Top Law Schools

School: Boston College
Total COA: ~100k before repayment
Financing: Loans (living with family so COL @ zero)
Ties: Born and raised in rural New England. Lived in Boston for years. Want to remain in Boston after graduation.
Goals: Any non-shit-law in Boston with a preference for PI/Gov.
Numbers: <3.0 / 165 / 9 years work experience
LSATs Taken: 2

Defensible or Disastrous?

Defensible, but less so since you want PI/Gov and have the option of living at home. If you can nail a retake (169ish), you could potentially go BU/BC for free, which would be ideal.

How much did you study for your first retake?

HRomanus wrote:How much did you study for your first retake?

Pretty damn hard. Was prep-testing in the 166-168 range.

Marquis wrote:

HRomanus wrote:How much did you study for your first retake?

Pretty damn hard. Was prep-testing in the 166-168 range.

In that light, I'd take the current offer on the table.

HRomanus wrote:

Marquis wrote:

HRomanus wrote:How much did you study for your first retake?

Pretty damn hard. Was prep-testing in the 166-168 range.

In that light, I'd take the current offer on the table.

It's not an objectively bad decision (although BC for 100k is at the outer limits of reasonable) to take the current offer, but waiting a year could be worth 50-100k for OP. There's always the outside shot OP gets a lower/no offer from BC next year, but that is far less likely than improving by a few points and receiving more $$ or not improving and ending up in the same boat.

transferror wrote:Defensible, but less so since you want PI/Gov and have the option of living at home. If you can nail a retake (169ish), you could potentially go BU/BC for free, which would be ideal.

BU/BC do not give many full rides, short of doing BU ED or either school's PI scholarships. You are going to take on debt for either school if you don't, barring family support or savings.

Thanks for the thoughts, team.

I should clarify that I'm not PI-or-bust. I do have a preference for PI/Gov, but as 0L what do I really know anyway? Besides, a guy's gotta get paid and I'm not keen on sitting with student loans for the better part of my adult life. I've got several years of experience in finance and banking and I legitimately could be very interested in tax law or something with a similarly corporate/financial bent

How drastically does the equation change if I gun for mid-to-big level firm work in Boston?

If you can graduate with under 100k from BC, I think it is a fine option for you. You aren't going to find many schools that place better in Boston law firms and with less than 100k of debt at graduation, you won't need the biglaw salary.

If you were dead set on biglaw, most would suggest that you retake for a T14. But outside of the T14, few schools have as good placement stats as BC in terms of law firm placement.

Good luck.

Marquis wrote:Thanks for the thoughts, team.

I should clarify that I'm not PI-or-bust. I do have a preference for PI/Gov, but as 0L what do I really know anyway? Besides, a guy's gotta get paid and I'm not keen on sitting with student loans for the better part of my adult life. I've got several years of experience in finance and banking and I legitimately could be very interested in tax law or something with a similarly corporate/financial bent

How drastically does the equation change if I gun for mid-to-big level firm work in Boston?

What do you mean by mid firm? Can you give some specific examples? And these firms hire freshly-minted grads from BC I take it?

Why are you moving on from the finance/banking job you already have?

BigZuck wrote:
What do you mean by mid firm? Can you give some specific examples? And these firms hire freshly-minted grads from BC I take it?

Keeping in mind that I fully acknowledge my 0L noob status, there seem to be several examples of midsize Boston firms (~100-200 attorneys) that have a healthy roster of BC grads amongst their associates. Firms like Sullivan & Wooster, Nutter etc. come to mind though I can't intelligently speculate on how competitive those positions are. I'm going to assume that everyone is gunning for those jobs and that they only go to truly distinguished candidates. Regardless, that's what I would presently consider a "mid-size" firm, as opposed to the big boys like Ropes, WilmerHale, Goodwin etc.

I'm also scoping other New England firms with offices outside of Boston, like Pierce Atwood, Verrill Dana etc.

Why are you moving on from the finance/banking job you already have?

I cite the unholy trinity of:

1) I don't find the work at all engaging/rewarding.
2) Presently earning what I consider a dismal salary (<40k/yr)
3) Little room for advancement, upward mobility.

I've also been interested in the law for several years.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts/insight/advice. I greatly appreciate it!