Top Law Schools

Taking into consideration job prospects (and your resultant ability to pay off loans), and assuming graduation at exactly median: how low do you have to go before a school stops being worth its asking price?

(If it's not clear, choosing an option means you would not pay sticker for any of the schools ranked lower than the schools in the selected tier).

ITE, only sure bets are worth sticker (or something at least relatively close to a sure bet). The only schools that offer such sure-bets are YHS.

I would certainly consider sticker if it is the best school in a location I would really love to work in (eg. U of Washington if I want to work in the Seattle area). I can't imagine any in the tier 2 being in that level, hence my pick of 31-50.

PlugInBaby wrote:I would certainly consider sticker if it is the best school in a location I would really love to work in (eg. U of Washington if I want to work in the Seattle area). I can't imagine any in the tier 2 being in that level, hence my pick of 31-50.

U of Idaho is cheap and dominates the Idaho market. T3 but definitely worth sticker. I don't plan on attending there, but if you want to live in ID then it would be dumb to dismiss it out of hand because they won't give a scholarship. In fact, a lot of state schools don't give out a ton of scholarships, yet place very well in their market.

Everything is contextual. I know that this is just some one-off thread that serves no purpose, but when I first came to this site I took a lot of this stuff to heart. I agree that some schools aren't just bad investments at sticker, but horrible investments even with partial scholarships. Everyone hates on the USNWR rankings, but then reifies the power that they have by making blanket distinctions based on rankings with no other context.

I second kswiss's comment.

"Sticker" is a flawed concept, since sticker at Northwestern is about five times in-state sticker at Georgia State.

You have to look at fees as well as job aims, prospects of achieving those aims, and, where applicable, loan forgiveness for public interest work. If you want to work for your dad's real estate settlement company and do residential real estate closings, then sticker at YSH is a waste of money. If you want to be a public defender in Georgia, sticker at Georgia State may be ok. It all depends on details.

voice of reason wrote:I second kswiss's comment.

"Sticker" is a flawed concept, since sticker at Northwestern is about five times in-state sticker at Georgia State.

You have to look at fees as well as job aims, prospects of achieving those aims, and, where applicable, loan forgiveness for public interest work. If you want to work for your dad's real estate settlement company and do residential real estate closings, then sticker at YSH is a waste of money. If you want to be a public defender in Georgia, sticker at Georgia State may be ok. It all depends on details.

+1

I'll will most likely be paying "sticker" at the University of Washington, but sticker is about half what it is at many schools and it is also the best school within 800 miles. I wouldn't pay "sticker" at any other non T14, and probably not even all of those.