UCLA Law worth 120k? Forum

[ucla2017]

Hello all:

Long time lingerer here. I am also a UCLA law admit for the class of 2017. My goal is to stay in Southern Calfornia for the rest of my life. Which is why it was an easy choice.

However, all this talk of debt is getting to me. I will be coming out with about 120 to 130k in debt (this is with interest). I assumed this amount was okay considering UCLA. Also, my goal is to work at the District Attorneys office straight out of law school. I know it's hard so I am open to working at various other places. At the end I do want to end up at a DAs office.

My question is, is 120-130k an overburden? I've looked into LRAPs and a lot of people from the DAs office seems to be coming out with more debt than that. Is UCLA law worth 120k?

I have no other overbearing debt. I have about 3000 from undergrad. I can't retake I took it all three times.

Thanks!

[twenty]

UCLA has a pretty solid LRAP, but the Los Angeles DA's office is a miserable son of a bitch to break into. Hope you speak Spanish at the minimum and have the ability to work part time there all throughout law school. Most of the OC offices have been taken over by UCI staff connections. Everyone and their cousin wants San Diego DA, but USD grads that have been externing there since 1L will beat you out (and there's a ton of them.)

If you're willing to gun for Ventura/Santa Barbara, or DEFINITELY Kern/SLO County, I'd say this is a good idea. Kern you'll be hired in a year or less. Ventura gets waves of funding every few years; if you hit it, good for you. Santa Barbara is fuck all, but a gunning UCLA grad should have as good a shot as any.

EDIT> How do you feel about Riverside? No one goes for it, and while Calvert has been futt-bucking the DA's office for the last who knows how long, you have a solid shot at that if you gun for it.

[Nomo]

I don't recommend borrowing 120k to become a DA.

Also realize those loans will increase as you wait to find a job. Debt at graduation and debt at time of first job will be different.

[ucla2017]

UCLA has a pretty solid LRAP, but the Los Angeles DA's office is a miserable son of a bitch to break into. Hope you speak Spanish at the minimum and have the ability to work part time there all throughout law school. Most of the OC offices have been taken over by UCI staff connections. Everyone and their cousin wants San Diego DA, but USD grads that have been externing there since 1L will beat you out (and there's a ton of them.)

If you're willing to gun for Ventura/Santa Barbara, or DEFINITELY Kern/SLO County, I'd say this is a good idea. Kern you'll be hired in a year or less. Ventura gets waves of funding every few years; if you hit it, good for you. Santa Barbara is fuck all, but a gunning UCLA grad should have as good a shot as any.

EDIT> How do you feel about Riverside? No one goes for it, and while Calvert has been futt-bucking the DA's office for the last who knows how long, you have a solid shot at that if you gun for it.

Thanks! And yes I heard... I do not speak Spanish unfortunately. However, I interned there as an undergrad, and know a number of DDA's there, and met the DA once. Will be externiing and interning there both summers and 2L and 3L. I have heard stories of where people do not get jobs even by interning there all 2 years. Which is why I am prepared for back-up plans.

Yes, I was thinking all counties around. Maybe even some NorCal counties, and then transferring to the LA county after a couple of years. I live near Riverside! That is my second choice after Los Angeles actually. I will be gunning for any DA job.

I talked to a few UCLA Law students, and it seems like they pay for pub/gov summers ($4,000 each summer).

So do you think 120k is worth UCLA Law? Or should I be going cheaper for a different SoCal law school? Also, if I do somehow graduate with good enough grades for BigLaw, will they hire me even if I don't intern with them during the summer? That was my back-up plan (or work for the City Attorney's Office, a public interest agency, or just any firm).

EDIT: Are salaries different among the various counties for DA's?

[Nomo]

Biglaw will not hire you if you don't work in biglaw your 2L summer. Now, there is a small group of people who don't get biglaw as a 2L and somehow snag it as a 3L, but this group really is tiny. One thing they all have in common is they have a resume that says "I want to do private firm work." Meaning their resume doesn't scream, I want to be a DA, PD, legal aid attorney, etc. But beyond that, UCLA doesn't get enough people in biglaw to make that a viable backup plan.

City attorney or "any firm" is a decent backup plan, however. And if you gun for a DA job and don't get it you've still got a shot at smaller firms, city attorney's offices, etc.

What UCLA is worth depends on your career goals. If biglaw was your number 1 option it would be worth it. But, that's not your top goal. So, no, UCLA is absolutely not worth 120k.

[twenty]

Here's the thing; the nature of "gunning" doesn't give you a lot of options for backup plans. The DA/PD offices across the country are so impacted that selection rate for places like Brooklyn DA are less than 2%. Los Angeles DA was between 2% and 3% as recently as 2013. Now, Riverside/SLO/Kern aren't quite as hard to get into, but it's still unfathomably brutal.

You have two things working against you that will immediately screw you over when it comes to "better" DA offices. First, most counties' DA (definitely LA) offices do Veteran's Preference, so if you're a vet you're in good shape, but if you're not you're basically dead no matter how hard you gun. Secondly, not speaking Spanish is a huge black mark against you. You must learn Spanish if you want to be competitive.

You can make up for that if you're willing to gun at an office that's in a less desirable area (i.e, Humboldt or Fresno), but 1) don't expect to be able to transfer out, and 2) it's still very tough to get.

[Nomo]

There are less competitive DA's offices that don't care if you know spanish. They still aren't easy jobs to get, but they're not crazy competitive. You might want to gun for one of those. Sadly, the less competitive DA's offices are in areas that most people find less desirable.

[ucla2017]

Nomo and twenty. Seriously, thank you for your replies. It gives me a lot to think about. I'll try doing externships during my 2L and 3L year with LADA, and will try for BigLaw my 2L summer. As a back-up of course. I'll see what happens.

Thank you so much for your replies though (REALLY). I'll rethink what school I should be going to too.