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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]
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. [/quote]

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/financial-aid-policy/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. [/quote]

DP here.  Good for you, but that’s clearly a very personal decision. For example, I would never dream of paying for my kid to go to a private undergraduate school when there are plenty of good state options available. But this website is full of parents who think they’re doing that is the equivalent of child abuse. [/quote]

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