Is UGA at sticker irresponsible? Forum

[jawja]

Resident tuition at sticker is about the same price as a half-ride to a private school. I want to do PI in Georgia.

Is sticker still irresponsible?

[chuckbass]

That would still put you in six figures of debt after you add COL and interest, so yes, probably irresponsible.

[BigZuck]

I'd say so, yeah

[Dr. Nefario]

Probably so

[twenty]

I mean, "irresponsible." Georgia has some pretty decent regional schools, and sticker COA there is 150k. Your IBR payment won't quite cover the interest, so in the event PSLF gets gutted at (worst case scenario) year 9 into repayment, you'll owe quite a bit more than the 150k. That would be a really bad worst case scenario outcome - so much so that it's only marginally better than the true worst case scenario, which is PSLF getting gutted and owing 500k+ from, say, going to Emory or Vanderbilt at sticker for PI.

Like, why not go all in if you're going to do something fairly irresponsible?

[zombie mcavoy]

Probably so

[Big Dog]

no question

[jawja]

Thanks for the input. You guys are probably right. I think I'll retake and try again for some $ next cycle.

[chuckbass]

Thanks for the input. You guys are probably right. I think I'll retake and try again for some $ next cycle.

Well that was easy, and OP you've come to the right decision. Good luck.

[zombie mcavoy]

Thanks for the input. You guys are probably right. I think I'll retake and try again for some $ next cycle.

Well that was easy, and OP you've come to the right decision. Good luck.

[em01833]

What about with a 12,500/yr scholarship? Goals are similar to OPs Using the calculator it looks like $96,000 debt at repayment, but that's kind of hard to believe with tuition at $19,140/yr. Maybe I'm just bad with numbers...

[chuckbass]

What about with a 12,500/yr scholarship? Goals are similar to OPs Using the calculator it looks like $96,000 debt at repayment, but that's kind of hard to believe with tuition at $19,140/yr. Maybe I'm just bad with numbers...

Tuition plus COL plus interest adds up. UGA is not a bad option depending on goals/money, but it is not worth six figures.

[adil91]

What about with a 12,500/yr scholarship? Goals are similar to OPs Using the calculator it looks like $96,000 debt at repayment, but that's kind of hard to believe with tuition at $19,140/yr. Maybe I'm just bad with numbers...

Tuition plus COL plus interest adds up. UGA is not a bad option depending on goals/money, but it is not worth six figures.

Almost nobody get's more scholarship money than that from UGA.

[em01833]

What about with a 12,500/yr scholarship? Goals are similar to OPs Using the calculator it looks like $96,000 debt at repayment, but that's kind of hard to believe with tuition at $19,140/yr. Maybe I'm just bad with numbers...

Tuition plus COL plus interest adds up. UGA is not a bad option depending on goals/money, but it is not worth six figures.

Almost nobody get's more scholarship money than that from UGA.

ABA's stats show only 86 got half to full tuition and only 7 got full tuition out of 621 students so it looks like you're correct. With that being said, what would you do in this position? It seems like COL is an automatic 60k at almost every law school so it looks like I'm stuck with that regardless of where I go...

[BigZuck]

What about with a 12,500/yr scholarship? Goals are similar to OPs Using the calculator it looks like $96,000 debt at repayment, but that's kind of hard to believe with tuition at $19,140/yr. Maybe I'm just bad with numbers...

Tuition plus COL plus interest adds up. UGA is not a bad option depending on goals/money, but it is not worth six figures.

Almost nobody get's more scholarship money than that from UGA.

ABA's stats show only 86 got half to full tuition and only 7 got full tuition out of 621 students so it looks like you're correct. With that being said, what would you do in this position? It seems like COL is an automatic 60k at almost every law school so it looks like I'm stuck with that regardless of where I go...

It's quite possible that only about 10-20 people out of the 621 who go to UGA have made a justifiable decision to attend UGA. Just because a ton of people pay too much doesn't mean you have to pay too much too. Be one of those 10-20 or don't go IMO.

[middlebear]

ABA's stats show only 86 got half to full tuition and only 7 got full tuition out of 621 students so it looks like you're correct. With that being said, what would you do in this position? It seems like COL is an automatic 60k at almost every law school so it looks like I'm stuck with that regardless of where I go...

It's quite possible that only about 10-20 people out of the 621 who go to UGA have made a justifiable decision to attend UGA. Just because a ton of people pay too much doesn't mean you have to pay too much too. Be one of those 10-20 or don't go IMO.

This. My boss (BigLaw DC) went to UGA, but on a full ride, and he was pretty candid that 1) the $$$ was the only reason going to UGA was a good decision for him and 2) he was the one in 621 or whatever who managed to get that kind of job.

[em01833]

Just calculated the COA for full scholarship vs. the 12.5k/year offer and it ends up being a 25-30k price difference. While that is a lot in absolute terms, 85,000 COA vs. 115,000 COA seems like a somewhat negligible difference relatively speaking. Could anyone comment on how that would make a school a bad decision? I will probably take your advice on not attending, but I want to make sure I hear everything before I leave the money on the table.

[BigZuck]

Just calculated the COA for full scholarship vs. the 12.5k/year offer and it ends up being a 25-30k price difference. While that is a lot in absolute terms, 85,000 COA vs. 115,000 COA seems like a somewhat negligible difference relatively speaking. Could anyone comment on how that would make a school a bad decision? I will probably take your advice on not attending, but I want to make sure I hear everything before I leave the money on the table.

How does 12.5X3= 25-30?

Isn't 12.5x3= 37.5? But then it's around 40K when you consider loan origination fees, interest that won't accumulate, etc.? How did I screw up the math?

I don't think a school like UGA is worth 85K either, let alone 100K+

I also don't think 30K is negligible, that's money that could be put to a better use. That's a decent car right there.

All these, "It's worth it for X amount but not a penny more!" things are kind of people drawing arbitrary lines so I'm not sure you're going to get a solid answer there. The general rule of thumb is don't go into more debt then you can expect to make your first year when you graduate. You can't expect to make 85K+ at a school like UGA.

[em01833]

12.5k/yr was the scholarship offer not the COA so I would be paying approx. 7k/yr more in tuition to go there. When all info was entered into the COA calculator on this forum, I got to the 25-30k difference in cost.

[rwhyAn]

Given that law school apps and matriculants are in a nosedive, and schools are giving out money like it's going out of style, pretty much any school at sticker is irresponsible. Retake (if you still can), go somewhere cheaper, or don't go. The debt is no joke, and you can't fully appreciate it until you've been working and paying the bills on your own for a little while. At $100k or so debt, you're paying almost $7k/year JUST TO KEEP THE DEBT FROM GROWING. If that sounds like fun, knock yourself out.

[em01833]

Given that law school apps and matriculants are in a nosedive, and schools are giving out money like it's going out of style, pretty much any school at sticker is irresponsible. Retake (if you still can), go somewhere cheaper, or don't go. The debt is no joke, and you can't fully appreciate it until you've been working and paying the bills on your own for a little while. At $100k or so debt, you're paying almost $7k/year JUST TO KEEP THE DEBT FROM GROWING. If that sounds like fun, knock yourself out.

You've got a good point. The cost of living is overestimated in my opinion though. LST has UGA at $19,000 while GSU is $16,000. No way that's true. It's not uncommon to pay $850/month/person for an apartment in Mitdtown or Buckhead. I've seen places in Athens for as cheap as $3500/yr that are within walking distance of campus. What is the extra $15,500 going toward?