UNLV (full tuition) vs. WUSTL $$
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:17 pm
Hi all,
I'm getting a lot of different opinions thrown at me from friends/family/advisors, so I thought I'd see what TLS has to say as well.
I live in Vegas, own a house here, and my husband has a great job. Our immediate families also live here. UNLV Boyd is offering me a full tuition scholarship renewable each year provided I stay in good academic standing. My husband can provide for us while I'm in law school, so if I stay here I stand to graduate law school with zero debt, which is great since I'm pretty debt averse. HOWEVER - I don't want to live in Vegas forever. I could deal with maybe a few years after graduating, but that's about it. Not sure where I do want to end up living, but I know where I don't want to live (NV, anywhere on the East Coast).
Enter WUSTL. I visited for the ASD and loooooved the school and the city. My main hang-up, though, is that I'll need to take out roughly $50k in loans to pay for all three years there (I have a 28k/yr scholarship). Also of concern is the hassle of moving, finding a new job for my husband, and leaving all the family behind permanently.
Given my debt averse attitude, would I be insane to pass up a full ride in favor of 50k+ debt? Conversely, given my desire to not stay in NV, would I be crazy to pass up a school that has a significantly stronger national reputation? I am seriously stressing about making a bad decision, so any help/input you guys can provide will be tremendously appreciated.
For those who are interested: stats are 170/3.3, possible URM (still not sure if Colombian counts for anything), definitely NOT interested in Biglaw.
I'm getting a lot of different opinions thrown at me from friends/family/advisors, so I thought I'd see what TLS has to say as well.
I live in Vegas, own a house here, and my husband has a great job. Our immediate families also live here. UNLV Boyd is offering me a full tuition scholarship renewable each year provided I stay in good academic standing. My husband can provide for us while I'm in law school, so if I stay here I stand to graduate law school with zero debt, which is great since I'm pretty debt averse. HOWEVER - I don't want to live in Vegas forever. I could deal with maybe a few years after graduating, but that's about it. Not sure where I do want to end up living, but I know where I don't want to live (NV, anywhere on the East Coast).
Enter WUSTL. I visited for the ASD and loooooved the school and the city. My main hang-up, though, is that I'll need to take out roughly $50k in loans to pay for all three years there (I have a 28k/yr scholarship). Also of concern is the hassle of moving, finding a new job for my husband, and leaving all the family behind permanently.
Given my debt averse attitude, would I be insane to pass up a full ride in favor of 50k+ debt? Conversely, given my desire to not stay in NV, would I be crazy to pass up a school that has a significantly stronger national reputation? I am seriously stressing about making a bad decision, so any help/input you guys can provide will be tremendously appreciated.
For those who are interested: stats are 170/3.3, possible URM (still not sure if Colombian counts for anything), definitely NOT interested in Biglaw.