Top Law Schools

Assume the typical 45-50k yearly tuition and ~200k total COA at the T-14/T20. Either by percent of tuition or just the value.

Poor $:
Decent $$:
Good $$$:
Great $$$$:

bump?

Poor $: Everything else
Decent $$: Brings total debt load to less than 6 figures
Good $$$:Brings total debt load to 60k or less
Great $$$$:Full tuition

What difference does it make how you classify it?

Doesn't matter, just inane curiosity like 50% of the pointless stuff on here lol.

You think anything less then 100k scholly is poor? That is what it would take to bring total cost under 6 figures at most places.

dabbadon8 wrote:Doesn't matter, just inane curiosity like 50% of the pointless stuff on here lol.

You think anything less then 100k scholly is poor? That is what it would take to bring total cost under 6 figures at most places.

I do. A 25-30k a year scholarship looks really nice, but what's the point if you're still six figures in debt.

That's just my opinion though...

Aqualibrium wrote:

dabbadon8 wrote:Doesn't matter, just inane curiosity like 50% of the pointless stuff on here lol.

You think anything less then 100k scholly is poor? That is what it would take to bring total cost under 6 figures at most places.

I do. A 25-30k a year scholarship looks really nice, but what's the point if you're still six figures in debt.

That's just my opinion though...

The point is that you nominally saved 75-90k in debt, and over the course of the loans saved much much more.

bdubs wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

dabbadon8 wrote:Doesn't matter, just inane curiosity like 50% of the pointless stuff on here lol.

You think anything less then 100k scholly is poor? That is what it would take to bring total cost under 6 figures at most places.

I do. A 25-30k a year scholarship looks really nice, but what's the point if you're still six figures in debt.

That's just my opinion though...

The point is that you nominally saved 75-90k in debt, and over the course of the loans saved much much more.

Schools raise their prices to astronomical levels then give nominal scholarships (10,15,20k) and make it seem like those scholarships are good deals.

Personally, I think if you're going to reserve $$$$ for the best scholarships, I would take into account living expense stipends. There are schools in certain areas where even if you get a full-tuition ride, you're still going to be looking at ~60k in loans. Not to say it's not a great scholarship, and even though this doesn't necessarily have to do with school costs, it's still something to be taken into consideration.

kk19131 wrote:

bdubs wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

dabbadon8 wrote:Doesn't matter, just inane curiosity like 50% of the pointless stuff on here lol.

You think anything less then 100k scholly is poor? That is what it would take to bring total cost under 6 figures at most places.

I do. A 25-30k a year scholarship looks really nice, but what's the point if you're still six figures in debt.

That's just my opinion though...

The point is that you nominally saved 75-90k in debt, and over the course of the loans saved much much more.

Schools raise their prices to astronomical levels then give nominal scholarships (10,15,20k) and make it seem like those scholarships are good deals.

They are "good" deals when you compare them to paying sticker at a school that has similar tuition. Differences in tuition between schools are relatively small, unless you are talking about certain state schools which tend not to give (generous) scholarships anyway.

They are "good" deals when you compare them to paying sticker at a school that has similar tuition. Differences in tuition between schools are relatively small, unless you are talking about certain state schools which tend not to give (generous) scholarships anyway

Being comparatively less bad than another deal does not make the original deal "good."

Fark-o-vision wrote:

They are "good" deals when you compare them to paying sticker at a school that has similar tuition. Differences in tuition between schools are relatively small, unless you are talking about certain state schools which tend not to give (generous) scholarships anyway

Being comparatively less bad than another deal does not make the original deal "good."

Hence the quotes... everyone has to decide how much LS is worth to them, but generally unless your numbers are great or you want to drop down a tier you have to pay approximately the same price.

Like I said, just my opinion. It's not a "good deal" to pay 120k as opposed to 160k to me. IMO, once you get to six figures, any increase after that is nominal.

I don't think you should ever look at a scholarship that still puts you in 6 figures of debt as a "deal compared to paying sticker." You shouldn't compare it to paying sticker because you shouldn't consider paying sticker. I wouldn't counsel anyone to pay sticker outside the t6 or a state school that puts them in less than six figure debt, and I wouldn't personally pay sticker outside the top 3. Different strokes for different folks though.

FWIW I passed on t25's & a t14 and took a "great" scholarship; full tuition, books, living stipend, no strings attached at a t30.

Aqualibrium wrote:
FWIW I passed on t25's and took a "great" scholarship; full tuition, books, living stipend, no strings attached.

I'll probably end up doing the same thing.

Aqualibrium wrote:Like I said, just my opinion. It's not a "good deal" to pay 120k as opposed to 160k to me. IMO, once you get to six figures, any increase after that is nominal.

That is silly. Going from 160K to 120K is going to lower your payments by more than 25%. That is a real difference.

kk19131 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:
FWIW I passed on t25's and took a "great" scholarship; full tuition, books, living stipend, no strings attached.

I'll probably end up doing the same thing.

It's a really good deal. More people should consider it. I can't say enough how free your mind is with regards to school and career when you don't have to worry about paying a cent in loans when you graduate.

AreJay711 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:Like I said, just my opinion. It's not a "good deal" to pay 120k as opposed to 160k to me. IMO, once you get to six figures, any increase after that is nominal.

That is silly. Going from 160K to 120K is going to lower your payments by more than 25%. That is a real difference.

Silly to you. Not silly to me. Like I said, different strokes for different folks. With regards to law school debt, 120k = 160k in my book. Most of my classmates and law school friends seem to feel the same way as well. I can't tell you how many "well I'm already taking out 100k in loans, might as well drop 20k on this study abroad trip" conversations I've heard.

Aqualibrium wrote:

AreJay711 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:Like I said, just my opinion. It's not a "good deal" to pay 120k as opposed to 160k to me. IMO, once you get to six figures, any increase after that is nominal.

That is silly. Going from 160K to 120K is going to lower your payments by more than 25%. That is a real difference.

Silly to you. Not silly to me. Like I said, different strokes for different folks. 120k = 160k in my book. Most of my classmates and law school friends seem to feel the same way as well. I can't tell you how many "well I'm already taking out 100k in loans, might as well drop 20k on this study abroad trip" conversations I've heard.

You know there is a problem when people start treating student loans like monopoly money....

bdubs wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

AreJay711 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:Like I said, just my opinion. It's not a "good deal" to pay 120k as opposed to 160k to me. IMO, once you get to six figures, any increase after that is nominal.

That is silly. Going from 160K to 120K is going to lower your payments by more than 25%. That is a real difference.

Silly to you. Not silly to me. Like I said, different strokes for different folks. 120k = 160k in my book. Most of my classmates and law school friends seem to feel the same way as well. I can't tell you how many "well I'm already taking out 100k in loans, might as well drop 20k on this study abroad trip" conversations I've heard.

You know there is a problem when people start treating student loans like monopoly money....

I've heard stuff like that so much I have a hard time believing it's rare...It's crazy to me, but not my business I guess.

kk19131 wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:
FWIW I passed on t25's and took a "great" scholarship; full tuition, books, living stipend, no strings attached.

I'll probably end up doing the same thing.

Can I ask which T30?