Not sure if I'm in a good position or terrible position... Forum

[Lebrarian_Booker]

Exactly. Which is why I'm saying that his total COA is pretty accurate - not low as others are suggesting.

WUSTL's tuition+fees is around $50k now. With no tuition guarantee program, I assume pretty much every school will raise costs by at least $2k/year. For 3 years of tuition, I get 52 + 54 + 56 = $162k. Minus scholarship = $42k. Do you really think you can live for 3 years in StL (or really, anywhere) for $10k/year? I have gone through periods of drastic cost cutting, and I have never lived on less than that.

Yeah, 72 total would be really low. These are the numbers I used for personal, books, transportation, and Room/Board respectively: 5,450, 2,000, 2,450, 9,251 and I'm much lower than the website for room/board. He is looking at around 100. But, seeing as that wasn't really part of his thread and he mentioned that his family will support his COL, it doesn't matter.

I don't know if you're in a terrible position, Leb, all I know is I'd take WUSTL at those numbers, and probably still will with a little lower.

Just to reiterate, as I mentioned above, $72 was the COA for 1 year before scholarship or anything, as taken from the WUSTL website.

I anticipate yearly living expenses to be ~$15k, and tuition to rise on average 4% per year.

[bound]

Exactly. Which is why I'm saying that his total COA is pretty accurate - not low as others are suggesting.

WUSTL's tuition+fees is around $50k now. With no tuition guarantee program, I assume pretty much every school will raise costs by at least $2k/year. For 3 years of tuition, I get 52 + 54 + 56 = $162k. Minus scholarship = $42k. Do you really think you can live for 3 years in StL (or really, anywhere) for $10k/year? I have gone through periods of drastic cost cutting, and I have never lived on less than that.

Sorry, I was jumping the gun as he said his parents are helping with COL...

[Lebrarian_Booker]

Exactly. Which is why I'm saying that his total COA is pretty accurate - not low as others are suggesting.

WUSTL's tuition+fees is around $50k now. With no tuition guarantee program, I assume pretty much every school will raise costs by at least $2k/year. For 3 years of tuition, I get 52 + 54 + 56 = $162k. Minus scholarship = $42k. Do you really think you can live for 3 years in StL (or really, anywhere) for $10k/year? I have gone through periods of drastic cost cutting, and I have never lived on less than that.

Sorry, I was jumping the gun as he said his parents are helping with COL...

Haha, gonna have that conversation this weekend when I fly in to visit them....so still pending, but fingers crossed at least part of rent or something...

[bound]

Exactly. Which is why I'm saying that his total COA is pretty accurate - not low as others are suggesting.

WUSTL's tuition+fees is around $50k now. With no tuition guarantee program, I assume pretty much every school will raise costs by at least $2k/year. For 3 years of tuition, I get 52 + 54 + 56 = $162k. Minus scholarship = $42k. Do you really think you can live for 3 years in StL (or really, anywhere) for $10k/year? I have gone through periods of drastic cost cutting, and I have never lived on less than that.

Sorry, I was jumping the gun as he said his parents are helping with COL...

Haha, gonna have that conversation this weekend when I fly in to visit them....so still pending, but fingers crossed at least part of rent or something...

Haha I'll be crossing my fingers for you!!

[BigZuck]

Yeah, so, what's the 3 year cost of attendance for each school when you plug everything into the Georgetown law calculator?

I can't tell because of all the noise.

WUSTL might make sense if its like 70K and you're cool with no big law

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

Sorry, I was jumping the gun as he said his parents are helping with COL...

No worries haha, I am being pedantic. OP, I'd recommend WUSTL, but you may wish to disabuse yourself of the notion of securing biglaw from any of these schools. In addition, from what I've read from WUSTL students, StL biglaw is impossible for those without ties, which reduces your potential biglaw markets. At that cost, however, it is not a terrible financial decision. Really though, your other options are not even worth considering. It comes down to WUSTL and retake, and if you really really want biglaw, then retaking seems to be the only play.

[Lebrarian_Booker]

Yeah, so, what's the 3 year cost of attendance for each school when you plug everything into the Georgetown law calculator?

I can't tell because of all the noise.

WUSTL might make sense if its like 70K and you're cool with no big law

LST shows 23% going to large firms...is that so low (taking into account that not everyone goes there shooting for it) that you'd rule it out?

[Lebrarian_Booker]

Sorry, I was jumping the gun as he said his parents are helping with COL...

No worries haha, I am being pedantic. OP, I'd recommend WUSTL, but you may wish to disabuse yourself of the notion of securing biglaw from any of these schools. In addition, from what I've read from WUSTL students, StL biglaw is impossible for those without ties, which reduces your potential biglaw markets. At that cost, however, it is not a terrible financial decision. Really though, your other options are not even worth considering. It comes down to WUSTL and retake, and if you really really want biglaw, then retaking seems to be the only play.

Thanks for the advice. Are there other options for making good money post law school aside from BigLaw?

[BigZuck]

Yeah, so, what's the 3 year cost of attendance for each school when you plug everything into the Georgetown law calculator?

I can't tell because of all the noise.

WUSTL might make sense if its like 70K and you're cool with no big law

LST shows 23% going to large firms...is that so low (taking into account that not everyone goes there shooting for it) that you'd rule it out?

Yeah, basically. You might get the grades and you might not. Also, if you have anything else going for you (URM, good work experience, super likeable, super hotness) then your odds might be somewhat better but if you're a schmo your odds will be highly grade dependent. Law school grades are too unpredictable to assume anything but median and median ain't getting big law. You might be able to snag a 40-60K small law/local gov job at median though. That's probably your most likely outcome. If you're cool with that, then cheap WUSTL is just fine.

I have no idea how much WUSTL will cost the OP though cuz noise.

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

Zuck: roughly $100k, minus any family help he may receive. If he lives modestly (no car, e.g.), it may even be $90k before outside help.

OP: first year salaries are definitely bimodal (http://www.nalp.org/salarydistrib), but once you get your foot in the door, many legal fields can be quite profitable. It may be worth looking into local/state/fed gov jobs because they have excellent benefits and job security. Imo, if you have an SO that works and minimize your debt, an upper-middle class lifestyle is very possible from non-biglaw careers.

[Lebrarian_Booker]

Goddammit. I think I need the retake and that sweet sweet T14 taste.

Going around for a 3rd lap...

[chuckbass]

Goddammit. I think I need the retake and that sweet sweet T14 taste.

Going around for a 3rd lap...

Would you be ok with retaking and sitting out this cycle?

[03152016]

Goddammit. I think I need the retake and that sweet sweet T14 taste.

Going around for a 3rd lap...

Good call. If your goal is biglaw, these schools aren't great options. You don't have to bump up that score much to get T14 + $.