Top Law Schools

just figured i'd say hi and that i'm super excited about meeting everybody this fall! i've been fairly stalkery on facebook, but the stupid government just went on a site-banning spree and took away facebook (and gchat! gah!) so now i'm left to find other ways to procrastinate at work before i finally can quit.

i'll be in stl around the june housing day to find a place, probably focusing in cwe. i wanted to move down aug 1st, but it looks like i might have to wait at least another week before i can get there, but i am SO down for assorted booze-filled activities with my fellow 1Ls before orientation. can't wait!

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rezipsa wrote: "government"? are you a dc/nova-ite?

yep! live in courthouse, work in rosslyn (best. commute. EVER.)

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rezipsa wrote:

strawk wrote:

rezipsa wrote: "government"? are you a dc/nova-ite?

yep! live in courthouse, work in rosslyn (best. commute. EVER.)

GUARAPO! is the shit. the NOVA equivalent of citron.

haha i was just at guarapo on wednesday! i haven't been to cafe citron in a while, but i'm actually on my way to dupont for some drinking in about ohhhhh five minutes or so....

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rezipsa wrote:
Big Hunt? Front Page? Brickskeller?

JUMBO SLICE!! julias empanadas!!

this time last year, i was rockin the seersucker for a belmont party in ballston

front page. and, as a former wahoo, i am a big fan of the seersucker, so rock on!

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For a place, nothing big enough for a bbq as far as I know. There is a yard in front though, I'm up for hosting (Greg if you read this, we're hosting) a bbq before or during orientation.

Speaking of which, we definitely need some booze-filled days the week before orientation. Won't be in STL till Aug 9.

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The've got the dome on:

--LinkRemoved--

Hey Everyone,

Yeah, Joe and I are defeniently hosting a bbq that first week. If there's one thing that we can all agree on is that dead animals are tasty. Either in front of our place or in Forest Park. More details will follow on facebook page.

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Yeah. If you're taking out only stafford it looks like the School as Lender Program is the most beneficial. Staffords are stuck at a fixed top rate of 6.8% no matter what though.

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rezipsa wrote:

GregP wrote:Yeah. If you're taking out only stafford it looks like the School as Lender Program is the most beneficial. Staffords are stuck at a fixed top rate of 6.8% no matter what though.

Yeah that shouldn't be bad. w/ the 25k/year scholly, I figure the remaining tuition to be 13k, and another 8-10k (or less? thoughts?) for living expenses? 20.5 should be the max from stafford/gradPLUS, so I'd only need another 3-5 or so from private lenders; not sure which of those are the best...

Just a note. They have established tuition at $39,700 for the '08-09 year.

From the "Application for new borrowers":

Tuition for the 2008-09 academic year is $39,700 for JD students and $39,860 for LL.M. students. Fees for the year are: $50 per year ($25 per semester) Law Student Bar Association fee, a mandatory health insurance fee of $686 yearly and first year law students are charged a one time $60 orientation fee in the fall semester. Also, the University parking permit charge is $425 (estimated)

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rezipsa wrote:smc---you got the full 120k scholly, right? how much are you taking out for personal expenses, if i may ask? feel free to PM instead...

No, that's fine. I'm not all that shy.

Yes, I did get the full scholly. As for expenses, I'm one of those spoiled brats that everyone hates, as I will actually be receiving most of my funding from my parents during my 3 years in law school (no, I can't justify it. I can only say that I never once asked for it, it was just offered by them).

Consequently, I'm only taking the full amount of the subsidized Stafford loan ($8,500), in case I need to use it. Hopefully I won't, though, and I'll just put it in a money market, make a little interest, and give the entire principle back at graduation (or, actually, about 5 months and 29 days after graduation, since you have a 6-month grace period).

For what it's worth, including everything (all insurances, utilities, bills, etc.), I've budgeted a tad under $10k for living expenses. I'm sure none of this was helpful.

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The school as lender seems to be the best option if you will be using automatic payments from your bank account upon graduation. While Stafford is locked at 6.8% the enticement benefit from school as lender is a 3% reduction if you use auto-debit for repayment leaving an effective 3.8% rate upon graduation.

I filled out the Master Promissory Note through MOHELA (the group that services the school as lender loans) and completed the entrance counseling a little while ago. However, when I log into the MOHELA site to check the status it says they don’t have any loan application associated with my SSN and that mine may still be processing. Does anybody else have this problem? I assume they are just waiting to hear back from WashU on how much money I get before they process my application. I will try and call them this evening but they close up shop at 5:00 CST and I don’t want to call them from work.

I am getting something like $19,000 in Stafford loans for living expenses (I have the full scholarship). It is easy to add up to such a number: rent - $8,100 (9x$900); campus parking - $425, health insurance - $686, SBA fees - $50; orientation fee - $60. Those all account for almost half the loan amount and I still have food, books, car insurance, gas, utilities, etc before I even get to have any sort of entertainment budget. I was concerned my $19,000 was not going to be enough for my living expenses and now I see people are planning to function on less than $10,000.

rhit2004 wrote:The school as lender seems to be the best option if you will be using automatic payments from your bank account upon graduation. While Stafford is locked at 6.8% the enticement benefit from school as lender is a 3% reduction if you use auto-debit for repayment leaving an effective 3.8% rate upon graduation.

I filled out the Master Promissory Note through MOHELA (the group that services the school as lender loans) and completed the entrance counseling a little while ago. However, when I log into the MOHELA site to check the status it says they don’t have any loan application associated with my SSN and that mine may still be processing. Does anybody else have this problem? I assume they are just waiting to hear back from WashU on how much money I get before they process my application. I will try and call them this evening but they close up shop at 5:00 CST and I don’t want to call them from work.

I am getting something like $19,000 in Stafford loans for living expenses (I have the full scholarship). It is easy to add up to such a number: rent - $8,100 (9x$900); campus parking - $425, health insurance - $686, SBA fees - $50; orientation fee - $60. Those all account for almost half the loan amount and I still have food, books, car insurance, gas, utilities, etc before I even get to have any sort of entertainment budget. I was concerned my $19,000 was not going to be enough for my living expenses and now I see people are planning to function on less than $10,000.

Well, I have under-budgeted before, so I very well may have done it again. But my rent is just over half of what yours is, so there's a big chunk of it right there.

Edit: Also, when I showed my parents what I budgeted, they thought I definitely under accounted for a few things (gas, namely, but even food). They thought I should've budgeted more like $14,000 (which, if you take the difference in rent, would be pretty close to what you're talking about).

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smc5784 wrote:Well, I have under-budgeted before, so I very well may have done it again. But my rent is just over half of what yours is, so there's a big chunk of it right there.

The nice part is if you decide you need more you can just tap into the unsubsidized Stafford pool whereas I will have to start going for the private loans. I had considered not taking the full $19,000 and only going to that full amount sometime second semester if the need arose. I am hoping to bank some money the summers after 1L and 2L so I can take fewer loans for 2L/3L.

Is anybody using Quadrangle, Wash U's off-campus housing affiliate, to find housing, or are you all doing your own searches?

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