Law school with nothing down? Forum

[jared6180]

DISCLOSURE: I am brand new to this discussion and I have done limited reading.

Based on the limited reading I have done I am a bit confused. I have heard I don't know how many people say that law school is expensive, and you must live broke for 3 years while you are working through law school, and student loans don't pay enough for law school, and basically its a financial nightmare. Now after reading through some threads here I am finding I might be able to afford to go to my school of choice after all which is Washington in STL. Or, am I missing something?

[071816]

We'd have to know a little more about your situation, guy.

[Kilpatrick]

.

[bk1]

My first thought is "wut."

You will get loan money for 9 months up to the full cost of attendance which includes rent/food/etc, but the reason people say you should live like you're broke is because it is stupid to live extravagantly when you're living on borrowed money.

[rinkrat19]

(Tip: Keep reading a while before asking more questions that have probably already been answered, and people will give you a lot less shit.)

Loans will cover a comfortable (if not luxurious) living during law school. A totally broke person can go to pretty much any school they can get accepted to. It's up to you to decide whether your job prospects from a school justify taking out loans for the entire cost of attendance (tuition/fees + cost of living + other crap). Most people on TLS have a threshold below which they think "sticker price" is a bad idea.

[PinkCow]

DISCLOSURE: I am brand new to this discussion and I have done limited reading.

Based on the limited reading I have done I am a bit confused. I have heard I don't know how many people say that law school is expensive, and you must live broke for 3 years while you are working through law school, and student loans don't pay enough for law school, and basically its a financial nightmare. Now after reading through some threads here I am finding I might be able to afford to go to my school of choice after all which is Washington in STL. Or, am I missing something?

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

[bk1]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

[rinkrat19]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

Maybe for undergrad, when FAFSA actually cares about your parents' finances.

[bk1]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

Maybe for undergrad, when FAFSA actually cares about your parents' finances.

Well there's that, but I was thinking along the lines of private student loans (unless the loan shark term was facetious).

[jared6180]

We'd have to know a little more about your situation, guy.

What would you like to know?
31 years old
married with 1 child
lets say my school of choice is Washington in STL or Cornell, if I hit that magical 170-172 on the LSAT, but my fallback plan if I bomb my LSAT is KU.
I am used to living on about $2800/mo, and have limited debt outside of student loans, no car loans or credit cards. My wife doesn't work.
I don't care to live high on the hog, but I do not want to live stressed all the way through law school about how we are going to make it the next 15 days of the month on $100. Been there and hated it.

[bk1]

I don't care to live high on the hog, but I do not want to live stressed all the way through law school about how we are going to make it the next 15 days of the month on $100. Been there and hated it.

You wouldn't have to, but you would have to take out student loans.

[PinkCow]

We'd have to know a little more about your situation, guy.

What would you like to know?
31 years old
married with 1 child
lets say my school of choice is Washington in STL or Cornell, if I hit that magical 170-172 on the LSAT, but my fallback plan if I bomb my LSAT is KU.
I am used to living on about $2800/mo, and have limited debt outside of student loans, no car loans or credit cards. My wife doesn't work.
I don't care to live high on the hog, but I do not want to live stressed all the way through law school about how we are going to make it the next 15 days of the month on $100. Been there and hated it.

Wut is your question. If you have $$$ saved up, then there's your answer. If not, it has to come from somewhere. If you get a 170+ and a decent GPA, WUSTL may throw close to a full ride at you, but there's still COL. If your wife doesn't work and you don't work, that $2800/mo has to come from somewhere.

But you don't have a LSAT score yet. So...

[jared6180]

My question/statement is how ignorant I am about student loans past undergrad and into Law School. My theory was I would have to hope for at least half the tuition in a scholly and my wife work FT and I work PT to make it. These loans would atleast help me focus on Law School and not on money issues, which would be great. I am a little embarrassed, Law school has been a fantasy that I could not see how to afford until tonight when I looked through a few of these threads. I am thankful, and actually more motivated by the prospect of getting a scholly and NOT having to work the entire time I am in Law school.

For those more experienced at this thank you for your patience.

[PinkCow]

My question/statement is how ignorant I am about student loans past undergrad and into Law School. My theory was I would have to hope for at least half the tuition in a scholly and my wife work FT and I work PT to make it. These loans would atleast help me focus on Law School and not on money issues, which would be great. I am a little embarrassed, Law school has been a fantasy that I could not see how to afford until tonight when I looked through a few of these threads. I am thankful, and actually more motivated by the prospect of getting a scholly and NOT having to work the entire time I am in Law school.

For those more experienced at this thank you for your patience.

Oh okay, well provided you can stomach the debt and interest, you can find loans to put you through law school. Grad Plus and Federal Direct loans are most standard. Most people I know of fund their education almost all off of those loans.

Now, your debt aversion plus the risk/reward ratio is a trickier subject. Taking, say, $180,000 of loans out to go to a fourth-tier law school in an overly saturated market is probably a death wish, but taking the same amount out to go to a top school is pretty common, though not necessarily wise...

[bk1]

My question/statement is how ignorant I am about student loans past undergrad and into Law School. My theory was I would have to hope for at least half the tuition in a scholly and my wife work FT and I work PT to make it. These loans would atleast help me focus on Law School and not on money issues, which would be great. I am a little embarrassed, Law school has been a fantasy that I could not see how to afford until tonight when I looked through a few of these threads. I am thankful, and actually more motivated by the prospect of getting a scholly and NOT having to work the entire time I am in Law school.

For those more experienced at this thank you for your patience.

At every law school you will be able to take out federal loans (Stafford, Perkins, GradPLUS) up to the full cost of attendance (which you can see on the law schools' websites and does include money for food/rent/etc). These CoAs are budgeted for single students without families but you can talk to the schools' financial aid offices about taking out more loan money because you have family.

[fingersxd]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

Maybe for undergrad, when FAFSA actually cares about your parents' finances.

I was under the impression that you had to be financially independent from your parents for over 3 years (non dependant, post-UG), otherwise parental income was very much considered in determining need-based aid.

[PinkCow]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

Maybe for undergrad, when FAFSA actually cares about your parents' finances.

I was under the impression that you had to be financially independent from your parents for over 3 years (non dependant, post-UG), otherwise parental income was very much considered in determining need-based aid.

It is for schools that do Need Access at least, which are quite a few.

[rinkrat19]

Maybe for undergrad, when FAFSA actually cares about your parents' finances.

I was under the impression that you had to be financially independent from your parents for over 3 years (non dependant, post-UG), otherwise parental income was very much considered in determining need-based aid.

It is for schools that do Need Access at least, which are quite a few.

Not all schools that do NeedAccess require parental info.

[Lwoods]

What's shitty though is having upper middle class parents who, on paper, look mildly affluent, leading to absolutely zero eligibility for federal loans. And then your parents don't offer any assistance. And then you sell your soul to a loan shark. (Not my situation - I know a guy)

This makes no sense.

Wait, what? I thought everyone was eligible for federal loans. I know if you have horrible credit, you'll need a co-signer for Grad PLUS, but I didn't realize there was an income threshold. My EFC (married, didn't list my parents' info) was ~$17k, but I'm still eligible to take out the full amount for loans. What's the threshold for loan eligibility?

[bk1]

Wait, what? I thought everyone was eligible for federal loans. I know if you have horrible credit, you'll need a co-signer for Grad PLUS, but I didn't realize there was an income threshold. My EFC (married, didn't list my parents' info) was ~$17k, but I'm still eligible to take out the full amount for loans. What's the threshold for loan eligibility?

Look at the above comments in regards to this.

[mlbennani]

Anybody can afford to go to law school. I had horrible credit and the federal government still OKd giving me a couple hundred thousand dollars. Unless you've defaulted on student loans in the past or something (or aren't a U.S. citizen FYI, You don't have to be US citizen to get the loans. You merely need to be a permanent resident) you'll be able to get Gradplus loans that cover the cost of attendance

e: It still may be a financial nightmare of course, just not in the way you're thinking