I had no intentions of making one of these.... Forum

[TatteredDignity]

But my state school swooped in with a scholarship at the last minute, and I really have no idea what to do. I feel as though I don't have enough information to make the right decision, so any musings would be appreciated. I'll give as many details as possible...

WUSTL Scholarship: $20K/year- COA- ~75-78K
University of Kansas Scholarship: A total of $25K- COA- ~$20K

The reason the COA is so close to the tuition rates is that I'm married, and my wife will be supporting us all 3 years with a cushy government job.

Additional Consideration: We would be able to live in an currently unoccupied extended family house rent-free in St Louis. I figure that's worth about 25K.

Goals:

This is why this is a hard decision. I'd be totally fine living in KC for the rest of forever. The stipulation is, I'd like to be the sole earner, which basically means working for a big firm, unless I can somehow land a mythical 75-80K job. I feel like my chances of getting a biglaw job in KC are better from WUSTL than from from KU, though I haven't really found hard evidence to support this. I'd also be fine working in a similar situation in STL, or anywhere in the midwest, really.

In general, I know my job prospects would be better from WUSTL, I just don't know if they're 50-60K worth of tuition better. And don't get me wrong, if I tear it up at WUSTL and have much better job opportunities (outside of KC, prestigious government stuff, whatever), that'd be great, too.

There's also the chance that I suck at law school, would finish below median at either school, and I have to deal with 75K at WUSTL opposed to 20K at KU. Trust me, I'm not disregarding this as a possibility.

Alright, that's enough, I suppose. Any thoughts?

[06162014123]

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[flexityflex86]

Why do you need to be the sole earner if your wife is already employed and apparently making a pretty good living?

I think he is saying that he'd like to work, and let his wife stay home with the future kids.

What I don't get is why you're not taking into account COA at KU. I know your wife is working, but being married you guys are sharing income so that is still $ you're paying. WUSTL is significantly better than KU. I think it's def worth 60-80k more unless you want to work in Kansas.

[TatteredDignity]

Why do you need to be the sole earner if your wife is already employed and apparently making a pretty good living?

I think he is saying that he'd like to work, and let his wife stay home with the future kids.

What I don't get is why you're not taking into account COA at KU. I know your wife is working, but being married you guys are sharing income so that is still $ you're paying. WUSTL is significantly better than KU. I think it's def worth 60-80k more unless you want to work in Kansas.

Bold is correct.

And yeah, since I wouldn't have to pay rent in St. Louis, it definitely is a consideration, you're right. So, tack about 20K onto the COA at KU.

[rebexness]

[PDaddy]

But my state school swooped in with a scholarship at the last minute, and I really have no idea what to do. I feel as though I don't have enough information to make the right decision, so any musings would be appreciated. I'll give as many details as possible...

WUSTL Scholarship: $20K/year- COA- ~75-78K
University of Kansas Scholarship: A total of $25K- COA- ~$20K

The reason the COA is so close to the tuition rates is that I'm married, and my wife will be supporting us all 3 years with a cushy government job.

Additional Consideration: We would be able to live in an currently unoccupied extended family house rent-free in St Louis. I figure that's worth about 25K.

So...does the COA at WUSTL include housing? If it doesn't, then your true COA at WUSTL is like $50K, in which case, WUSTL is still the better option. I don't see the COA at Kansas included (that has to be at least $20-25K). I'm not so sure that WUSTL isn't still a bette roption even with the financial considerations as you have listed them.

I have a hard time believing that the employers in Kansas wouldn't still value your WUSTL degree. Of the top-20 schools, WUSTL and Minnesota are the least portable, but at least they can dominate in the midwest and they hold down their own markets. Either one can get you to Chicago, or if you want small market work, you can do that too. In the long run, name recognition is a huge benefit because of the flexibility it provides.

Coincidentally, I know a lawyer from UK who absolutely sucks! His methods are clearly unethical, and he should have been charged by the state bar a long time ago for multiple violations of Rule 3.3 ("Candor with the Tribunal" - look it up!). Hehas used every fraudulent trick in the book to evict people from their homes, amny of whom do not deserve it. He has affadivited more judges than a few because they won't put up with his BS anymore. So he just goes back to the same judges over and over and get what he wants.

Years ago, he helped wrongfully evict a friend of mine when she had done absolutely nothing wrong. The landlord lost her job, but only after it was too late. The company is currently being sued for his acts. He and the landlord (a notorious bigot) went into the courtroom and lied. I'm not saying all UK lawyers are that way, but he's my only reference point. The guy is absolutely hated in Seattle. WUSTL all the way!

[MyManKanye]

WUSTL sounds like the proper choice, but would your wife be able to transfer or would she have to quit in that case? Maybe she'd stay behind in KC?

Anyway, if you can live in St Louis rent free that sounds like the best choice to me.

EDIT:

Pdaddy what is going on with that rant there?

[TatteredDignity]

WUSTL sounds like the proper choice, but would your wife be able to transfer or would she have to quit in that case? Maybe she'd stay behind in KC?

She's currently working on a hardship transfer. If that doesn't work out, she'll keep living and working here until she can get other employment in StL.

Sounds like people are leaning toward WUSTL. That's what I want in my heart, but it's hard to know without having a good grasp of employment possibilities from both.

[TatteredDignity]

Bump for the evening crowd...