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aurdie wrote:So here is my deal. A little background to take into consideration with my dilemma- I am a non-traditional (over 30 years of age) law student. I have a husband and one small child, but do not work … thus allowing me the be a full-time student. I have zero desire to try to break into Big Law (good thing, at my age !), I am interested in Elder Law, Public Interest Law & Juveniile Law. I’d like to work in a small partnership and eventually open my own practice. At 46 years old, I will be nearly 50 when I graduate. My concern is the financial trade-off of a law school ( Northern Illinois University) that is considered to be non-ranked, but is strong in government and public interest law that is half the cost of a bigger name player. On one hand, leaving law school with under 60K in debt is very attractive… since no one is going to be beating down my door to hire a new attorney that is middle aged. OTOH, DePaul and Kent cost double, but seem to have a better network of alumni. More expensive, but with a more well-known school, upon graduation, maybe I’ll be able to secure a higher paying job, and pay off the higher $$ loan more quickly. Any thoughts, or advice ? Especially from other “non-traditional” students. Thanks in advance, I appreciate all comments.

MarkinKansasCity wrote:

aurdie wrote:So here is my deal. A little background to take into consideration with my dilemma- I am a non-traditional (over 30 years of age) law student. I have a husband and one small child, but do not work … thus allowing me the be a full-time student. I have zero desire to try to break into Big Law (good thing, at my age !), I am interested in Elder Law, Public Interest Law & Juveniile Law. I’d like to work in a small partnership and eventually open my own practice. At 46 years old, I will be nearly 50 when I graduate. My concern is the financial trade-off of a law school ( Northern Illinois University) that is considered to be non-ranked, but is strong in government and public interest law that is half the cost of a bigger name player. On one hand, leaving law school with under 60K in debt is very attractive… since no one is going to be beating down my door to hire a new attorney that is middle aged. OTOH, DePaul and Kent cost double, but seem to have a better network of alumni. More expensive, but with a more well-known school, upon graduation, maybe I’ll be able to secure a higher paying job, and pay off the higher $$ loan more quickly. Any thoughts, or advice ? Especially from other “non-traditional” students. Thanks in advance, I appreciate all comments.

If these are the choices available to you, then the correct answer is retake. You have the time and the resources to do so. There is no reason for you to pay for law school. 6 months (more likely 3) of studying for the LSAT correctly is almost guaranteed to cover three years of tuition at a decent school.

MarkinKansasCity wrote:

aurdie wrote:So here is my deal. A little background to take into consideration with my dilemma- I am a non-traditional (over 30 years of age) law student. I have a husband and one small child, but do not work … thus allowing me the be a full-time student. I have zero desire to try to break into Big Law (good thing, at my age !), I am interested in Elder Law, Public Interest Law & Juveniile Law. I’d like to work in a small partnership and eventually open my own practice. At 46 years old, I will be nearly 50 when I graduate. My concern is the financial trade-off of a law school ( Northern Illinois University) that is considered to be non-ranked, but is strong in government and public interest law that is half the cost of a bigger name player. On one hand, leaving law school with under 60K in debt is very attractive… since no one is going to be beating down my door to hire a new attorney that is middle aged. OTOH, DePaul and Kent cost double, but seem to have a better network of alumni. More expensive, but with a more well-known school, upon graduation, maybe I’ll be able to secure a higher paying job, and pay off the higher $$ loan more quickly. Any thoughts, or advice ? Especially from other “non-traditional” students. Thanks in advance, I appreciate all comments.

If these are the choices available to you, then the correct answer is retake. You have the time and the resources to do so. There is no reason for you to pay for law school. 6 months (more likely 3) of studying for the LSAT correctly is almost guaranteed to cover three years of tuition at a decent school.

aurdie wrote:Thanks to all of you for your responses. I really appreciate it. Based on my undergrad GPA ( I just graduated May 2013) of 4.0 , most of the schools have already offered me about a 50% discount. I'm just wondering, realistically, even if I improve my score (unrealistically!) by 10 points...how much more money they are going to offer. I self-studied for the LSAT and did okay on sample LSAC LSAT exams...but I had the flu when I took the LSAT and scored only about 155. Did pretty well on all sections except games.... of which there were TWO (experimental exam). Quite honestly, even without the flu, I don't know how much better (even with intensive studying) I would fare on the games portion of the exam. And meanwhile, interest rates on the federal loans will likely increase. And I inch closer to becoming a senior citizen Thanks again for all of the constructive comments. ..I've got some thinking to do, I guess!

aurdie wrote:Thanks to all of you for your responses. I really appreciate it. Based on my undergrad GPA ( I just graduated May 2013) of 4.0 , most of the schools have already offered me about a 50% discount. I'm just wondering, realistically, even if I improve my score (unrealistically!) by 10 points...how much more money they are going to offer. I self-studied for the LSAT and did okay on sample LSAC LSAT exams...but I had the flu when I took the LSAT and scored only about 155. Did pretty well on all sections except games.... of which there were TWO (experimental exam). Quite honestly, even without the flu, I don't know how much better (even with intensive studying) I would fare on the games portion of the exam. And meanwhile, interest rates on the federal loans will likely increase. And I inch closer to becoming a senior citizen Thanks again for all of the constructive comments. ..I've got some thinking to do, I guess!

aurdie wrote:Thanks to all of you for your responses. I really appreciate it. Based on my undergrad GPA ( I just graduated May 2013) of 4.0 , most of the schools have already offered me about a 50% discount. I'm just wondering, realistically, even if I improve my score (unrealistically!) by 10 points...how much more money they are going to offer. I self-studied for the LSAT and did okay on sample LSAC LSAT exams...but I had the flu when I took the LSAT and scored only about 155. Did pretty well on all sections except games.... of which there were TWO (experimental exam). Quite honestly, even without the flu, I don't know how much better (even with intensive studying) I would fare on the games portion of the exam. And meanwhile, interest rates on the federal loans will likely increase. And I inch closer to becoming a senior citizen Thanks again for all of the constructive comments. ..I've got some thinking to do, I guess!

MarkinKansasCity wrote:

aurdie wrote:Thanks to all of you for your responses. I really appreciate it. Based on my undergrad GPA ( I just graduated May 2013) of 4.0 , most of the schools have already offered me about a 50% discount. I'm just wondering, realistically, even if I improve my score (unrealistically!) by 10 points...how much more money they are going to offer. I self-studied for the LSAT and did okay on sample LSAC LSAT exams...but I had the flu when I took the LSAT and scored only about 155. Did pretty well on all sections except games.... of which there were TWO (experimental exam). Quite honestly, even without the flu, I don't know how much better (even with intensive studying) I would fare on the games portion of the exam. And meanwhile, interest rates on the federal loans will likely increase. And I inch closer to becoming a senior citizen Thanks again for all of the constructive comments. ..I've got some thinking to do, I guess!

For perspective:

First take: -13 LG
Second take: -1 LG

I assure you, those games are learnable.

SemperLegal wrote:I got killed on the games as well, but with a formal practice system (paid or through books) you can easily pick up 7-10 points just by using methodical systems that they suggest. With a non-traditional background, a 4.0, and a mid-sixties LSAT, you can be back here next year asking if you should Full-ride at lower T1 or take partial scholly in the T50.

If you really cram (i.e. month(s) of full time prep work, you will be looking at some schollies from T14)

Also, I'm guessing family issues keep you in Chicago, in which case your reach goal should 100% be NU early decision, with the associated scholly and "oldie" bump.

L’Étranger wrote:I think this thread is going in the wrong direction with the retake advice.

Retake is the right advice for many posters on this site. However, given the original poster's stated goals, going to an unranked school at a relatively low cost that might help her achieve her goals is not a terrible option.

Additionally, the opportunity costs of a missed year of productivity increase as one gets older. So, retake at 22 from an opportunity cost standpoint, makes total sense, while retake at 45+ probably makes less sense.