Top Law Schools

I will have to take out ~ 150k in order to attend UCLA including living expenses. Does that make sense? Payments would be ~ $1,750 per month.

Is that totally unreasonable unless I get a job in a big firm paying 140 k + per year? Or is it a reasonable investment?

Personally I'm really unsure about going into that much debt for HLS or SLS, let alone UCLA.

slsorhls wrote:Personally I'm really unsure about going into that much debt for HLS or SLS, let alone UCLA.

This is more derpy than your Truth about Yale thread.

However OP, I would be scared to take that much at UCLA. Although I do know someone who got Irell biglaw from UCLA this year at OCI. So it's possible to get a damn good job from there.

No USC @ 22K/year?

50K/year w/ 3% increase each year = ~$183,000 owed at graduation.
10-year plan $2117/month, ~$261,000 for the degree.

Your numbers are off.

It's not that bad if it includes COL.... LA is expensive. Is full tuition only 50k for you?

Golden Bear 11 wrote:No USC @ 22K/year?

That is still an option, but since I would really like to go to UCLA, I want to see if taking that sort of debt is just a ludicrous idea or reasonable. If its just a non starter, I'll be a trojan in the fall.

AffordablePrep wrote:It's not that bad if it includes COL.... LA is expensive. Is full tuition only 50k for you?

Yup! Because my family is in LA, I can get some help that I couldn't get elsewhere... 38,500 for tuition and about 12k in living expenses should cover it.

Snake90 wrote:

Golden Bear 11 wrote:No USC @ 22K/year?

That is still an option, but since I would really like to go to UCLA, I want to see if taking that sort of debt is just a ludicrous idea or reasonable. If its just a non starter, I'll be a trojan in the fall.

USC is offering more than UCLA? UCLA has refused to match? Go to USC, hands down. Both schools are the best/equivalent at placement in LA. Even if UCLA is slightly better, I can't see any strong reason to go there if the money is better at USC.

zozin wrote:50K/year w/ 3% increase each year = ~$183,000 owed at graduation.
10-year plan $2117/month, ~$261,000 for the degree.

Your numbers are off.

How did you get at that 183k number? Am I calculating the numbers wrong? ( 3% increase of 50,000 is 51,150 and a 3% increase on that is 53,345. = 154,500 ?)

slsorhls wrote:

Snake90 wrote:

Golden Bear 11 wrote:No USC @ 22K/year?

That is still an option, but since I would really like to go to UCLA, I want to see if taking that sort of debt is just a ludicrous idea or reasonable. If its just a non starter, I'll be a trojan in the fall.

USC is offering more than UCLA? UCLA has refused to match? Go to USC, hands down. Both schools are the best/equivalent at placement in LA. Even if UCLA is slightly better, I can't see any strong reason to go there if the money is better at USC.

UCLA might offer some more post May 1st deadline, and if they don't offer more I'll go to USC. Just want to gauge the debt load a bit...

Snake90 wrote:

slsorhls wrote:

Snake90 wrote:

Golden Bear 11 wrote:No USC @ 22K/year?

That is still an option, but since I would really like to go to UCLA, I want to see if taking that sort of debt is just a ludicrous idea or reasonable. If its just a non starter, I'll be a trojan in the fall.

USC is offering more than UCLA? UCLA has refused to match? Go to USC, hands down. Both schools are the best/equivalent at placement in LA. Even if UCLA is slightly better, I can't see any strong reason to go there if the money is better at USC.

UCLA might offer some more post May 1st deadline, and if they don't offer more I'll go to USC. Just want to gauge the debt load a bit...

15k a year is way too big of a difference. usc is just as good.

Snake90 wrote:

zozin wrote:50K/year w/ 3% increase each year = ~$183,000 owed at graduation.
10-year plan $2117/month, ~$261,000 for the degree.

Your numbers are off.

How did you get at that 183k number? Am I calculating the numbers wrong? ( 3% increase of 50,000 is 51,150 and a 3% increase on that is 53,345. = 154,500 ?)

Why are you compounding the numbers by only 3%?

Mal Reynolds wrote:

Snake90 wrote:

zozin wrote:50K/year w/ 3% increase each year = ~$183,000 owed at graduation.
10-year plan $2117/month, ~$261,000 for the degree.

Your numbers are off.

How did you get at that 183k number? Am I calculating the numbers wrong? ( 3% increase of 50,000 is 51,150 and a 3% increase on that is 53,345. = 154,500 ?)

Why are you compounding the numbers by only 3%?

I was just using the numbers that MalReynolds used. "50K/year w/ 3% increase each year = ~$183,000 owed at graduation. "

50K to start with 3% increases in COA leads to $177,986 indebtedness at graduation.

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Tiago Splitter wrote:50K to start with 3% increases in COA leads to $177,986 indebtedness at graduation.

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ahh, I see the confusion. tuition is 38,000 with 12k living expenses = 150000. Not 50k + 20k living. (Family is from LA so certain COL costs are taken care of)

Snake90 wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:50K to start with 3% increases in COA leads to $177,986 indebtedness at graduation.

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ahh, I see the confusion. tuition is 38,000 with 12k living expenses = 150000. Not 50k + 20k living. (Family is from LA so certain COL costs are taken care of)

I'm not sure you do see the confusion. If you take out 50K per year in loans, you will graduate with far more than 150K in debt because interest accumulates during law school.

Tiago Splitter wrote:

Snake90 wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:50K to start with 3% increases in COA leads to $177,986 indebtedness at graduation.

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ahh, I see the confusion. tuition is 38,000 with 12k living expenses = 150000. Not 50k + 20k living. (Family is from LA so certain COL costs are taken care of)

I'm not sure you do see the confusion. If you take out 50K per year in loans, you will graduate with far more than 150K in debt because interest accumulates during law school.

Oh yes, I see now. Damn it!

Do you have other career alternatives? I think it is definitely worth it if you have a liberal arts degree and are stuck being underemployed etc.. UCLA is a good school but if you could get 40k a year to do something else probably better to do that for a few years, save some money and then not have to deal with that lame compounding interest.

FlanAl wrote:Do you have other career alternatives? I think it is definitely worth it if you have a liberal arts degree and are stuck being underemployed etc.. UCLA is a good school but if you could get 40k a year to do something else probably better to do that for a few years, save some money and then not have to deal with that lame compounding interest.

I think that what I will try to do is 1) live at home. 2) Go to USC (22k a year(( but 5 k more than UCLA) unless UCLA raises its offer. That would eliminate a big COL burden and I would only take out around 30k a year. That would be much more reasonable.

I wouldn't do 150K at UCLA in this economy, unless you somehow KNEW you could pull top 20% there.

SaintFond wrote:I wouldn't do 150K at UCLA in this economy, unless you somehow KNEW you could pull top 20% there.

if usc wasn't there, i think ucla at 150k total debt is not that bad. i don't think top 20% would be necessary - def above average, but top 20% prob not needed to make it an okay choice if OP wants to be a lawyer. UCLA is also a good enough school that OP should be able to cut the debt down during the 2L summer at least a bit....

Considering UCLA's biglaw placement, which is necessary to pay off such large loans, I probably would not think UCLA to be worth it (unless you had family contributions)

UCLA and USC are basically the same school for your purposes. That school isn't worth taking out $150K in loans (which as pointed out results in close to $180K in graduation debt). It might be worth taking out $90K in loans. The fact that you're even debating this is a sign of the extent to which 0Ls tend not to think of the money they're borrowing to go to law school as real money. Would you pay $60K extra for another model of the same car because you liked the color better and it had a sun roof?

Paul Campos wrote:UCLA and USC are basically the same school for your purposes. That school isn't worth taking out $150K in loans (which as pointed out results in close to $180K in graduation debt). It might be worth taking out $90K in loans. The fact that you're even debating this is a sign of the extent to which 0Ls tend not to think of the money they're borrowing to go to law school as real money. Would you pay $60K extra for another model of the same car because you liked the color better and it had a sun roof?

Hey, something's gotta pay those law prof salaries.