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I should preface this by saying I am Canadian..

I was admitted to NYU with a $60k scholly, and seeing as this is my best acceptance so far, it looks like I will take it.

Since it's generally a serious consideration for us Canadians who are ineligible for federal loans to traipse down here for law school, I was pretty hesitant, and only made the decision after my parents pledged to help me out (one is a US perm resident so can co-sign remaining amounts for me). However, due to some unforseen circumstances, the amount out-of-pocket I can count on through my parents has been drastically reduced-I will have to rely on private loans for the most part (approx 100k or more). So now given it is so late in the cycle (especially since NYU wants a response this week) I have some tough options to choose amongst, and thought I would get some ideas.

I've been out of school for 2 yrs, worked full-time in finance for one of them, and am basically doing nothing until the fall (literally-I leave for Thailand on Friday). This makes my choices tougher because if I push off the cycle til next year, I'll have two blank years on my record-I'll already be 25 if I start this fall; 26 with one year of work exp is tough to swallow. I don't want to work at some office for just a year; if I were to push off I would move to Bali and do some cost-of-living job out there. I'm also generally pretty miserable and pretty lazy at the moment. I'm getting more and more ambivalent about law school (especially about going to the 'best' for the most amount of money) and could even see myself choosing a Canadian school purely for money issues. I don't care where I end up and have no idea what I want to practice. My numbers are 3.86 / 175 and i'm still on hold at Harvard and Columbia.

So should I suck it up and take out the private loans and go to NYU this fall, or wait a year, reapply to lower ranked schools and hope for full-rides / apply to Canadian schools?

I know I have done and am doing several things wrong. Really just want to hear thoughts.

Thanks

I've been reading these boards for like a week, and this is the first (and likely only) time I will say....


FLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"oh no, I'm better than you all, what should I do?"

pugalicious wrote:I've been reading these boards for like a week, and this is the first (and likely only) time I will say....


FLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"oh no, I'm better than you all, what should I do?"

Really? Didn't think it came across that way. If anything I thought I sounded quite stupid, seeing as though I am facing these money issues now, and didn't plan for a fall back.

But thanks for the useful insight I suppose..

Hey superberry don't listen to the dumbass newb. Anyways, I totally understand your dilemma but 60k at NYU is nothing to sneeze at. Assuming you can get a good interest private loan (if your cosigner has good credit) you won't be paying very much more than American students who are taking out high interest government loans.

I wish you luck and congrats on those sick numbers.

okokok taken back. RC fail - only got through the first couple lines!

no more posting after 2 glasses of wine : ) Lesson learned on my part!

Good luck in your endeavors!

OP, you are right to be wary of that much private debt, but this IS NYU we're talking about. And 60k. Given the unbelievable career opportunities this will give you, I suggest you go to NYU and never look back! That is as long as you are SURE you want to be a lawyer, because the debt will lock you in that path for at least a while. But you will have no problem paying off your debt if you graduate from NYU and do big law.

Thanks guys for your responses. I definitely understand and appreciate the fact that NYU is a great school; I just got a bit terrified when it became apparent that I would be financing so much of it with debt, and I started thinking I should have planned for alternatives. I also realized that I'm making the same mistake of believing I will be happiest with the most prestige, when I've already tried that route for undergrad and my last job and I was pretty miserable...anyway I guess I just wanted some reinforcement.

The best thing about NYU for me I suppose vs other options is that it would theoretically allow me to relocate if I desired...I have a hard time staying in one place for too long and I guess the mobility may be worth the premium.

Anyhow, thanks for these and any additional thoughts.