Top Law Schools

I am very debt averse but I also understand that this is an investment and I must take on some debt. I am down to three schools. I have taken the LSAT twice and don't plan on retaking. I want to work in Texas preferably but I would be open to living elsewhere. I don't really care that much about Big Law but I would like to get a solid salary at a firm to help pay off debt.

UT with 18k/year (instate) so COA would be ~100k (I have already used the matching program)

Vandy with 95k over 3 years so COA would be ~115k

Emory with 129k over 3 years so COA would be ~75k

I am also waiting on need based grants from UT so that should help cut costs. As of now I am leaning toward UT but am going to attempt to negotiate with Vanderbilt in the coming weeks.

If you want Texas, UT at 100k is your best bet.

UT looks like a pretty solid choice, specially considering you're not "Big Law or Bust" - tame your expectations for the Vandy negotiations; in theory, they don't negotiate.

That's more debt at UT than I would feel comfortable with but I guess maybe it's defensible

I would retake June no matter what to at least try and press them for more money

Vandy and Emory don't make sense here with those goals and compared to UT

This isn't meant to discourage you, but I feel like someone should say this just so you'll have more information.

I'm at UT with 100k debt and I think I'll be able to pay it off fine with big law. But I feel like plenty of people in my classes took out similar debt amounts while having generally your view of "big law would be great if it falls in my lap, but I'll be fine if it doesn't." I think some of these people are a little more panicked now. I don't think you'll have any problem getting big law out of UT if you're coming in with a 168/3.8 (you should be smart enough to get it I mean). But even in TX, it would suck to pay off a 100k debt at 7.5% interest or whatever on a 90k midlaw salary. My point is just that I would come in gunning for big law. High grades will open doors at the other smaller firms or boutiques as well if that is what you're interested in. It's much, much, much better to have options.

And definitely in your situation don't go to Vandy or Emory over UT.

UT is far superior to Emory and Vandy here. That's not an ideal price tag, but it's not bad. As long as you understand you're still taking a risk and you do plan to spend a good deal of your career in Texas, I can get behind 100K for UT.

UT is worth spending more for than Vandy here; Vandy should not be considered. Emory would need to be much cheaper for it to come into serious consideration.

Thank you everyone for your input.

I am definitely going to be gunning for good grades and hopefully land a big law job. By no means will I slack off and not care about grades. I just won't be super disappointed if it doesn't work out for me.

I also agree that 100k is a lot but I also think that I may have overestimated how much cost of living will truly be. I'll only have to pay 45-50k in tuition (before grants) and I'm pretty good with my money so I wouldn't be surprised if it's less debt than that. I also am hoping that my parents will help out some with cost of living so I can minimize loans and just pay them back.

I have moved around all of my life and have been in Texas for all of high school and undergrad. I don't really envision myself wanting to live anywhere else.

allentx wrote:I am definitely going to be gunning for good grades and hopefully land a big law job. By no means will I slack off and not care about grades.

Just remember everyone else is going to do the same as the above.

allentx wrote:Thank you everyone for your input.

I am definitely going to be gunning for good grades and hopefully land a big law job. By no means will I slack off and not care about grades. I just won't be super disappointed if it doesn't work out for me.

I also agree that 100k is a lot but I also think that I may have overestimated how much cost of living will truly be. I'll only have to pay 45-50k in tuition (before grants) and I'm pretty good with my money so I wouldn't be surprised if it's less debt than that. I also am hoping that my parents will help out some with cost of living so I can minimize loans and just pay them back.

I have moved around all of my life and have been in Texas for all of high school and undergrad. I don't really envision myself wanting to live anywhere else.

From what I understand, typical grants can be expected to be around $3K - money is money, but probably not enough to drastically change your debt outlook. just FWIW

UT definitely sounds like your best bet with your goals

allentx wrote:Thank you everyone for your input.

I am definitely going to be gunning for good grades and hopefully land a big law job. By no means will I slack off and not care about grades. I just won't be super disappointed if it doesn't work out for me.

I also agree that 100k is a lot but I also think that I may have overestimated how much cost of living will truly be. I'll only have to pay 45-50k in tuition (before grants) and I'm pretty good with my money so I wouldn't be surprised if it's less debt than that. I also am hoping that my parents will help out some with cost of living so I can minimize loans and just pay them back.

I have moved around all of my life and have been in Texas for all of high school and undergrad. I don't really envision myself wanting to live anywhere else.

Yeah I would call 100K a good safe estimate. Even if you live cheaply, you should estimate 20K for Austin (there will be a fair amount of unforeseen costs), but you should also be able to count on at least 3K per year in grant money.

Good luck with UT; just come in and do your best, and I doubt you're going to regret it in the end.