Spritzpiggy wrote:Anonymous User wrote:I had a Darrow offer at UMich and turned it down for HLS.
The single biggest regret of my life.
Curious about this. What are your goals and why do you regret the decision now? I'm facing a similar choice and wonder which path is right. How much debt will you have?
If it's the same decision (t14 with a full ride vs HYS), take.the.money. It will free you up so much. If you want big law, you can get it from UMich the same as you can from HLS. If you want PI, having no debt will make that search far less stressful. In fact, if you want anything but big law, low debt gives you so many more options to actually start doing something you
enjoy (novel concept) right away.
My goal is to work plaintiffs-side for awhile. If I have a shot at equity partner at a p-side shop, I'll stick it out. If not, I'll go solo on the p-side. But these jobs pay a lot less initially, so when you're staring at a $200k loan debt, it's tough to say no to big law, and I'm not a huge fan of wasting away in big law for 4-5 years before I get to start doing what I actually want to do.
To more specifically answer your question, I regret it because 1) the opportunities coming out of UMich with a Darrow and HLS, assuming that you performed a bit better at UMich than you did at HLS (because of class strength) are not that different, 2) the debt from HLS basically forced me into a soul-sucking big law job, that I wouldn't have had to take if I didn't have the debt from HLS (aka the Darrow), 3) I didn't realize how bad big law truly was (and how much easier said than done it is to stick in big law for four years to pay off loans then peace out) 4) My professional goals have grown and I'm now a firm believer that if you find a job that's an intersection of what you're good at and what you enjoy, the money will eventually come. I didn't think that way when I was a 0L, and I saw the $$ of big law and assumed that HLS would make that easier/guarantee it, particularly in the rough economy 5) At the same time, I didn't fully understand just how much money that was and I didn't think as much about taking on the debt, which meant I downplayed the value of the Darrow a little bit.
I've come to "accept" my student loan debt, and I've decided not to let it rule my life. Sallie Mae gets what they get. I'm on IBR. I'll pay what I can pay, and if it takes 25 years to pay off but I love my jobs while doing it, so what? If I take a risk and screw up and have no income for awhile, too bad for Sallie Mae.
But it would be much preferable not to have the debt to accept in the first place.