Pre-Law. Go for prestige or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Georgetown and there were students from all sorts of schools.

But I know from talking to admissions that the you need a higher GPA if you are coming from a less prestigious undergrad.

I think it also helps a bit to have a prestigious undergrad when applying for jobs, though that's mostly about GPA, journal, etc.

But overall, yes, she can still go to a strong law school but she will need to have a higher undergrad and LSAT if coming from a lower ranked undergrad.

I am not sure why you think she can get a full ride to a top fifty undergrad. Those are hard to come by. It's more typical to get 10-30k in merit aid.

(Yale Law, the student body has tons of top 5 SLACS and ivies. But chances are, your kid is not getting into Yale Law regardless.)

Wrong. You do not need a higher LSAT score from some undergrad schools than others. You need a competitive score regardless but it doesn’t vary by undergrad school. Sure, you may need a higher GPA from a lower ranked undergrad, but LSAT? Nope. That’s why they call it a “standardized” test.

Two clearly inaccurate posts in a row. This website can be very frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

[Anonymous]

My data is from 20 years ago, but I went to JMU--and I did not have perfect grades-- and my DH went to a very hard to get into private college. Similar LSATs. We both ended up at the same T10 law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

Wrong again! Wow. All but the top handful of law schools give significant merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

With what's happening with AI, now way in hell I would tell my kid today that we would pay for law school...nor that they should even be thinking about it as an option until things sort out.

You could remove “law school” and insert almost any other grad school or profession. How quickly AI will disrupt is not at all clear. I’m a 25 year lawyer, 15 year law firm partner. Yes, we are implementing AI in our service delivery innovation, but good associates are still in strong demand. I need about 3.

Given that most legislators and lobbyists are lawyers, I doubt we will legislate ourselves into being obsolete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

With what's happening with AI, now way in hell I would tell my kid today that we would pay for law school...nor that they should even be thinking about it as an option until things sort out.

You could remove “law school” and insert almost any other grad school or profession. How quickly AI will disrupt is not at all clear. I’m a 25 year lawyer, 15 year law firm partner. Yes, we are implementing AI in our service delivery innovation, but good associates are still in strong demand. I need about 3.

Given that most legislators and lobbyists are lawyers, I doubt we will legislate ourselves into being obsolete.

Well, an overlooked provision in the current tax bill is that nobody can regulate AI for 10 years.

Also, the whole thrust of DOGE is to unleash AI on the federal government.

Seems like it’s literally happening now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

Wrong again! Wow. All but the top handful of law schools give significant merit aid.

Aren’t people basically saying you need to attend one of the top handful of schools?

Assuming a handful is 10…that leaves I guess 4 schools worth attending that give aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Georgetown and there were students from all sorts of schools.

But I know from talking to admissions that the you need a higher GPA if you are coming from a less prestigious undergrad.

I think it also helps a bit to have a prestigious undergrad when applying for jobs, though that's mostly about GPA, journal, etc.

But overall, yes, she can still go to a strong law school but she will need to have a higher undergrad and LSAT if coming from a lower ranked undergrad.

I am not sure why you think she can get a full ride to a top fifty undergrad. Those are hard to come by. It's more typical to get 10-30k in merit aid.

(Yale Law, the student body has tons of top 5 SLACS and ivies. But chances are, your kid is not getting into Yale Law regardless.)

Wrong. You do not need a higher LSAT score from some undergrad schools than others. You need a competitive score regardless but it doesn’t vary by undergrad school. Sure, you may need a higher GPA from a lower ranked undergrad, but LSAT? Nope. That’s why they call it a “standardized” test.

Two clearly inaccurate posts in a row. This website can be very frustrating.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

I’m PP. I had a strong lsat and gpa and got a full ride at a top 10 law school, which I took over higher ranked options. I’m a happy mid career lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

I’m PP. I had a strong lsat and gpa and got a full ride at a top 10 law school, which I took over higher ranked options. I’m a happy mid career lawyer.

Following up, basically all law schools but Harvard Yale and Stanford give merit aid to high stat students to improve their averages. The higher the stats, the more merit aid options you will have. At the higher ranked law schools that offer merit aid, the merit scholarships are very competitive and may require essays and a certain “story.” Of course there are trade offs between taking the aid at a lower ranked school and paying more for a higher ranked school. That’s the kind of decision somebody who is going to be a lawyer should be able to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

Wrong again! Wow. All but the top handful of law schools give significant merit aid.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents should pay for law school. If the kid has the chops they should be able to get a good scholarship and also make their own decisions about which school to go to, balancing the cost against their career ambitions.

Law schools don't give merit aid. They are cash cows for universities.

Wrong again! Wow. All but the top handful of law schools give significant merit aid.

Aren’t people basically saying you need to attend one of the top handful of schools?

Assuming a handful is 10…that leaves I guess 4 schools worth attending that give aid?

Ha ha no. By the way, this informational is readily available on the web by googling a law school’s required 509 disclosures. Even at Harvard Law almost half the student body doesn’t pay full tuition. At Chicago it’s over 80 percent.

This is what I find so frustrating. So many posters throw out what they think are facts without doing any of the readily available research.

[Anonymous]

Just reiterating: if your kids has what it takes to be a successful lawyer (some combination of intelligence, resilience, hustle), they should be able to make their own choices about paying for law school. If they are a high stats person, they will have the option to take merit aid or pay more for a higher ranked school—and also the ability to get a big law job to pay off any loans they do end up with. I would absolutely NOT promise to pay for law school and take this opportunity to make the threshold decision about what to do with your life, and how to prioritize your values in your career, off the table.

I also know many miserable lawyers. Don’t make it too easy for your kid to go to law school. Let them have agency over their life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just reiterating: if your kids has what it takes to be a successful lawyer (some combination of intelligence, resilience, hustle), they should be able to make their own choices about paying for law school. If they are a high stats person, they will have the option to take merit aid or pay more for a higher ranked school—and also the ability to get a big law job to pay off any loans they do end up with. I would absolutely NOT promise to pay for law school and take this opportunity to make the threshold decision about what to do with your life, and how to prioritize your values in your career, off the table.

I also know many miserable lawyers. Don’t make it too easy for your kid to go to law school. Let them have agency over their life.

I'm curious about your thoughts on paying for DC's undergrad. Not sure I understand the strong opinion against paying for DC's grad school. Personally, I wouldn't mind covering law school costs if they choose a full-ride option for undergrad. It's a given that they'd try to get as much merit aid as possible and they are free to decide what they want to do with their life. I've lived debt-free, and I'd help DC as much as I can without compromising my lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just reiterating: if your kids has what it takes to be a successful lawyer (some combination of intelligence, resilience, hustle), they should be able to make their own choices about paying for law school. If they are a high stats person, they will have the option to take merit aid or pay more for a higher ranked school—and also the ability to get a big law job to pay off any loans they do end up with. I would absolutely NOT promise to pay for law school and take this opportunity to make the threshold decision about what to do with your life, and how to prioritize your values in your career, off the table.

I also know many miserable lawyers. Don’t make it too easy for your kid to go to law school. Let them have agency over their life.

I'm curious about your thoughts on paying for DC's undergrad. Not sure I understand the strong opinion against paying for DC's grad school. Personally, I wouldn't mind covering law school costs if they choose a full-ride option for undergrad. It's a given that they'd try to get as much merit aid as possible and they are free to decide what they want to do with their life. I've lived debt-free, and I'd help DC as much as I can without compromising my lifestyle.

Well the current cost of attendance at Harvard Law School (which does not give any merit aid, still heavily factors parental income when giving out need based aid even for students in their 30s, and has a reputation as being the stingiest among the top law schools in giving out aid) is $120,000 per year: https://hls.harvard.edu/sfs/financial-aid/fin.../cost-of-attendance/ Cost of attendance will likely increase heavily over the next few years given all the budget cuts and law schools traditionally being seen as the cash cows for universities. Grad Plus loans are also going to be phased out by the federal government over the next few years, so the only way to pay will be through private loans (which have much less protections for borrowers) or being independently wealthy. If you can support your child’s dreams of being a lawyer, that’s great but if my kid wants to be a lawyer, I can’t fathom even paying a fraction of their likely $150k per year cost of attendance if they make that decision.