Gtown or No-go? Forum

[ptx1654]

Long time lurker.

Only T-14 I've received scholarship at is GTown at 30K/year. Negotiating didn't work.
Will be financing the rest w/federal loans- looking at $170K in graduating debt, $250K over 10 yrs.
From NYC, want to return for Big Law, but open to PI (not sure how GTown's LRAP measures up to the other T-14s)
GPA: above 75ths for GTown
Maxed out on my # of tries for the LSAT

GTown or no-go? I'd be falling back on a job that pays 40K/yr.

Thanks in advance.

[Cicero76]

Long time lurker.

Only T-14 I've received scholarship at is GTown at 30K/year. Negotiating didn't work.
Will be financing the rest w/federal loans, about 50K/year.
Gtown loan calculator estimates I'll be looking at $250K in loans (if I repay on the standard 10yr plan)
From NYC, want to return for Big Law, but open to PI (not sure how GTown's LRAP measures up to the other T-14s)
GPA: above 75ths for GTown
Maxed out on the LSAT

GTown or no-go? I'd be falling back on a job that pays 40K/yr.

Thanks in advance.

What does this even mean

[Nomo]

No-go. 250k of debt will literally change your life. It will change your perspective on everything.

This line comes from a therapist who used to work in biglaw. Its absolutely serious: "When your parents die some day, they’ll also leave money to you both. Your share of that, too, would disappear down the drain of your school loans, without making much of a dent. On the other hand, the deaths of your grandparents and parents might enable you to pay the loans off sooner – before you reach your fifties – which is a disturbing thought that keeps entering your head when you wish it wouldn’t."

--LinkRemoved--

[The Dark Shepard]

I assume maxed out means (s)he's taken it 3x already?

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

What about going somewhere for free or near-free? (George washington, Cardozo, Brooklyn, etc.)

[linkx13]

Long time lurker.

Only T-14 I've received scholarship at is GTown at 30K/year. Negotiating didn't work.
Will be financing the rest w/federal loans, about 50K/year.
Gtown loan calculator estimates I'll be looking at $250K in loans (if I repay on the standard 10yr plan)
From NYC, want to return for Big Law, but open to PI (not sure how GTown's LRAP measures up to the other T-14s)
GPA: above 75ths for GTown
Maxed out on the LSAT

GTown or no-go? I'd be falling back on a job that pays 40K/yr.

Thanks in advance.

Is that total debt paid? Your graduating debt should definitely not be 250k

[SplitMyPants]

Long time lurker.

Only T-14 I've received scholarship at is GTown at 30K/year. Negotiating didn't work.
Will be financing the rest w/federal loans, about 50K/year.
Gtown loan calculator estimates I'll be looking at $250K in loans (if I repay on the standard 10yr plan)
From NYC, want to return for Big Law, but open to PI (not sure how GTown's LRAP measures up to the other T-14s)
GPA: above 75ths for GTown
Maxed out on the LSAT

GTown or no-go? I'd be falling back on a job that pays 40K/yr.

Thanks in advance.

Is that total debt paid? Your graduating debt should definitely not be 250k

That's what I gathered. Regardless, that seems a little steep given GULC's big law numbers. However, I'm just a 0L...

[Carter1901]

I assume maxed out means (s)he's taken it 3x already?

Nahh, OP dropped a casual 180.

[ptx1654]

Sorry, edited for accuracy. Was blinding copy pasting.
And I mean I maxed out on my # of takes.

Last thing, would this debt not be justified even if I go into PI & take advantage of LRAP?

[twenty]

Last thing, would this debt not be justified even if I go into PI & take advantage of LRAP?

No, because

From NYC, want to return for Big Law, but open to PI

...are basically the famous last words of someone who either ends up in biglaw with a ton of debt or unemployed. With biglaw, at least you know by the start of 3L whether or not you'll be a biglaw firm attorney. With PI/govt, wading through dozens of application cycles while volunteering for free at the organization you want to work for, hoping that they'll eventually have enough funding to hire you at roughly the same salary you were making before you started law school is the norm.

Do your future self a huge favor and don't go. If you're above the 75th for GPA at GULC, you're certainly at or above the 50ths for the rest of the T14. Come back in a year or two, retake the LSAT, get more scholarship money.

edit> Though GULC has also been known to negotiate later in the cycle. I'd certainly go for 40k/year.

[Princetonlaw68]

Maybe you could find a way to lessen your expenses. At 30k a year scholly, your tuiton's only going to be about 60-70k total. There are cheaper places in Washington DC that have a little more of a commute. Maybe even find someone who will let you live in their basement for 600 a month or something. I'd much rather live crappily while going to a top law school for only about 20k tuition a year than just accept life as someone who only makes 40k salary. Maybe I'm just a little more ambitious than most, but I think if you can bring down those expenses, then it's definitely worth the gamble.


Also try to negotiate with other T14s. Tell them that Gtown gave you the 30k, and maybe that will help you get some money from the others.