Anonymous wrote:If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

depends on the field. generally true, though after the first year.

Anonymous wrote:What do they want to study? My answer would depend on the field, which many of the funding options for grad school will be based upon.

yes.

totally.

In fact, in many cases you may be better off (regardless of cost) going to the in-state flagship law school than to the private top 10 law school.

I don't think that is necessarily true. I do think that if you want to work in Texas and you go to the University of Texas, you will be very well set up to join a competitive firm, but it's not going to hurt to have a law degree from Yale.

Also, if its law school DC is after, top 10 or bust. Not worth going anywhere else.

Big exception to this: in-state flagship public law school. If it's a state/region that you would like to live/practice in, you cannot go wrong with going in-state to the flagship public law school. In fact, in many cases you may be better off (regardless of cost) going to the in-state flagship law school than to the private top 10 law school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

Med school and Law school excepted.

PP mentioned grad school, not trade school. Also, if its law school DC is after, top 10 or bust. Not worth going anywhere else.

The Patent Office has paid for law school in the past, not sure if they still do or whether other agencies pay for law school. If you have a strong STEM background, some local patent firms will pay for law school. The previous advice concerning law school "top 10 or bust" suggests some level of anger - I'd check the long term track record of grads of non-Top 10 law grads against other graduate school grads.

It actually has to do with the fall out going on in the law profession. Employed lawyers peaked back in 2004 at 1.25 million. It has since fallen to 1.1 million and we graduate 40-45 thousand new lawyers every year. Many JDs now get hired to just do paralegal work. Even Big Law is starting to do layoffs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

Med school and Law school excepted.

PP mentioned grad school, not trade school. Also, if its law school DC is after, top 10 or bust. Not worth going anywhere else.

The Patent Office has paid for law school in the past, not sure if they still do or whether other agencies pay for law school. If you have a strong STEM background, some local patent firms will pay for law school. The previous advice concerning law school "top 10 or bust" suggests some level of anger - I'd check the long term track record of grads of non-Top 10 law grads against other graduate school grads.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

Med school and Law school excepted.

PP mentioned grad school, not trade school. Also, if its law school DC is after, top 10 or bust. Not worth going anywhere else.

Think less about this and more about applying widely. Best she not to fall in love with any school until she is accepted and you know the final cost. Cost of the applications are a drop in the bucket. DD applied to 10 schools. We never would have been able to predict the final cost (merit aid) A school added late to the list, without much thought, zoomed to the top of the list ~gave her 1/2 off the tuition for 4 years.

Anonymous wrote:If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

Med school and Law school excepted.

If a student can't get his/her graduate program funded through grants, TA or scholarships... - they shouldn't be going to graduate school - at least if they want to get a job when they graduate.

Anonymous wrote:For STEM fields, any PhD program worth going to pays your tuition and gives you a stipend. This occurs in other fields as well--my friend did a philosophy masters program and had her tuition and a small stipend funded through being a teaching assistant.

I'd argue this is doubly important for the humanities. No point in going into debt for graduate school in fields with low income potential tough job prospects.

This is entirely dependent on what field they want to go into. If they want to go to law school or medical school, then they will almost certainly have to pay hefty tuition. But if they get a PhD or masters degree, they might not, depending on the field. For STEM fields, any PhD program worth going to pays your tuition and gives you a stipend. This occurs in other fields as well--my friend did a philosophy masters program and had her tuition and a small stipend funded through being a teaching assistant.

What do they want to study? My answer would depend on the field, which many of the funding options for grad school will be based upon.

Our plan is that DD go to the "best" school she can get into which puts her OOS (because she won't apply to UVA). Of her two top choices now, one is $60k per year, the other about $35k. Then hope for fellowship or some other money for grad school.

We could fund private undergrad or grad but not both. If kids are thinking they will go to graduate or professional school, should we encourage them to go in state for undergrad so that we can help with grad school, or should we focus resources on undergrad, even if it means going private, and they can go in state for grad or take out loans? Assume they could attend a private undergrad that would be more highly ranked than our publics (we are in VA). What are the factors we should be thinking about here? Thanks.