Seton Hall (free housing but commute) vs. Temple Forum

[sumtimesuwonder]

I posted a thread a few days ago, in which most people told me to go to temple. Some new developments have come up though. I now have the option to live about 45 min away in NY with relatives for free, and Seton Hall upped my scholly to 35k/yr, but still with the top half stip. This would take Rutgers out of the equation since I would be in NY and lose in state tuition. I would also have the option of going to temple with in-state (I currently live in PA). I don't really care about where I practice, and would be happy in either place. I anticipate the don't go's and the retakes to be voiced. Thanks for the help!

[dissonance1848]

Still Temple man. Top half stip is absurd.

[grovevilleroad]

doesn't temple also have a top half stip?

[sumtimesuwonder]

Yea but its only $3750 per year

[dingbat]

What will be your actual cost of attendance?
This should include tuition, transportation costs, rent (for temple). If you want to keep it simple, you can ignore costs like food and books, as these will be similar at both schools.

Seton Hall and Temple are relatively similar, so if they cost more or less the same, go to Temple and skip the commute. If Seton Hall gives you decent savings, deal with the commute and come out with less debt.
For both of these schools, keeping your cost/debt low is very important.

[sumtimesuwonder]

Total COA for Seton Hall would be 22442/yr, Temple would be 36722

[20130312]

I'm 'bout to math, son.

Temple:
Scholly: $7500 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (36722*3) + (7500*.5) = $113,916

Seton Hall:
Scholly: $70000 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (22442*3) + (70000*.5) = $102,326

Even though it looks like you'd be saving a lot of money by going to Seton Hall, it turns out to only be a difference of ~$11k because of the scary size of the scholarship that Seton Hall gave you. Both of these figures are pretty scary. Also, this is assuming your scholly is all or nothing, which may or may not be the case.

[sumtimesuwonder]

I'm 'bout to math, son.

Temple:
Scholly: $7500 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (36722*3) + (7500*.5) = $113,916

Seton Hall:
Scholly: $70000 over last two years, top half stip
Cost (scholly loss risk included): (22442*3) + (70000*.5) = $102,326

Even though it looks like you'd be saving a lot of money by going to Seton Hall, it turns out to only be a difference of ~$11k because of the scary size of the scholarship that Seton Hall gave you. Both of these figures are pretty scary. Also, this is assuming your scholly is all or nothing, which may or may not be the case.

Excellent analysis sir. Kudos to you.

[20130312]

Excellent analysis sir. Kudos to you.

My pleasure. I'm leaning toward Temple, despite the numbers, because Temple actually feeds into a market (Philadelphia). Seton Hall's market is North Jersey, and it's incredibly tough to get an entry level legal job in NJ. It will be tough from Temple, too, but at least there is a city to take advantage of.

[dingbat]

Excellent analysis sir. Kudos to you.

My pleasure. I'm leaning toward Temple, despite the numbers, because Temple actually feeds into a market (Philadelphia). Seton Hall's market is North Jersey, and it's incredibly tough to get an entry level legal job in NJ. It will be tough from Temple, too, but at least there is a city to take advantage of.

Just to confuse you, here's some more math:

*Best / Worst case scenario (i.e. keep scholly throughout vs lose it after 1 year):
Temple U: $110,166 - $117,666
Seton Hall: $67,326 - $137,326
*note: I based this off of InGoodFaith's math - I did not check his assumptions

Assuming that in both cases you have a 50% chance of paying the minimum and 50% chance of paying the maximum, you've got to consider the following:

Best case scenario: Seton Hall is $42,840 cheaper
Worst case scenario: Tempe U is $19,660 cheaper
The net expected difference is ($42,840/2) - ($19,660/2) = $11,590 cheaper at Seton Hall
(Same results, but broader implications)

Note that statistics do not pay your loans. If you're so inclined, there's something to be said for the strategy of going to Seton Hall and dropping out if you are not in the top half.

BUT the crux of the matter is, as InGoodFaith said, that statistically Seton Hall is only $11,590 cheaper.
Normally, with schools at this level, you should always take the cheaper option, but, in the grand scheme of things, the difference is not that big, so go where your heart is
(Philly is the city of brotherly love - Jersey is the armpit of america; which one has the heart?)

[Villanova3]

You can negotiate money out of Temple, if you haven't gotten any..

[Villanova3]

Yea but its only $3750 per year

You can negotiate this up, especially as the cycle dwindles and people with higher schollys withdraw for better schools.

[20130312]

(Philly is the city of brotherly love - Jersey is the armpit of america; which one has the heart?)

Did you just become my new favorite poster? Yes. Yes, you did.

[sumtimesuwonder]

Yea but its only $3750 per year

You can negotiate this up, especially as the cycle dwindles and people with higher schollys withdraw for better schools.

Ill try to, but I thought that Temple was pretty skimpy with its scholarship money.

Excellent analysis sir. Kudos to you.

My pleasure. I'm leaning toward Temple, despite the numbers, because Temple actually feeds into a market (Philadelphia). Seton Hall's market is North Jersey, and it's incredibly tough to get an entry level legal job in NJ. It will be tough from Temple, too, but at least there is a city to take advantage of.

Just to confuse you, here's some more math:

*Best / Worst case scenario (i.e. keep scholly throughout vs lose it after 1 year):
Temple U: $110,166 - $117,666
Seton Hall: $67,326 - $137,326
*note: I based this off of InGoodFaith's math - I did not check his assumptions

Assuming that in both cases you have a 50% chance of paying the minimum and 50% chance of paying the maximum, you've got to consider the following:

Best case scenario: Seton Hall is $42,840 cheaper
Worst case scenario: Tempe U is $19,660 cheaper
The net expected difference is ($42,840/2) - ($19,660/2) = $11,590 cheaper at Seton Hall
(Same results, but broader implications)

Note that statistics do not pay your loans. If you're so inclined, there's something to be said for the strategy of going to Seton Hall and dropping out if you are not in the top half.

BUT the crux of the matter is, as InGoodFaith said, that statistically Seton Hall is only $11,590 cheaper.
Normally, with schools at this level, you should always take the cheaper option, but, in the grand scheme of things, the difference is not that big, so go where your heart is
(Philly is the city of brotherly love - Jersey is the armpit of america; which one has the heart?)

Haha here is the crux of it all. Its going to be a tough decision. Temple is in a worse immediate neigborhood then Seton Hall is though, and I hate all philly sports teams with a passion. North Jersey is probably a crappier place to live in general though. I'm more familiar with north jersey though so I could be wrong about that.

[dingbat]

Actually, large parts of north jersey is really nice - jersey's reputation as the armpit of America is from the industrial areas like bayonne and Elizabeth, and it's reputation us from shitholes like Newark and Camden.

Where in Jersey would you be living?

[sumtimesuwonder]

Id be living in NY for law school I was just talking in general. I know once you go out farther west its not too bad. Especially once you start talking about places like Westfield and maybe further down south. I'm actually pretty well versed in the North Jersey landscape I've just heard that philly is a pretty nice place to live in general.