Which school should we look at with this LSAT score

[Anonymous]

Lol guessing mom is also a lawyer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a lawyer pushing 50 who lives and works in Dcumlandia. I routinely advise kids considering law school. FWIW:

1. Where does your kid claim residency? Apply to any law school where in-state tuition is an option. (Tell me the state, and I’ll give you my two cents.)

2. Where does your kid ultimately want to work? What state? If they are aiming for NY or CA, they might want to go to school there. Sometimes it helps with the bar.

3. What do they want to do? If they are willing to sell their soul to big law, then aim for a top 10 school. If they want to do social justice work, school rank doesn’t matter as much (their grades and networking/internships during law school matter more). Certain fellowships are useful. Do they want to be a fed? School doesn’t matter as much.

If they don’t know what they want to do, they probably should not bother with law school unless they get a full ride or can easily commute to state school with merit aid. Truly.

Note: some guidance changes if your kid isn’t white. Diversity applicants have more wiggle room in terms of resume when firms and Feds are hiring diverse candidates.

To point 1. this rarely is helpful to manage costs. It was cheaper for me to go to a different T14 with modest aid over UVA.

To point 3., that does not square with my experience. Public interest jobs are as snobby, and often actually much snobbier, than big law.

Also, if you plan to do non profit work, you will get your loans fully forgiven through PSLF and similar programs.

In summary, PP, you're very out of date, and maybe should stop giving so much advice to kids considering law school if you're not going to catch up with the times.

I am a public interest lawyer (represent kids in the foster care system). I am just learning today that I have such a snobby. As to PSLF, you do know that you need to make 120 qualifying payments before receiving loan forgiveness, right? And private loans are not forgiven. Perhaps you don't know as much as you think you do.

Who takes put private loans for law school????

What happens is people refinance privately and then are screwed. If you want to do PSLF, never refinance. Consolidate and enroll in IBR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t even imagine my mother trying to come up with law schools I should apply to back when I was your daughter’s age. I handled all of that myself including loans and financial matters. It’s sad that you think you should be involved in researching this.

DP. How sad it is that you have formal education with little to no commonsense! How much was the cost of a T-14 law degree when you went to a law school (which school was it?) and how much do you think it costs now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think time off between college and law school can be great for people so consider that too

+1. Post-college work experience is a plus, both for law school admission and for the better context, for understanding the business world, for later practice.

I worked for two years between college and law school and really appreciated that time just as a break from school and an opportunity to learn how to do something other than go to school and get good grades. But the work that I did really had minimal, if any, bearing on law practice at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this a “we” situation?

Agree. Unless you are also planning to go back to law school, there is no “we” in any of this process. Land. The. Helicopter.

For god’s sake. I understand this is completely her choice. She just got the results and we’ve been discussing affordability of various school options.

You’re completely missing our point. Of course it’s her “choice “ where to go. We are all saying she should figure out what her options are on her own.

Tell me you are an assh*le, without telling me you are an assh*le!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t even imagine my mother trying to come up with law schools I should apply to back when I was your daughter’s age. I handled all of that myself including loans and financial matters. It’s sad that you think you should be involved in researching this.

Did you not read the part about her working while carrying a full loadx2. So yes, she manages on her own just fine. We are having a lot of discussions because it’s a huge financial decision.

Don’t let these posters get to you, OP. Most people understand what you meant and this forum is filled with young, arrogant dude bros who never miss an opportunity to show their $ss.

Your daughter has lots of great options. Happy for her!

+1. OP, not just filled with young arrogant dude bros but quite a lot of older obnoxious wanna-be-experts here who love showing their $ss. Congrats, OP as well as your kiddo!!

[Anonymous]

People on DCUM will tell you that law school is a waste of money unless you go to certain law schools. It all depends on where you want to live after law school and what kind of job you want to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Law is really the field where rankings matter most. Apply to the the top fourteen and go to the highest ranked one DC get in to.

I agree with this. I received significant merit aid at a regional law school. It did not open as many doors as a highly ranked school would have. But if her goal is to practice family law, it doesn't really matter. So she should think about what she wants to do. Big Law and Big Gov are obsessed with which law school you attended even 30 years down the road.

I don't think this is necessarily true in "Big Gov."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this a “we” situation?

Agree. Unless you are also planning to go back to law school, there is no “we” in any of this process. Land. The. Helicopter.

For god’s sake. I understand this is completely her choice. She just got the results and we’ve been discussing affordability of various school options.

Shut up bjtcg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No law school. I did not pay off my student loans after 20 years of payments. I finally gave up and used my home equity at age 46. I shudder to imagine what my 401k would look like, the millions I might have, if I put all that cash into my 401k instead of loan repayments. For most, becoming a lawyer is like chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But they never make it.

The "pot of gold" is a Big Law job that not everyone will like or tolerate. So, there's that. Some actually are cut out for it and stick it out, though.

But to state the obvious, if you are not funded by parents or a trust fund, borrow a whole lot of money, and don't wind up in Big Law or something else lucrative, that's a big financial burden.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t realize law school was a draw anymore. Such a miserable job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No law school. I did not pay off my student loans after 20 years of payments. I finally gave up and used my home equity at age 46. I shudder to imagine what my 401k would look like, the millions I might have, if I put all that cash into my 401k instead of loan repayments. For most, becoming a lawyer is like chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But they never make it.

The "pot of gold" is a Big Law job that not everyone will like or tolerate. So, there's that. Some actually are cut out for it and stick it out, though.

But to state the obvious, if you are not funded by parents or a trust fund, borrow a whole lot of money, and don't wind up in Big Law or something else lucrative, that's a big financial burden. [/quote]



True. At $105K a year + at my law alma mater, you don't want to wind up second year thinking "oh, this was a mistake"