Support Thread for the 6-figure debt plunge Forum

[paulinaporizkova]

Berkeley's median GPA is around 3.8 or so; with a 3.8 and a 170 something GPA niederbomb would be getting 17k a year in scholarship at Michigan, if he/she was consistent with others with the same scores.

*edit: fine, not half, but a 51,000

nieder's GPA is still an extremely unknown factor. i know a girl (on TLS actually) who just got berkeley with a 170/3.5. they like strong GPAs but i think they like strong softs more, and she had the latter.

[D. H2Oman]

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[paulinaporizkova]

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[icouldbuyu]

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Aren't you going to GULC?

[paulinaporizkova]

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Aren't you going to GULC?

AAAAAAND i win.

[D. H2Oman]

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[niederbomb]

Just looked at the ASW for Penn and saw the estimated costs of 68K per year! It's easy to dismiss debt as just a number till you seriously consider taking it on.

God, help me get into Michigan, at least, so I have some room to negotiate for scholarships! I'm going to get WLed at UVA with such a late application, almost 100%.

I'm kicking myself for not even applying to Berkeley.

Mm if you have the GPA to get into Berkeley, you could probably get a half scholly at Michigan. Plus, their COA is "only" 62k a year =)

huh?

Berkeley's median GPA is around 3.8 or so; with a 3.8 and a 170 something GPA niederbomb would be getting 17k a year in scholarship at Michigan, if he/she was consistent with others with the same scores.

*edit: fine, not half, but a 51,000

That's pretty close. So, why only 33% at UT? Can I really expect to get more at Michigan than at UT? Penn?

[D. H2Oman]

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Aren't you going to GULC?

yeah man I'm a year ahead, I'm captaining this ship.


Truthfully I'd make the same decision again. I know it's a tough thing to do, but in the long run I think I (and all of you guys) will be better off.



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[paulinaporizkova]

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[beachbum]

I feel as though I go through the same roller coaster each day. I usually wake up thinking, are you stupid? 200k? then I rationalize and get to a comfortable place. then I get really excited for the challenge, risk and potential payoff, then sleep and it starts over again. I imagine this will continue until I get a great job/strike out and hide in Guatemala

Ha, I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm actually pretty anxious to just do this thing and see what happens. Waiting sucks.

[dabbadon8]

I feel uneasy about the debt for sure. Even with some $$ at a T10 my debt will be around 140k and still crushing without biglaw or LRAP. Scholarship money is great, but unless you get a close to a full ride, it pretty much only makes your life easier if you land biglaw, your still screwed without it. That being said my lack of other career options with my psych B.A. and poor gpa makes me think "Even if I didn't want to go to law school, what else am I supposed to do? Teach high school?" So I don't feel like it is such a bad choice since I rather take my chances with a T10 JD and 140k in debt then my other crappy job prospects.

[AreJay711]

Gatriel's debt calculator was good in that it combines all the debt together so you can see what the overall payment will be. LOL at paying all that down in 5 years even with biglaw. I should be happy that at least I got some $ I guess.

[northwood]

+1 for agreeing about the roller coaster. My life is in limbo, and for the next 6 months until law school starts- its hard to get excited to do anything else. I guess ill be working on my golf game as much as possible this summer, since its not going to happen once school starts.

[Malcolm8X]

I feel as though I go through the same roller coaster each day. I usually wake up thinking, are you stupid? 200k? then I rationalize and get to a comfortable place. then I get really excited for the challenge, risk and potential payoff, then sleep and it starts over again. I imagine this will continue until I get a great job/strike out and hide in Guatemala

+1, LOL bout the Guatemala thing

It sure as hell is a rollercoaster. I'll be looking at $180-220K+ from UVa since I already took out $70K from UG+Grad school (damn you grad school). I LOVE the fact I got in to UVA (after I sent the ED contract), but now I pray they have mercy on me and send $ my way, which I heard that they're generous about.

[trudat15]

Ill be at around 195 at uchi. Bring it on bitches.

[legalmindedfella]

No money from Chicago and not expecting any from NYU, so looks like I'll be facing about 200k. I can't even make sense of that number.

[CanadianWolf]

Kwais: Why not Texas with $31,000 per year ? $200,000 in debt can be crippling if things don't work out as you hope. The economy is still risky as foreclosures during the next two years should be substantial. Ask Texas or UCLA for more.

[sparty99]

Ya'll are crazy and need to listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio for ONE WEEK. You will think TWICE about going 200k in debt for a degree. Especially considering half the people who go to law school, don't even finish.

[kwais]

Kwais: Why not Texas with $31,000 per year ? $200,000 in debt can be crippling if things don't work out as you hope. The economy is still risky as foreclosures during the next two years should be substantial. Ask Texas or UCLA for more.

great question. I ask myself everyday. The answer is partly prestige. However, I also have a few very strong connections. As in partners who would throw me a paying SA bone if I do not get one on my own. I still have to make decent (medianish) grades, but by no means the top quartile like some need. Also, I figure, at Texas I'm still looking at ~100k in debt, forcing me to do biglaw anyway. I'd rather not live in Texas either. I will ask those schools for more money though, because a full ride would give me a ton of freedom.

[TheStrand]

Ya'll are crazy and need to listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio for ONE WEEK. You will think TWICE about going 200k in debt for a degree. Especially considering half the people who go to law school, don't even finish.

Not at the schools we're looking at (plus, consider: 1 in 4 students drops out of college; graduation rates at T14 schools is something like 97%, and still pretty good going down the line). Also, if I listened to Dave Ramsey I'd have a hs degree and a shitty job as a baker at the Cheesecake Factory. There's a point when your prospects are so bad, and your abilities/opportunities good enough that it's better to take on a massive debt than stay the course. At the worst, I will live no worse than I did before I took on debt to go to college and law school (hello IBR). By your logic, considering debt for degree to be "crazy" particularly if there are high dropout rates in GENERAL for that degree, I shouldn't have gone to college. You want to tell me being 86k in the hole but having small luxuries (internet, clothing not from a goodwill, a computer, apartment, utilities, protein in my diet) is worse than living on 20k a year?

[Sentry]

150k for UChi... Guns up! Let's do this!!!

[InvictusFortis]

As talks are underway, would interest rate hikes for student loans influence your decision? They are also discussing charging interest while you are still in school, instead of deferring it until graduation like they currently do. How would that affect your decision?

[powerlawyer06]

As talks are underway, would interest rate hikes for student loans influence your decision? They are also discussing charging interest while you are still in school, instead of deferring it until graduation like they currently do. How would that affect your decision?

If they raise they rates everyone will just choose private loan alternatives. Wells Fargo already has a "graduate plus" type loan that is very competitive with the government loan. In many cases the Wells Fargo loan is cheaper but the interest rate floats and I am afraid the Fed will have to raise interest rates soon to combat inflation. At this point government loans are only slightly cheaper than their private counterparts.

[TheStrand]

As talks are underway, would interest rate hikes for student loans influence your decision? They are also discussing charging interest while you are still in school, instead of deferring it until graduation like they currently do. How would that affect your decision?

If they raise they rates everyone will just choose private loan alternatives. Wells Fargo already has a "graduate plus" type loan that is very competitive with the government loan. In many cases the Wells Fargo loan is cheaper but the interest rate floats and I am afraid the Fed will have to raise interest rates soon to combat inflation. At this point government loans are only slightly cheaper than their private counterparts.

Eh, relatively, I don't think that the amount of the interest is that much compared to the overall cost of the loan. Especially since I'm counting on either forgiveness after 10 years or 25 depending on which route I go and principal and interest are forgiven at the end of those. Not sure people will choose private loan alternatives though. They have pretty attractive interest rates right now (Citibank's giving me 2.25% last time I checked) which is variable but even at the height of the prime rate when I borrowed, it was like 7.75% which is not that much worse than government. With private loans though, you do not qualify for a lot of the stuff people are banking on, like LRAP, IBR, ISR, etc unless you are somehow able to get that into a federal direct consolidation loan somehow.

[lolschool2011]

Hey all! I am creating this thread because I'm 99% sure that I'm about to sign up for 200k of debt. Every time I've talked to someone who's about to do the same, it has comforted me. So, in this thread, share your hopes, fears and thought process regarding this investment. Enjoy!

Think about it... that $2.16 cup of coffee, amortized over 30 years of student loan repayment will probably cost you.... umm, around 10 bucks. (give or take