Talk me into UVA Forum

[bruceaquizzer1]

Have you tried negotiating with W&L??

[RedWhite&Blonde]

FYI, UVA typically doesn't negotiate, much less consider scholarships from say, GULC or lesser ranked schools.

That said, UVA has FAR more resources than any of the other schools and is pretty well-rounded, which lets OP keep their options open. If the thread is titled "Talk Me into UVa," OP's desired school seems clear. I think that speaks for itself.

I'd highly recommend looking into the loan repayment plan (plus loan forgiveness after 10 yrs in PI).

[UVAIce]

With a $20k a year scholarship and a wife working to cover living expenses, how on earth are you taking out $200k in student debt to pay for UVA in-state tuition?

[Otunga]

With a $20k a year scholarship and a wife working to cover living expenses, how on earth are you taking out $200k in student debt to pay for UVA in-state tuition?

I had a 20k per year scholarship from UVA a couple years ago and Georgetown's COL calculator outputted around a 200k debt total. Of course, that number included COL debt, so maybe OP's true debt total (with in-state) is closer to 140k or so.

[daleearnhardt123]

OP you are instate, living at home, and receiving a 20k scholly at UVA.

Resident tuition next year is 56,300. Times 3 = 168,900. Subtract your 60k (20k a year) and you're at 108,900. Because you are living at home, your only living expenses are those you would incur with or without law school. I refuse to believe that the other costs associated with UVA (books, loan interest, etc.) bump your COA from 108,900 to over 200k.

[fliptrip]

OP you are instate, living at home, and receiving a 20k scholly at UVA.

Resident tuition next year is 56,300. Times 3 = 168,900. Subtract your 60k (20k a year) and you're at 108,900. Because you are living at home, your only living expenses are those you would incur with or without law school. I refuse to believe that the other costs associated with UVA (books, loan interest, etc.) bump your COA from 108,900 to over 200k.

OP's COA (all-in, with fees and interest) assuming just tuition as his costs is $138k. In-state tuition has gone up 4.8% annualized since 2011.

[seashell.economy]

+1 on it being difficult to retake when you are older w/ a job + a family. I'm in the same boat and decided against a retake and waiting an extra year. FWIW, I wouldn't move the family. I did that so I could attend a fancy pants undergrad to finish up my BA (after a long absence from UG) and even with a full scholly + all expenses paid COL, uprooting older children is really hard on them. I would stay in-state if I had the opportunity to do it over.

[you what]

Have you tried negotiating with W&L??

Yes, currently waiting to hear back from them. I asked for something closer to full tuition.

[you what]

OP you are instate, living at home, and receiving a 20k scholly at UVA.

Resident tuition next year is 56,300. Times 3 = 168,900. Subtract your 60k (20k a year) and you're at 108,900. Because you are living at home, your only living expenses are those you would incur with or without law school. I refuse to believe that the other costs associated with UVA (books, loan interest, etc.) bump your COA from 108,900 to over 200k.

To clarify, I'm far enough away that I think I'd need a place during the week. My goal is to be home on weekends. But I could totally share with someone, so that would cut my living expenses. That's why the estimate is closer to $200K. I think really it will be closer to $170, though. Seems to depend which online calculator you use.

[UVAIce]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

[Tls2016]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

OP doesn't seem familiar wig the cost of living near UVA. Maybe you have some advice or suggestions to lower costs? He is going to be maintaining two places.

[UVAIce]

But only one of those residences has to be (potentially) funded through debt. If I were OP I would look into short-term rentals or someone willing to sublet him a room on a monthly basis. That's assuming the commute is longer than an hour. Many of my friends made the Charlottesville to Richmond commute for a semester or more. Plus, it's pretty rare to have classes every single day of the week (other than 1L), especially once you're a 2l and 3L. It would not be that difficult to create a Tuesday/Thursday only schedule or Monday/Wednesday/(potentially)Friday schedule if you're not "that" picky about classes.

Even if OP chose to rent, it's fairly easy to find a roommate. With a roommate you're probably looking at paying ~$600 a month to live in C'ville. A couple of my friends were living on around $1,000 per month. There are a lot of free food/fun events that go on around the law school and campus. On top of that you're going to be pretty slammed as a 1L, so you're not exactly going to be out partying every night.

[Tiago Splitter]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

As fliptrip said it's 138k if he only borrows for tuition. Doesn't seem like it'd take much to get up over 170k from there.

[UVAIce]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

As fliptrip said it's 138k if he only borrows for tuition. Doesn't seem like it'd take much to get up over 170k from there.

For the normal student, sure, but he is in a situation where there is an actual income coming and he has a residence in Virginia. I'm not going to ask what his family is going to pull in net while he isn't working, but if OP has some flexibility to stay within a particular budget he could probably pull it off without borrowing (or at least significantly less borrowing) COA. And it's Central Virginia, not NYC or a big metro area, you can live really cheap in Charlottesville and not have to live in a dangerous part of town to do so.

But, if he can do it for UVA he can probably do it for W&L (or maybe in W&M, but being close to Williamsburg would put him on the wrong side of Virginia for me to think of it as "rural") depending on where he lives in rural Virginia. W&L and W&M are not bad schools, and certainly not bad schools to practice in Virginia, but UVA really opens a lot of doors in the state (not to mention nationally). There is also some crazy rural attorney program in Virginia where you can get LRAP from the school for being in private practice and making less than $75k a year (that's assuming you want to practice in rural Virginia). My advice would be to take $0 in debt for either a W&L or W&M degree, regardless of your career plans.

[Tls2016]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

As fliptrip said it's 138k if he only borrows for tuition. Doesn't seem like it'd take much to get up over 170k from there.

For the normal student, sure, but he is in a situation where there is an actual income coming and he has a residence in Virginia. I'm not going to ask what his family is going to pull in net while he isn't working, but if OP has some flexibility to stay within a particular budget he could probably pull it off without borrowing (or at least significantly less borrowing) COA. And it's Central Virginia, not NYC or a big metro area, you can live really cheap in Charlottesville and not have to live in a dangerous part of town to do so.

But, if he can do it for UVA he can probably do it for W&L (or maybe in W&M, but being close to Williamsburg would put him on the wrong side of Virginia for me to think of it as "rural") depending on where he lives in rural Virginia. W&L and W&M are not bad schools, and certainly not bad schools to practice in Virginia, but UVA really opens a lot of doors in the state (not to mention nationally). There is also some crazy rural attorney program in Virginia where you can get LRAP from the school for being in private practice and making less than $75k a year (that's assuming you want to practice in rural Virginia). My advice would be to take $0 in debt for either a W&L or W&M degree, regardless of your career plans.

I tried to find that plan. I had not heard of it before reading Virginias LRAP. Why isn't this coming up in other threads? Maybe everyone says they want biglaw.

[fliptrip]

Even $170k is just a completely absurd high number for your cost of attendance unless you have no impulse control or financial sense.

As fliptrip said it's 138k if he only borrows for tuition. Doesn't seem like it'd take much to get up over 170k from there.

For the normal student, sure, but he is in a situation where there is an actual income coming and he has a residence in Virginia. I'm not going to ask what his family is going to pull in net while he isn't working, but if OP has some flexibility to stay within a particular budget he could probably pull it off without borrowing (or at least significantly less borrowing) COA. And it's Central Virginia, not NYC or a big metro area, you can live really cheap in Charlottesville and not have to live in a dangerous part of town to do so.

But, if he can do it for UVA he can probably do it for W&L (or maybe in W&M, but being close to Williamsburg would put him on the wrong side of Virginia for me to think of it as "rural") depending on where he lives in rural Virginia. W&L and W&M are not bad schools, and certainly not bad schools to practice in Virginia, but UVA really opens a lot of doors in the state (not to mention nationally). There is also some crazy rural attorney program in Virginia where you can get LRAP from the school for being in private practice and making less than $75k a year (that's assuming you want to practice in rural Virginia). My advice would be to take $0 in debt for either a W&L or W&M degree, regardless of your career plans.

I really spend too much time here, I admit, but the idea of the rural Virginia lawyer program caused me to imagine becoming the judge from My Cousin Vinny. I then thought how much I'd enjoy that life.

(that judge went to Yale though)

(have people actually seen My Cousin Vinny? I'm an old, so I don't always know what's a useful reference)