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I currently live in NYC and will be attending law school in the fall, in New York. I am wondering if anyone here has had any success getting a loan that exceeds your law school's estimated cost of living? Furthermore, considering these budgets set by the school seem to only cover the 9-month academic year, what have you done in terms of covering costs during the summer months? Private loans?

Interested as well

Anyone want to answer this?

I'm curious as well. Most people say the 9-month COA allocation is more than generous and can be used for a 12 month period just on a tighter budget.

After crunching the numbers it seems like an awfully tight budget...

You'd have to get a private loan for that. The stafford and grad plus wont go beyond what is the school's total cost of attendance (which tend to be more generous than what is needed). I'd talk to you the school's financial aid office as they may have an institutional loan, or access to a state loan.

I've heard of some people being able to get a little more money for LEGITIMATE extra expenses, like childcare. But I don't think it's common.

Either stretch the money over 12 months, or find other funding. Some schools have various options for summer. For example, Northwestern offers practicum classes for credit to go along with your summer externship, which allows you to take out more loans for living expenses, or various fellowships and grants for public interest jobs.

Awesome, thanks y'all.

I think I can make the COA work over 12 months, it's just a matter of getting on a tighter budget than I'm used to. I also forgot that you can get stipends for PI work your 1L summer, which would certainly help.