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publicinterest123 wrote: Michigan (35k per year)
--Offered a surprisingly large scholarship. Still kinda floored.
--Visited recently and it has a great vibe.
--total cost of living by far the lowest.
--Interesting clinics
--fairly large PI group

Chicago (sticker)
--Will not be receiving any money
--LRAP is the best because it ignores my wife's $$ entirely
--The student vibe of U Chicago sounds absolutely terrible. Whenever I "ask a student", all I hear is-- "the rumors are all true"
--small PI community with 6 Post-grad fellowships = high likelihood of getting one
--Best "rank" school
--Chicago is cold an clammy

Boalt (pretending I wont get anything...I know about the matching scholarships but reading the last few years of threads makes me not so optimistic)
--This is the area of the country that I intend to work in... so can get hooked up to resources early, extern, volunteer, etc.
--Best weather, and the city we would most like to live in for the next 3 years
--Largest PI resources
--Not sure if I will be eligible for the LRAP............

twenty wrote:+ UChicago's PI placement is on par with Harvard. If you're looking at a more prestigious PI field, Chicago for sure.

publicinterest123 wrote:Hello everybody! This is my first post here and would really appreciate some feedback. I applied on opening day of the cycle, so have heard back from all of my schools.

I am 100% committed to PI, and my goal is to work in the Bay Area or Pacific northwest. I have read many threads on this forum challenging OP's who are committed to PI. I will ask that you simply trust me...I am 35 years old. I applied to law school entirely to pursue one avenue of law. This field is actually attainable (ie it is not international freedom fighting), but still incredibly incredibly competitive. It is not government. It will pay <50k per year forever.

Other than scholarships, I will be paying for school with loans and using LRAP.

Michigan (35k per year)
--Offered a surprisingly large scholarship. Still kinda floored.
--Visited recently and it has a great vibe.
--total cost of living by far the lowest.
--Interesting clinics
--fairly large PI group

Chicago (sticker)
--Will not be receiving any money
--LRAP is the best because it ignores my wife's $$ entirely
--The student vibe of U Chicago sounds absolutely terrible. Whenever I "ask a student", all I hear is-- "the rumors are all true"
--small PI community with 6 Post-grad fellowships = high likelihood of getting one
--Best "rank" school. Highest likelihood of clerking or post-grad PI fellow if I cant secure full time PI post grad
--Chicago is cold an clammy

Boalt (pretending I wont get anything...I know about the matching scholarships but reading the last few years of threads makes me not so optimistic)
--This is the area of the country that I intend to work in... so can get hooked up to resources early, extern, volunteer, etc.
--Best weather, and the city we would most like to live in for the next 3 years
--Largest PI resources
--May take spouse's income into consideration for LRAP


Thanks anonymous people! I am glad to join the forum frenzy.

publicinterest123 wrote:Thanks for the input. For people voting boalt, is this due to location or PI focus of school? I presumed it would be last due to debt and ? Lrap
Regarding career goals, I hesitate from being more revealing because it is so specific. I do understand that it makes the question tougher to answer, so thanks for bearing with me.

Yes, the bad student vibe thing is probably overstated. I guess I should not buy into rumors, but current students PMed saying they feel it is cut throat. Do you feel like PI is well supported by admin at u chicago? Based on my numbers it is incredibly unlikely that I will receive any money from chicago

dresden doll wrote:I think people may be somewhat overestimating the importance of LRAP.

If you're planning on taking out 200k in order to work at a job that almost certainly won't pay you more than 60k to start with (in fact, it's unlikely to even pay 60k), your payments under IBR are likely to be zero, or close to it. Since LRAP merely picks up IBR payments, it's utterly needless if that's the case.

Additionally as time goes on, negative amortization is likely to kick in (i.e. your payments under IBR won't be sufficient to cover interest on your loans, thus causing you to owe more and more with each passing year until the 10 year clock brings you discharge). Thus, even if your initial IBR payments are over 0, they'll likely go down to 0 in a very short period of time.

Of course, this math changes if your scholarship is relatively substantial. But for those paying sticker, I would definitely advise to choose a school with excellent institutional support for PI-oriented students over a school with good LRAP (although the two typically go hand in hand).

In fact, if you're sure you want PI, prioritize school-funded PI fellowships over LRAP. You're relatively likely to need them at graduation.

Additionally as time goes on, negative amortization is likely to kick in (i.e. your payments under IBR won't be sufficient to cover interest on your loans, thus causing you to owe more and more with each passing year until the 10 year clock brings you discharge). Thus, even if your initial IBR payments are over 0, they'll likely go down to 0 in a very short period of time.

twenty wrote:

Additionally as time goes on, negative amortization is likely to kick in (i.e. your payments under IBR won't be sufficient to cover interest on your loans, thus causing you to owe more and more with each passing year until the 10 year clock brings you discharge). Thus, even if your initial IBR payments are over 0, they'll likely go down to 0 in a very short period of time.

This is very fascinating -- I was under the impression your payments were solely contingent on your salary. How do they decrease with negative amortization?

The IBR monthly payment amount is based on your annual Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and family
size. Specifically, the maximum annual amount you are required to repay under IBR during any period
when you have a “partial financial hardship” (as discussed in Q&A #4 above) is 15 percent of the
difference between your AGI and 150 percent of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) Poverty Guideline amount for your family size and state. This annual repayment amount is then
divided by 12 to determine your monthly IBR repayment amount.

For example, 150 percent of the 2011 HHS poverty guideline amount for a family of three in the 48
contiguous states and the District of Columbia is $27,795. If your AGI was $40,000, the difference
would be $12,205. Fifteen percent of that is $1,831; dividing this amount by 12 results in a monthly IBR
payment amount of $153. As noted in Q&A #4 above, this compares with a monthly payment amount of
$518 under a 10-year Standard Repayment Plan (based on an eligible loan debt amount of $45,000).

If the calculated IBR payment amount using the formula described above is less than $5.00, the
monthly payment amount is zero. If the calculated payment is more than $5.00 but less than $10.00,
the monthly payment is $10.00.