UGA v W&L Forum

[chooy]

The deposit due date is coming up but I'm still undecided.
I applied in March

.

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Update:
now it's either UGA or W&L
(or retake and apply early)

[unsweetened]

Your strategy is at best, risky. It's significantly easier to retake the LSAT and get a higher score than it is to beat out ~175 highly motivated peers that scored about the same on the LSAT as you did over the course of the semester. If that doesn't make sense, think about it this way: It's easier to study for one test (the LSAT) and do well than it is to move to wherever and study for four tests and do well.

[el madrileno]

You had anxiety attacks during the LSAT. Law school exams are worse. Don't go to law school to avoid being unemployed.

[timbs4339]

OP: Before committing to over 100k in student loan debt, I'd urge you to drill down into the sources of your testing anxiety. It may not ve LSAT vs. "school tests." For many applicants the LSAT is the first test where they become actuely aware of how it will affect their job prospects and salaries. That feeling only becomes more magnified on law school exams because there are no do-overs and the competition is significantly better.

[Tls2016]

Without ties you may have trouble finding a job in any of these regions. I wouldn't risk it.

[zozo]

I would go with W&L here.

W&L has more diverse geographic placement that the other two. UGA and UW tend to draw mainly in-state residents and place grads overwhelmingly in-state, while W&L only places something like 30% in VA, another 10% in each of NY and DC, and the rest elsewhere. W&L also usually places a slightly higher percentage in biglaw + fed clerkships. Looks like it's your cheapest option, too.

[Glasseyes]

I'd try and use the LSAT process as an opportunity to figure out how to tame your anxiety. As others have mentioned, law school is more stressful than taking the LSAT, and every semester ends with 4 exams that you barely get to prepare for, not to mention the inherent brutality of the curve. The harsh truth: test anxiety is detrimental to law school performance.

[fliptrip]

It's very puzzling to see someone end up with three regionals in disparate parts of the country to choose between. Unless you have meaningful ties in each of these areas, you shouldn't really be thinking about any of them. Though, for a school like UGA, just going there might be sufficient to establish real Atlanta credibility. But, that seems like your school set driving your goals and not the other way around as it should. Did you choose where to apply based on rankings?

The only answer for you is a retake and get a better assessment of your goals and targeted regions. It will be 2 years before you start law school, but it is better to start law school a little later than you'd like than to end up at a school that doesn't make sense for you at too high cost.

[chooy]

It's very puzzling to see someone end up with three regionals in disparate parts of the country to choose between. Unless you have meaningful ties in each of these areas, you shouldn't really be thinking about any of them. Though, for a school like UGA, just going there might be sufficient to establish real Atlanta credibility. But, that seems like your school set driving your goals and not the other way around as it should. Did you choose where to apply based on rankings?

The only answer for you is a retake and get a better assessment of your goals and targeted regions. It will be 2 years before you start law school, but it is better to start law school a little later than you'd like than to end up at a school that doesn't make sense for you at too high cost.

I'm trying to leave my hometown and start a new life, so all that matters for me is to go to a school that provides reasonable employment prospects that will help pay loans. Yes, I mainly looked at the rankings & cost of living- that's all the info I need.

If I end up in UGA, I'll settle down in Georgia. If I end up in W&L, I'll settle down in Virginia.
The problem is, would it be relatively easier to settle down in Georgia after graduating UGA or Virginia after W&L?

I looked at the ABA reports thoroughly and seems like there isn't a huge difference in biglaw prospects

W&L
Law firms
size of firm: people employed
101-250: 10
251-500: 4
501+ : 18

UGA
Law firms
101-250: 7
251-500: 7
501+ : 20

[fliptrip]

The biglaw prospects at both of the schools are poor. Yes, it's not impossible, it's just not a good bet going in. If you were perfectly happy to end up in a government/midlaw kind of outcome out of UGA and were okay staying in Georgia forever, then UGA would be perfectly fine at a reasonable cost level. Right now, you would be borrowing too much to justify the kinds of odds you're facing. Loans should be a temporary part of your life and something you can see yourself getting rid of in the foreseeable future.

If you end up with a $54k COA at UGA each year you go, you'll end up owing something like $195k-$200k when you graduate. That's an incredible level of debt. It's a debt so high that to comfortably service it, and be rid of it in 10 years, you'll need to pay $2200/month and make $132,000, which is close to what Atlanta market salaries are for biglaw ($135k). But, remember, you can't count on biglaw and even if you get it, you can't count on staying for a long time. So, if you miss, you'll probably be in a government type job working for an agency or maybe as a prosecutor or something making something like $50k/year. Let's be generous and say you'll make $60k. There's no way you'll be able to pay $2200 and UGA's loan forgiveness program is vague and totally determined by a committee. Who knows how much help you'll actually get, how its calculated and even if you can count on it for the duration. It's also a grant, so it will count as taxable income, reducing the amount of the support.

In this case, you'll reset your loans to pay your IBR figure, which is $528/month. But, your loans aren't going down during this time, they are going up and if you don't make it 10 straight years in your government job or decide to go do something else, you could be in for a very rude awakening.

Again, it is not advisable to go to schools like these taking on this much debt.

[zozo]

It's very puzzling to see someone end up with three regionals in disparate parts of the country to choose between. Unless you have meaningful ties in each of these areas, you shouldn't really be thinking about any of them. Though, for a school like UGA, just going there might be sufficient to establish real Atlanta credibility. But, that seems like your school set driving your goals and not the other way around as it should. Did you choose where to apply based on rankings?

The only answer for you is a retake and get a better assessment of your goals and targeted regions. It will be 2 years before you start law school, but it is better to start law school a little later than you'd like than to end up at a school that doesn't make sense for you at too high cost.

I'm trying to leave my hometown and start a new life, so all that matters for me is to go to a school that provides reasonable employment prospects that will help pay loans. Yes, I mainly looked at the rankings & cost of living- that's all the info I need.

If I end up in UGA, I'll settle down in Georgia. If I end up in W&L, I'll settle down in Virginia.
The problem is, would it be relatively easier to settle down in Georgia after graduating UGA or Virginia after W&L?

I looked at the ABA reports thoroughly and seems like there isn't a huge difference in biglaw prospects

W&L
Law firms
size of firm: people employed
101-250: 10
251-500: 4
501+ : 18

UGA
Law firms
101-250: 7
251-500: 7
501+ : 20

I would say UGA has stronger ties to Atlanta/Georgia than W&L has to Virginia. 70% of UGA's employed students are in Georgia. But W&L places people in biglaw more broadly throughout the east. Of W&L's 30ish people in Biglaw, you probably have 7-8 in DC, 4-5 in each of Richmond and NYC, then 2-3 in places like Philadelphia, Dallas, Birmingham, Atlanta, Charleston SC, Charleston WV, etc...

[gregfootball2001]

FYI, pretty much everyone that wants it gets in-state tuition at UGA for 2L and 3L. During 1L, they have a meeting about what you need to do to establish residency. So your debt load won't be as high as you're estimating.