Georgetown Law School housing vs living at home
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Anonymous
| On campus and help pay. If you can afford that size house, you can afford to help more. |
Anonymous
| PP, have you been to campus? GULC is by Union station (not in Georgetown) and GW is city. |
Anonymous
This is the bigger issue. Expect tuition to increase about 5% per year. Loan principle will be about $300,000 after 3 years. Not sure, but I believe that interest will accrue from the time one receives loan money so he will graduate with student loan debt exceeding $300,000 in interest & principle for law school student loans assuming that he will live rent & utility bill free for all 3 years. This debt will continue to grow as interest continues to accrue on any unpaid balance. If your son graduates into a weak market for employment in the legal field, then the indebtedness will become the primary focus of your son's life possibly resulting in foregoing marriage, having kids, buying a home all while becoming a long-term tenant in your basement. Some highly indebted young attorneys engage in thoughts of self-harm due to the overwhelming financial stress. To answer your question, live at home all 3 years if the law student can study at home without interruption. Many law students like to study in the law school library after, before, and between classes. Another poster inquired about your son's LSAT score; this is a reasonable question as well as his undergraduate cumulative GPA. A law school applicant's LSAT score and undergraduate GPA are the primary factors used by law schools to award merit scholarship money. The fact that your son is focused on attending one of just two law schools--Georgetown or GWU--suggests that he would be comfortable living at home in the basement apartment. Has he taken the LSAT and, if yes, then what is his score ? Undergraduate cumulative GPA ? These stats will generate further, more meaningful discussion of how your son should approach law school. Many prospective law students take one or two years between undergraduate school and entering law school in order to do 2 things: get post undergraduate work experience and to improve his or her LSAT score. Exiting law school with anywhere near $300,000 of student loan indebtedness is like placing a noose around one's neck and a ball and chain around one's ankles. Such student loan indebtedness is unreasonable and only marginally justifiable if one attends a top 6 or 7 law school (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Chicago, or NYU). However, if a law school applicant's numbers (LSAT score & undergraduate GPA) are high enough to get an offer of admission to a top 6 law school, then that applicant should be able to generate significant scholarship grant money from several lower ranked top 14 law schools and full tuition & fees scholarships to several non-top 14 ranked law schools. Does your son have an interest in practicing in a particular area of law such a as tax, intellectual property/patent law, environmental, criminal, securities, corporate, etc. ? The answer to this question may lead to suggestions regarding law schools and law school financials. What is your son's undergraduate major area of study ? Why law school versus earning an MBA degree ? My best advice to your son based on the scant information shared in this thread is do not enroll in law school without a substantial merit scholarship award and keep costs down by living at home if attending a nearby law school such as Georgetown or GWU. |
Anonymous
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Planning is great, but he sounds like a kid who is overly fixated on figuring out his life many years in advance. That’s not necessary in this case, and actually can spin into anxiety and analysis paralysis.
To put it bluntly, my advice is to slow down and focus on one step at a time. Here’s what that looks like: (1) Apply this fall to Georgetown, GW, and other schools that interest him, too. Put his best foot forward and use all the resources his college provides, including the pre-law advisor etc. (2) Find out in the spring where he is accepted. Hopefully that includes GW and Georgetown, if those are still his top choices. (But if he does not get into either school, this entire issue of living at home while going to law school in 2026 is moot.) (3) Consider the pros and cons each school that accepted him, including cost. If Georgetown or GW are options, break down costs into two options: living at home vs. living independently. (4) If Georgetown or GW are still in the mix, THIS is the time to learn more about whether he would be happier and better-served living at home vs. living independently. So … here’s what he should do now: Put a note in his planner to reconsider this question in March or April 2026, when it will be “ripe.” “Parking” future issues where they belong is an excellent life skill that will serve him well as a lawyer and in life, more generally. There is no need to “borrow problems from the future.” That is a distraction from more pressing and present decisions, and often a feeder for rumination and anxiety. Best to learn that now, as an undergrad, before diving into law school 15 months from now. Good luck to him with his senior year in college and the law school admissions process! |
Anonymous
| I’d worry less about where he is going to live and more about taking on a $300,000 debt. |
Anonymous
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GULC alum.
Your first year grades are incredibly important. Study groups are fairly important for law school. Particularly first year I would spend the first year on campus even if it costs more |
Anonymous
| At GULC, I’d live on or near campus first year. Then I think it’s fine to live off the next two years. I’m not sure of the construction status there with Gewirz being slated for a tear down. Anyone know where students will be housed? |
Anonymous
What does the bolded portions mean ???? |
Anonymous
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It is kind of ridiculous to have this thread when acceptance rates are getting lower for these law schools.
Georgetown has more applications than any other law school so good luck getting in. |
Anonymous
GU law built brand new housing, one side directly facing Gonzaga football field. |
Anonymous
Ha ha THAT’S not why this thread is ridiculous. What’s ridiculous is that there are so many detailed responses to a mother asking whether her adult son should live at home during law school. Is this really something one needs to crowd source? What’s also ridiculous is that the poor guy has to shell out 300k for law school because the parents wasted all that money on private schools and private colleges. With the amount of money that they wasted they could have bought the kid a condo! There is just so much wrong with this thread. |
Anonymous
Gonzaga rents that building to Georgetown. |
Anonymous
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Live at home and reduce his debt load. It's a no-brainer.
My ex-BIL lived at home during law school at U-Conn. It was great decision for him - home cooked meals, laundry, quiet place to study, not taking on extra debt, etc. In fact, it likely reduced his partying since he wasn't living with friends. By the time he graduated, he had a very good job lined up with a prominent Hartford area law firm and was engaged (got married a year later). I think it was a good thing for him. Then again, he was always studious and responsible. |
Anonymous
In the mid-late 90s my Fed agency used to pay for law school nights—and grad school. Most of us worked 9-5pm and then went to class. I got a Master’s- but so many of my co-workers got law degrees from Catholic, GU, GW, American, GMU. It was a great program. My cousin’s law firm picked up her law school debt when she was hired. She had to work x number of years for them in the contract. |
Anonymous
GU holds a 99 year lease, about 97 remaining. |