Too early to start negotiating $$$? Forum

[Username123]

Hey everyone,

Here's my situation :

I have two employers looking to hire me following law school (assuming I do well and I don't flunk out), so I don't necessarily NEED to go to a top tier school, but I would like to pay as minimal as possible to limit debt as I begin to practice.

I plan on going to school in South Florida. I have been accepted to -->

Miami (sticker),
FIU (I believe I will qualify for one of their $5,000 schollys, but not one hundred percent about it; I am in the process of asking administration),
Stetson (12K; no stips)
Nova Southeastern (22K; 2.8 stip),
St. Thomas (28K; 2.5 stip)

Nova and St. Thomas have terrible reputations, obviously; however, the attorneys I work for either teach at NSU, or are graduates of NSU. The attorneys in my family are also all graduates from NSU. All of these attorney make big money and have medium to large sized firms and are all interested in hiring me following law school, as they say.

Here's the point (sorry for rambling). Is it too early to negotiate $$$? The only school that has a COL for me is Stetson - I would live at home or an apartment a family member is offering me if I attend any of the other schools. I would love to be offered more from FIU - even if its a couple thousand, something (I know its very very doubtful) from Miami, and some more from Stetson because of the COL. I would also love to increase the $$$ from Nova and St. Thomas to full tuition coverage.

Is it too early and how do you think I should go about this? I have read the threads on negotiating scholarships, but I don't know what school I should negotiate with first in order to use as leverage for the next school, and so on.

Thanks for your assistance. It means a lot.

[Rahviveh]

Hey everyone,

Here's my situation :

I have two employers looking to hire me following law school (assuming I do well and I don't flunk out), so I don't necessarily NEED to go to a top tier school, but I would like to pay as minimal as possible to limit debt as I begin to practice.

I plan on going to school in South Florida. I have been accepted to -->

Miami (sticker),
FIU (I believe I will qualify for one of their $5,000 schollys, but not one hundred percent about it; I am in the process of asking administration),
Stetson (12K; no stips)
Nova Southeastern (22K; 2.8 stip),
St. Thomas (28K; 2.5 stip)

Nova and St. Thomas have terrible reputations, obviously; however, the attorneys I work for either teach at NSU, or are graduates of NSU. The attorneys in my family are also all graduates from NSU. All of these attorney make big money and have medium to large sized firms and are all interested in hiring me following law school, as they say.

Here's the point (sorry for rambling). Is it too early to negotiate $$$? The only school that has a COL for me is Stetson - I would live at home or an apartment a family member is offering me if I attend any of the other schools. I would love to be offered more from FIU - even if its a couple thousand, something (I know its very very doubtful) from Miami, and some more from Stetson because of the COL. I would also love to increase the $$$ from Nova and St. Thomas to full tuition coverage.

Is it too early and how do you think I should go about this? I have read the threads on negotiating scholarships, but I don't know what school I should negotiate with first in order to use as leverage for the next school, and so on.

Thanks for your assistance. It means a lot.

Not to early. Do a search, just send a simple email to schools telling them about your offers. You should be looking to get a full-ride with no stips. IF you don't, consider retaking.

[bluepenguin]

How firm are those job offers?

[Username123]

Hey everyone,

Here's my situation :

I have two employers looking to hire me following law school (assuming I do well and I don't flunk out), so I don't necessarily NEED to go to a top tier school, but I would like to pay as minimal as possible to limit debt as I begin to practice.

I plan on going to school in South Florida. I have been accepted to -->

Miami (sticker),
FIU (I believe I will qualify for one of their $5,000 schollys, but not one hundred percent about it; I am in the process of asking administration),
Stetson (12K; no stips)
Nova Southeastern (22K; 2.8 stip),
St. Thomas (28K; 2.5 stip)

Nova and St. Thomas have terrible reputations, obviously; however, the attorneys I work for either teach at NSU, or are graduates of NSU. The attorneys in my family are also all graduates from NSU. All of these attorney make big money and have medium to large sized firms and are all interested in hiring me following law school, as they say.

Here's the point (sorry for rambling). Is it too early to negotiate $$$? The only school that has a COL for me is Stetson - I would live at home or an apartment a family member is offering me if I attend any of the other schools. I would love to be offered more from FIU - even if its a couple thousand, something (I know its very very doubtful) from Miami, and some more from Stetson because of the COL. I would also love to increase the $$$ from Nova and St. Thomas to full tuition coverage.

Is it too early and how do you think I should go about this? I have read the threads on negotiating scholarships, but I don't know what school I should negotiate with first in order to use as leverage for the next school, and so on.

Thanks for your assistance. It means a lot.

Not to early. Do a search, just send a simple email to schools telling them about your offers. You should be looking to get a full-ride with no stips. IF you don't, consider retaking.

Thanks for the advice Champagne. I'll definitely send an email out sometime by tomorrow.

Bluepenguin - my job offers are pretty strong. I work for one of the firms now and my employer is a family friend who really wants to help me through my career.

[bluepenguin]

Okay, just make sure the total COA is reasonable. I'd think 60K is pushing it for Stetson/Miami. Anything more than that is a bad idea. In a perfect world you'd apply to at least UF/FSU for leverage/options if nothing else.

[Username123]

Okay, just make sure the total COA is reasonable. I'd think 60K is pushing it for Stetson/Miami. Anything more than that is a bad idea. In a perfect world you'd apply to at least UF/FSU for leverage/options if nothing else.

Good point there. I didn't apply to UF and FSU because of the cost of the application, as well as the low likelihood that I am actually accepted. But you make a great point. If I do, for some crazy reason, get in to either of these schools, then I could use them as great leverage options. I might throw an app out to both these schools. Sucks that it's so late in the process.

And hopefully these negotiation attempts work! Worst thing they can do is say no, right? Wish me luck! Thank you very much!

[bluepenguin]

You could ask for a fee waiver. $21 isn't too bad. It's probably not worth an application if you have to pay the $30 on top of that.

I was thinking for next cycle. You're really going to have to hustle if you want to go to law school without it being a dreadful decision. I wouldn't advise going to St. Thomas etc under any circumstances, and I wouldn't go to Miami or Stetson for more than 60K total debt (I personally wouldn't go to those schools for more than 40K, if I had to make that choice). If you were really, really, irrationally desperate to go to law school next year then maybe M/S @ 75k or the rest for <40. Set those as your upper limits and if you can't negotiate your way down to that figure you shouldn't go. Having a set figure in mind will, in addition to preventing you from making a bad life decision, also help you negotiate. Leverage comes from being able to walk away.

[Wholigan]

Unfortunately you have little leverage with which to negotiate with Miami. It might be helpful to have another T2 acceptance in hand, maybe even with a little $$$. The best choice is probably to improve your LSAT and start in 2014. If you are determined to start in 2013, maybe a late app to a southern peer school of UM could be worthwhile? Tennessee? LSU? Doesn't matter that you wouldn't attend there.

Do you have any idea what these job prospects are going to pay you? A job in hand is better than no job, but obviously a $45k job is still a huge problem if you have $150k in debt from Miami. I'm assuming an extra $30k on top of tuition for books, food, etc even if you can live rent-free. I'm sure any of these family and friends of yours could have their pick of 100 Nova Southeastern and St. Thomas grads who would love to work for $40k a year. Are they going to pay you $80k or whatever because they like you/ you are related? I'm not implying they wouldn't, just wondering.