decent money at places like Northwestern and Cornell which can go to living expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:uhhh - if he got a 99th percentile on the lsat, why did he not apply to Y, H, or S?

With his non-trad background i would imagine he would def get into H (they have a large class size), if not Y.

a 99th percentile is a 173. He would've been competitive for H.

because we didn't want to live in New Haven or Boston. Or Cali. It was home or here.

As for business school, he's considered a PhD in Econ program (zzzz) but I have never heard him say a word about GMAT. He currently works in Intel. I could do a joint program, but I don't think he considers an MBA valuable for his interests (he is a very analytical thinker, loves history, constitional law/civil rights, ect. Not necessarily a "make money for someone" kind of guy, for better or worse.

I want him to be happy, I feel like I'm sacrificing by staying in DC, though - staying here at the expense of my own happiness.

And yes, he got a 173. Without any real studying. Hate him!

Big mistake. His options would be so much better at one of those. It is only 3 years. Yale means no grades which would take sooo much pressure off. Not to mention the networking. Your mixing up places like GW and Georgetown. It would be naive to not realize how much easier having a higher ranked school is.

[Anonymous]

Thanks- we aren't living elsewhere. We both have good jobs here and have family back home. To move elsewhere is counter productive in the long run. If he for sure wanted big law, then yes - trying for a top there would be the best way forward. But he already has a good paying job here (as do I) which, without getting in to Penn, seems stupid to give up.

Sounds like GT is a better bet than GW - he is planning on speaking with them about money next week. And bringing his GW offer to negotiate, I believe

[Anonymous]

Op I am confused. Why do you keep saying it is essentially free because of the GI bill, but then bringing up how much money the schools give him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A "3.32" is a tough curve? Wow. Back in ye olden times, curves were more around a 2.9 at many law schools. Grade inflation caught up to the DC market a few years ago.

Absolutely. That's a median. With GT's huge class size you are looking at hundreds of students below it. And that bottom quarter includes over 100 people who have horrific placement outcomes. So, yeah. Grade inflation helps with placement and schools who can get away with it are basically dumping the curve completely and/or getting rid of grade (HYS).

OP, like I said. Your husband needs to sit out, apply more broadly and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. With that LSAT score and a GPA over a 3.3, he's looking at decent money at places like Northwestern and Cornell which can go to living expenses.

It was even lower, 3.0, till 2006. Sucked.