Options for paying off 90k debt other than law school? Forum

[ResolutePear]

The reason I never chose marketing as a major or advertising as a career is because I generally hate people that go into it. Not everyone, obviously, as some of my good friends are marketing majors, but... you know what I mean, I'm sure.

PS: While you're at IHOP be sure to get the Colorado Omelette. You'll feel like that Jameson was never there.

haha, thanks for the advice.

Uh, yeah - I do know what you mean. That's across all business majors, though... except maybe, maybe for Accounting.

[christmas mouse]

I was a marketing major with a philosophy minor and your judgements about marketing majors are correct, and as the pear said it goes for all business majors. If you really like philosphy you actually might enjoy law school, and if u go into the right area of law you might even enjoy practice.

What is your gpa like? If it's above a 3.0 and you can score a 167 LSAT you will be very competitive for large schollys at a number of t2 schools. You can't bank on a high paying job after you graduate, but at least you will have an avenue to pay your loans off because as has been said ITT your philosophy degree will probly leave you jobless ITE. Personally, if biglaw isn't a goal, I would not pass on a JD from a T2 for 10,000 a year or even less. I know for a fact my statement is credited because a very good friend of mine received 40,000 a year scholly from a high t2 with a 3.0 and a 167 straight out of undergrad, no softs or anything else that made his application stand out.

[tilapiahollandaise]

I have to project with numbers right now since it's a year away, but:

based on my GPA trend, I should have around a 3.4 upon graduating (in-major gpa is much better, though I realize that's irrelevant to law school)
based on my SAT/verbal IQ/other standardized test percentiles that a friend used to calculate probable LSAT scores, my realistic max LSAT should be around 171 so something like 167 should be feasible with a lot of practice.

I don't know if I have the benefit of being able to apply to grad school and law school though, because I don't know if I could take both in a summer. I am not as confident about the GRE due to the fact that philosophy grad schools place equal weight on the analytical section; it's been a long time since I've done any serious math so I would probably have to put down just as much, if not more practice for the GRE... and I'm practically devoting my next summer to LSAT study.

[Bumi]

Make a resume. Find the largest businesses in the city you want to work in. Send your resume to them. Only once this fails can you claim that you are forced to go to law school or become a teacher.

My most successful friend was a philosophy major. He got hired out of college as a low level manager (which btw pays pretty well), now he runs a department of a medium-sized industrial business and makes about what new lawyers make in NYC, except he lives in a place where the cost of living is half what it is in NYC. He got his job off careerbuilder.com or monster.com or some website like that. We teased him mercilessly for being a philosophy major in college, oops. I know anecdotes are not data, but it's worth considering this as an option.

If you don't want to be a lawyer, that is fine. There are plenty of jobs out there that no one on this forum has even heard of. You'd be surprised at the number of successful, expanding businesses there are in the US, even ITE.

[ResolutePear]

Make a resume. Find the largest businesses in the city you want to work in. Send your resume to them. Only once this fails can you claim that you are forced to go to law school or become a teacher.

My most successful friend was a philosophy major. He got hired out of college as a low level manager (which btw pays pretty well), now he runs a department of a medium-sized industrial business and makes about what new lawyers make in NYC, except he lives in a place where the cost of living is half what it is in NYC. He got his job off careerbuilder.com or monster.com or some website like that. We teased him mercilessly for being a philosophy major in college, oops. I know anecdotes are not data, but it's worth considering this as an option.

If you don't want to be a lawyer, that is fine. There are plenty of jobs out there that no one on this forum has even heard of. You'd be surprised at the number of successful, expanding businesses there are in the US, even ITE.

Your friend is honestly the exception.

Even Harvard business grads aren't guaranteed do well in the business market. You get what you give.

[Deuce]

What are the job prospects for a philosophy major? Professional thinker?

[GATORTIM]

Options for paying off 90k debt other than law school?

why don't you get a goddamn job....tilapiahollandaise
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[Bumi]

Your friend is honestly the exception.

Even Harvard business grads aren't guaranteed do well in the business market. You get what you give.

Sure, but there's an incredibly wide margin between knowing that success in the business market is not guaranteed, and not even trying to get a job in business.

[ResolutePear]

Your friend is honestly the exception.

Even Harvard business grads aren't guaranteed do well in the business market. You get what you give.

Sure, but there's an incredibly wide margin between knowing that success in the business market is not guaranteed, and not even trying to get a job in business.

There sure is.

[legalease9]

There are lots of jobs that will take liberal arts majors. Any bureaucratic job that is primarily pushing (non financial) paper will take liberal arts majors. They will certainly take a liberal arts major over a high school grad with no college. Is it going to be a lot harder that you got your degree in philosophy rather than say accounting? Yes. It is very tough in this economy. But that doesn't mean that you can't get a job. There are all sorts of jobs you can do. Going to law school if you don't want to go is a BAD decision.

[2ofspades]

More on point, I was looking into education but I don't know how much that pays and being a high school teacher seems like risky business. Could I really pay off my loans that way? It doesn't seem feasible.

If you're thinking about education and possibly law once you decide whether you want to be a lawyer (and please don't go to law school before you know you want to be a layer) - then I'd recommend Teach For America.

I probably wouldn't have thought of TFA for you, except I just met a guy earlier this summer who applied to a T14 right out of undergrad, was rejected, then applied to the same T14 after TFA, and was accepted - the experience is highly valued. So, if you like teaching, it's a great choice. If you decide you want to do something else, it would be a great thing to add to your resume. And if you decide you want to go to law school - I think it will make you more competitive as an applicant and would enable to graduate once hiring has recovered more.

(And money might not be a concern since they have a loan forbearance program: --LinkRemoved--)

[094320]

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[tilapiahollandaise]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys. It's not that I'm completely repelled by being a lawyer--I feel better suited to a law degree than any other post-undergraduate degree--rather it's that I don't know what my options are and I feel like it's the only way to pay off 90k debt in a reasonable amount of time to have kids someday.

[Moxie]

Only skim read the thread, but how about becoming a paralegal? The pay is pretty good if you get OT, and can give you some sense of legal firm life.

[Lisa_I]

Philosophy is one of those "personal enhancement" degrees... do academia, write some books, sit around and think about life are your skills at this point if all philosophy UG programs are alike.

he can't go for academia unless he has a phd + postdoc from fancy university

[Lisa_I]

As for a paid Ph.D, I've considered that but the "paid" part is something I'm unsure of--how common is it? Plus it would take quite a while to complete so I would have accrued a ridiculous amount of interest by the time I started paying my loans off. Or would it? I'm ignorant here, so feel free to correct me.

phds are commonly paid for
if you can get there, it is even more competitive that law school,
If you wanna get phd that will bring you to the academia position you have to go to the best univ you can get to (just like law)
to get to the fine school you need to 1) ace GRE (your scholarship depend on it) 2) write an excellent research proposal deep and well researched + that is an interest of faculty of the school you are applying to.
3) show your research experience as the undergrad and the publish academic work

without it you will not be considered for good schoolarship or good university or/and both

[Lisa_I]

Only skim read the thread, but how about becoming a paralegal? The pay is pretty good if you get OT, and can give you some sense of legal firm life.

well if 30k is good pay
have you ever tried to find the job as paralegal? it is impossible