Top Law Schools

Well, I guess my situation is kind of special. I am not a fresh undergrat in 20s. I already have a full time job and I am a single mom with a small kid. Decision is really hard to make.

BC, doubt I will have any scholarship.
Northeastern 20K.
Suffolk evening program 15K and I can still keep my full time job.

Thanks for your suggestions.

.

Also curious as to why you are considering leaving your full time job to go to law school.

Most people on seem to say the Boston pecking order is H>>>>>>BU/BC>>>NE>SU>>>NESL. I applied to Suffolk and Northeastern this cycle as well so I'm no expert but I do spend a fair amount of time on here and I've done a good amount of research on the two that I applied to. I guess a lot of it depends on how good your current job is and if giving it up would severely limit you financially. I'd throw out Northeastern right off the bat. It seems like they are exclusively PI focused and even with a little bit of money, their tuition is steep and the law they specialize in doesn't give you a great chance of easily paying back any debt. You'd have to quit your job and as far as I can tell, Suffolk, while lower ranked, has almost as much cache in the Boston legal market...but you have to commit to staying in Boston. You have comparable money there, similar (not great) job prospects, and you get to keep your job (a good safety plan and it'll help offset costs). While I can't comment too much on BC, it does sound like one of the best regional schools out there and will undoubtedly give you far better job prospects than the other two. But, is paying sticker AND quitting your job worth it with the uncertainty in this legal market? I don't know. I'd say Suffolk or BC...leaning towards the former.

Some may view your option as BC versus not attending law school due to the poor job prospects from the other two schools. But your reasons for attending law school may suggest otherwise. In short, not enough information about your objectives to offer reasonable advice.

P.S. It is not easy to maintain a full-time job, be a single parent & attend law school part-time. Something has to give.

Are the scholarships per year or total? Even if total, 100K+ for Northeastern is pretty rough. I agree with CW that LS + Job + single parent will be tough. I am a dad of 3 with plenty of help from my SO and would not be very confident about my ability to do well in LS while holding down a full time job (I did briefly consider Suffolk + full time job). BC is much better respected than Northeastern in the Boston firms (I hear NE really looks down on the public sector). Suffolk will make it tough to pay back loans. That said, BC would probably only be worth it if you got Biglaw . . . is that something you are interested in?

But BigLaw, which isn't at all guaranteed from BC at all, means an obscene time commitment too. That's why I'm thinking Suffolk PT with $$, despite the sub-par employment opportunities, would potentially offer as much if not more in this one, very specific case.

You have a job. That is more than what many law school grads can say. Just stay at your current job, take care of your kid and forget about law school.


(My guess is the reply will be something about a life dream of practicing international human rights law)

Those are all terrible options. Enjoy 20+ years of debt slavery.

Hi wfudeacons2005, thanks for your kindly reply. Hope you are going to your dream school.

Yeah, CW, sometimes I feel that I am stupidly brave~~~

Bildungsroman wrote:Those are all terrible options. Enjoy 20+ years of debt slavery.

LOL

JamesChapman23 wrote:You have a job. That is more than what many law school grads can say. Just stay at your current job, take care of your kid and forget about law school.


(My guess is the reply will be something about a life dream of practicing international human rights law)

That is a much easier option, I guess. Well~~~

Agree with the other poster that it is BC or retake. Your chances are slim from the other schools.