Top Law Schools

0L here, do we get a disbursement schedule for our loan? Just curious how we would know how long the current or first disbursement is supposed to last. thx!

jlk411 wrote:0L here, do we get a disbursement schedule for our loan? Just curious how we would know how long the current or first disbursement is supposed to last. thx!

Probably depends on the school. And I'm sure your school has a financial handbook with the information. For most of the schools I've looked at, it's close to the first day of classes, which is why many schools (that I've looked at) advise you to have personal funds enough for up front rent/deposits/etc.

edit: and to answer your question that you posed in the other thread. Lots of people have advocated for renting books or just using the books that are on reserve at your school's library, to save on book costs. Everything else is likely over-estimated as far as funds go. If you live reasonably as a student, you shouldn't have to use all of the loan funds available. For instance, my school has about $4800 allowed for food expenses. That's $400/month over the entire year, and $500 over the 9 months that they actually predict costs for (since they don't plan for the 3 months of Summer). Of course, eating out and bar review cost money, but you can live comfortably well within those budgets.

At my school, loans were disbursed the first day of classes in the fall and then the first day of classes in the spring. Each disbursement was meant to last you for the semester (and the spring disbursement will have to last for the summer as well, unless you get a paid summer job).

Pleasye wrote:At my school, loans were disbursed the first day of classes in the fall and then the first day of classes in the spring. Each disbursement was meant to last you for the semester (and the spring disbursement will have to last for the summer as well, unless you get a paid summer job).

Got it, thanks!