Top Law Schools

I'm having a hard time making a decision. I'm set to attend boston college in the fall with 27k/year with the remainder of tuition being paid for with savings and my living costs covered by my parents. I want work as either a pd or Ada but would be interested in the DOJ honors program. But i wouldn't be against going through oci just to keep my options open.

My stats are 3.3/164 which I got a year and half ago by going through the manhattan program and about 30-40 prep tests. My upper range was 167.

Right now I've been working on an organic farm for very little cash and I don't really have a plan if I decide to retake, besides of course studying. Would it be worth it to try and shoot for a t14 even if I don't think I want a big firm?

Totally read the thread as "BC wino"

The stats are there for all to see, but it looks like about a third of the class gets great employment outcomes, a third gets ok employment outcomes (though these outcomes might be bad if you consider BC's costs), and a third have very bad employment outcomes including about a 1/4 who don't have full time legal work at all. If you think you can do better on the LSAT and get into a better school I would give it another try. I'm sure more than half the class at BC would trade positions with an ADA in a heart beat. That doesn't bode well for you. On the other hand, all signs point to this being an even less competitive application cycle followed by an even smaller law school class. So even if you don't beat that score you're likely to have better options and better employment prospects by waiting.

BC with no debt seems like a good deal assuming no stips. Make sure to start interning with Boston area prosecutor offices, both during the summer and the school year, to separate yourself from other applicants.

Nomo wrote:The stats are there for all to see, but it looks like about a third of the class gets great employment outcomes, a third gets ok employment outcomes (though these outcomes might be bad if you consider BC's costs), and a third have very bad employment outcomes including about a 1/4 who don't have full time legal work at all. If you think you can do better on the LSAT and get into a better school I would give it another try. I'm sure more than half the class at BC would trade positions with an ADA in a heart beat. That doesn't bode well for you. On the other hand, all signs point to this being an even less competitive application cycle followed by an even smaller law school class. So even if you don't beat that score you're likely to have better options and better employment prospects by waiting.

@nomo - just curious why do you suspect that next cycle (2014-2015) will be even less competitive. Do you think this applies to T14?

I guess my big thing for me is I feel like I'm basically eliminating my shot at DOJ by going to bc.

That depends on which component you want at DOJ (and who's hiring when you apply). There are plenty of people from non-T14 schools in DOJ. In fact, I'd say for Honors, high grades at a good but not super elite school mostly trumps ordinary grades from an elite school. (Probably excepting HYS - I don't know if those are options for you even with a retake). As for lateraling into DOJ, your experience and connections will be more important.

I guess that gives me some hope.

I don't mean to go off track here, but is BC known to be generous with scholarships?

snooze wrote:I don't mean to go off track here, but is BC known to be generous with scholarships?

They offered me less than most T14s did last year, FWIW. Wouldn't negotiate an inch.

I think there wary for candidates they think can do better. I negotiated with bu back and forth a couple times. Started at 15k.

Back on track though, I'm getting serous cold feet and have an so in NYC that I don't particularly want to leave. At the same time would nyu/Columbia even be a possibility? I almost went to Fordham but they offered me very little cash and have an abysmal lrap program.

I feel like the usual retake/higher ranked program advice is usually stronger for people who are biglaw or bust. If you're already inclined toward public interest options, BC with no debt sounds great. I'm a lowly 0L, so it may not carry much weight, but That's my take. I didn't even know That type of $ was an option at BC with those numbers. I'd probably go for it

BC with no debt for ADA/PD work sounds like a good option.

I'm very fortunate that the scholarships worked out the way they did, I guess I'm not being as foolish as I thought.

ymmv wrote:

snooze wrote:I don't mean to go off track here, but is BC known to be generous with scholarships?

They offered me less than most T14s did last year, FWIW. Wouldn't negotiate an inch.

ya but how many hail mary's did you say in the rosary

Nomo wrote:The stats are there for all to see, but it looks like about a third of the class gets great employment outcomes, a third gets ok employment outcomes (though these outcomes might be bad if you consider BC's costs), and a third have very bad employment outcomes including about a 1/4 who don't have full time legal work at all. If you think you can do better on the LSAT and get into a better school I would give it another try. I'm sure more than half the class at BC would trade positions with an ADA in a heart beat. That doesn't bode well for you. On the other hand, all signs point to this being an even less competitive application cycle followed by an even smaller law school class. So even if you don't beat that score you're likely to have better options and better employment prospects by waiting.

Does the term "full-ride" mean something else to you?

Doesn't sound like the OP has ties to Boston unless I missed something. And he wants tough to get PI (possibly in New York?). And he'll be paying like 75K out of his own pocket?

Seems like a non-starter to me.

No ties, beyond visiting friends a handful of times. Tbf though I visited and talked to some students and although some are from the area a lot are not, and establish ties via the school and internships.

fratstar1 wrote:No ties, beyond visiting friends a handful of times. Tbf though I visited and talked to some students and although some are from the area a lot are not, and establish ties via the school and internships.

I guess that's ok if you want to be a PD in Boston long term or something.

It's not worth 140k though (I get the rich parents thing, but still seems like too much to pay IMO)

BigZuck wrote:

fratstar1 wrote:No ties, beyond visiting friends a handful of times. Tbf though I visited and talked to some students and although some are from the area a lot are not, and establish ties via the school and internships.

I guess that's ok if you want to be a PD in Boston long term or something.

It's not worth 140k though (I get the rich parents thing, but still seems like too much to pay IMO)

How would it be 140k with 27k/yr and the rest covered by savings? Not saying it wouldn't...Just seems like he'd be paying a lot less.

The way I see it, if your parents are happy to foot the bill for living expenses, and your savings can easily cover what's left on tuition etc., this could have a great outcome. If you do well and decide to go biglaw, your sitting pretty getting your whole check with no loans. You can then leave whenever you want.

If you stick to PI, your parents will still foot the living expenses and you can either pay out of pocket (without accruing interest)+ start debt free, or you can see if their lrap works for you and just pay less (while holding onto your savings for a down payment on a house or something). Yes, it'd be better to have the same options at a t14...but this really doesn't seem like a bad scenario.

180kickflip wrote:

BigZuck wrote:

fratstar1 wrote:No ties, beyond visiting friends a handful of times. Tbf though I visited and talked to some students and although some are from the area a lot are not, and establish ties via the school and internships.

I guess that's ok if you want to be a PD in Boston long term or something.

It's not worth 140k though (I get the rich parents thing, but still seems like too much to pay IMO)

How would it be 140k with 27k/yr and the rest covered by savings? Not saying it wouldn't...Just seems like he'd be paying a lot less.

The way I see it, if your parents are happy to foot the bill for living expenses, and your savings can easily cover what's left on tuition etc., this could have a great outcome. If you do well and decide to go biglaw, your sitting pretty getting your whole check with no loans. You can then leave whenever you want.

If you stick to PI, your parents will still foot the living expenses and you can either pay out of pocket (without accruing interest)+ start debt free, or you can see if their lrap works for you and just pay less (while holding onto your savings for a down payment on a house or something). Yes, it'd be better to have the same options at a t14...but this really doesn't seem like a bad scenario.

Whatever the hell their tuition is (I assume 50kish, too lazy to look it up)- 27K X 3= about 70-80K with tuition increases and interest and all that.

75K out of his pocket plus 60K out of parental pocket (20K COL X 3)= 135K. I didn't think about it super deeply but that's what I assumed they would be paying for him/her to attend.

jbagelboy wrote:

ymmv wrote:

snooze wrote:I don't mean to go off track here, but is BC known to be generous with scholarships?

They offered me less than most T14s did last year, FWIW. Wouldn't negotiate an inch.

ya but how many hail mary's did you say in the rosary

They probably figured out I was gay.

I get that spending money out of savings might be better than debt financed (except when you consider something like LRAP) but I don't think we should pretend that just because the buttload of money is in your bank account means it's not still a buttload of money that could be put to other uses.

This is true, I mean when I signed up I felt like 20k/year for a bc law degree was pretty decent, but obviously it wouldn't be worth it if there's a reasonable chance I won't be able to achieve my goals. I looked into the lrap program it's aight, but it's not as good as some others. Would it be wise to retake in December and shoot for nyu? I'm just not sure if
I have it in me to get a score that would balance out my gpa.

fratstar1 wrote:This is true, I mean when I signed up I felt like 20k/year for a bc law degree was pretty decent, but obviously it wouldn't be worth it if there's a reasonable chance I won't be able to achieve my goals. I looked into the lrap program it's aight, but it's not as good as some others. Would it be wise to retake in December and shoot for nyu? I'm just not sure if
I have it in me to get a score that would balance out my gpa.

ya come join us at nyu
my gpa is in the same range
nyu is pretty splitter friendly once u get over their 75th