STCL Fall 2013 Forum

[txlaw2013]

I applied, very slim chance of getting in I believe. 148. 3.08. URM for the PT program. Leaning on waiting another year because I only took the LSAT once, but if STCL accepts who knows.

[law1992]

I applied, very slim chance of getting in I believe. 148. 3.08. URM for the PT program. Leaning on waiting another year because I only took the LSAT once, but if STCL accepts who knows.

You still might be able to get in the PT program. Would you attend?

[jeffyl00b]

I'm impressed that there's so many kind helpful folks who are interested in repeatedly trying to help us all out by telling us where not to go and using such terms as like 60% of people get jobs(or what congress calls a "supermajority" if we use their definitions), and yet, these same folks always fall short of holding our hands on what bumps that up to 90% or where and how to apply for a job. Why is that?

[North]

using such terms as like 60% of people get jobs(or what congress calls a "supermajority" if we use their definitions)

what bumps that up to 90%

Retaking the LSAT and going to UT.

where and how to apply for a job.

HTH. With an STCL JD, you'll have to do a lot of 'applying' to break your way into that SUPERMAJORITY. Right around the time your $1,000 student loan bills start rolling in.

Why is that?

Because it's never a good idea to bet 100k on a 60% chance of anything.

[potterpirate04]

Because it's never a good idea to bet 100k on a 60% chance of anything.

I have a genuine question about this. Would you say that going to a school like this and coming out with 50-60k or less as opposed to 100k in debt makes a difference, given the 60% employment score on LST?

[North]

Because it's never a good idea to bet 100k on a 60% chance of anything.

I have a genuine question about this. Would you say that going to a school like this and coming out with 50-60k or less as opposed to 100k in debt makes a difference, given the 60% employment score on LST?

It's still risky, but not nearly as much as taking out over 100k. No matter what, though, because of the bi-modal salary distribution for lawyers, it's going to be very rough for quite some time. Poverty line rough. STCL grads aren't getting the $160,000 jobs in the second spike.

Loan Calculator

Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00
Enrollment Status: In Repayment
Degree Program: Lawyer (LLB or JD)
Total Years in College: 7 years
Average Debt per Year: $8,571.43

Monthly Loan Payment: $690.48
Number of Payments: 120

Cumulative Payments: $82,857.94
Total Interest Paid: $22,857.94

Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 119 payments of $690.48 plus a final payment of $690.82.

It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $82,857.60 to be able to afford to repay this loan. This estimate assumes that 10% of your gross monthly income will be devoted to repaying your student loans. This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 0.7. If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $55,238.40, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.1.

The following table lists the minimum income necessary to repay the debt without encountering a partial economic hardship. Partial economic hardship is defined as having annual education loan payments in excess of 15 percent of discretionary income, where discretionary income is the amount by which Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) exceeds 150 percent of the poverty line. This figure is shown in the Minimum AGI (IBR) column. The Minimum AGI (ICR) column uses an alternate definition of economic hardship, based on 20 percent of discretionary income which is defined as the excess of AGI over 100 percent of the poverty line.

HH Min. AGI (IBR) Min. AGI (ICR)
1 $71,483.00 $52,259.00
2 $77,093.00 $55,999.00
3 $82,703.00 $59,739.00
4 $88,313.00 $63,479.00
5 $93,923.00 $67,219.00
6 $99,533.00 $70,959.00

These results assume that the student is paying the interest charges on any unsubsidized loans and is not capitalizing the interest while in school. If the student is capitalizing the interest, the cumulative payments and total interest charges will be higher than shown here.

Extended repayment would cut the monthly payment by $299.32 (43.3%) by increasing the loan term to 30 years but would also increase the total interest paid over the life of the loan by $57,959.66 (253.6%), a factor of 3.54 increase. You should stick with the shortest loan term you can afford. After all, do you really want to still be repaying your own student loans when your children enroll in college?

Student loans do not have prepayment penalties. If you wish, you can make an extra payment to principal each month to accelerate repayment of the debt. If you pay an extra $25.00 a month, you will cut 0.4 years off of the 10-year repayment term and save $1,220.63 in interest over the life of the loan. If you pay an extra $50.00 a month, you will cut 0.9 years off of the 10-year repayment term and save $2,314.09 in interest over the life of the loan. If you pay an extra $100.00 a month, you will cut 1.7 years off of the 10-year repayment term and save $4,192.75 in interest over the life of the loan.

[potterpirate04]

Thanks for that info North, very helpful. My family lives in Houston and i just planned on living with them for 3 yrs so that cuts the COL and i calculated an estimate of how much grant money I would get based on LSN, so i have a rough estimate of 60k in debt by the time I graduate.

[LRGhost]

It's really not the place to tell people to not go to the school they want to. They're on TLS, the information is out there, and making jokes out people and schools won't accomplish what you want. If you wanted to be a reasonable individual and explain to someone why they shouldn't go somewhere, there are nicer ways to do it.

EDIT: North was alright.