Loyola Chicago vs GW Forum

[Moldy]

So I've done some reading through these forums, and I see the clear answer is Loyola but I was hoping for some more in depth answers as to the job market coming from Loyola.

I'm from Chicago and went to school downstate at UIUC, my mom is in Chicago and my dad is in Charlotte.

So the two schools I'm still looking at are Loyola Chicago (I got into the other comparable Chicago schools, but I would prefer Loyola due to it's location) and GW (only top-25 I was admitted into).

GW at sticker is 77,300/yr. They have not finished allocating their money, but based on my scores I doubt I'll get anything significant if at all.

Loyola COA (I have a very cheap apartment 3 blocks from the school, so I am factoring those costs in instead of the est. cost) is 55,500/yr minus a 30k merit scholarship with a 2.0 GPA stipulation for a total of 25,500/yr.

I have 80k in savings, the rest will be loans (obviously for Loyola, I would be able to use up all my savings and not take any loans). I understand what 150k in debt means (1800/mo for 10 years) and as I'm still asking this question, am willing to stomach it. Or wait for my grandparents to die.

I have two separate interests in law. First is government work, which is feel is cut off if I attend Loyola. The second is public interest (more specifically, special education law).

Both the DC market and the Chicago market appeal to me. DC more-so as I am interested in gov't work. I have some family in DC but no one I could rely on for networking.

I took the LSAT once in 2010 before I graduated, scored 166. My GPA at graduation was 3.55 (but on the "upswing", I only had 5 semesters of grades - 4 if schools actually discount study abroad - and my first semester dragged my overall GPA down by a lot.) I was testing around 175 with some free tests I found online, but honestly did very little prep work for the test as I was still in school at the time.

[whereskyle]

Dude, if you scored a 166 with minimal studying, you can almost certainly improve your score. I improved 11 points over my diagnostic.

[PRgradBYU]

Dude, if you scored a 166 with minimal studying, you can almost certainly improve your score. I improved 11 points over my diagnostic.

+1. You owe it to yourself to score in the mid-170s.

[WokeUpInACar]

Dude, if you scored a 166 with minimal studying, you can almost certainly improve your score. I improved 11 points over my diagnostic.

+1. You owe it to yourself to score in the mid-170s.

Seriously. UChicago could be a very real option for you after a few months of dedicated study.

[romothesavior]

Dude, if you scored a 166 with minimal studying, you can almost certainly improve your score. I improved 11 points over my diagnostic.

+1. You owe it to yourself to score in the mid-170s.

Seriously. UChicago could be a very real option for you after a few months of dedicated study.

This.

Wasting your money on a Loyola degree when far better schools are within reach would be a really, really bad decision.