Top Law Schools

-University of Houston

85k COA:
45k for tuition all three years.
With books, maybe about 50k?
With COL, about 85k.

-Financed by loans

-I am from the midwest but am very interested in relocating. No ties out of the midwest.

-Maxed out on retakes, my GPA is 3.4 and LSAT is 161

-I want biglaw but I know my numbers don't really permit attending a school with a great shot at biglaw. My University of Illinois offer gives me the best shot at biglaw (22% for Class of '12) but I'm not interested in remaining in the midwest.

My big question is whether or not going into debt 85k is going to kill me if I don't get biglaw! 17% entered biglaw in the class of 2012, though only 11% in 2011. I am assuming that it is not going to happen and hoping that with hard work and luck I will at least be among the ~60% who will obtain FT employment. Is there an average salary for FT jobs that aren't biglaw? Or is it all over the board?

For reference, UH's employment info for the Class of '12 is here: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=houston

Let me know if you want any more info! Thanks in advance for the input.

$85K for Houston is the upper limit of what I'd consider. So you're planning on $13K a year for living expenses? That seems a little on the low side.

IgosduIkana wrote: Is there an average salary for FT jobs that aren't biglaw? Or is it all over the board?

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... class=2011

If you're including COL, I think Houston for $85k is reasonable. Houston's job market is strong and the COL is one of the lowest in the country among major cities.

Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

Either revise your goals or don't go. You will probably not get big law.

TheSpanishMain wrote:Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

OP should be able to pull in more than 50-60k in Houston. Employment market there is very strong. Unless OP bombs law school and graduates bottom of his class, you should be able to pull at least 80k/year, and as I mentioned before, the COL is very low.

Don't let the ranking fool you, Houston will offer solid prospects for employment. Even Houston's TTTT South Texas College of Law outperforms it's ranking by a decent margin.

If you're big law or bust though, it's a different story. You'll likely need to be top 20% for that to be a realistic possibility. But the opportunity is there.

Nucky wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

OP should be able to pull in more than 50-60k in Houston. Employment market there is very strong. Unless OP bombs law school and graduates bottom of his class, you should be able to pull at least 80k/year, and as I mentioned before, the COL is very low.

Don't let the ranking fool you, Houston will offer solid prospects for employment. Even Houston's TTTT South Texas College of Law outperforms it's ranking by a decent margin.

If you're big law or bust though, it's a different story. You'll likely need to be top 20% for that to be a realistic possibility. But the opportunity is there.

Just....no.

Nucky wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

OP should be able to pull in more than 50-60k in Houston. Employment market there is very strong. Unless OP bombs law school and graduates bottom of his class, you should be able to pull at least 80k/year, and as I mentioned before, the COL is very low.

Don't let the ranking fool you, Houston will offer solid prospects for employment. Even Houston's TTTT South Texas College of Law outperforms it's ranking by a decent margin.

If you're big law or bust though, it's a different story. You'll likely need to be top 20% for that to be a realistic possibility. But the opportunity is there.

Peruse the NALP reports. Most likely only around a third of the class makes 80k+.

cotiger wrote:

Nucky wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

OP should be able to pull in more than 50-60k in Houston. Employment market there is very strong. Unless OP bombs law school and graduates bottom of his class, you should be able to pull at least 80k/year, and as I mentioned before, the COL is very low.

Don't let the ranking fool you, Houston will offer solid prospects for employment. Even Houston's TTTT South Texas College of Law outperforms it's ranking by a decent margin.

If you're big law or bust though, it's a different story. You'll likely need to be top 20% for that to be a realistic possibility. But the opportunity is there.

Peruse the NALP reports. Most likely only around a third of the class makes 80k+.

More like a quarter. Houston actually publishes its salary stats so you don't have to guess. Approximately 66 of 262 2012 graduates were reported to be making $80K or more.

Paul Campos wrote:

cotiger wrote:

Nucky wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:Would 85K on a 50-60k salary KILL you? No, but it may mean living like a student for a while, and that shit'll get old real quick.

OP should be able to pull in more than 50-60k in Houston. Employment market there is very strong. Unless OP bombs law school and graduates bottom of his class, you should be able to pull at least 80k/year, and as I mentioned before, the COL is very low.

Don't let the ranking fool you, Houston will offer solid prospects for employment. Even Houston's TTTT South Texas College of Law outperforms it's ranking by a decent margin.

If you're big law or bust though, it's a different story. You'll likely need to be top 20% for that to be a realistic possibility. But the opportunity is there.

Peruse the NALP reports. Most likely only around a third of the class makes 80k+.

More like a quarter. Houston actually publishes its salary stats so you don't have to guess. Approximately 66 of 262 2012 graduates were reported to be making $80K or more.

2012 isn't on LST, so I was just going off of 2010. But there you go--more likely than not, you're not going to get that kind of salary from Houston.

Thanks for the info folks, you all have reminded me that I still have some research to do. I have only now heard about "NALP Reports" and so I will learn about those.