Top Law Schools

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great question. i dont know. when you get the answer please let me know.

you should provide 6 billion answer choices because "worth it" to completely relative to an individuals situation (financial, value, purpose, etc.)

I would say only top 14, or if your numbers can't get you t1 but you magically get accepted.

I'll tell you in about... 5 years.

Oh my.

IN general Id say T14 is a good start. But in my case, I will be paying sticker (in state at a cheap school in T30) and living at home with parents. And that seems worth it to me, since the debt that I will accrue is the equivalent to a decent sholly at most peer schools, and much less than the private ones.

Oh my.

The truth is, for a majority for those in T1 and T2, paying sticker ends up worth it. You just really don't want to end up being one of those who gets boned paying sticker, and for most here the odds need to be pretty much minuscule.

A lot of people do pay sticker in all tiers, but whether it's worth it anywhere depends on subjective criteria. If you have someone who is, let's say, 3.75+ and 170+ that can get in to most schools in the T14, I'd say it's worth paying sticker to HYS and otherwise, find a school that will give you a scholarship. And then, it depends on which schools those particular people value. Take 3.5-3.75 and 165-170, and then in my book, it's worth paying sticker to the T14 provided you wouldn't rather take a scholarship at a slightly lower ranked school.

For me, at this point, I'd say HYS only, but that's because my cycle has been pretty nice to me and I loathe the idea of taking out 200K+. If you'd asked me before I applied, I would have extended that to cover more schools.

Also, it depends a lot on where you're coming from.

Also, sticker varies a lot. W&M sticker is not much over half of Columbia/NYU sticker.

Hannibal wrote:Also, it depends a lot on where you're coming from.

Also, sticker varies a lot. W&M sticker is not much over half of Columbia/NYU sticker.

Columbia sticker = death

Ok, not really, but have you seen what that would cost??

Hannibal wrote:The truth is, for a majority for those in T1 and T2, paying sticker ends up worth it. You just really don't want to end up being one of those who gets boned paying sticker, and for most here the odds need to be pretty much minuscule.

LOL wut.

I hate to echo an earlier poster's sentiments, but I think there are too many extenuating circumstances to provide a cut-and-dry answer. For instance, if you are a FL resident, and want to stay in the state, UF would be worth paying sticker IMO. At 14,000 in-state, you're getting a pretty good deal, especially when you consider the top private school in the state (Miami) is more than 2.5 times more expensive, absent scholarship.

My personal opinion is any of the top 20 are worth paying sticker b/c the employment prospects will likely justify it. The rest of the top 100 is only worth sticker if you're getting in-state tuition or you have a guaranteed job lined up which will pay enough to service your debt. Anything outside the top 100 better be dirt cheap, unless you're going to a niche state school like Idaho or Montana.

That being said, I may not take my own advice and consider paying out-of-state sticker should I get accepted anywhere this cycle.

I think it's worth paying sticker for HYS if you're not getting a whole lot of other money from other schools. However if money is a big concern, going to a school just below HYS at a great price or free is probably a better option. Then again I'm partial to Chicago for "fit" reasons and if Stanford accepted me and Chicago did also, I would pick Chicago whether or not they gave me money. But that could change after a visit to Stanford.

I guess another factor to consider is fit. It's worth paying sticker to find the right fit. If you hate your law school, but the rankings are good, it's really not going to help your performance. For me, Harvard at sticker is probably what I want most. Chicago is a great fit for me, but I think scholarship offers are a statement of how much they're willing to invest and I look favorably upon schools that like me more. It was kind of the same way for undergrad, except my first choice happened to also give me the most money (so I guess that means the love was mutual).

cmraider wrote:I hate to echo an earlier poster's sentiments, but I think there are too many extenuating circumstances to provide a cut-and-dry answer. For instance, if you are a FL resident, and want to stay in the state, UF would be worth paying sticker IMO. At 14,000 in-state, you're getting a pretty good deal, especially when you consider the top private school in the state (Miami) is more than 2.5 times more expensive, absent scholarship.

My personal opinion is any of the top 20 are worth paying sticker b/c the employment prospects will likely justify it. The rest of the top 100 is only worth sticker if you're getting in-state tuition or you have a guaranteed job lined up which will pay enough to service your debt. Anything outside the top 100 better be dirt cheap, unless you're going to a niche state school like Idaho or Montana.

That being said, I may not take my own advice and consider paying out-of-state sticker should I get accepted anywhere this cycle.

TCR

Only HYSCCN

TyrodTaylor wrote:

cmraider wrote:I hate to echo an earlier poster's sentiments, but I think there are too many extenuating circumstances to provide a cut-and-dry answer. For instance, if you are a FL resident, and want to stay in the state, UF would be worth paying sticker IMO. At 14,000 in-state, you're getting a pretty good deal, especially when you consider the top private school in the state (Miami) is more than 2.5 times more expensive, absent scholarship.

My personal opinion is any of the top 20 are worth paying sticker b/c the employment prospects will likely justify it. The rest of the top 100 is only worth sticker if you're getting in-state tuition or you have a guaranteed job lined up which will pay enough to service your debt. Anything outside the top 100 better be dirt cheap, unless you're going to a niche state school like Idaho or Montana.

That being said, I may not take my own advice and consider paying out-of-state sticker should I get accepted anywhere this cycle.

TCR

Speaking of UF. Their instate tuition will be a little over 18k next year. It will then raise ~15% each year for the rest of your time there. Same for FSU. Total COA is ~100k. This info was from their ASD. Anyways just a though still cheaper then Miami but once your talking about 100k in debt with no LRAP it becomes a more dangerous proposition.

The "correct" answers here are way too nuanced and individualistic to give any sort of meaningful response that covers everyone. For example, a lot of splitters and semi-splitters might be better off paying sticker at a lower-T14 than accepting a scholarship at a lower-ranked school. Sticker also means different things depending on your savings (/pre-existing debt) and the school-specific COA (i.e. in-state vs. OOS, big city COL vs. small town COL).

Work experience/a great resume and existing connections might also mitigate some of the stress that comes with paying sticker.

There's just way, way too much that goes into the equation for us to give these broad, all-inclusive answers.

T14 + tx+ vandy and any Isolated state school like Montana

i agree too many variables to consider. the obvious choice would be yale full ride with stipend.

drummerboy wrote:i agree too many variables to consider. the obvious choice would be yale full ride with stipend.

Agreed. Yale at no cost is always a good call. Barry at full cost is always a bad call. Nova can go either way.

barry wrote:T14 + tx+ vandy and any Isolated state school like Montana

wait...people live in Montana?

When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies.

Fred_McGriff wrote:When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies.

Great response

I am wondering this about CLS/NYU (though not sure I'd be paying 100% sticker at either)...and not sure what my other options are re: $ at lower T14 yet...

I'd say depends on what you want to do and what your non-sticker options are...at least for me but from the beginning the research I've done would have really scared me out of paying sticker outside T14 and definitely below SC...