2L biglaw summer towards tuition? Forum

[gaucholaw]

assuming I get a summer 2L biglaw gig in NYC, minus taxes and cost of living etc... how much $$$ will I come home with to 3L that I can hopefully put towards loans

[vanwinkle]

Most BigLaw SA positions will be for 8-10 weeks. Pay is $3000/week, so you're looking at a max gross of $30K.

Running $30K annual salary (making the likely assumption you won't have any other income that year) through an online NYC tax calculator shows that after taking out city/state/local taxes, you're looking at maybe $22K. This will be less, of course, if you work fewer than 10 weeks.

After that, it's a matter of how much you spend. For a rough estimate, Cardozo Law estimates $5800 for living expenses for students attending a summer semester, but that would be living pretty frugally. Living expenses for a summer can vary widely. Do you know the city? Could you find roommates to live with during the summer? How much do you want to spend on entertainment while you're in town?

There's also the issue of where you'll go the rest of the summer. Summer break is usually longer than 10 weeks; will you spend that time in NYC, or wherever you're going to school, or with family, or on vacation? Those summer expenses need to be accounted for as well.

Realistically you could spend less than $5K or more than $10K over the summer, depending on many factors. Subtract that from the maximum of $22K post-tax income you have, and that's how much you'll have left over at the end of the summer.

[nmcdgt]

Side question: is it smarter to use the money to pay off existing loans or to pay 3L tuition and avoid the new loans (at least temporarily)?

[vanwinkle]

Side question: is it smarter to use the money to pay off existing loans or to pay 3L tuition and avoid the new loans (at least temporarily)?

Honestly, I'd save it during 3L for post-graduation living expenses.

Post-graduation summer (the bar summer) isn't really discussed much here, but it's something people should budget. You'll be studying for the bar, you won't have any financial aid (since you've already graduated) and you won't be starting your new job until the fall. Your firm may cover the costs of BarBri (which, btw, costs over $3000) but most don't give stipends larger than that; some will only offer salary advances which you have to pay back once you start, and even those can be small.

In other words, you're paying for your post-graduation summer expenses one way or another. You could take out private bar loans, but the interest on those runs in the 12-15% range. If only there were some way to build up savings while in law school that could cover your bar summer living expenses...

[Renne Walker]

You could take out private bar loans, but the interest on those runs in the 12-15% range. If only there were some way to build up savings while in law school that could cover your bar summer living expenses...

R U sure? My understanding is that interest is in the area of 7% (no payments due for 6-9 months). Seems like 15% is what the Gambino family might charge!

[vanwinkle]

You could take out private bar loans, but the interest on those runs in the 12-15% range. If only there were some way to build up savings while in law school that could cover your bar summer living expenses...

R U sure? My understanding is that interest is in the area of 7% (no payments due for 6-9 months). Seems like 15% is what the Gambino family might charge!

Sorry, I should have said "can run". Here's an example from Sallie Mae:

Rates are variable and range from LIBOR + 5.00% (5.24% APR) to LIBOR + 13.00% (14.00% APR)

So it really depends on your credit. If your credit is excellent, okay, you have no problem. If your credit is less than excellent, then you might have reason to sweat.

Also, these are often variable-rate loans, not fixed-rate. If interest rates start rising, so will your bar loan debt.