Financial Aid

[Matt123]

Tier 1 Law School

Cost of Attendance Budget:
Tuition $45,000
Fees/ Books/ Supplies/ Loan Fees: $2,000
Living Expenses $20,000
Total $67,000

Financial Aid/ year:
Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan $8,500
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan $12,000
Est. Fed Grad PLUS/ Priv. Loan $42,000
Total $62,500

Over 3 years:
$187,500 (Covered by Loans)
$13,500 (Not covered by Loans)
$201,000 (Total)

These are the actual numbers I recently received... along with a congrats letter saying I was accepted. I've never been so happy, shortly followed by pure confusion.

Question: Given no outside aid, no scholarships, and an acceptance letter... how do you make law school work?

Discuss.

[bdubs]

Wrong forum, but you can get loans to cover up to COA. The "uncovered" portion is usually your student/family expected contribution, which is really nothing more than a recommendation.

As to whether this particular school is worth it for you, no one here can really tell you. $201k is a lot of money for a "tier 1" school.

[Na_Swatch]

Retake the LSAT.

Ok on a more serious note, you need to consider if 150k is really worth it (don't know what exact school this is). Also you really don't need to spend 20k on living expenses. I get by on 10k pretty easily living in a fairly expensive city. Check out various loan options and consider outside opportunities like RA and perhaps working during your 2L or 3L year. Through some luck and outside opportunities I'll be making over 24,000 during my 2L year (which combined with some grant aid almost covers my tuition).