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So on the heels of what is almost surely a waitlist at Vandy, I am thinking about sending in the ED agreement for UVA. Paying sticker has always been a big issue for me, which is why I didn't ED back when they had a real deadline. I have no interest in Big Law and am not set on a specific market...just Mid-Atlantic generally. I really love Virginia and, with my stats, ED is probably the only reasonable shot I have. I do have 2 T14 acceptances so far, but probably no money from them, a half-ride at Minnesota and am hoping for money from W & L. What would you do? Is UVA really worth $60k+/year if you don't want Big Law?

IBR. Income-Based Repayment. It's a new federal loan repayment option.

Look it up, read all about it. If you like it, if you trust it, ED to UVA.

I'm paying close to sticker but I calculated I'll end up never having to pay back $100k of the debt I'm accruing if I go PI and use IBR. It helps erase a lot of the debt for people who go into PI jobs, and create manageable loan payments for what you do pay back.

Chromakey wrote:So on the heels of what is almost surely a waitlist at Vandy, I am thinking about sending in the ED agreement for UVA. Paying sticker has always been a big issue for me, which is why I didn't ED back when they had a real deadline. I have no interest in Big Law and am not set on a specific market...just Mid-Atlantic generally. I really love Virginia and, with my stats, ED is probably the only reasonable shot I have. I do have 2 T14 acceptances so far, but probably no money from them, a half-ride at Minnesota and am hoping for money from W & L. What would you do? Is UVA really worth $60k+/year if you don't want Big Law?

what do you want? If you just want to be a public defender, go with cheap state flagship.

Kohinoor wrote:what do you want? If you just want to be a public defender, go with cheap state flagship.

Isn't UVA the cheap state flagship for Virginia? It's certainly the flagship public school, and it's not like tuition's that much worse than any of the nearby law schools.

Just do it.

vanwinkle wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:what do you want? If you just want to be a public defender, go with cheap state flagship.

Isn't UVA the cheap state flagship for Virginia? It's certainly the flagship public school, and it's not like tuition's that much worse than any of the nearby law schools.

UVA isn't a cheap state school. Virginia residents pay $38,800 for one years tuition, the figure goes up to $58,000 for one year once you factor in room and board, books, etc. Nonresidents are charged $43,800 for tuition.

Compare this to William and Mary's in-state tuition of $21,646 (and $31,846 for nonresidents). George Mason charges residents and nonresidents $20,556 and $34,220, respectively.

W&M and GMU are significantly cheaper options for VA residents than UVA.

thatsnotmyname wrote:UVA isn't a cheap state school. Virginia residents pay $38,800 for one years tuition, the figure goes up to $58,000 for one year once you factor in room and board, books, etc. Nonresidents are charged $43,800 for tuition.

Compare this to William and Mary's in-state tuition of $21,646 (and $31,846 for nonresidents). George Mason charges residents and nonresidents $20,556 and $34,220, respectively.

W&M and GMU are significantly cheaper options for VA residents than UVA.

Wow, that's a bigger difference than I thought.

I'd still prefer to go to UVA and use IBR. Since COL is going to be very similar across VA, you're really looking at about a $10k/yr difference in cost and getting a much better degree for it.

Yea but you can actually get a job if you go to UVA

Which T-14? (Cornell and Georgetown?) I'd personally probably wait it out and see if you get any aid.

Only certain jobs qualify for LRAP and I don't think most people who quote IBR on here actually know its details. A lot of PI jobs are very competitive to obtain now and so are government jobs. I'd probably wait it out and if I don't like my options, retake and reapply next year, which will help you wait out the economy anyway. This is a bad time to ED anywhere unless your parents are paying.

postitnotes wrote:Which T-14? (Cornell and Georgetown?) I'd personally probably wait it out and see if you get any aid.

Only certain jobs qualify for LRAP and I don't think most people who quote IBR on here actually know its details. A lot of PI jobs are very competitive to obtain now and so are government jobs. I'd probably wait it out and if I don't like my options, retake and reapply next year, which will help you wait out the economy anyway. This is a bad time to ED anywhere unless your parents are paying.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. Cornell and Georgetown are my other T14 options. Looking at LSN, it doesn't look like I have much of a shot at money at either. Penn and UVA are the only other T14 I applied to and I'm a "weak consider" at both. My interest is in criminal law and I would like to do at least a few years in the PD office to cut my teeth. Beyond that I have a huge interest in capital convictions and am attracted to organizations like the Innocence Project, though I know any staff positions there are limited and extremely competitive.

As far as reapplying or retaking, I'm only considering that as a last option. Because of my age and the current climate in the industry I'm working in now, I don't really want to wait another year. If I retook the LSAT, I'm not sure I would improve that much (I averaged a 173-174 on PTs). The problem is my GPA.

Should I wait it out a couple weeks and hope UVA doesn't make a decision on my app? Still waiting to hear from WUSTL and W & M and it seems like I might have a shot at significant money at W & L. Would anyone choose W & L with $$$ over UVA sticker?

Chromakey wrote:

postitnotes wrote:Which T-14? (Cornell and Georgetown?) I'd personally probably wait it out and see if you get any aid.

Only certain jobs qualify for LRAP and I don't think most people who quote IBR on here actually know its details. A lot of PI jobs are very competitive to obtain now and so are government jobs. I'd probably wait it out and if I don't like my options, retake and reapply next year, which will help you wait out the economy anyway. This is a bad time to ED anywhere unless your parents are paying.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. Cornell and Georgetown are my other T14 options. Looking at LSN, it doesn't look like I have much of a shot at money at either. Penn and UVA are the only other T14 I applied to and I'm a "weak consider" at both. My interest is in criminal law and I would like to do at least a few years in the PD office to cut my teeth. Beyond that I have a huge interest in capital convictions and am attracted to organizations like the Innocence Project, though I know any staff positions there are limited and extremely competitive.

As far as reapplying or retaking, I'm only considering that as a last option. Because of my age and the current climate in the industry I'm working in now, I don't really want to wait another year. If I retook the LSAT, I'm not sure I would improve that much (I averaged a 173-174 on PTs). The problem is my GPA.

Should I wait it out a couple weeks and hope UVA doesn't make a decision on my app? Still waiting to hear from WUSTL and W & M and it seems like I might have a shot at significant money at W & L. Would anyone choose W & L with $$$ over UVA sticker?

I was strongly considering W&M as well as W&L before I EDed at Virginia. From the research I did and the one WM grad I spoke with you can get a decent job from both schools. BigLaw, especially ITE, is not very likely but if you are trying to be a PD I would go where the money is. So in your situation I'd pick WL with lots of moneys (because WL is very expensive). Are you Virginia resident?? WM would be loads cheaper if you were

jawsthegreat wrote:Yea but you can actually get a job if you go to UVA

pre-ITE of course.

If biglaws aren't your goal, then i don't see why you would have to risk losing any $$$, given that you already have 2 t-14s in the bag...

Kohinoor wrote:

jawsthegreat wrote:Yea but you can actually get a job if you go to UVA

pre-ITE of course.

All you need is top 5% and you will probably get a job. If you can't do that you simply aren't trying

.

...

vamedic03 wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:

Chromakey wrote:So on the heels of what is almost surely a waitlist at Vandy, I am thinking about sending in the ED agreement for UVA. Paying sticker has always been a big issue for me, which is why I didn't ED back when they had a real deadline. I have no interest in Big Law and am not set on a specific market...just Mid-Atlantic generally. I really love Virginia and, with my stats, ED is probably the only reasonable shot I have. I do have 2 T14 acceptances so far, but probably no money from them, a half-ride at Minnesota and am hoping for money from W & L. What would you do? Is UVA really worth $60k+/year if you don't want Big Law?

what do you want? If you just want to be a public defender, go with cheap state flagship.

Um . . . plenty of public defender jobs are competitive - San Francisco, DC, Federal Public Defenders all come to mind . . .

...Median at UVA wouldn't cut it either and the pay for PD jobs is pretty low. It's also probably harder graduating higher in the class at UVA and UVA's current LRAP is really quite bad. If PD is your goal, I'd just go where the money is and try doing well at that school. PD jobs aren't nearly as "hierarchy" heavy in terms of school ranking as much as its focus on your percentile within the school itself. (Same with JAG. Basically they value your rank within your school more than your school's ranking.)

I know I could probably easily find the answer to this question by searching, but what is the deal with UVA removing its ED deadline? How were people supposed to know about that if they don't visit websites like this? If you've already applied, do you just mail in the ED agreement, with no accompanying letter?

Doodsmack wrote:I know I could probably easily find the answer to this question by searching, but what is the deal with UVA removing its ED deadline? How were people supposed to know about that if they don't visit websites like this? If you've already applied, do you just mail in the ED agreement, with no accompanying letter?

i emailed them saying I was sending the form in and did just that. I got in so it must be OK.

Doodsmack wrote:I know I could probably easily find the answer to this question by searching, but what is the deal with UVA removing its ED deadline? How were people supposed to know about that if they don't visit websites like this? If you've already applied, do you just mail in the ED agreement, with no accompanying letter?

I'm just gonna send it in. On the way to the post office now.