milymo wrote:So what did you find out?
Well my numbers are going to be a little different than other people's projections because I have been working for 10 years (so I have a shorter career-life at this point than most of you). Basically I found out that interest is a b*tch -- the interest on GULC loans versus Mason loans brings down your expected earnings a bit -- but, even with interest factored in, the average GULC grad in the private sector in DC will make about $200,000 more than the average Mason grad in the private sector in DC over a 30 year period. Of course there are different scenarioes for loan-repayment and promotion and raises and where you work so this is all
very speculative.
I was surprised that the difference was so modest (although 200K is nothing to laugh at).
The other thing I found is that government jobs really don't make sense when you are straddled with law school debt. In my job right now I make more than the average government law salary. So why should I take on law school debt (whether from Mason or GULC) to take a job that pays me the same or less than what I make now? That just doesn't make sense to me. So I've really cooled on government jobs since playing with my Excel spreadsheet.