USC with Scholarship vs Cornell Sticker

[runthetrap1990]

Cornell and USC are comparable for tuition at approx. 54 or 55k.

Cornell's tuition is at $59,360 for this year and will likely be over $60k for you if you enroll in the fall. Don't pay sticker.

Fuck man, why tuition got to be so damn high.

[MarkfromWI]

My understanding is that it would take perhaps a decade of paying off the loans, but is that so bad that it merits not going to the school?

You tell me - if you're 24 right now, plus three years of law school, plus another decade of paying off loans, by the time you break even you'll be 37 years old.

I'm 21, so I'll be 34, but I see what you're saying. I don't see what's so wrong with that though. I fully expected that before I sat the LSAT. I could be where I want to be, doing what I want to be doing work-wise, and making payments. It seems fairly normal...I understand your argument completely, I was just worried I was missing a key component of something because everyone seemed to be saying it's completely off the table.

Edit: You do have a point about the need to get into biglaw.

Those payments are going to be around $3k a month! Sure, that may not be so bad IF you get biglaw. But what if you don't? Or what if you do get biglaw and hate it? Then you're stuck in it for ten years just to pay off debt, and that's if they let you stay around that long. Most attorneys don't make it past the 5 year mark in biglaw. Then what are you going to do? That $3k bill is still going to come every month.

[JFO1833]

$3k bill is still going to come every month.

You make a fair point although this isn't quite true. If your income is too low to make a $3,000 payment (assuming you have federal loans) you can pay less. However this is not a good outcome because you'll of course be racking up interest.

But, as long as your are employed, you won't be in a position where you won't be able to buy food.

[Yea All Right]

These were two of my choices last cycle. USC offered me a scholarship lower than the one they offered you, and Cornell offered me an ok-to-good scholarship. Cornell did not change their offer when I showed them the one from USC.

[jbagelboy]

I think the answer to 250k in debt is always* no.

*With a few exceptions, obviously: rich relatives paying your way, GI Bill, etc.

Then its not debt, right?

OP: if you want to work in California, go to USC. If you want to work in New York, retake.

[Nomo]

I can't recommend USC because you really have no idea if you'd want to live in California. If you're thinking about living there long term I'd recommend taking some time off, moving there, getting a job. See how you like it.

Cornell would be absolutely crazy. You think you're going to pay it off over 10 years? But if you can "only" afford to make payments of around 2k per month then you're looking at 20 years. Are you confident you'll be able to make payments of 2k a month for 20 years? I wouldn't be.

[rpupkin]

You're a poster child for taking some time off before law school. You are 21. Work for at least two to three years, move to another part of the country, live a little.

You are not in a position to be making a USC w/$$ vs Cornell decision. You don't have enough information--about yourself.