Where did you draw the line for sticker? Forum

[miamiman]

I know a lot will object and say "depends on your other options" but at some point, perhaps it was prior to the cycle or maybe only now as you've gained some clarity on your cycle, you had to decide where to draw the line on sticker. where was/is it?

[mkirk3]

I know a lot will object and say "depends on your other options" but at some point most of us faced sticker x vs scholly y. Where did you draw the line for sticker being worth it?

As you said, it all depends. Many TLSers would say T14, I would say for myself T30. This is for a private school. I may push down a little for a public school price.

[JOThompson]

It's easier to start justifying sticker price at around T18. I hate debt but I would unquestioningly pay full price at a school like Vandy.

[Thirteen]

I was willing to pay sticker for SMU because I know that I want to work in Dallas.

[OperaSoprano]

Here, where I am, though likely I would also have paid sticker for Hastings had I been admitted and inclined to leave New York.

I actually have a rule about it: sticker is for first choice schools only, however you define that. No one should be paying sticker to be somewhere that isn't their school of choice.

[JOThompson]

I was willing to pay sticker for SMU because I know that I want to work in Dallas.

I think it's worthwhile to shell out full price at certain regional powerhouses like SMU or UWashington as well.

[philosoraptor]

For me it was UT out of state at sticker versus Emory at about half tuition. I visited both and picked UT. The possibility of getting in-state 2L and 3L years (and saving ~$30K) would be a nice bonus, but it didn't factor into my decision. I'm guessing not every TLSer would make the same choice, but Texas was the right fit for me.

[Bronte]

In before "HYS."

[underachiever]

Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia

The only 4 schools where your as close to guaranteed as possible to get a 6-figure starting salary, to recoup the 200k in loans for school and the lost profitability of the 3 years during LS, quickly enough to make it worthwhile.

[Bert]

sticker is for first choice schools only, however you define that. No one should be paying sticker to be somewhere that isn't their school of choice.

[miamiman]

Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia

The only 4 schools where your as close to guaranteed as possible to get a 6-figure starting salary, to recoup the 200k in loans for school and the lost profitability of the 3 years during LS, quickly enough to make it worthwhile.

Aren't ccn functionally equivalent?

[hiromoto45]

Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia

The only 4 schools where your as close to guaranteed as possible to get a 6-figure starting salary, to recoup the 200k in loans for school and the lost profitability of the 3 years during LS, quickly enough to make it worthwhile.

Why not Chicago or NYU?

[rando]

said no to UVA at sticker. Maybe CCN.

[Bronte]

sticker is for first choice schools only, however you define that. No one should be paying sticker to be somewhere that isn't their school of choice.

Yeah... I don't think so. My first choice was Yale. I didn't even apply. Out of the schools to which I did apply, none was exactly my "first choice." There were three or four that I would have loved to get into and was willing to pay sticker. I got into one, and I'm paying sticker. The concept that everyone has a first choice and should only pay sticker for that choice is rooted in emotion, completely irrational.

[Thomas Jefferson]

I actually have a rule about it: sticker is for first choice schools only, however you define that. No one should be paying sticker to be somewhere that isn't their school of choice.

You're just pushing the same question back into the issue of how one defines "first choice schools." Unless, that is, you're saying Yale (or Harvard for those that would choose Harvard over Yale ceteris paribus) is the only school worth sticker.

[Grizz]

HYSCCN

[84Sunbird2000]

I don't know. Every school that accepted me offered at least 15k per year. So, sticker was legitimately not an option.

I might pay sticker at Cornell, but even though it would be my top choice....I would guess no to sticker even there.

[yo!]

Probably USC or better. I'm going to Davis on a small scholarship, but I would have taken one of the T2 full rides (or 1/2 ar Arizona) I was offered if I hadn't gotten anything from Davis. I'm still taking out 6 figure debt, and I'm scared shitless about it.

[MTal]

Nowhere. The Government obviously doesn't draw one, so why should you?

[KG_CalGuy]

Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia

The only 4 schools where your as close to guaranteed as possible to get a 6-figure starting salary, to recoup the 200k in loans for school and the lost profitability of the 3 years during LS, quickly enough to make it worthwhile.

+1. I felt a bit more uncertainty for NYU beyond the East Coast. Didn't apply to Chicago (though should have).

[174]

HYSCCN

[Thomas Jefferson]

What about, any law school? IBR ftw!!!

[OperaSoprano]

sticker is for first choice schools only, however you define that. No one should be paying sticker to be somewhere that isn't their school of choice.

Yeah... I don't think so. My first choice was Yale. I didn't even apply. Out of the schools to which I did apply, none was exactly my "first choice." There were three or four that I would have loved to get into and was willing to pay sticker. I got into one, and I'm paying sticker. The concept that everyone has a first choice and should only pay sticker for that choice is rooted in emotion, completely irrational.

The bolded is true. You are the one who will have to sleep at night with the loans, and it's a lot harder to do so if you are attending a school you feel lukewarm about. If you can sleep through the night at the school you've selected (usually chosen for a combination of so called emotional and rational factors), you've chosen well. The first choice rule is my own rule of thumb, because personal happiness adds enough value for me to justify my debt.

[ChildPlease]

y

[DerrickRose]

Its easy for my splitter ass to sit here and wax poetic without having had any chance to get into any of these schools but....

Just Yale.

Anywhere else, if you can get into school X you can get comparable outcomes for much less money at school Y. Yale on the other hand is a creature all its own. That being said, I dream of SCOTUS clerkships and plum academic placements. If all you want to do is transactional big-city corporate law, you shouldn't be playing sticker anywhere.

Now, I wouldn't think you were nuts paying sticker anywhere in the T14. But you would have, in my opinion, better options.