Top Law Schools

I'd like to ultimately practice in NH & MA, and BC law has always been my first choice. I was accepted off their waitlist but it would be at sticker; I was told there's no money left. My alternative and already "in-motion" plan is UNH law in Concord, NH, where I'll be paying roughly $10k a year vs the $48k at BC (not including housing, food, books etc). I like UNH Law and Concord/New Hampshire a lot, I have a nice apartment lined up, plus UNH has risen significantly in rankings over the past two years.

I feel like I already know the right move here but was hoping to get some input from others. Is BC and their reputation/connections/etc worth sticker for someone highly impressed with the school and whom wants to practice in Boston?

No school, other than arguably HYS, is worth sticker. Anyway, need this info if you want decent advice

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 schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-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

Torque wrote:I'd like to ultimately practice in NH & MA, and BC law has always been my first choice. I was accepted off their waitlist but it would be at sticker; I was told there's no money left. My alternative and already "in-motion" plan is UNH law in Concord, NH, where I'll be paying roughly $10k a year vs the $48k at BC (not including housing, food, books etc). I like UNH Law and Concord/New Hampshire a lot, I have a nice apartment lined up, plus UNH has risen significantly in rankings over the past two years.

I feel like I already know the right move here but was hoping to get some input from others. Is BC and their reputation/connections/etc worth sticker for someone highly impressed with the school and whom wants to practice in Boston?

It all comes down to your goals, though people will most likely tell you to retake for t-14 or BC/BU for full ride.

The correct answer here is probably retake or don't go.

BC at sticker is over $250,000 and would be a monumentally awful decision. It would only give you about a 30% chance of even being able to start paying off your debt, completely ignoring that it would probably require you to aggressively pay it down while lasting for 5+ years in biglaw. The odds of sticker at BC ruining your financial future are astronomically high.

That price is also probably too much for UNH. UNH doesn't have great employment outcomes and would only about 2/3s of their graduates get jobs as lawyers. With a full-ride and modest goals, UNH might be a defensible decision but it isn't here.

Thanks for the feedback. I have a very specific "niche" area of the law that I'd like to work in after graduation. Having said that, I worked for an attorney for over a year in that field of the law and frankly I have my reservations about being able to make it profitable and viable to enter into that area of the law. BC seems to afford me the opportunity (or at least a far greater likelihood) that I could enter into big/medium/small law, versus UNH where I feel like I'm a lot more limited to a small or solo practice. On that point, I do think a small or solo practice would be more to my liking (working on individual's cases vs. drawn out corporate cases, setting my own hours, etc.), but honestly I don't know...and I'd like to have those other options available to me hence my interest in BC. BC also seems to have a long standing, well regarded reputation in the new england area. On the other side; I live in NH currently and like it, whereas I wouldn't be too excited for living in the Boston area, although Newton does seem pretty nice. I believe my goals and expectations are reasonable, even modest, and that UNH is all things considered the right fit for me.

But all of the above is pretty irrelevant when I consider the money factor and the debt I'd be accumulating at BC. Just roughly doing the math I'm looking at taking on at a bare minimum $150k assuming I live at home, with $175-200k being more likely. To me, and reiterating what mullens and others have said elsewhere, that's just way too much $$$ and too much of a gamble, especially when I'm not particularly interested in biglaw.

You're greatly underestimating your debt burden. You forgot the compounding interest. The amount you will owe by the time you graduate will be about $176,887.

The amount you will be paying back (if you borrow 48k/yr) in a standard 10 year payment plan will be $251,000. Your monthly payments will be about $2000.

$2,000. Monthly. For. 10. Years.

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admission ... geid=61621

transferror wrote:No school, other than arguably HYS, is worth sticker. Anyway, need this info if you want decent advice

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 schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-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

Pretty please

I'm getting a shade under 30k/year for bc and I'm not even sure if that's worth it.

fratstar1 wrote:I'm getting a shade under 30k/year for bc and I'm not even sure if that's worth it.

For real. BC is a fine school when you get a scholarship, but at sticker it's just not worth it. If you must go with your current options, do NH, otherwise retake/find something else.

I would highly discourage you from either. The employment prospects don't come close to justifying the debt.

transferror wrote:

transferror wrote:No school, other than arguably HYS, is worth sticker. Anyway, need this info if you want decent advice

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 schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-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

Pretty please

162/3.1

I took Testmasters and prepped pretty diligently for a few months and took about a half dozen PT's scoring in the high 150's, low 160's. I took the LSAT once about 1.5yrs ago and the 162 that I scored on the actual test was the best I ever did.

My 3.1 gpa is what I've felt has held me back. I attended a school well known for grade deflation to the point that at a law school seminar the question was posed to admission department members from various Boston area law schools "Are you aware that there is grade deflation here?", to which all replied (including BC) that it was well known and taken into consideration. I mention this not as a crutch but rather that it is a reality and I'm not sure to what degree it played into my applications if at all.

I did have one question for you guys regarding scholarship money and being told that there's none left. Is that often really the case; is there any point in requesting some? Any tips?

Torque wrote:

transferror wrote:

transferror wrote:No school, other than arguably HYS, is worth sticker. Anyway, need this info if you want decent advice

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 schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-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

Pretty please

162/3.1

I took Testmasters and prepped pretty diligently for a few months and took about a half dozen PT's scoring in the high 150's, low 160's. I took the LSAT once about 1.5yrs ago and the 162 that I scored on the actual test was the best I ever did.

My 3.1 gpa is what I've felt has held me back. I attended a school well known for grade deflation to the point that at a law school seminar the question was posed to admission department members from various Boston area law schools "Are you aware that there is grade deflation here?", to which all replied (including BC) that it was well known and taken into consideration. I mention this not as a crutch but rather that it is a reality and I'm not sure to what degree it played into my applications if at all.

I did have one question for you guys regarding scholarship money and being told that there's none left. Is that often really the case; is there any point in requesting some? Any tips?

It's not just your GPA holding you back; it's your LSAT score. If you can't pull it closer to the 170s, you probably won't be able to attend law school responsibly.

If you really, truly want to be a lawyer, higher a tutor and get your PT up to an acceptable level. If, after that, you still have not cracked at least the mid-to-high 160s, it may be time to look into other career options.

neither. schools like UConn and UNH don't lead to much full time legal employment

jbagelboy wrote:neither. schools like UConn and UNH don't lead to much full time legal employment

Agree with this. http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/nh/jobs/2013/

Just don't go. Probably half the class at UNH graduates unemployed.

UNH at a full ride is probably defensible. Current options are not though

If you want biglaw, go with BC. UNH (Franklin Pierce?) doesn't place in biglaw. However, if you aren't concerned with biglaw, go with UNH. You'll like not having the loans when you are looking at smaller law firms/practices or government/PI positions.

my vote is for neither, both options are terrible
but if you decide to turn down the credited path of retake -> $$/$$$ at a top school...

please
for the love of god
don't attend bc at sticker
i'm breaking out in hives just thinking about it

bc at sticker should be in the next 'saw' movie
it is very likely that you will never pay off that debt
the cost is radically high,
especially given the mediocre outcomes

Easily UNH

I'm not telling you to go to UNH because it's still a gamble that you will even be employed as an attorney. But, BC at sticker is indefensible and is a much worse option. If you can go to UNH with free tuition & just borrow for COL then maybe, but have a back-up plan in case you don't find legal work.

OP: From which undergraduate school did you graduate ? CMU ? Do you have a STEM degree ?

Strongly consider retaking the LSAT to make up for that low-ish GPA.

If not, then pick UNH. Try to negotiate a scholarship out of them though, tell them you just got off the waitlist at BC and imply you are ready to go unless you get more money.

Informative wrote:If you want biglaw, go with BC. UNH (Franklin Pierce?) doesn't place in biglaw. However, if you aren't concerned with biglaw, go with UNH. You'll like not having the loans when you are looking at smaller law firms/practices or government/PI positions.

BC provides a decent chance at BigLaw, but the odds are still nowhere near good enough if you're paying sticker and need BigLaw. Sticker at BC would be an awful, awful choice.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Informative wrote:If you want biglaw, go with BC. UNH (Franklin Pierce?) doesn't place in biglaw. However, if you aren't concerned with biglaw, go with UNH. You'll like not having the loans when you are looking at smaller law firms/practices or government/PI positions.

BC provides a decent chance at BigLaw, but the odds are still nowhere near good enough if you're paying sticker and need BigLaw. Sticker at BC would be an awful, awful choice.

Informative's advice is almost always pure shit.

OP- maybe I missed this but what, specifically, is the niche area of law you're interested in?