Denied for Bar Study Loan - Any Ideas? Forum

[duo600]

I've been denied for a Bar Study Loan and now I don't know what to do. My credit score is not very good because I've been unable to pay off my credit cards (which are almost maxed out) during law school. I've been making monthly payments but haven't been able to bring them down over the past few years. This is irresponsible of me, yes, I know, but I've been putting essentials on them just to stay afloat.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any tips? I have a clerkship starting in the fall but won't have any income before that. I certainly won't have enough for the $4000 BarBri course, let alone that $2000 I'll probably need for rent and food and bills for 3 months.

Has this happened to anyone before? My parents have declared bankruptcy so they're not the best cosigners.

[I.P. Daly]

Can you move in with a family member for the summer? Cheaper bar study options include: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0#p6185210

You can try applying for food stamps (it may be difficult because you're not working/actively looking).

[specialblend35]

I just talked to my financial aid office today to inquire as to whether my school had the ability to help us get federal student loan money for bar registration and/or prep course fees. She told me that Congress recently passed a law (like past couple weeks--might have been the fiscal cliff bill) that allows students to recoup/borrow against some of the origination fees that were generated from their loans. She didn't give me a ton of details, but she basically said I could go in and adjust my award letter upwards of $1,600 and use that for those expenses. I know its not the $6k or whatever you need, and I don't know if the amount varies based on how much you've already borrowed, but you should give your financial aid office a call and see if they know anything about this new policy. If I'm able to do it at my school you should be able to do it at yours. It wouldn't require a cosigner since you already presumably qualify for grad plus/direct loans, and it would just be added to your regular student loan debt which you could forebear/defer/IBR.

[duo600]

Thank you very much for these suggestions. Looks like Kaplan is about half as much as BarBri so I might try that as one way to bring down costs ($4k v. $2k). I'm thinking maybe I can get a cosigner for a quick and dirty 4k loan that could probably tide me over for the months that I'll be studying.

Anyone want to discourage Kaplan over BarBri?

[5ky]

Themis is only like $1500, and I've heard mostly good things about it.

edit: Also, were you denied from the thing you can do with Barbri where you don't pay until November for the course? I assume you'll take some interest, but you would with any loan. If that's what you were denied from, then carry on. I also don't know a lot about it.

[izy223]

just saying i know a guy who knows a guy who downloaded the barbri course for free.

[thesealocust]

In no particular order:

(1) Get a job, plenty of people before you have studied for and passed the bar while working. Even waiting tables will ease the burden.

(2) Do the $100 bar review course. It's good.

(3) Pay for used BarBri materials. The instructors add very little value over the books/lessons/outlines and they can be had for much less online.

This almost feels too obvious to say, but if you have credit problems the solution is probably not finding a way to get more loans. In fact, that's kind of the opposite of what you should be trying to do.

[AntiNerd]

In no particular order:

(1) Get a job, plenty of people before you have studied for and passed the bar while working. Even waiting tables will ease the burden.

(2) Do the $100 bar review course. It's good.

(3) Pay for used BarBri materials. The instructors add very little value over the books/lessons/outlines and they can be had for much less online.

This almost feels too obvious to say, but if you have credit problems the solution is probably not finding a way to get more loans. In fact, that's kind of the opposite of what you should be trying to do.

Get. A. Paying. Job. Studying for the bar is rough but get a cushy job (security desk/Cash for Gold guy at the mall/a job where you can sit around) where you can sit around, get paid $7.50 an hour, and study for the bar.

[AntiNerd]

In no particular order:

(1) Get a job, plenty of people before you have studied for and passed the bar while working. Even waiting tables will ease the burden.

(2) Do the $100 bar review course. It's good.

(3) Pay for used BarBri materials. The instructors add very little value over the books/lessons/outlines and they can be had for much less online.

This almost feels too obvious to say, but if you have credit problems the solution is probably not finding a way to get more loans. In fact, that's kind of the opposite of what you should be trying to do.

Get. A. Paying. Job. Studying for the bar is rough but get a cushy job (security desk/Cash for Gold guy at the mall/a job where you can sit around) where you can sit around, get paid $7.50 an hour, and study for the bar.

[_crystal_m]

My fiancé paid 1500 for barbri for this upcoming bar. Do you have reps on your campus?

[XxSpyKEx]

Get some more credit cards?? I mean it sounds like you're going to be filing bankruptcy on the ones you have now anyways, so why not just rack it up some more for bar prep? Although, you really shouldn't waste $4k on the barbri course. It's a complete waste of money. You can likely get all the bar books for your state on ebay for around $200 used. The only things you won't get are the ungodly boring lectures (which, I shit you not, are nothing but prerecorded videos that they play back) and there are 2 essays you complete at some point that are graded by barbri, which is completely worthless (you're seriously better off just comparing your answers with the model answer).

[timbs4339]

I was in a similar situation. I had a clerkship and did not want to take on a bar prep loan, but my parents also couldn't give me any money.

I didn't sign up for a bar prep course. Cost was $0 since I got free books from some LLM friends. Yes, they were 1-2 years old, but the "bar law" does not change appreciably from year to year. I worked part-time for a law firm during the school year and until two weeks before the exam, so I had a nice cushion for the months ahead. You can also ask questions or borrow materials from your friends taking Barbri and the TLS Bar Prep thread was great.

A friend also told me that he went back to the financial aid office and requested more Gradplus loans, saying his COL estimates were lower than previously expected.

[dood]

In no particular order:

(1) Get a job, plenty of people before you have studied for and passed the bar while working. Even waiting tables will ease the burden.

(2) Do the $100 bar review course. It's good.

(3) Pay for used BarBri materials. The instructors add very little value over the books/lessons/outlines and they can be had for much less online.

This almost feels too obvious to say, but if you have credit problems the solution is probably not finding a way to get more loans. In fact, that's kind of the opposite of what you should be trying to do.

(1) and (2) themis is what my friend did, he passed.