Top Law Schools

Hi all. First post here.

I've basically heard back from all of the schools I applied to and now I am just waiting to hear on financial aid.

My parents own two houses, one of which is in the suburbs of a very high COL metro (think LA/Boston/NYC) -- they are planning on selling the house in the higher COL area. They have very generously offered to use all or part of the profit of the sale to help pay for the tuition of my law school. I have an outside grant which will cover cost of living, so my only concern is tuition. They will be selling the house regardless, the only question is whether they pocket the profit or help with my tuition.

I also have some pretty large scholarships to top 20/25 schools, including a full ride+ to WashU. As for T-13 schools, I've been admitted to Penn, UVA, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, and Michigan. My parents would really love to see me attend UVA but I don't anticipate receiving much aid there. (4.0/169)

I am not interested in biglaw, although I understand that biglaw provides ample training to transition into PI and other careers. Ideally, I'd like to work in PI -- either nonprofit or government work. My unicorn-y ambition is to work for the federal government, but I am happy working at the state or local level as well. Essentially, low paying careers.

I do not want to have my parents blow 180k on a law school if I am able to secure the sort of job I want from a school where they wouldn't have to spend a dime. But I am also aware of the sorts of opportunities that are available at a place like UVA which aren't as abundant at a school like WashU or Fordham. UVA allows flexibility for me to change my mind. But, I just really, really don't want to make my parents spend that much money either. I chose to go to my undergrad on a full ride precisely because I didn't want to see my parents spend so much money. My parents aren't wealthy by any means, both retired union blue collar workers lucky to have bought a house 35+ years ago in an area that is now incredibly expensive.

Is UVA worth it? Should I stick to WashU?

Don't worry about the house - it sounds like the decision to sell it is independent of where you go to law school.

You'll probably get money at a T13, and you should take it. May or may not be UVA (your LSAT is just barely too soft for them to fall in love with you), but UVA has peer schools with 169 medians who are liable to roll out the red carpet. Don't stress too much about this until you have all your financial-aid info.

Also, if you do spend a bunch of money to go to a fancy law school with the goal of PI, it might well make more sense to keep that $180k in your parent's brokerage accounts and instead rely on LRAP to handle tuition. There's risks involved in that path, but something to keep in mind.

Speaking of the risks of LRAP and paying sticker price for a T14, would recommend that you really are sure as you can be under the circumstances that you want to commit to public interest. That's particularly hard to do if you haven't had a few months or couple years of experience though. I just know that personally, I thought PI was my ultimate goal and quickly became disillusioned with it. I have co-workers from the T14 who wanted PI, then realized they wanted to do something else, after a few years. Now they're sort of locked in because their loan principal is the same as it was upon graduation (or in some cases higher), so they're waiting the ten years until they're eligible for forgiveness. Still, I think that a T14 degree will give you the job flexibility to break out of PI if you need to. It's a risk but one I would take.

Just getting some sort of federal government job isn't really a "unicorn" proposition at the schools mentioned. Obviously jobs like OLC or DOJ Civil Rights are extremely competitive, but if you just want to work at one of the numerous federal agencies doing more day-to-day work it's a very realistic ambition from a T14 school.

nealric wrote:Just getting some sort of federal government job isn't really a "unicorn" proposition at the schools mentioned. Obviously jobs like OLC or DOJ Civil Rights are extremely competitive, but if you just want to work at one of the numerous federal agencies doing more day-to-day work it's a very realistic ambition from a T14 school.

Oh okay, thank you - that's comforting. I was referring to one of many different agencies, not the most prestigious ones. Are these jobs available right out of school, or is a stint in biglaw a prerequisite?

With your interest in PI and your high GPA, you absolutely must retake the LSAT. Even just one or two points higher would earn you significant additional scholarship money, which goes a long way when you end up with a PI salary post-graduation.

metallergy wrote:

nealric wrote:Just getting some sort of federal government job isn't really a "unicorn" proposition at the schools mentioned. Obviously jobs like OLC or DOJ Civil Rights are extremely competitive, but if you just want to work at one of the numerous federal agencies doing more day-to-day work it's a very realistic ambition from a T14 school.

Oh okay, thank you - that's comforting. I was referring to one of many different agencies, not the most prestigious ones. Are these jobs available right out of school, or is a stint in biglaw a prerequisite?

There are various "Honors Programs" that are direct out of law school recruiting. I had quite a few friends in law school who went straight into the federal government (including USPTO, Air Force Space Command (as a civilian attorney), Veterans Administration, DOJ, State Department). However, it's probably a touch easier to go from a law firm if you are coming from a related practice area. There are some agencies/positions that don't recruit new lawyers (for example the U.S. Attorney's office), but will look at you after a few years of experience. DOJ->USAO is pretty common.

imanalt wrote:With your interest in PI and your high GPA, you absolutely must retake the LSAT. Even just one or two points higher would earn you significant additional scholarship money, which goes a long way when you end up with a PI salary post-graduation.

Adding to this, a couple more points on the LSAT could put Harvard or Stanford in play for you. Both of those schools would help you land a government job and both of them offer generous loan repayment programs. You could pay for your education on your school's dime all while letting your parents keep their money.