Which Southern / Midwestern School?

[nosaj123]

Two big considerations:
1. I want to end up in a medium-sized city in the south or mid-west (think Richmond, Charlotte, St. Louis, Nashville, etc.)
2. 3 years after graduation I would like to be earning at least 90K after loans but pre-tax, and keep in mind that every $10K in debt is about $1.5K in annual loan payments (I want to earn at least 90K to be able to comfortably provide for a family. Making more than this is not that important to me, but not making less than this is important)

I'm not sure if this will impact your suggestions, but I will have had 5 years of solid experience at a F500 company prior to attending law school.

Thanks!

[nosaj123]

Bump (come on guys, I assumed I would at least get bites from Rad Law, JCougar, or Romo)

[Justathought]

Bump (come on guys, I assumed I would at least get bites from Rad Law, JCougar, or Romo)

If I were in your position I would bite the bullet and go to UVA. You only get one chance at a school like that. Plus, even if you don't want biglaw, you have a leg up on the competition for the tiny amount of midlaw jobs out there.

Also, IBR makes your loan payments reasonable, and I think you can justify relying on that for the chance at UVA.

[nosaj123]

If I were in your position I would bite the bullet and go to UVA. You only get one chance at a school like that. Plus, even if you don't want biglaw, you have a leg up on the competition for the tiny amount of midlaw jobs out there.

Also, IBR makes your loan payments reasonable, and I think you can justify relying on that for the chance at UVA.

Initially my thought was to go to Wash U over UVa; I didn't think that the cost difference was worth the extra prestige since I wasn't trying to break into a large market. Then I got the scholarship from Vanderbilt and thought that the additional opportunities that seem to be available to Vanderbilt grads was might worth the extra $30K over Wash U. But now I am wondering if the bump up to UVa would be worth the additional $60K over Vanderbilt. Although, I'm still strongly considering Wash U, as well as William and Mary if I decide to minimize debt and stay in Virginia.

Unfortunately I had a recent injury that is preventing me from traveling to visit schools, so I am relying more on research and cost will likely play a bigger role than it otherwise would have.

[Justathought]

If I were in your position I would bite the bullet and go to UVA. You only get one chance at a school like that. Plus, even if you don't want biglaw, you have a leg up on the competition for the tiny amount of midlaw jobs out there.

Also, IBR makes your loan payments reasonable, and I think you can justify relying on that for the chance at UVA.

Initially my thought was to go to Wash U over UVa; I didn't think that the cost difference was worth the extra prestige since I wasn't trying to break into a large market. Then I got the scholarship from Vanderbilt and thought that the additional opportunities that seem to be available to Vanderbilt grads was might worth the extra $30K over Wash U. But now I am wondering if the bump up to UVa would be worth the additional $60K over Vanderbilt. Although, I'm still strongly considering Wash U, as well as William and Mary if I decide to minimize debt and stay in Virginia.

Unfortunately I had a recent injury that is preventing me from traveling to visit schools, so I am relying more on research and cost will likely play a bigger role than it otherwise would have.

Well here is my only concern with your reasoning: You are not happy making less than 90k. In these markets biglaw pays about 120-140k, in most cases. Since we are working with bimodal salary distribution, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot of jobs in the 90k range. Sure there are some, but its my understanding, due to that damn chart everyone floats around here, that if you're not making biglaw money, you're making closer to 60k. That's out the window according to your needs, so it sounds like your safest bet is to actually pursue biglaw in these markets.

Hence, UVA.

Edit: Although you did say 90k, 3 years after graduation. That probably changes things a bit, but I'm really not sure what type of increases one should expect out of a mid-sized firm.

[CanadianWolf]

In my opinion, they all work based on your desired career goals & locations.

[nosaj123]

Anyone else? I'm surprised nobody thinks Wash U is a good option.