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[quote=Anonymous]Yeah OP, you need to think this through. Would you quit your fed job in order to move to Notre Dame?  That sounds like a bad idea.

Law school is EXPENSIVE, and law jobs are by and large stressful and time consuming.  And the problem is that you don't necessarily have the choice to find a less demanding job. Public interest starter jobs are incredibly demanding and low-paying (eg public defender) OR actually required a high level of prestige (eg ACLU fellowship). Government jobs are highly sought after, and also tend to take the cream of the crop -- or experienced lawyers who have already paid their dues at BIGLAW.  As for BIGLAW, just read any of the countless threads here on DCUM about how difficult it is to make BIGLAW work for parents, unless you are prepared for and happy to be the default parent.

I am a lawyer and I actually really enjoy it (mostly) and think it was a good career choice. But I started law school 10 years before kids, so by the time I had a kid I had already worked my way into a (mostly) gratifying and family-friendly position. If you're willing to sacrifice your husband for 10 years, then considering it. Otherwise, it seems like a poorly thought out idea.

As for student loan debt:  Even if he gets a seemingly good scholarship for over 50% of tuition and ends up only say $45,000 in debt, you're still looking at a $500+ monthly student loan payment for 10 years.  (Hopefully, your DH would not go all the way through law school only to end up on an income-based repayment plan due to financial hardship!)

If he goes full freight to a top-11 school (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) with a total debt of $150,000 then he's talking a payment of $1700 MONTHLY.  [/quote]

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