What advice to give? Forum

[Johann]

oh dear god. without loan programs to fall back on, this dude is fucked no matter where he goes. he needs to become a citizen or whatever to take out federal loans. then reassess from there.

[Pragmatic Gun]

I like the idea of an illegal upholding the Constitution. Kind of cool that even foreigners love this country.

Also retake and apply early decision to Northwestern

[KangarooCourt13]

Gotta bring those numbers up in this economy.

[A. Nony Mouse]

FWIW, if your friend wants to do immigration law by representing immigrants like himself, the name brand of his school isn't likely to matter very much - he's going to be looking for work in very small firms or as a solo, and he'll get hired and get work based on networking and experience and all that good stuff. So I don't think *where* he goes is actually that big a deal.

HOWEVER, he definitely shouldn't be taking out loans, because he'll be shut out of the federal income-based repayment plans, and representing immigrants is usually not super lucrative at all, so he's likely to be crippling himself financially. With that GPA, even a modest increase in his LSAT would get him a full ride somewhere in California.

AND, of course, if he changes his mind about what he wants to do - which is always a risk when you're looking at 3 years of study in something most people have little prior experience with - he may start to look for opportunities where school name/placement will matter much more, so in that respect, a school with stronger placement is always better.

But I think his biggest priority has got to be eliminating debt.

(And if you mean something else by "immigration law," then the above is irrelevant.)

[Grunt2Grad]

FWIW, if your friend wants to do immigration law by representing immigrants like himself, the name brand of his school isn't likely to matter very much - he's going to be looking for work in very small firms or as a solo, and he'll get hired and get work based on networking and experience and all that good stuff. So I don't think *where* he goes is actually that big a deal.

HOWEVER, he definitely shouldn't be taking out loans, because he'll be shut out of the federal income-based repayment plans, and representing immigrants is usually not super lucrative at all, so he's likely to be crippling himself financially. With that GPA, even a modest increase in his LSAT would get him a full ride somewhere in California.

AND, of course, if he changes his mind about what he wants to do - which is always a risk when you're looking at 3 years of study in something most people have little prior experience with - he may start to look for opportunities where school name/placement will matter much more, so in that respect, a school with stronger placement is always better.

But I think his biggest priority has got to be eliminating debt.

(And if you mean something else by "immigration law," then the above is irrelevant.)

That is exactly what I mean by "immigration law" and from what he has conveyed to me I assume that is what he means as well. He has a few deposit deadlines this week and will need to make a choice. It sounds like he is leaning towards sitting out and retesting so we will see.