Top Law Schools

8k to each, what do you think?

Where do you want a jerb?

NYC or Florida. I wouldn't mind staying in Atlanta for a little if its a good job (for the debt) that can lead to others.

definitely emory.

Is emory worth the money?

COA for Emory for next year is $71K. Assuming no more than COL tuition increases that's $220K for three years, or $196K with your scholarship. There's no reason to think a law degree from Emory is worth that kind of money. Cardozo has an even higher COA and a lower expected return.

Remember: Just because law schools charge these prices that doesn't mean these prices bear any rational relationship to the expected future value of what they're selling. For the most part they don't.

I would have housing in Atlanta, so Emory would leave me with about 140k in debt.

Not worth $140k in debt either. Retake or don't go.

sportsstar1234 wrote:I would have housing in Atlanta, so Emory would leave me with about 140k in debt.

sportstar,

If you really want to be a lawyer (not simply because you think you'll get the "big bucks" - which is very rare these days) then consider this:
If you want to retake and reapply, you have a LOT of studying to do to get a much higher LSAT.
Also, the law schools will want to see some relevant work experience or volunteer work during your year out of school - eg. teach for America, etc.
You have to determine if you are willing to put in that time and effort for the higher LSAT and finding, applying for, interviewing, getting a job and, yes, working for a year, possibly in something you may not like.
After all that, is admittance to a "great" school with a large scholarship guaranteed?
Weigh all that against already being accepted at a Top 25 Law School right now, AND of course, having a $140k loan around your neck.
If you want info on my meetings with Emory staff, alumni and their new "career guru", simply PM me.

Best of luck.

Oh, and don't forget the stress of reapplying - especially if it is to the same schools, you will need to rewrite your pitch.

It may still be worth it all, as several on TLS have said that it worked out well for them.

Just weigh all the variables first.

kmason wrote:

sportsstar1234 wrote:I would have housing in Atlanta, so Emory would leave me with about 140k in debt.

sportstar,

If you really want to be a lawyer (not simply because you think you'll get the "big bucks" - which is very rare these days) then consider this:
If you want to retake and reapply, you have a LOT of studying to do to get a much higher LSAT.
Also, the law schools will want to see some relevant work experience or volunteer work during your year out of school - eg. teach for America, etc.
You have to determine if you are willing to put in that time and effort for the higher LSAT and finding, applying for, interviewing, getting a job and, yes, working for a year, possibly in something you may not like.
After all that, is admittance to a "great" school with a large scholarship guaranteed?
Weigh all that against already being accepted at a Top 25 Law School right now, AND of course, having a $140k loan around your neck.
If you want info on my meetings with Emory staff, alumni and their new "career guru", simply PM me.

Best of luck.

The amount of work and stress required for a retake pales in comparison to the stress OP will feel hustling to be top ten percent at Emory to have a shot at paying their loans back in a reasonable amount of time.

i think students overhype the stress of the LSAT. it sucks, but they really focus on the highest score and you could always retake. you can't retake screwing up in most of life, and while the 10% thing may be a bit melodramatic as emory is a decent school the only thing you're potentially losing is time, and law school isn't going anywhere.... in fact fewer people will be applying.

I had been told most tier 1 schools are woth 100k in debt over tier two schools that would be a little cheaper. is this not true?

sportsstar1234 wrote:I had been told most tier 1 schools are woth 100k in debt over tier two schools that would be a little cheaper. is this not true?

most means the top 26?

how low are the tier 2's?

more worth it? a justin bieber cd may be more worth it than a jersey shore dvd, but that doesn't mean either is worth it.

sportsstar1234 wrote:I had been told most tier 1 schools are woth 100k in debt over tier two schools that would be a little cheaper. is this not true?

Hell no. That really only holds true for the T14. +100k in debt is +100k in debt and the job prospects for most T1 schools are not so great as to make that investment worthwhile.

You should look at comparative cost, because you are assuming you have to go to law school. Instead, look at the likely return from the schools you get into independent of each other to first decide if you should reapply later.

AffordablePrep wrote:i think students overhype the stress of the LSAT. it sucks, but they really focus on the highest score and you could always retake. you can't retake screwing up in most of life, and while the 10% thing may be a bit melodramatic as emory is a decent school the only thing you're potentially losing is time, and law school isn't going anywhere.... in fact fewer people will be applying.

This is so 180. The LSAT was the first time I had ever felt stressed out about school. The application process was a breeze with LSAC and the online forms. Then I got to law school and it was that x10 the stress of the LSAT for three years of my life.

EDIT: Above poster nailed the analogy.

i'd imagine working 80 hours a week when you can get canned anytime is stressful too.

i'd imagine doing open heart surgery is stressful too.

working in finance/starting a business is stressful too.

shooting a basketball when you can blow out your ankle, and lose your career in a second is stressful too.

smiling at photoshoots when saying one dumb thing, or eating a piece of cake can kill your career is stressful too.

good paying jobs are stressful. welcome to life. if you don't want stress, don't try to get paid. oh and poverty is even more stressful.


cope with it. own it. learn to love it.

this probably makes me seem like such a downer, but the point i'm trying to make is success requires stress. the important thing is to try your best, not avoid something because of stress but to never take anything too seriously. the beautiful thing about life and particularly the LSAT is people are very forgiving about screw ups so why not put yourself out there, and retake? you can really only gain.

sportsstar1234 wrote:Is emory worth the money?

Fuck and no.

If you insist on going to LS this year, I would recommend Emory. It's a much better law school with at least some semblance of regional clout (best law school in ATL vs. fifth-best in NYC). More importantly, the debt burden will be much lower. While the scholarship offers are the same, the COA at Emory is significantly lower in GA than it would be in NYC, especially if you're able to save money by living with family. In NYC, you’re looking at a 25-50% premium on everything – rent, entertainment, food, etc. (I went to undergrad in NYC and it's not as expensive as you think; it's much worse.) Tuition is also about $5k cheaper at Emory.

But really, retake is TCR.

rad lulz wrote:Not worth $140k in debt either. Retake or don't go.

This.

I would say Emory is worth under $80-100k.