Top Law Schools

Anonymous User wrote:How I (2L top 35-40 percentile) got a v100 SA is still a mystery.

DeeCee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Back on topic...

Here's the thing. If you're going to a t20-30, you need 1 or 2 of the following:

(a) kick ass grades
(b) 50%+ tuition paid, by the school, a trust fund, a rich aunt, savings from a job
(c) resignation to shitlaw/PD + IBR slavery

(a) is probably preferable, because from a t20-30 if you kick ass you can still get a great job. But it's nearly impossible to predict. (b) is really the only one you can know in advance.

I go to a t20-30, came in with a 50% scholarship, and have kicked serious ass so far (top 5%). I always thought I would do well, but maybe I just got lucky? Who the hell really knows. Moral of the story: unless you have (b) or (c), counting on (a) is a serious gamble at a t20-30.

What about great in-state tuition that will not put you in 200k debt? This is why I am considering a T28, otherwise I'd probably resign myself to my T14 waiting lists.

Anonymous User wrote:

DeeCee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Back on topic...

Here's the thing. If you're going to a t20-30, you need 1 or 2 of the following:

(a) kick ass grades
(b) 50%+ tuition paid, by the school, a trust fund, a rich aunt, savings from a job
(c) resignation to shitlaw/PD + IBR slavery

(a) is probably preferable, because from a t20-30 if you kick ass you can still get a great job. But it's nearly impossible to predict. (b) is really the only one you can know in advance.

I go to a t20-30, came in with a 50% scholarship, and have kicked serious ass so far (top 5%). I always thought I would do well, but maybe I just got lucky? Who the hell really knows. Moral of the story: unless you have (b) or (c), counting on (a) is a serious gamble at a t20-30.

What about great in-state tuition that will not put you in 200k debt? This is why I am considering a T28, otherwise I'd probably resign myself to my T14 waiting lists.

Anon from above here. First, "T28" LOL

The level of debt you're comfortable with is a personal thing, really. Obviously in-state is a much different calculus than private. Point is, if you're taking on six figures of debt, you basically HAVE to have biglaw in order to service that debt, and from a t20-30, biglaw is a huge gamble. If you're taking on an amount of debt where you don't NEED biglaw to survive (i.e. $50k or so), it's a totally different animal, in my opinion.

Anonymous User wrote:

DeeCee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Back on topic...

Here's the thing. If you're going to a t20-30, you need 1 or 2 of the following:

(a) kick ass grades
(b) 50%+ tuition paid, by the school, a trust fund, a rich aunt, savings from a job
(c) resignation to shitlaw/PD + IBR slavery

(a) is probably preferable, because from a t20-30 if you kick ass you can still get a great job. But it's nearly impossible to predict. (b) is really the only one you can know in advance.

I go to a t20-30, came in with a 50% scholarship, and have kicked serious ass so far (top 5%). I always thought I would do well, but maybe I just got lucky? Who the hell really knows. Moral of the story: unless you have (b) or (c), counting on (a) is a serious gamble at a t20-30.

What about great in-state tuition that will not put you in 200k debt? This is why I am considering a T28, otherwise I'd probably resign myself to my T14 waiting lists.

Anon from above here. First, "T28" LOL

The level of debt you're comfortable with is a personal thing, really. Obviously in-state is a much different calculus than private. Point is, if you're taking on six figures of debt, you basically HAVE to have biglaw in order to service that debt, and from a t20-30, biglaw is a huge gamble. If you're taking on an amount of debt where you don't NEED biglaw to survive (i.e. $50k or so), it's a totally different animal, in my opinion.

DeeCee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

DeeCee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Back on topic...

Here's the thing. If you're going to a t20-30, you need 1 or 2 of the following:

(a) kick ass grades
(b) 50%+ tuition paid, by the school, a trust fund, a rich aunt, savings from a job
(c) resignation to shitlaw/PD + IBR slavery

(a) is probably preferable, because from a t20-30 if you kick ass you can still get a great job. But it's nearly impossible to predict. (b) is really the only one you can know in advance.

I go to a t20-30, came in with a 50% scholarship, and have kicked serious ass so far (top 5%). I always thought I would do well, but maybe I just got lucky? Who the hell really knows. Moral of the story: unless you have (b) or (c), counting on (a) is a serious gamble at a t20-30.

What about great in-state tuition that will not put you in 200k debt? This is why I am considering a T28, otherwise I'd probably resign myself to my T14 waiting lists.

Anon from above here. First, "T28" LOL

The level of debt you're comfortable with is a personal thing, really. Obviously in-state is a much different calculus than private. Point is, if you're taking on six figures of debt, you basically HAVE to have biglaw in order to service that debt, and from a t20-30, biglaw is a huge gamble. If you're taking on an amount of debt where you don't NEED biglaw to survive (i.e. $50k or so), it's a totally different animal, in my opinion.

Yeah T28, guess I should have addressed it #28 but I think there's about 5 #28's and you get what I'm saying. The only reason I say this is because I'm looking at 17k tuition plus possible scholarship in a low COL area, versus 45k sticker and higher COL at numerous T14's (if I got off the WLs). And I never want to do biglaw, I want to do PI, so I feel like it's kind of a crapshoot for me either way. And I'm pretty uncomfortable with high debt, too.

Hopefully I didn't bring this too off-topic, but I'm just assessing my options by reading this thread.

Anonymous User wrote: If the #28 is in the geographic area you want to work, I'd probably go for that one. But I'm debt averse. And if you're looking for prestigious PI (ACLU, DOJ, etc) you may be better off eating sticker at a T14 (but not a lower one) and suffering through IBR for 10 years

MrAnon wrote:Nobody in the bottom half of your class will find a 50K job coming out. Funny how students seem to dream salaries like 35k and 40k into 55K jobs. If you wanted a 55K job next year then you should have started as a paralegal 3 years ago instead of going to law school.

HarlandBassett wrote:

MrAnon wrote:Nobody in the bottom half of your class will find a 50K job coming out. Funny how students seem to dream salaries like 35k and 40k into 55K jobs. If you wanted a 55K job next year then you should have started as a paralegal 3 years ago instead of going to law school.

i know a 24y.o mechanic who makes 78k in NYC (i just did his tax return.)

fatduck wrote:

HarlandBassett wrote:

MrAnon wrote:Nobody in the bottom half of your class will find a 50K job coming out. Funny how students seem to dream salaries like 35k and 40k into 55K jobs. If you wanted a 55K job next year then you should have started as a paralegal 3 years ago instead of going to law school.

i know a 24y.o mechanic who makes 78k in NYC (i just did his tax return.)

he probably went to HYS though

fatduck wrote:

HarlandBassett wrote:

MrAnon wrote:Nobody in the bottom half of your class will find a 50K job coming out. Funny how students seem to dream salaries like 35k and 40k into 55K jobs. If you wanted a 55K job next year then you should have started as a paralegal 3 years ago instead of going to law school.

i know a 24y.o mechanic who makes 78k in NYC (i just did his tax return.)

he probably went to HYS though

Anonymous User wrote:well this is depressing, I hope to be 1 in my class. But if I were to be median, maybe I would buck up, assure myself that I can get myself into the top third by 3L. But man, if I was worse than median, I would probably flee to amsterdam for the summer and reevaluate everything. Maybe I'd stay, or comeback start looking for nurses, because I figure an ambulance chaser has a good head start if your girl is handing out business cards. Or lift weights, reacquaint myself with romantic literature, look into childcare and find myself a doctor to settle down with. Or an heiress. That would be better. And I hear a lot of the time, a law student fares better with women before he graduates. I suck at cleaning, though.

SBL wrote:Bro, you keep asking, and people keep telling you: There is NO. WAY. that you will be making $55,000 coming out of the bottom-25% unless you find a job that is in another industry. Seriously.