Thinking of attending UMiami.. Forum

[DeSilentio2728]

Why on earth don't you just put in an application now for Florida International Law School if your only other option is WVU, you are concerned about your debt load, and you have a family. You may not get biglaw after graduating, but you didn't have much of a chance at Miami or WVU either.

[jtgain]

Why on earth don't you just put in an application now for Florida International Law School if your only other option is WVU, you are concerned about your debt load, and you have a family. You may not get biglaw after graduating, but you didn't have much of a chance at Miami or WVU either.

I am thinking that Miami will give me a much greater opportunity than FIU. After touring FIU, I was very unimpressed. Yes, $175,000 worth of unimpressed. Plus there is zero alumni network there and zero chance of BigLaw. And I'll probably get mugged coming and going from campus.

I applied and withdrew from FIU.

[gdane]

I went to FIU and our law school still has a long way to go. Its not bad, just young.

To the original poster, please dont count on anything that isnt definite. Dont count on Biglaw and dont count on IBR. Like I said, the legal market is not going to get any better in Miami any time soon. The Florida/Miami economy is terrible and it will stay this way for at least 2 more years.

To qualify for IBR you need to work a specific job and have a certain income. Believe it or not, these jobs are difficult to come across because so many people want to do IBR. It is not a sure thing that you can take this path.

I would retake the LSAT, try to get a higher score and see if Miami offers you any aid next year. Being $75K in debt is much better than $150k.

Dont do it. Dont go to UM. Its not worth it. Too much debt, not enough opportunities.

[beesknees]

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[DeSilentio2728]

Why on earth don't you just put in an application now for Florida International Law School if your only other option is WVU, you are concerned about your debt load, and you have a family. You may not get biglaw after graduating, but you didn't have much of a chance at Miami or WVU either.

I am thinking that Miami will give me a much greater opportunity than FIU. After touring FIU, I was very unimpressed. Yes, $175,000 worth of unimpressed. Plus there is zero alumni network there and zero chance of BigLaw. And I'll probably get mugged coming and going from campus.

I applied and withdrew from FIU.

Sounds like you are not thinking responsibly about your options. Given your age, the fact that you apparently are already living in Miami, and the fact that your kids are going to need to have their father helping them with college, not them helping their father pay off his debt, then I would say that FIU part-time while working is a decent, cheap alternative in your getting a JD, and then enter into PI with the goal of looking for a good pension.

UM isn't going to offer you that many more options, and should be reserved for those who got good scholarships, or who are still young (thus have a longer career horizon), etc...

If you weren't able to get into UF or FSU or a better school this year, or you don't think that you can get into a better school after retaking the LSAT next year, then how on earth can you justify your being able to beat out 90% of your classmates at UM to get biglaw knowing full well that a lot of them could have easily gotten into top schools but chose UM either for location or because of high scholarship offers.

Don't make your decision based on your assumption that you will get a biglaw job after graduating, but make your decision on the fact that you will probably just have a so so job. You can still shoot for biglaw during law school, but it would be foolish to make your decisions now based on some assumption that you are going to be in the top 10% of your class.

[jtgain]

I'm looking at some of the employment data coming out of UM. It seems that there are several graduates working in BigLaw reporting a starting salary of $160k/yr.

Is this just a very, very fortunate select few? The real go getters? Is UM lying about these numbers? Because if I could get one of those jobs, then the $175k doesn't look so bad.

[gdane]

Sigh...

Yes those numbers encompass a few lucky individuals. Every school is going to have graduates that go to $160k jobs right away. This doesnt mean that every student is going to get those jobs. More people would go to UM if they placed all their graduates in biglaw jobs.

The consensus on here is that you dont do this. Its just not worth it. You seem to be hoping and praying that things work out. You seem to be banking on the idea that you'll get a Biglaw jobs. It can happen, but it also may not. You cant be sure of that.

[Herb Watchfell]

And I'll probably get mugged coming and going from campus.

STFU.

[fcowrx]

And I'll probably get mugged coming and going from campus.

STFU.

Lol seriously. Don't be ignorant.. While the campus isn't in the Coral Gables area it's definitely not in a bad neighborhood.

[redvelvetccake]

And I'll probably get mugged coming and going from campus.

STFU.

Lol seriously. Don't be ignorant.. While the campus isn't in the Coral Gables area it's definitely not in a bad neighborhood.

Agreed. I got lost less than a mile from UM (I use University Credit and made a wrong turn leaving) and I felt the need to make sure all my doors were locked even though it was a weekday and 5PM. UM might be in the Gables, but the area surrounding the area of the Gables it's in isn't ideal. And the area around FIU is not that bad.

UM is not that great of a school to pay sticker price for, especially with the Miami legal market as saturated as it is.

[redvelvetccake]

And of course, the moment I say the area around FIU isn't that bad, there is an assault near the law school. I'll call my own fail.

[redvelvetccake]

And of course, the moment I say the area around FIU isn't that bad, there is an assault near the law school. I'll call my own fail.

In my defense, the area is usually safe. The stupid fair next door opened tonight and there is a problem every single year with them.

[beesknees]

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[PDaddy]

Well if he has 25K going in it might be pretty tough to keep debt below 75K after three years of law school.

Damn if its down to Miami and WVU...maybe sit out a cycle and try again. The next cycle may not be competitive as this one. I was considering Miami but the price scared me off. Where do you want to work? What kind of law do you want to do? If you can get in state at UF or FSU its cheaper, if not, you aren't saving much money over Miami. Maybe look at other schools throughout the southeast if that is where you want to practice and can save you money.

Put a gun to my head between WVU and Miami then I pick Miami. At least I'll enjoy the climate, culture and women in Miami as I work to pay off my debt.

I don't see anything inherently "wrong" with absorbing $75K in "law school debt", in addition to UG debt. It's a means to a worthy end. I might not even have a problem with taking on $100K in law school debt, but it depends. I would try to cap it off there. No school is worth going over that unless it HYS CCN. OP should remember that he gets to work for at least two summers and can work part-time during his last one or two years. He can potentially shave from $40-80K off of his total debt just by doing that and spending wisely. Again, it depends on the school, the internships, his grades, etc.

[redvelvetccake]

Besides that little pocket (read: 4-5 blocks) on the south Miami side of Red, its really not in a dangerous neighborhood. Its Coral Gables, for crying out loud, not Liberty City or Overtown. Just don't go running the loop around campus alone at night (which I actually used to do quite frequently, but that was dumb). Of course, in any urban area, you have to be alert and realize that the rough side of town is often just a few blocks away from the nice areas.

Oh absolutely. I didn't mean that it's a dangerous area in particular. I guess mostly it just drives me crazy when people assume that because something is in the Gables it is completely safe. I was actually just having this conversation with my brother the other day. I went to visit a school that I had read on here was in a kind of "rundown, sketchy" area but it was definitely no different than a lot of places in Miami that I don't mind at all driving through at night by myself.

[Herb Watchfell]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/n ... ayerkilled

I retract my previous statement.