PSLF too good to be true? Forum

[Young Marino]

Okay so I know about the benefits of working in the public sector to get rid of LS debt after 10 years but this just sounds too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? If going to a strong regional TT in a major city and racking a bunch of debt that can be forgiven by working in the public sector which is larger in major cities can rid your debt, why don't people gun for that? Is getting a PSLF eligible job more competitive than landing a biglaw gig?

[Tanicius]

Lots of people now are gunning for it. Public defender and district attorney jobs in particular have become increasingly competitive. A lot of students who wanted to do this work in the past few decades just haven't been able to because of the cost, and now PDs and DAs get so many qualified candidates that they don't know what to do with them all.

PSLF really is that awesome.

[Young Marino]

Lots of people now are gunning for it. Public defender and district attorney jobs in particular have become increasingly competitive. A lot of students who wanted to do this work in the past few decades just haven't been able to because of the cost, and now PDs and DAs get so many qualified candidates that they don't know what to do with them all.

PSLF really is that awesome.

True. Well I guess if all else fails, a law grad can always get pslf through academia. And by academia I mean a middle school teacher. lolz. But in all seriousness, I have always wanted to do something in the public sector and it has been a dream of mine to eventually become the city attorney of my hometown. What class rank would you say can get you a DA, PD, public interest or any government job if most kids in the top ten percent are going biglaw?

[twenty]

Okay so I know about the benefits of working in the public sector to get rid of LS debt after 10 years but this just sounds too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? If going to a strong regional TT in a major city and racking a bunch of debt that can be forgiven by working in the public sector which is larger in major cities can rid your debt, why don't people gun for that? Is getting a PSLF eligible job more competitive than landing a biglaw gig?

Getting a PSLF-eligible job isn't all that difficult, getting a law-related PSLF-job is difficult. PSLF extends to everything from working in a non-profit hospital to working for a university, to being a police officer. The hard part is, you could have gotten all those jobs without having spent three years in law school. And unlike the scenario where you spend three years in law school, you're now forced to work in public service for the next ten years.

Taking on a ton of debt at a regional TT with the hope of maybe possibly getting a PI spot is a bad, bad idea.

[BigZuck]

Okay so I know about the benefits of working in the public sector to get rid of LS debt after 10 years but this just sounds too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? If going to a strong regional TT in a major city and racking a bunch of debt that can be forgiven by working in the public sector which is larger in major cities can rid your debt, why don't people gun for that? Is getting a PSLF eligible job more competitive than landing a biglaw gig?

Getting a PSLF-eligible job isn't all that difficult, getting a law-related PSLF-job is difficult. PSLF extends to everything from working in a non-profit hospital to working for a university, to being a police officer. The hard part is, you could have gotten all those jobs without having spent three years in law school. And unlike the scenario where you spend three years in law school, you're now forced to work in public service for the next ten years.

Taking on a ton of debt at a regional TT with the hope of maybe possibly getting a PI spot is a bad, bad idea.

So you're saying don't go to, say, Miami at sticker and try to become a public defender?

[Young Marino]

Okay so I know about the benefits of working in the public sector to get rid of LS debt after 10 years but this just sounds too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? If going to a strong regional TT in a major city and racking a bunch of debt that can be forgiven by working in the public sector which is larger in major cities can rid your debt, why don't people gun for that? Is getting a PSLF eligible job more competitive than landing a biglaw gig?

Getting a PSLF-eligible job isn't all that difficult, getting a law-related PSLF-job is difficult. PSLF extends to everything from working in a non-profit hospital to working for a university, to being a police officer. The hard part is, you could have gotten all those jobs without having spent three years in law school. And unlike the scenario where you spend three years in law school, you're now forced to work in public service for the next ten years.

Taking on a ton of debt at a regional TT with the hope of maybe possibly getting a PI spot is a bad, bad idea.

So you're saying don't go to, say, Miami at sticker and try to become a public defender?

I was actually referring to one of the infilaw trio.

[twenty]

Okay so I know about the benefits of working in the public sector to get rid of LS debt after 10 years but this just sounds too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? If going to a strong regional TT in a major city and racking a bunch of debt that can be forgiven by working in the public sector which is larger in major cities can rid your debt, why don't people gun for that? Is getting a PSLF eligible job more competitive than landing a biglaw gig?

Getting a PSLF-eligible job isn't all that difficult, getting a law-related PSLF-job is difficult. PSLF extends to everything from working in a non-profit hospital to working for a university, to being a police officer. The hard part is, you could have gotten all those jobs without having spent three years in law school. And unlike the scenario where you spend three years in law school, you're now forced to work in public service for the next ten years.

Taking on a ton of debt at a regional TT with the hope of maybe possibly getting a PI spot is a bad, bad idea.

So you're saying don't go to, say, Miami at sticker and try to become a public defender?

To clarify, when I say "PI spot" I mean PSLF-eligible job, not a JD-required PI job. Like, okay, if you want to be a police officer, there's better ways to achieve that goal than to go to a TT at sticker and make PAYE payments.

I still think a solid regional school at sticker is probably not the best idea unless you're absolutely dedicated to the idea of a very specific type of (obtainable) legal PI job, and here's why. Legal PI-spots are notorious for underpaying attorneys, and on top of that you now have an environment where you have to make PAYE payments, albeit minimal payments, but payments you're locked into for the next ten years nonetheless. If your heart wasn't it in from the getgo, those are a long ten years. This is different from taking sticker at a T...18 or so (I say 18, because that seems to be the cutoff for schools that have a good LRAP program), because taking sticker at a T18 as opposed to sticker at a random regional without an LRAP is a 50-80k difference over ten years. It adds up.

[Danger Zone]

Tax bomb. It's the pitfall of loan forgiveness.

ETA: never mind, doesn't apply to PSLF. You're good to rack up debt, homie.

[Young Marino]

Tax bomb. It's the pitfall of loan forgiveness.

ETA: never mind, doesn't apply to PSLF. You're good to rack up debt, homie.

Yea I'm looking for any red flags on pslf/ibr but I see none. God bless America