Top Law Schools

167, 2.9, Asian-American. No time really to take a third LSAT although I PT'd around 172 since I'm 37 years old already, and postponing law school will impact a lot of things including our family's plans for a second child.

Still waiting decisions from UCLA, USC, UC Davis, Georgetown and UVA but since I was rejected from Hastings, I believe the others will too, so this looks like the actual choice I'll have to make.

Minnesota is offering 28K per year (min 2.5GPA) while George Washington has not given its offer yet.

I've been living outside the US for the past 14 years (class of 99) and considering return to the states since I don't want my son to be educated in Korea (honestly, can't afford the costs of education here, which can easily run to $30k a year with private tutoring, international school and whatnot. This is in addition to me not wanting my son tied to his desk for over 15 hours a day until end of high school). This alone sort of justifies the cost of law school although I will probably lose around 400k~450k in opportunity cost by the time of graduation, considering what I make now, cost of education, moving and increased cost of living compared to Korea.

I went to high school in the DC area but originally from California, with Minnesota thrown in because they were VERY active in recruiting and their USN rankings weren't as bad as the other schools that were sending me stuff. No ties in Minnesota, never lived there, but both of us don't mind living there unless the winters turn out to be far worse than imagined. My son, currently two, has no preference, though he recognizes both schools since me and my wife discussed it often.

My chief concern is that, while Minnesota has lower job placement rankings, its Tuition/COA will be significantly lower - my rough calculations, assuming GWU offers something in the range of 15~16k a year (guestimate based on lawschoolnumbers), say that the difference may be as large as 100k upon graduation.

Complicating this is the reputation GWU seem to have in getting summer internships and my desire to do international work (guessing DC is a bit better in this regard). My parents who live in Korea are pushing towards GWU as they prefer going by the numbers; my wife is leaning towards Minnesota; I'm just an indecisive mess.

Any input, additional items to consider, etc. will be helpful.

Wait. So education in Korea would be too expensive for you, but getting a law degree AND educating your child in the US would be cheaper? That doesn't seem right...

Why do you want to go to law school? Is it just to get back into the US?

stuckinthemiddle wrote:Wait. So education in Korea would be too expensive for you, but getting a law degree AND educating your child in the US would be cheaper? That doesn't seem right...

Why do you want to go to law school? Is it just to get back into the US?

it's 32k/yr for international school k12 so roughly 384k per child. if not going to international school my son will be subject to college admission grind that leaves very little time for him to do anything but study and even then no guarantee to be admitted into universities in seoul.

for me law has been something in my mind for the past 6~7 years but undergrad grades, finances and some other pursuits stopped me from applying then.

T30 at sticker is usually not a good move. Assuming gw with 45-50k v umn with 84k is way closer.

Gw's employment score on LST is inflated by like 20% school funded jobs. Umn does something similar for like 15% but the jobs dont meet the all the reqs to be included in the LST score.

Neither of these schools give you a good shot at a high paying firm job. The safer bet is to take the money, I think.

The money and wife's preference tips the scale IMO.

Retake in June (to improve this cycle) if you can.

Extremely impressed by your scholarship offer with a 2.9 at minnesota. Take it and don't look back that's awesome. Minneapolis is a great city to raise your kids also, and there are great public schools like Eden Prairie High and Edina High just a little out in the suburbs, as well as your typical preppy private options like Blake

If you can really picture your family living in Minnesota, I would probably choose Minn. over GW unless GW comes close to matching aid. The winters are fucking atrocious though.

Also, if you're moving away from Korea because education costs are too high, why would you live in DC? To my knowledge, DC public education is not very good (outside of a few outlier schools in the nicer areas in the city), so you'd probably end up paying for private school anyway or living in VA/MD and having to commute to GW.

@Doorkeeper
Korea has a few advantages, most notably safety, but that's about it. Since Korea's GDP/GNP is around 20k range, those who attend international school are filthy rich by any standard, sending my kid there he's likely to suffer from feeling very poor(it would be close to 50% my income to send him there) and perhaps even get ostracized. Besides I want him to know what it's like to be on a sports team and compete with other kids etc. as opposed to just being satisfied with PE classes, and don't want him to become xenophobic like most kids here. Stuff like that. Also my hope is that with the JD, I'll be able to afford above average education even in the DC/VA/MD area.

@jbagelboy
I am an expatriate, and as such, get a huge tax exemption. I think that was it, or it could have been my soft part of the application: co-authoring two books in Korean, being a finalist in the Korean Astronaut Program, etc. Or MN is just being very generous. I don't know, but I'm not complaining.

@Nova
not sure how June retake will help me this cycle; since I have zero ties in the states, I'll probably have to have secured housing by the time June results roll in. And while I did okay in the PTs, I've always done better in PTs (previously got a 163 when I pt'd around 168) so I'm not too optimistic about a score increase even if I do re-take.