How much debt will you be taking on to go to law school? Forum

[j.wellington]

With a combination of scholarships, personal savings and a low-ball estimate of what I might earn during the summers, I'm looking at about $65K-70K of debt if I went with my first choice of schools that I've been accepted to so far. That's taking at face value the estimated living costs on their website. What's typical?

[sawwaverunner]

Well....I'm extremely debt adverse, so I'm looking at $25,000-$30,000 for the whole kit and kaboodle at my Tier 2 school. But I live at home and commute to school so that saves a ton. I honestly think keeping debt low is seriously the way to go. 65 k -70 k is pretty darn low if that's all you have for loans. I think that is lower than average.

[brose002]

100K give or take at UMN

[jks289]

I still don't know where I am going. But I have modest savings, a little family help, and my spouses' income so I am hoping against hope it will be under 100K.

[sawwaverunner]

It must be pretty epic to graduate with zero debt following law school.

[lawduder]

Probably around 100k after taking into account living and tuition. I also don't plan on living off ramen or eating crappy food.

[jbarl1]

I got a fairly decent scholarship and will be living with my boyfriend who will be paying for most of my COL, so I will probably be around 40k or so.

[j.wellington]

I know the only real answer is "it depends," but does anyone have examples of how much people make from their summer stints? I'm not sure how to factor that in to my estimated costs. I assume it's not much.

[MURPH]

with some savings, a GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Scholarships and school scholarships, my wife working and renting out my home for 6 - 9 months a year while I drag the family across the country so I can go to school, I am looking at breaking even. Maybe.

[OGR3]

With savings, scholarships and living with my girlfriend, I hope to only take out Stafford Loans.

[Shlonster]

Wow...... 160k sounds insane at the moment.

[narkizopoint]

If wife doesn't work at all and I strike out every summer on getting paid work and if tuition doesn't rise substantially I am looking at about 168K

[goblue1646]

yeah i'm thinking it'll turn out to be 160k pretty much

[Aeroplane]

I know the only real answer is "it depends," but does anyone have examples of how much people make from their summer stints? I'm not sure how to factor that in to my estimated costs. I assume it's not much.

Following based on my job searching & anecdata:
SA/clerkship at a not tiny firm will be anywhere from $1200-$3000/week for 8-12 weeks, depending on your market and the type of firm. Small firms pay by the hour, and not too much (low double digits). In-house departments often pay, and can be >$20/hr. RA jobs pay somewhere $8-$16/hr. You can also do other work over the summer, in addition to your legal work if you need more cash (bartending, LSAT tutoring, etc).

Keep in mind that you'll probably have some summer spending too, so it's not like you'll get to put all the money you make toward your loans. If you work at a NYC firm 2L summer, then you may not keep very much of your pay (depends on your spending habits). OTOH if you work at a firm in your hometown and live with your parents who feed & house you for free, you may end up with more money in the end despite earning less.

If you're trying to estimate your costs: assume that 1L summer you'll be doing FT unpaid legal work and as much "side" work as you think you'll have energy & opportunity for, and 2L summer estimate should depend on your school (i.e. what kind of job does a median student at your school typically have for 2L summer).

[sawwaverunner]

I know the only real answer is "it depends," but does anyone have examples of how much people make from their summer stints? I'm not sure how to factor that in to my estimated costs. I assume it's not much.

Following based on my job searching & anecdata:
SA/clerkship at a not tiny firm will be anywhere from $1200-$3000/week for 8-12 weeks, depending on your market and the type of firm. Small firms pay by the hour, and not too much (low double digits). In-house departments often pay, and can be >$20/hr. RA jobs pay somewhere $8-$16/hr. You can also do other work over the summer, in addition to your legal work if you need more cash (bartending, LSAT tutoring, etc).

Keep in mind that you'll probably have some summer spending too, so it's not like you'll get to put all the money you make toward your loans. If you work at a NYC firm 2L summer, then you may not keep very much of your pay (depends on your spending habits). OTOH if you work at a firm in your hometown and live with your parents who feed & house you for free, you may end up with more money in the end despite earning less.

If you're trying to estimate your costs: assume that 1L summer you'll be doing FT unpaid legal work and as much "side" work as you think you'll have energy & opportunity for, and 2L summer estimate should depend on your school (i.e. what kind of job does a median student at your school typically have for 2L summer).

For anyone interested in Public Interest work, a lot of schools will provide grants to students who are part of a club and line up a good internship. You can get about 1k to 3.5 k per summer, which is better than nothing for sure.

[MBZags]

Probably zero, though I may have a little bit.