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Loans and scholarships for tuition and housing but what if you want to go out for drinks and pay your cell phone bill?

most law schools have a personal expenses total in their cost of attendance. You can take out loans for the total cost of attendance- which surpasses just tuition and housing.
a lot of schools tend to inflate living/personal expenses totals too (imo), to make sure that people can take out enough loans to cover things.

stewie27 wrote:most law schools have a personal expenses total in their cost of attendance. You can take out loans for the total cost of attendance- which surpasses just tuition and housing.
a lot of schools tend to inflate living/personal expenses totals too (imo), to make sure that people can take out enough loans to cover things.

Thanks. Do any law students work PT jobs on campus, say helping out in the library for with a professor?

2Ls often work in the library or do similar jobs. get a part time job. wait tables, work from home. if you're a grown up (i.e. if you've had a job before l.s.) you will be able to find a good work-school balance. people overreact to this. as if you're going to spend every waking hour on school (and as if that would actually be beneficial).

amonynous_ivdinidual wrote:2Ls often work in the library or do similar jobs. get a part time job. wait tables, work from home. if you're a grown up (i.e. if you've had a job before l.s.) you will be able to find a good work-school balance. people overreact to this. as if you're going to spend every waking hour on school want to have a life (and as ifthat would actually be beneficial).

I mean really how much can you make at a part time job as a law student? Min wage? Is min wage really worth the time you could spend relaxing, socializing, working out, or cooking healthy meals?

Personally, I do not have a lot of free time to concentrate on things that are important to me, other than school. I would not trade what little I have for 10 dollars/hour.

Does having a part-time job have any effect on your loans? It would be nice to not have to buy those beers at 8% interest

I plan on using my English major to edit other students' papers part-time, either other law students or students in different programs at the school I attend.

swc65 wrote:

amonynous_ivdinidual wrote:2Ls often work in the library or do similar jobs. get a part time job. wait tables, work from home. if you're a grown up (i.e. if you've had a job before l.s.) you will be able to find a good work-school balance. people overreact to this. as if you're going to spend every waking hour on school want to have a life (and as ifthat would actually be beneficial).

I mean really how much can you make at a part time job as a law student? Min wage? Is min wage really worth the time you could spend relaxing, socializing, working out, or cooking healthy meals?

Personally, I do not have a lot of free time to concentrate on things that are important to me, other than school. I would not trade what little I have for 10 dollars/hour.

i've got a gig that pays more than that. and i don't think it's that hard to come up with something if you put in some effort. but everyone's different. for me, every dollar i make is a dollar i don't have to finance. and i've got all weekend to recover. but i'm 26, and i'm not interested in treating law school like undergrad.

zonto wrote:I plan on using my English major to edit other students' papers part-time, either other law students or students in different programs at the school I attend.

Plan on being broke, dude lol. Nah just messing with you, but seriously if you plan on editing other students' papers then you're not going to make much money, at least during 1L. You probably won't have the time, and if you did, it wouldn't matter because there are no "papers" to grade during 1L at most places. Grades = finals = 1 exam per class.

But to answer the OP's question directly - you're most likely source will be financial aid/loans. I don't know your particular situation/school but the general rule is that if you don't have a generous parent/relative then you're pretty much forced to loans. It sucks, but long-term debt is best put out of your while while you're "in the shit" during 1L, IMO.

I take pictures of ugly babies, young children, people's spoiled pets, and have done three weddings (photographing them) while being in school. Pays the bills.

I'm sure many popele here could be an LSAT tutor...

gbpackerbacker wrote:I'm sure many popele here could be an LSAT tutor...

That's actually true.. I didn't even really think about that. I wouldn't mind being one myself, I'm sure it pays good.. but my guess is that a good/great score is a prerequisite. Since mine was shit, it never occurred to me to try that lol but no way I'm taking that test a 4th time for a part-time job!

sethc wrote:

gbpackerbacker wrote:I'm sure many popele here could be an LSAT tutor...

That's actually true.. I didn't even really think about that. I wouldn't mind being one myself, I'm sure it pays good.. but my guess is that a good/great score is a prerequisite. Since mine was shit, it never occurred to me to try that lol but no way I'm taking that test a 4th time for a part-time job!

Most LSAT Prep Courses require a 175+ for tutor applicants.

I am buying a house to live in for LS. I have a merit a scholarship that is going to be about 75% tuition. I am still going to take out loans for for the 25% tuition and $$ to live on. But instead of throwing away money on rent, I will be throwing it into equity on the home. My roommates will be providing me with spending money and principal payments with their half of rent. After school hopefully the housing market will be back on the rise when I decide to sell the house. If not, I could still always rent it out. If all goes right, I will break even or even make money during the three years of Law School.

I will give a little disclosure and say my father is helping out with 10% of my 20% down payment.

ill be working 2 jobs this summer to make sure I have enough spending and OH SHOOT! money.
summer will suck, but it will go by fast.

Being a prep tutor would suck, any free time you have would go out the door and it could conceivably affect your grades when exam crunch-time rolls around.

The only exception is if the company were willing to let you go straight into personal tutoring where you can make better money and work far less hours.

On that note I'm living in stupidly expensive NYC, but I opted for Columbia's cheaper housing option and the result is like $1,100 a month in discretionary spending.

sanjola wrote: Most LSAT Prep Courses require a 175+ for tutor applicants.

Haven't seen one that high yet. Kaplan only requires 90th percentile, Powerscore requires 99th percentile, and I think Testmasters requires 98th percentile.

zonto wrote:I plan on using my English major to edit other students' papers part-time, either other law students or students in different programs at the school I attend.

I know at my school and at least a few others it is against the honor code to discuss memos or briefs with other students, and those are the only papers that we get. But, tutoring and editing for undergrads does work.

stewie27 wrote:most law schools have a personal expenses total in their cost of attendance. You can take out loans for the total cost of attendance- which surpasses just tuition and housing.
a lot of schools tend to inflate living/personal expenses totals too (imo), to make sure that people can take out enough loans to cover things.

Not in New York, unfortunately.

I was setting aside money, but my appendix nearly ruptured while I was on vacation and long-story-short I'm going to need a part-time job.

gens1tb wrote:I was setting aside money, but my appendix nearly ruptured while I was on vacation and long-story-short I'm going to need a part-time job.

Bad idea.

What about during 2L and 3L? Is there any way to get paid for part time legal work?

rebexness wrote:

jbarl1 wrote:

gens1tb wrote:I was setting aside money, but my appendix nearly ruptured while I was on vacation and long-story-short I'm going to need a part-time job.

Bad idea.

Isn't it more of "not-legal per ABA" vs "Bad Idea"? At least as a 1L first semester?

I thought the ABA does not allow you to work more than 20 hrs/wk during law school. I'm hoping to get something, since even during grad school I worked as a TA/RA 20 hrs/wk. Can 1Ls not work?

DeeCee wrote:

rebexness wrote:

jbarl1 wrote:

gens1tb wrote:I was setting aside money, but my appendix nearly ruptured while I was on vacation and long-story-short I'm going to need a part-time job.

Bad idea.

Isn't it more of "not-legal per ABA" vs "Bad Idea"? At least as a 1L first semester?

I thought the ABA does not allow you to work more than 20 hrs/wk during law school. I'm hoping to get something, since even during grad school I worked as a TA/RA 20 hrs/wk. Can 1Ls not work?

Yes, I am under the impression that 1Ls are not allowed to work without special permission (I do not know anyone who has gotten it). And it is a bad idea because you won't have time to study as much as you need to, eat right, exercise and have a remnant of a social life to stay sane and work. This isn't like your undergrad work, so the scheduling can't really be compared to that.