IS THE DEBT WORTH IT?!?!?! Forum

[Becca003]

So i have a pretty large dilema, one that probably many of you guys are facing too.

I have gotten into great schools and right now GULC is sitting on the top of my list. However, i recieved 20,000 in scholarships from them but it still costs roughly 55,000 a year in tuition alone.

I do not want to go into big law, my ideal area right now is criminal law. I have no idea where i want to end up since going to GULC will open so many doors for me that I cannot say exactly what level i will end up at. Before getting in I was comfortable going back to Southern California and getting a position at the District Attorney's office (luckily making 80,000 a year).

My father is a police officer and many of the ADA's and DA's there tell him it would be better if i just went to UCI for a free tuition ride (which i have). but many here say UCI would be the dumbest choice i could ever make.

any other thoughts? please dont tell me im an idiot for considering UCI, i've already heard it. Id rather constructive criticism please

side note, schools ive been accepted to:
GULC 20,000 a year
Notre dame 40,000 a year
UCI 45,000 a year
UC davis 40,000 a year
USC 35,000 a year
UCLA (havent heard yet)
Berkeley (havent heard yet)

[Johann]

uh yeah UCI. this is easy.

[romothesavior]

uh yeah UCI. this is easy.

I agree. UCI for free if you want to stay local and do criminal law work, no question.

[mvp99]

plus uci will debut at 14 us news ranking

[thatsnotmyname]

OP is a URM with a 165 and a 3.98. I would've guessed you would've gotten better scholarship offers from schools ranked higher than GULC. When and where else did you apply? I would be surprised if you didn't get scholarship money from UCLA or Berkeley. I don't think Berkeley has sent out scholarship notices yet and the fact that you haven't received one from UCLA yet leads me to believe that you applied quite late in the cycle.

If we're operating in a vacuum of GULC w 20K vs UCI with a full-ride, you should take UCI for your goals. But I have a feeling that you will get something from UCLA and/or Berkeley that could help tilt this discussion in the favor of UCLA/Berkeley. If you really wanted to maximize your scholarship/acceptance odds it may be worthwhile to decline all offers this year and reapply early next cycle.

[MarkfromWI]

You want to be in SoCal and are aiming for local government? Take the money at UCI and don't look back

[Tiago Splitter]

I'm guessing OP isn't being counted as a URM given the results of the cycle. If the scholarship is really just 45k a year then that's a few thousand short of a full ride now and probably several thousand short by 3L year. I'd shoot for a little more from USC or 35k from UCLA instead unless your ties are very specific to Orange County and you would strongly prefer there over other parts of Southern California.

[Becca003]

Hey,

Yeah those are my score and I actually fled out all my apps and had them complete by the end of October. A couple by the first week of November. I'm not sure why I haven't been offered one by UCLA yet either though

Thanks for the help guys I really appreciate it.

I'm Hispanic so maybe they Just aren't counting Hispanics as much as other URMs this cycle for some reason....

[amw342]

I'm Hispanic so maybe they Just aren't counting Hispanics as much as other URMs this cycle for some reason....

It depends specifically on what type of Hispanic you are. Only Mexicans, Chicanos, and Puerto Ricans are given URM status. If you didn't check any of those boxes under the Hispanic category and checked off something else or other, then you're not given URM status.

[Becca003]

I definitely put Mexican american

[Tiago Splitter]

For future Mexican-Americans with numbers like the OP's reading this thread: Please apply to pretty much every school in the T-14 in addition to whatever regional schools you'd consider. A mid-160's LSAT and a near 4.0 GPA should get you into a handful of T-14's and provide a lot of leverage against the USC's and UCLA's of the world.

[amw342]

Interesting...well the Hispanic URM status usually doesn't provide as big a boost as other URMs, such as AA.

By the way, your GPA is super high. Maybe u could retake the LSAT and apply next cycle. With a high 160's and a 3.98, you would have so many great deals throughout the T14. If not, UCI would be fine for what you want. No need to take out debt for GULC. As well, keep an eye out for Berkeley and ucla. They could match if not exceed GULC's offer (gulc is notoriously stingy).

Good Luck!

[blousty]

Please don't take on more than 100k of debt unless your law school is very prestigious and can basically guarantee you a GOOD job. Most law schools cannot make this promise. Defer a year if you must; apply to other schools, work on your LSAT, whatever.

Remember the guy who pays 300$ a month on Comcast's most retarded cable option? that's you when you take on big debt, only its 1000$ a month. Try to tell the hot beezy you snagged as a lawyer that you can't take her out to dinner because your student debt exceeds your income. Trust me bro.

[sparty99]

I would retake and reply. Law school is not worth it unless you get a full ride. As a URM, you should have better school options. The job market is really bad. Reply dude.