W&L vs. South Carolina? Forum

[deacon1834]

Hey all, this is my first post, so if I've inadvertently breached any rules of etiquette I'm sorry in advance. I'm considering my options at this point and it's become a frustrating decision. My choices look roughly as follows:

Washington and Lee for about $18k per year or South Carolina for about $26k. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but I recently got engaged and my fiancee will have to stay in upstate SC for at least another year, probably 2 (masters program and certification). Additionally, I would eventually like to practice in SC (preferably Charleston), but I'm not 100% dead-set on it. If a well-paying job popped up somewhere else in the region, I probably wouldn't say no. I have connections of decreasing degree to Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Charleston.

By way of academic background, I'm coming from Wake Forest with a 3.4/160. South Carolina seemed unwilling to open up their wallet any further, even when faced with W&L's award. I visited W&L a while back and really enjoyed the school, particularly the community atmosphere and beautiful location. I don't dislike Columbia by any means though.

How critical would it be to attend South Carolina if I wanted to practice in Charleston? I'd like to go into litigation, but again, I'm open-minded. It would be difficult to do the long-distance relationship thing for 2+ more years, but it would certainly be doable if my career prospects coming out of W&L would be THAT much better.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, but if I could get a few thoughts I would really appreciate it.

[BigZuck]

How much debt will you be in at both?

You said it might seem like a no brainer, how is it a no brainer to you?

[deacon1834]

I'd be looking at about $90k+ for SC, 60 or so for W&L. Parents/ grandparents might help a bit, but I'll be taking the majority in loans.

I just don't think it makes sense to choose a much less prestigious/ lower-ranked school for more money. Unless the bump for practicing in-state would definitely be worth it.

[barkschool]

I just don't think it makes sense to choose a much less prestigious/[either] lower-ranked school

[ponderingmeerkat]

Retake. Minimum 165, preferably a 170+. If the SO is still knocking out a masters, then you get to knock out a jerb and LSAT prep for the next year. Reapply with that 170+ and relocate the whole fam damily to Durham or Charlottesville. Don't go to either W&L or USC(lite) for that kind of debt.

[BigZuck]

I'd be looking at about $90k+ for SC, 60 or so for W&L. Parents/ grandparents might help a bit, but I'll be taking the majority in loans.

I just don't think it makes sense to choose a much less prestigious/ lower-ranked school for more money. Unless the bump for practicing in-state would definitely be worth it.

W&L isn't more prestigious than South Carolina, and US News Rankings are largely meaningless when you're talking about regional schools like these. If you want to work in South Carolina, then all else being equal South Carolina is a much better option than W&L.

What are you using to calculate cost of attendance here? Have you factored in cost of living, loan origination fees, projected tuition increases, interest that accumulates while you're in school, cost of living during the summer, etc.? I don't know if "For 18k per year" for W&L means that is how much you'll be paying in tuition or if that is just cost of living because you have a full ride or what you meant by that. Just make sure you've crunched all those numbers and have a realistic idea of how much debt you'll be in at repayment.

[Good Guy Gaud]

Having the connections in SC is going to be more important than going to school there. I think you have significantly better odds of going to school elsewhere and coming back to practice in Charleston than someone else would who, say, came to USC w/ no existing ties to SC.

That being said, if you're certain you want to remain in South Carolina you may as well go to school there for as cheap as possible. Get a full ride.

[TXgal]

Having the connections in SC is going to be more important than going to school there. I think you have significantly better odds of going to school elsewhere and coming back to practice in Charleston than someone else would who, say, came to USC w/ no existing ties to SC.

That being said, if you're certain you want to remain in South Carolina you may as well go to school there for as cheap as possible. Get a full ride.

As someone who grew up in SC, I cannot second the first sentence enough. Business in that state is ALLLL about who you know (or, more specifically, who you are related to.)

[Good Guy Gaud]

Having the connections in SC is going to be more important than going to school there. I think you have significantly better odds of going to school elsewhere and coming back to practice in Charleston than someone else would who, say, came to USC w/ no existing ties to SC.

That being said, if you're certain you want to remain in South Carolina you may as well go to school there for as cheap as possible. Get a full ride.

As someone who grew up in SC, I cannot second the first sentence enough. Business in that state is ALLLL about who you know (or, more specifically, who you are related to.)

Yup

[unsweetened]

I would agree with the posters above. One of my classmates jokingly mentioned to me that the only reason he got his interviews in Charleston is because he grew up there. That generally seems to be accurate for most of my classmates from SC. Really sounds like it all depends on who you know. What about getting in-state tuition at UNC?