What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:05 pm
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Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:13 pm
It would be a pretty bad idea 1L year.... though it's within the realm of possibility since the ABA allows you to work up to 20 hours.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:13 pm
Wondering this too. Trying to figure out a way to mitigate COL by finding a creative way to pay for it. Online work of some sort? Tutoring local high school kids? I have no clue. Just spit balling.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:15 pm
Look into being an RA. I know several law students who are RAs at graduate student dorms. Its not a bad deal at all, sure they have to work the front desk every few weekends, but food/housing is covered.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:46 pm
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Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:49 pm
Part time work usually pays total shit. Something like teaching LSAT would be ideal since it's fairly high pay for fairly low hours.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:06 pm
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Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:10 pm
Why don't you work for a couple years and save up money while retaking the lsat?DaRascal wrote:Every penny counts.Desert Fox wrote:Part time work usually pays total shit. Something like teaching LSAT would be ideal since it's fairly high pay for fairly low hours.
I can't teach the LSAT, it kicked my ass lol.
What kind of summer job would get a fresh college graduate a solid $7k by August?
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:13 pm
DaRascal wrote:Every penny counts.Desert Fox wrote:Part time work usually pays total shit. Something like teaching LSAT would be ideal since it's fairly high pay for fairly low hours.
I can't teach the LSAT, it kicked my ass lol.
What kind of summer job would get a fresh college graduate a solid $7k by August?
Let me know when you find out ha
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:18 pm
Stripping?DaRascal wrote:Every penny counts.Desert Fox wrote:Part time work usually pays total shit. Something like teaching LSAT would be ideal since it's fairly high pay for fairly low hours.
I can't teach the LSAT, it kicked my ass lol.
What kind of summer job would get a fresh college graduate a solid $7k by August?
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:36 pm
Hey, I'm interested in this question as well re working in law school. I won't work my first semester since the grades are so critical, but one option to look into is getting involved with one of the graduate programs at whichever university you attend as a teachers assistant or grader. It might not go for every school, but if you had solid training in a STEM field in undergrad or a masters, graduate programs could offer serious $, like up to half of tuition, to TA their classes. I'm reaching out to profs in the mathematics departments (my undergrad background) of some of my schools as well as seeing if my undergrad thesis adviser and PDE/number theory profs have any contacts at the schools, and if they are open to taking me on and paying me decently as a grader or TA. Could have some small impact on my decision where to attend if I could get a sweet deal to cover living expenses.
if you have an interest in using your undergrad major, could give it a try
if you have an interest in using your undergrad major, could give it a try
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:21 am
I worked 2L and 3L year. 2L year at a restaurant, 3L year at a firm. I'd strongly advise against working 1L year.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:39 am
chicubs88 wrote:Look into being an RA. I know several law students who are RAs at graduate student dorms. Its not a bad deal at all, sure they have to work the front desk every few weekends, but food/housing is covered.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:33 pm
If you dont mind me asking, what was your strategy towards working and managing loans. Did you save up the money and pay it towards for COL the next year or did you make interest payments and keep the rest?romothesavior wrote:I worked 2L and 3L year. 2L year at a restaurant, 3L year at a firm. I'd strongly advise against working 1L year.
Im not going to work 1L due to grades being important, but I kinda want to have a rough idea of how to minimize my debt upon graduation.
Thanks
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:49 pm
I didn't work as a 1L. As a 2L, I interned at Legal Aid during the school year but didn't get paid. This year I am working for a mid-sized public company in their GC's office for $40/hour about 15 hours a week. It is a great job. I am going to a firm when I graduate, but if I end up going in-house later, this experience will be helpful. Plus, the money is good.
Ideally I probably would've worked as a 3L for the firm I am going to in the fall, but that used to be more available as an option before the economy tanked. Now it happens from time to time but it is much rarer (at least in NYC big law).
Obviously the best thing is to find a legally-related job that pays, but if you can't, I think generally your first priority in working during the year should be making connections or getting experience that can help you get a post-grad job. Thus, it may be better to extern for the DA's office for free during 2L year if that will help you be considered for a full-time post-grad job there than it is to work at Starbucks even though it pays. If you already have a job offer, then it doesn't matter as much.
But OP is a PR male who need to retake the LSAT and reapply rather than worrying about working some low-paying job as a 1L bc he settled on a so-so school (don't do it!). Seriously, the likelihood is that if you go this year, after graduting law school, you will be looking at jobs with about the same salary as the ones you are eligible for now, only you'll have way more debt.
Ideally I probably would've worked as a 3L for the firm I am going to in the fall, but that used to be more available as an option before the economy tanked. Now it happens from time to time but it is much rarer (at least in NYC big law).
Obviously the best thing is to find a legally-related job that pays, but if you can't, I think generally your first priority in working during the year should be making connections or getting experience that can help you get a post-grad job. Thus, it may be better to extern for the DA's office for free during 2L year if that will help you be considered for a full-time post-grad job there than it is to work at Starbucks even though it pays. If you already have a job offer, then it doesn't matter as much.
But OP is a PR male who need to retake the LSAT and reapply rather than worrying about working some low-paying job as a 1L bc he settled on a so-so school (don't do it!). Seriously, the likelihood is that if you go this year, after graduting law school, you will be looking at jobs with about the same salary as the ones you are eligible for now, only you'll have way more debt.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:12 pm
I can think of a few options.
If you have a job right now, you could work part-time at that job continuing into the school year. We had a summer intern in our office last year who was in a grad program in the fall - he came in every other Friday once classes started. It's better than taking on an ordinary part-time job like waiting tables because your current job is presumably a "real job" that pays more.
If you live in a sizeable city or tourist destination, you can rent out your place for money via airbnb. I have a friend attending grad school in a big city who has made a couple grand this way. If you live in the middle of nowhere, it'll be less lucrative.
Babysitting. You can do work while sitting.
Tutoring. If you don't want to go through the hassle of establishing yourself as a private tutor, you can try to get a gig through the tutoring center at your law school's undergrad.
If you have a job right now, you could work part-time at that job continuing into the school year. We had a summer intern in our office last year who was in a grad program in the fall - he came in every other Friday once classes started. It's better than taking on an ordinary part-time job like waiting tables because your current job is presumably a "real job" that pays more.
If you live in a sizeable city or tourist destination, you can rent out your place for money via airbnb. I have a friend attending grad school in a big city who has made a couple grand this way. If you live in the middle of nowhere, it'll be less lucrative.
Babysitting. You can do work while sitting.
Tutoring. If you don't want to go through the hassle of establishing yourself as a private tutor, you can try to get a gig through the tutoring center at your law school's undergrad.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:41 pm
DUDE.. wait out another year and reapply. You can get into a top 20 even low t14 with your numbers. Go do something impressive that shows maturity preferably in a non for profit org in Somalia or something.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:05 pm
I just took out fewer loans and spent the money I made on COL like I normally would.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:23 pm
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Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:29 pm
How abundant are paying Research Assistant gigs during fall/spring? I know it is a relatively common 1L summer gig, but I imagine there would still be work to be done during the other 9 months of the year.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:44 pm
You won't make enough money working to make a substantial difference. I'm going to try to work PT as a 1L at a restaurant on some nights, but only for a month or two to make extra money.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:56 pm
If there are any centers near you and you're not squeamish around needles; I would suggest donating plasma. If you go twice a week, you get somewhere around $50 or $60 depending on the center. Not to mention that it takes less than an hour per session and you can read during the whole thing. It probably won't cover rent, but that'll definitely offset the cost for a pretty minimal time commitment.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:28 pm
It's enough for beer, man.kferden wrote:If there are any centers near you and you're not squeamish around needles; I would suggest donating plasma. If you go twice a week, you get somewhere around $50 or $60 depending on the center. Not to mention that it takes less than an hour per session and you can read during the whole thing. It probably won't cover rent, but that'll definitely offset the cost for a pretty minimal time commitment.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:31 pm
people do this ? shit. i've been giving on ALEX machine for a while. i'd imagine it can't be much more intense than that..kferden wrote:If there are any centers near you and you're not squeamish around needles; I would suggest donating plasma. If you go twice a week, you get somewhere around $50 or $60 depending on the center. Not to mention that it takes less than an hour per session and you can read during the whole thing. It probably won't cover rent, but that'll definitely offset the cost for a pretty minimal time commitment.
Re: What's a good way to finance room and board?
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:35 pm
It's somewhat common but I didn't know people did it in LS.toothbrush wrote:people do this ? shit. i've been giving on ALEX machine for a while. i'd imagine it can't be much more intense than that..kferden wrote:If there are any centers near you and you're not squeamish around needles; I would suggest donating plasma. If you go twice a week, you get somewhere around $50 or $60 depending on the center. Not to mention that it takes less than an hour per session and you can read during the whole thing. It probably won't cover rent, but that'll definitely offset the cost for a pretty minimal time commitment.