Michigan v. Wait for Columbia v. Stay Put
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:13 pm
Thought I'd post this here to see what other people might do in my situation. I'm not going to name my current school, but it probably won't be that hard to figure out.
Just finished my 2d year as a part-time student at a tier 1 school in a large city. I have no financial aid, because I was initially a wait listed candidate. I am now within the top 10% (while working full time) and a member of our Law Review. Love the school, the city, the faculty, my friends, etc... I had hoped my school would cough up some cash after I was admitted somewhere, but that has been futile.
I have been accepted to Michigan and am still waiting to hear on Columbia. Their merits are self-evident.
My concerns are (1) starting in Big Law but being able to lateral into Big Fed and (2) keeping my debt load manageable. I tend to flip every 5 minutes on which is more important, hence my current dilemma.
My biggest sticking point is finances. I've done 2 years of PT tuition + 2 years working full time to have a salary for my living expenses. If I go to Mich., I have 2 full years of tuition plus taking out some loans for COL (I'll cover the rest through savings and other means of income). My best estimates are that I'll have to take out ~$75k more for current school, but closer to $120k (at least?) for Michigan (even more from Columbia). This is, of course, less any of next summer's SA salary I put toward tuition.
Big Law is a reasonable target from my current school with my grades + law review. I assume Big Law would also be a lock from Michigan or Columbia. Thus, to me, the immediate exit from law school is a wash. Assuming I don't screw up my interviews, I'll likely have something.
Fed work is going to be harder from my current school, though not impossible (or so some Google and LinkedIn searching shows me). From Michigan, I assume it's much easier. Michigan also has an LRAP that covers government work, so even if I don't pay off all my loans in big law, that would help.
How would you decide? [Waiting out for Columbia is an alternative in my mind. Current school might play ball then.]
Just finished my 2d year as a part-time student at a tier 1 school in a large city. I have no financial aid, because I was initially a wait listed candidate. I am now within the top 10% (while working full time) and a member of our Law Review. Love the school, the city, the faculty, my friends, etc... I had hoped my school would cough up some cash after I was admitted somewhere, but that has been futile.
I have been accepted to Michigan and am still waiting to hear on Columbia. Their merits are self-evident.
My concerns are (1) starting in Big Law but being able to lateral into Big Fed and (2) keeping my debt load manageable. I tend to flip every 5 minutes on which is more important, hence my current dilemma.
My biggest sticking point is finances. I've done 2 years of PT tuition + 2 years working full time to have a salary for my living expenses. If I go to Mich., I have 2 full years of tuition plus taking out some loans for COL (I'll cover the rest through savings and other means of income). My best estimates are that I'll have to take out ~$75k more for current school, but closer to $120k (at least?) for Michigan (even more from Columbia). This is, of course, less any of next summer's SA salary I put toward tuition.
Big Law is a reasonable target from my current school with my grades + law review. I assume Big Law would also be a lock from Michigan or Columbia. Thus, to me, the immediate exit from law school is a wash. Assuming I don't screw up my interviews, I'll likely have something.
Fed work is going to be harder from my current school, though not impossible (or so some Google and LinkedIn searching shows me). From Michigan, I assume it's much easier. Michigan also has an LRAP that covers government work, so even if I don't pay off all my loans in big law, that would help.
How would you decide? [Waiting out for Columbia is an alternative in my mind. Current school might play ball then.]