Temple Law ($$$) vs. Boston College Forum

[dallasgray]

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[Nova]

In order to receive the best feedback in this forum, please provide as much of the following information in your original post as possible:
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) - scholarships.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers & how many times you have taken the LSAT

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=206299

[dallasgray]

I edited the OP.

[jk148706]

BC at sticker will mean like $240,000 due at repayment. Not worth it.

Retake

[BigZuck]

Both are too expensive (for any career goals), neither give you a good shot at achieving your career goals, and Temple isn't worth moving to attend from out of state. It's a regional school that should only be attended by people with ties to that state who can go for cheap.

You have to retake and attend a T14 if you want a shot at big law.

[dallasgray]

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[Nucky]

Just a follow-up, i was offered a $25K/year scholarship to BC just a couple of days ago.

Wow! Congrats that's awesome! As a fellow URM with a lower GPA, but much higher LSAT, I really hope I get a similar offer.

If you don't mind me asking, are you a AA URM? Do you have some kind of crazy unique soft/s?

[dallasgray]

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[Cellar-door]

Just a follow-up, i was offered a $25K/year scholarship to BC just a couple of days ago.

Wow! Congrats that's awesome! As a fellow URM with a lower GPA, but much higher LSAT, I really hope I get a similar offer.

If you don't mind me asking, are you a AA URM? Do you have some kind of crazy unique soft/s?

black, lgbt, lower socio-economic status; my actual GPA is 3.45, but LSAC calculates it lower due to a course that i re-took. i worked 30+ hours a week while completing my undergrad, and i also have extensive volunteering/non-profit work history.

before i was offered admission, i was called for an interview by one of the deans. quite honestly, this school was the best one i got into, although i have some pretty nice offers at other lower-ranked schools.

i've decided to go to BC...primarily because of their decent score on Law School Transparency. http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=bc

financial considerations are huge portion of choosing a law school, but not the only factor.

Sit out a cycle re-take and shoot higher. I wouldn't go to BC at that price, especially not for a legit URM. Re-take that LSAT, score 166 or higher and you should have much better options.

[dallasgray]

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[dallasgray]

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[Winston1984]

quite honestly, i'm not inclined to wait another year for law school. furthermore, LSAC statistics say that overall, those who retake the LSAT average only a 2.5 point increase. the statistics don't readily agree with advice to retake, IMO. i understand debt aversion, but i also understand hard numbers. it is very unlikely that i will score significantly higher...especially since i am not financially able to take a prep course. i can't change my approach to studying much, which means that i will unlikely be able to do better.

right now, it's either go to law school this year, or don't go at all (because of personal life situations). therefore, since waiting isn't an option, i've gotta deal with what's been dealt.

What personal situations are there that force you to go to law school? Also the retake stats are true, but how much does the average person study? There are tons of retake success stories (myself included) you owe it to your future to sit out a year. I'll have 2 years in between my first take and law school, and this extra time has been pretty fun honestly. You can travel, work a bullshit job (or a good one), and hang out with friends you won't see as often.

[dallasgray]

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[californiauser]

quite honestly, i'm not inclined to wait another year for law school. furthermore, LSAC statistics say that overall, those who retake the LSAT average only a 2.5 point increase. the statistics don't readily agree with advice to retake, IMO. i understand debt aversion, but i also understand hard numbers. it is very unlikely that i will score significantly higher...especially since i am not financially able to take a prep course. i can't change my approach to studying much, which means that i will unlikely be able to do better.

right now, it's either go to law school this year, or don't go at all (because of personal life situations). therefore, since waiting isn't an option, i've gotta deal with what's been dealt.

the average person MAYBE takes 3 or 4 practice exams, then jumps right in having no idea WTF they're doing

spend some time in the LSAT prep forum, take a year off, and enjoy the T14 with $$ next cycle

i went up 8 points (fellow urm) from my 1st take and there is absolutely nothing special about me other than I used the methods in the LSAT prep forum on here

3 months obviously isn't enough time for you, it wasn't for me either -- hit the books hard for 6 months and enjoy the reward a year from now

[sublime]

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[dallasgray]

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[sublime]

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[Winston1984]

i actually studied quite a bit (5-6 hours, 4-5 days a week, for almost three months up until the exam). i used a self-study method that was decent. the debt is a means to an end, and the statistics for BC law grads show that the majority of them are put in jobs that enable them to pay on their debt. i understand mitigating debt, but the reality is that it is highly unlikely that i will be able to do so by taking a year off. the odds aren't in my favor, statistically speaking.

maybe i'm one of those weird people that sees a law school education as an investment, rather than as an overpriced product? i don't mind paying for law school...and BC statistically will put me in a place to do so.

3 months isn't long enough for you then. It takes some people 6 months or more to hit there true potential. Took me 6-8 months to hit my target score.

[Winston1984]

Still haven't heard the personal reason why you have to go this year.

[dallasgray]

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[sublime]

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[dallasgray]

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[Cellar-door]

If you study using the methods in the forum here you should see an increase, maybe only a few points, but a few points can be huge. Also I just saw you have a 153 and only took it once, you should re-take for sure, max out your attempts.

Sublime might not have made it clear to you, but what he was trying to bring to your attention is that if you want to work at a firm you are going to need to be in the top 1/3 at BC, probably top 20-25%.
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... =employers
The 70% you keep throwing out is any job at all. most of those are not jobs where you can pay off the debt load you'll be taking on.

I'm assuming that scholarship is 75,000 total right, 25K a year?
If so you are looking at roughly $150-155k in debt out of BC, add in the interest over the repayment period and it's a lot more. That's a terrible decision, that's a not so fun payback at a small/mid firm, and big firm odds out of BC are lower. If you aren't top 1/3rd you're SOL, if you aren't top 10 or so % you're completely screwed.

Edit- fixed debt load, forgot about the interest while you are in school.

[cotiger]

Your debt at repayment with $25k/yr at BC will be about $155,000, just so you're aware.

[ChuggaChuggaChooChoo]

i actually studied quite a bit (5-6 hours, 4-5 days a week, for almost three months up until the exam). i used a self-study method that was decent. the debt is a means to an end, and the statistics for BC law grads show that the majority of them are put in jobs that enable them to pay on their debt. i understand mitigating debt, but the reality is that it is highly unlikely that i will be able to do so by taking a year off. the odds aren't in my favor, statistically speaking.

maybe i'm one of those weird people that sees a law school education as an investment, rather than as an overpriced product? i don't mind paying for law school...and BC statistically will put me in a place to do so.

3 months isn't long enough for you then. It takes some people 6 months or more to hit there true potential. Took me 6-8 months to hit my target score.

This is so true...no reason to go into this cycle with those stats when you can GREATLY improve your options through a retake