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I am at a TTT school and despite being in the top 10% of my class, the career center told me that only about 10 or so kids will get biglaw SA positions and without the SA, there is pretty much no other way to get into big law unless I do a federal job for 7 to 10 years first... which I really can't afford to do with my loans.

So I wanted to ask people for advice. I know I'll apply to georgetown but that is a longshot, and I would guess Maryland's and GW's job prospects are looking much better than the situation I am at right now. Any advice (other than telling me to drop out) would be nice.

Which Ttt are you attending and how much debt are your looking at now? Also, assuming you get into Maryland and GW, how much would your total debt be at the end of the next two years for each of them?

I ask because you may be better off staying where you are.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:Which Ttt are you attending and how much debt are your looking at now? Also, assuming you get into Maryland and GW, how much would your total debt be at the end of the next two years for each of them?

I ask because you may be better off staying where you are.

If i go to maryland, I'd be paying in-state tuition and GW is obviously a huge amount of loans. So far, I am looking at 140 k in loans. So i would rather not go to a school which can't offer me good job prospects despite being top 10% so far. And I don't want to mention the current school just to keep the privacy, in case any school admin people are lurking.

Well, federal jobs are hard to get too. But if you did get one, you absolutely could with your loans by doing IBR and PSLF.

Also, I know nothing about Maryland, but have only heard bad things about GW.

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Jessuf wrote:GWU has 100% preselect OCI. Top 10% TTT resume is unlikely to really get any preselects unless you have some amazing work experience or are patent bar eligible.

Thanks, I guess that leaves university of maryland. unless I look for other options as well.

Anonymous User wrote:

Jessuf wrote:GWU has 100% preselect OCI. Top 10% TTT resume is unlikely to really get any preselects unless you have some amazing work experience or are patent bar eligible.

Thanks, I guess that leaves university of maryland. unless I look for other options as well.

In state tuition is also a very good reason for umd. This coming from a gw 2l with biglaw sa lined up.

There are pros and cons for both options:

I'm a recent GW grad who is lucky to have a job-I'm clerking at the state level for now, and working hard to find something for next year. Many people in my class were not so lucky and continue to look for jobs.

I transferred to GW, so some of my opinions may be somewhat skewed-but I hardly know anyone who got a job through OCI. In fact, that is true of my friends from other law school as well. The majority of people got jobs on their own, outside the school process. It is going to take lots of hard work, networking, hustling, etc. to get a job regardless of where you go to school.

What I will tell you is that I have found having the GW name means something to people who are hiring. It has certainly given me a boost.

On the other hand, it costs a lot. Your loans are going to increase dramatically, and you may not be able to pay them off as quickly as you might like. Do not underestimate the pressure and stress having such high loans is going to cause you in the future. I know I did. And I am now facing the harsh reality that despite having some great things going on, I am not going to be able to make much of a dent in these loans at all for a few years.

Unfortunately, your current numbers and school are going to make it difficult to land BigLaw anywhere. Hopefully it goes without saying but the best thing you can do right now is bust your ass and try and get closer to the top of your class.

As far as the schools you mentioned, GW's preselect system makes it very dichotomous. It seemed like the best 20-30 end up dominating OCI and then the next 50-80 get to fight over their scraps, and everyone else is frozen out entirely. OCI is only one avenue towards BigLaw though, and the GW name will help with the pavement pounding job search compared with a TTT. The huge alumni network is an underrated aspect of GW to keep in mind too, especially in DC where prestige whoring has been elevated to a fine art.

Maryland doesn't place BigLaw very well either. Baltimore isn't a big legal market and Maryland is pretty low down on the food chain in the over saturated DC.

Also, FWIW, you sound like you're local to the DMV area, but I hope you'd better be prepared to target NYC for work. Being D.C. BigLaw or bust is a terrible, terrible mistake.