So... anyone a parent moving to law school? Forum

[OmbreGracieuse]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone of you were moving as a whole family unit for law school. My husband, daughter, and I will be moving and I wonder-- do you live on campus, or get an apartment? Do you get a COL scholarship to cover housing, or have one of you already gotten a job where you are moving?

As a family, this is a very scary territory, and I thought I would throw it your to you all.

Thanks!

[shepdawg]

I am moving my entire family 650 miles, so I can go to law school. I don't think there are any special scholarships for having a family. We are able to do this because my wife's parents have extra rooms in their house for us to live in while I study.

[dut99002]

I'm in the same boat--me, my spouse, and a two-year-old. We're going to be running on a very tight budget it seems since as I understand it families/couples are treated no differently from a financial aid standpoint. You cost of attendance will be considered the same.

I talked to a financial aid 'professional' who is a friend of a friend and he bascially said that they only option we had for getting more aid than is offered would be to request the financial aid office to run a professional judgement for a cost of attendance increase.

We've yet to try though since we're not set on our school as of yet.

[Jerzeegirl]

Will most likely be moving. I'm not happy about it at all, and have my fingers crossed that I'll be accepted off the waitlist of a school within commuting distance. I still have to find a daycare and housing. I'm prepared for the fact that life is going to suck for a while, but it will be worth it in the end (I hope).

[Sangiovese]

I don't know how you guys do it. I limited myself to applying to one school since it was the only one within commuting distance for me. I have a daughter who will be a senior next year (she is taking the SAT this weekend.. I keep having LSAT flashbacks!) and another one who will be a freshman.

Between the house, the munchkins, and my job (which I am going to keep while I go to school in the evenings) I just don't think I could have handled the stress of ditching it all to head off to school.

Hope it all pays off for you guys. Good luck!

[r6_philly]

We have a 9 yo and a 10 month old. Hopefully 2 more by the time I am out of LS

I have to say the past 2 years I spent back in UG have been some of the happiest for me. Going to school is enjoyable, and it makes home life enjoyable. I really like the fact my life was moving forward and I got to pursue more, and all the work and effort is all worth it. Work feels different. So I think LS would be great. My wife is in school too so we take turns with the kids, and I work half time and school full time+. It's a lot of work but it is ok. I think I would enjoy LS even more because I will be doing less work than now (:shock: imagine that).

Moving is ok. Anywhere we move to will be better than where we are now, in many aspects, so it will be welcomed. The whole point of going to LS is to get out of the hood so there is nothing negative! Living near a top university is going to be awesome. Schools are going to be 100% better anyway.

[MURPH]

We are leaving Hawaii so I can go to law school. My daughter is on scholarship at UH and she will be staying here. We are converting my two car garage into a studio with a bathroom and kitchenette and leaving my 18 year old son there. We are taking out a second mortgage to pay $15K for the remodeling and taking out an additional $200K of equity to buy a small place where ever I end up at school. We will rent out the rest of the house for maybe $2K/month. I have a GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon scholarship to cover the rest of the expenses. The GI Bill pays a housing stipend of $2K/ month if I go to UCLA. The goal is for my wife to work part time, rather than full time. If all my plans work out she will be able to. We have two little ones that will be coming with us. They will be 4 and 6.

We are juggling a lot but if it works out OK and we live frugally we will have a home, a rental property and the older kids will be set up for college. It could fall apart too.

[KMaine]

Am currently a 1L who moved about 400 miles from home to go to law school. We have 3 children: 8, 6 and 2.

My wife was able to find a job here. There have certainly been challenges, but everyone seems to have adjusted pretty well by this time.

I was able to get a budget increase at my school to pay for children's health insurance and increased cost of living. Of course, it means more loans, but it keeps the family rolling.

In any case, best of luck to all of you. It is doable and worth it.

[hsprophet]

I am moving with my wife and 9mo old. We are very fortunate in that we shouldn't need any financial aid during my time in school. My wife may go back to work in year 2 or 3 if needed.

It's certainly a big change for us, but we are glad to be moving. We want to get out of the town we are in. Aside from the extra time school requires vs. having my current full-time job, I think it will be an improvement in lifestyle for my family. Of course we won't have the funds for fun stuff like we would if I was working.

We have outside dogs and really don't want an apartment, so we'll be buying a house.

[bedefan]

I'm in the same boat--me, my spouse, and a two-year-old. We're going to be running on a very tight budget it seems since as I understand it families/couples are treated no differently from a financial aid standpoint. You cost of attendance will be considered the same.

I talked to a financial aid 'professional' who is a friend of a friend and he bascially said that they only option we had for getting more aid than is offered would be to request the financial aid office to run a professional judgement for a cost of attendance increase.

We've yet to try though since we're not set on our school as of yet.

I know this is an old thread but just wanted to clarify that, for students with dependents, COA--the amount you can borrow against, including tuition, books, fees, and cost of living--varies widely from school to school. Some schools (e.g. Harvard) have clear policies on how COA is adjusted depending on age and number of dependents, working v. non-working spouse, daycare expenses, vehicle expenses, etc.; some schools are very unclear (e.g. Northwestern) and leave it up to the imagination of applicants.

Bottom line is: if you're a parent thinking about relocating the family for law school, attend to each school's specific policy re: COA. There's no SOP across schools, regardless of what any "financial aid professionals" might suggest to the contrary.

I'm deciding between schools right now and have to say that I am simply crossing schools off my list that do not have a clear policy re: COA adjustments for students with dependents.

[r6_philly]

Wow that was 10 months ago I posted in this.

So Penn told me that they can add a 30% extra allowance for housing, plus reasonable childcare expenses to your budget. Haven't talked with other schools yet, but most (but not all) will bump your budget somewhat. Check with the school, this may actually be a determining factor for some if you can't borrow enough to cover expenses.

Also, IBR repayment plan is awesome if you have dependents. Check out the calculators. I am much more comfortable with taking on more debt if this plan doesn't go away.

[bedefan]

Wow that was 10 months ago I posted in this.

So Penn told me that they can add a 30% extra allowance for housing, plus reasonable childcare expenses to your budget. Haven't talked with other schools yet, but most (but not all) will bump your budget somewhat. Check with the school, this may actually be a determining factor for some if you can't borrow enough to cover expenses.

Also, IBR repayment plan is awesome if you have dependents. Check out the calculators. I am much more comfortable with taking on more debt if this plan doesn't go away.

Yeah, IBR is crazy cheap if you have dependents--I think the first scenario I ran through the calculator a while back, it said I would owe like $17 a month.

But Obama's recent budget proposal targeting federal assistance to grad/professional students--I know, not IBR or PSLF--made me really wary about the reliability of IBR all of a sudden. If in the coming budget negotiations IBR and/or PSLF get thrown overboard, what would the schools that have switched their LRAPs to take advantage of IBR/save tons of money for the law school do, you think?

Anyway I decided my increasing queasiness about relying on Uncle Sam for loan help has made me finally let go of the dream of attending Berkeley.

[r6_philly]

Yeah, IBR is crazy cheap if you have dependents--I think the first scenario I ran through the calculator a while back, it said I would owe like $17 a month.

But Obama's recent budget proposal targeting federal assistance to grad/professional students--I know, not IBR or PSLF--made me really wary about the reliability of IBR all of a sudden. If in the coming budget negotiations IBR and/or PSLF get thrown overboard, what would the schools that have switched their LRAPs to take advantage of IBR/save tons of money for the law school do, you think?

Anyway I decided my increasing queasiness about relying on Uncle Sam for loan help has made me finally let go of the dream of attending Berkeley.

I was ok with paying the loan back with going to Berkeley when I was accepted, but now with my scholarship $$$ elsewhere, I am just hoping and praying that they would match it. It would be a shame that people ultimately turn away from Boalt for financial reasons!

Actually the extended and/or income sensitive plans are not bad. I think some sort of income-based plan will stay in existence. I will probably have a family of 8 by the time I come out of LS, I don't know if I should feel pressured or relieved with the loan repayments (as long as some sort of income-based plan is offered).

But still not having large clump of debt is a lot better than not having to make huge payments on the clump of debt.

[LLB2JD]

We have a 9 yo and a 10 month old. Hopefully 2 more by the time I am out of LS

I have to say the past 2 years I spent back in UG have been some of the happiest for me. Going to school is enjoyable, and it makes home life enjoyable. I really like the fact my life was moving forward and I got to pursue more, and all the work and effort is all worth it. Work feels different. So I think LS would be great. My wife is in school too so we take turns with the kids, and I work half time and school full time+. It's a lot of work but it is ok. I think I would enjoy LS even more because I will be doing less work than now (:shock: imagine that).

Moving is ok. Anywhere we move to will be better than where we are now, in many aspects, so it will be welcomed. The whole point of going to LS is to get out of the hood so there is nothing negative! Living near a top university is going to be awesome. Schools are going to be 100% better anyway.

Dang r6. That puts a new meaning to "working hard" in law school.

[r6_philly]

Dang r6. That puts a new meaning to "working hard" in law school.

I don't get to set the timeline lol