WWYD? Forum

[jhare]

I need help deciding on what schools to take seriously. Here's a description of my situation:

162 3.6 Mexican URM
Currently lives in SoCal with my Wife and our baby.
Currently the COL of my family is 1600/month which doesn't include rent/utilities. I currently work construction making 35k/yr but the job is not steady and there is no room for advancement.
I WANT to live in the Northwest after law school (preferably WA/OR)

So after a recent road trip to the Northwest my wife and I decided that we really want to live there. Here's the list of schools I'm considering:

U of Oregon
U of Washington
Seattle U
Lewis and Clark
UCLA
Loyola LA
Gonzaga
Willamette
USC

My main interest is public interest law. My dream would be to do JAG after school either as a career or possibly transition into another form of public service. I know interests change while in law school so that may be irrelevant. The problem I have is deciding which school/situation would be best for my family. I know some of these schools should give me close to/Full scholarships but even if that was the case I would need to take out at least ((1600+Rent)x3 years of law school) = 70k+ in loans alone. For the schools that wouldn't give me a scholly I would need to take out loans for tuition plus the COL would could very well add up to 175k+ in loans and according to the Loan Calc the payments would be more than $1500/month.

What would you do? Having a family definately complicates things, but I really want to go to law school. I'm NOT interested in BigLaw, Public interest work is my #1 and Small Firm is my #2.

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate the wisdom of my fellow TLSers, and if you want to know anything else about my situation let me know.

[jhare]

bump

[JOThompson]

U-Dub is the ideal school if you want to practice in the northwest, it's very highly respected here. It's also relatively affordable.

Oregon has a decent LRAP program. I suppose that's moot if you're using IBR though.

Have you considered Hastings? I think it has some NW reach and it features an excellent PI program.

[baboon309]

U-Dub is the ideal school if you want to practice in the northwest, it's very highly respected here. It's also relatively affordable. Oregon has a decent LRAP program. I suppose that's moot if you're using IBR though.

Try to borrow as much as you can. Tax payers will pick up the tab

[MSUPHL]

I need help deciding on what schools to take seriously. Here's a description of my situation:

162 3.6 Mexican URM
Currently lives in SoCal with my Wife and our baby.
Currently the COL of my family is 1600/month which doesn't include rent/utilities. I currently work construction making 35k/yr but the job is not steady and there is no room for advancement.
I WANT to live in the Northwest after Law School (preferably WA/OR)

So after a recent road trip to the Northwest my wife and I decided that we really want to live there. Here's the list of schools I'm considering:

U of Oregon
U of Washington
Seattle U
Lewis and Clark
UCLA
Loyola LA
Gonzaga
Willamette
USC

My main interest is public interest law. My dream would be to do JAG after school either as a career or possibly transition into another form of public service. I know interests change while in law school so that may be irrelevant. The problem I have is deciding which school/situation would be best for my family. I know some of these schools should give me close to/Full scholarships but even if that was the case I would need to take out at least ((1600+Rent)x3 years of law school) = 70k+ in loans alone. For the schools that wouldn't give me a scholly I would need to take out loans for tuition plus the COL would could very well add up to 175k+ in loans and according to the Loan Calc the payments would be more than $1500/month.

What would you do? Having a family definately complicates things, but I really want to go to law school. I'm NOT interested in BigLaw, Public interest work is my #1 and Small Firm is my #2.

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate the wisdom of my fellow TLSers, and if you want to know anything else about my situation let me know.

if you like the seattle area you gotta go to washi

[jhare]

So I shouldn't worry abouttaking out almost 175k in loans to go to UW? What's the most in loans I should consider taking out for these schools?

[jhare]

B

[jhare]

U

[Hey-O]

Lewis and Clark is a great school with a beautiful campus and it doesn't rain as much as Seattle.

[JOThompson]

So I shouldn't worry abouttaking out almost 175k in loans to go to UW? What's the most in loans I should consider taking out for these schools?

If you're absolutely sure you want public interest, don't worry about the debt. If there's a chance you'll instead be attracted to firm work, then you should balance your need to attend a top school versus your aversion to debt. I personally would hesitate to go beyond $100-120k for anything outside the T14 + Vandy, unless PI + IBR is an option.

[JOThompson]

Lewis and Clark is a great school with a beautiful campus and it doesn't rain as much as Seattle.

Well regarded in Portland, but the legal market here is tiny and somewhat hurting. Anecdotal evidence, but I know two ~median LC grads who were desperate enough to turn to Craigslist for employment. Go for UW to maximize your career opportunities in the region.

[ccs224]

For the PNW, UW might be better than USC and UCLA, though I would recommend applying to Berkeley as well (Law school predictor puts you as a deny, but it would be worth a shot, since their LRAP and PI rep beats all other schools you've listed). If you can get in to UW, you will have instate tuition for your last two years, which really reduces the cost. I would also really look in to IBR, which will cap your loan payments at 15% of your income (under a certain salary threshold) and forgive them after 15 years.

Also, does your wife work? Having some source of income, versus living entirely off loans, would also save you a lot in the long run.

[jhare]

no, my wife is a stay at home.

Do you know where I can find information on IBR? And do all schools have an LRAP program, and if not which do?

[ccs224]

Unless there is a situation where your wife must absolutely be at home all the time (a kid who needs round the clock care, a disability, etc), I would suggest looking at the numbers. If your COL during school is around $2,400 a month (the $1,600 you mentioned, plus some cheap rent of $800 a month), that's $72,000 (excluding two months of paid work, hopefully, in the summers) over three years. With an interest rate of 6.8% over 10 years, you're going to be paying close to $100,000 back in total, and have a minimum payment of around $800 a month, just for the loans covering your costs outside of tuition. If you wive can find a part time job making only $1,000 a month, that drops your COL loans down to $42,000, you would be paying back about $58,000 total (slightly more than half of what you would be paying if there was no income), and your monthly payments would be around $500. Just saying.

Now, if you're doing IBR, it might not matter as much. That info can be found at: ibrinfo.org

I don't know about every school's LRAP. I know that UW and L&C have one, but they aren't guaranteed, like Berkeley's is, and they don't last as long either. I would do a little research for each school you're interested in and see how helpful their programs would be.

[TTH]