NYU Class of 2014 Forum

[mcweanis]

i already sent in a request for extension, but i only got a one week extension even though i asked for two, which is not long enough. so i sent in my finalist paperwork telling them if they give me a good enough offer ill withdraw before i find out about the toll.

[law_monkey]

i already sent in a request for extension, but i only got a one week extension even though i asked for two, which is not long enough. so i sent in my finalist paperwork telling them if they give me a good enough offer ill withdraw before i find out about the toll.

Oooo that's very brave. I like it!

[Ratchet Jackson]

Just got an email asking me to acept my Dean's Scholarship from NYU but I cannot open the PDF at work...the computer gets all spazzy. No idea what the total is. The wait is going to be excrutiating.

[pixytree]

Just got an email asking me to acept my Dean's Scholarship from NYU but I cannot open the PDF at work...the computer gets all spazzy. No idea what the total is. The wait is going to be excrutiating.

if you have a smart phone, there are apps you can download to view pdfs

[Ratchet Jackson]

Just got an email asking me to acept my Dean's Scholarship from NYU but I cannot open the PDF at work...the computer gets all spazzy. No idea what the total is. The wait is going to be excrutiating.

if you have a smart phone, there are apps you can download to view pdfs

The PDF is like, embedded on the FAAPS site and I can't even access that site on my phone because it's flash. Lame, but thanks for the tip though.

[Non-Chalant1]

Just got an email asking me to acept my Dean's Scholarship from NYU but I cannot open the PDF at work...the computer gets all spazzy. No idea what the total is. The wait is going to be excrutiating.

if you have a smart phone, there are apps you can download to view pdfs

The PDF is like, embedded on the FAAPS site and I can't even access that site on my phone because it's flash. Lame, but thanks for the tip though.

This is why you need an Android phone. I had to retire the blackberry.

[Ratchet Jackson]

My iPhone is hustling backwards right now.

[Non-Chalant1]

Just email their office and ask them the offer. They respond fairly fast or call them. I did that when I got the notification but then my phone was at like 10% battery life so my gmail shut off.

[plurilingue]

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[law_monkey]

Depending on what Columbia decides to do (and even if I'm admitted), I'm seriously considering matriculating at NYU this autumn. Did anyone else find Columbia slightly depressing and NYU absolutely lovely? My main concern is that I don't have any plans to live in New York over the long term, and I find that NYU has markedly less reach in California, Europe, and Asia than Columbia...

Is this a valid concern or have your experiences been divergent? Does school reach matter after your first few years of legal work (which may very well be in New York in my case)?

This is completely speculation, but it may be a lot of self-selection there. There are a ton of Californians that go to NYU (see above posts for next year's representation ), and I doubt that all of them will choose to stay in the land of cold winters post-graduation. And NYU has a reputation for having the strongest international law programs, so my guess is that their international placement, for the students who want it, would be pretty solid. Once again though, I'm just making dangerous assumptions.

[mcweanis]

Depending on what Columbia decides to do (and even if I'm admitted), I'm seriously considering matriculating at NYU this autumn. Did anyone else find Columbia slightly depressing and NYU absolutely lovely? My main concern is that I don't have any plans to live in New York over the long term, and I find that NYU has markedly less reach in California, Europe, and Asia than Columbia...

Is this a valid concern or have your experiences been divergent? Does school reach matter after your first few years of legal work (which may very well be in New York in my case)?

meeeee! i loved nyu, found columbia bland. i think nyu actually has an excellent international reputation - if you look at the numbers, they have about the same percentage working abroad. that said, i dont think school matters that much once you've had 1-2 good jobs in your field of interest, especially if its PI.

[somewhere]

Depending on what Columbia decides to do (and even if I'm admitted), I'm seriously considering matriculating at NYU this autumn. Did anyone else find Columbia slightly depressing and NYU absolutely lovely? My main concern is that I don't have any plans to live in New York over the long term, and I find that NYU has markedly less reach in California, Europe, and Asia than Columbia...

Is this a valid concern or have your experiences been divergent? Does school reach matter after your first few years of legal work (which may very well be in New York in my case)?

It seemed like quite a few of the current Root scholars I spoke to in the pre/post interview mingling had done summer internships in San Francisco or Berkeley. I definitely got the sense that the Bay Area was a fairly popular destination at least from within the NYU public interest community (this mattered to me because I grew up there / my family's there).

[plurilingue]

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[law_monkey]

Just to clarify, I'm likely not looking at PI or large law firm stuff; I'm more interested in working in international affairs (think UN, WTO, etc) in Paris, Geneva, and/or New York. Though working in a large law firm back home in California is definitely on the table depending on how my interests (and finances, sigh) evolve.

Also: I am not an RTK scholar =] -- congrats to all those who got it (lookin' at you law_monkey) hehe

Aw thanks. Somewhere actually has one too (yay)! But did you go to NYU's international panel at the ASW? They have a reputation for their programs, whether it's firm, PI, international policy.

[mcweanis]

Just to clarify, I'm likely not looking at PI or large law firm stuff; I'm more interested in working in international affairs (think UN, WTO, etc) in Paris, Geneva, and/or New York. Though working in a large law firm back home in California is definitely on the table depending on how my interests (and finances, sigh) evolve.

Also: I am not an RTK scholar =] -- congrats to all those who got it (lookin' at you law_monkey) hehe

i believe UN and WTO technically count as PI since it's public policyish and all :^)

[plurilingue]

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[somewhere]

Just to clarify, I'm likely not looking at PI or large law firm stuff; I'm more interested in working in international affairs (think UN, WTO, etc) in Paris, Geneva, and/or New York. Though working in a large law firm back home in California is definitely on the table depending on how my interests (and finances, sigh) evolve.

Also: I am not an RTK scholar =] -- congrats to all those who got it (lookin' at you law_monkey) hehe

I think a lot of "international affairs" (UN, WTO, etc.) might actually be considered public interest by NYU. They did say that if you work overseas you won't qualify for federal IBR on your loans, so you wouldn't be in their new, super-awesome LRAP, but they would just put you into the equivalent of last year's still-really-good LRAP.

There's some ambiguity to what they consider public interest, so they said to talk to them if you have specific opportunities you're not sure about, but I think they tend to define it pretty broadly. Like, as long as you're not just rearranging/preserving the assets of the upper classes. At the LRAP panel, they mentioned an alum who spent two years writing a legal treatise, and they even counted that as public interest and gave him LRAP benefits.

[lzyovrachievr]

Just to clarify, I'm likely not looking at PI or large law firm stuff; I'm more interested in working in international affairs (think UN, WTO, etc) in Paris, Geneva, and/or New York. Though working in a large law firm back home in California is definitely on the table depending on how my interests (and finances, sigh) evolve.

Also: I am not an RTK scholar =] -- congrats to all those who got it (lookin' at you law_monkey) hehe

I think a lot of "international affairs" (UN, WTO, etc.) might actually be considered public interest by NYU. They did say that if you work overseas you won't qualify for federal IBR on your loans, so you wouldn't be in their new, super-awesome LRAP, but they would just put you into the equivalent of last year's still-really-good LRAP.

There's some ambiguity to what they consider public interest, so they said to talk to them if you have specific opportunities you're not sure about, but I think they tend to define it pretty broadly. Like, as long as you're not just rearranging/preserving the assets of the upper classes. At the LRAP panel, they mentioned an alum who spent two years writing a legal treatise, and they even counted that as public interest and gave him LRAP benefits.

Yea, those int'l organizations technically exist for the public interest, and NYU has a very, very broad definition that seems to include working for places that do anything but make money for money's sake.

Re: International, I thought it was interesting that a woman who was formerly in Human Rights Watch's bureau in Africa was in the LRAP program, which makes me think that some international work will be covered as long as you are in an organization registered in the US, and I'm thinking that the UN might be covered as it's in New York- which would then make me think that their other offices would be too. But this is mostly speculation. As I recall, some other international organizations have their headquarters in the US, so maybe that applies? Again, purely speculation.

[somewhere]

Re: International, I thought it was interesting that a woman who was formerly in Human Rights Watch's bureau in Africa was in the LRAP program, which makes me think that some international work will be covered as long as you are in an organization registered in the US, and I'm thinking that the UN might be covered as it's in New York- which would then make me think that their other offices would be too. But this is mostly speculation. As I recall, some other international organizations have their headquarters in the US, so maybe that applies? Again, purely speculation.

At the LRAP panel that said that being "in the LRAP program" can mean two things now.

A) If you're in federally-qualifying public service, you're enrolled in federal IBR and getting benefits through NYU's brand-new awesome LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $80k per year and then you pay 40% of income above $80k.

B) If you're NOT in federally-qualifying public service, like you're working overseas for an international NGO, but you're still working public service according to NYU, then you're in the equivalent of last year's LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $51,667.

The person in the HRW bureau in Africa might be in (B) rather than (A), but still "in LRAP."

[mcweanis]

At the LRAP panel that said that being "in the LRAP program" can mean two things now.

A) If you're in federally-qualifying public service, you're enrolled in federal IBR and getting benefits through NYU's brand-new awesome LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $80k per year and then you pay 40% of income above $80k.

B) If you're NOT in federally-qualifying public service, like you're working overseas for an international NGO, but you're still working public service according to NYU, then you're in the equivalent of last year's LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $51,667.

The person in the HRW bureau in Africa might be in (B) rather than (A), but still "in LRAP."

can you switch back and forth between the two? ie, if i spend 8 years working in domestic PI and 2 years abroad, am i screwed and have to do the non-IBR plan?

[lzyovrachievr]

Re: International, I thought it was interesting that a woman who was formerly in Human Rights Watch's bureau in Africa was in the LRAP program, which makes me think that some international work will be covered as long as you are in an organization registered in the US, and I'm thinking that the UN might be covered as it's in New York- which would then make me think that their other offices would be too. But this is mostly speculation. As I recall, some other international organizations have their headquarters in the US, so maybe that applies? Again, purely speculation.

At the LRAP panel that said that being "in the LRAP program" can mean two things now.

A) If you're in federally-qualifying public service, you're enrolled in federal IBR and getting benefits through NYU's brand-new awesome LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $80k per year and then you pay 40% of income above $80k.

B) If you're NOT in federally-qualifying public service, like you're working overseas for an international NGO, but you're still working public service according to NYU, then you're in the equivalent of last year's LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $51,667.

The person in the HRW bureau in Africa might be in (B) rather than (A), but still "in LRAP."

Yea, I get that and I'm pretty clear on the details after several panels. I got the impression that she was in the new LRAP, but what you're saying makes more sense. I'm just wondering for the other things- under IBR, what does the government consider to qualify? Do they consider work for an organization that has a 501c3 number, but that is done internationally, to count? (For example)

[mcweanis]

so i sent in an appeal to my financial aid offer, but haven't heard back, and my offer explores on monday.. could they reject my appeal and give me NOTHING because my offer already exploded? scary!

[law_monkey]

Fortunately we'll have the handy dandy LRAP people that we can all go in to see on day 1 freaking out because we don't know if our future job that we don't even have yet/potentially have never heard of qualifies under the new LRAP.

@ mcweanis - no. They've been very good about being flexible with people who have weird things on the offer. If you call on Monday and tell them what happened they'll probably give you another 24 hrs. That's what they've done for others anyway.

[somewhere]

At the LRAP panel that said that being "in the LRAP program" can mean two things now.

A) If you're in federally-qualifying public service, you're enrolled in federal IBR and getting benefits through NYU's brand-new awesome LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $80k per year and then you pay 40% of income above $80k.

B) If you're NOT in federally-qualifying public service, like you're working overseas for an international NGO, but you're still working public service according to NYU, then you're in the equivalent of last year's LRAP, in which you don't pay a dime until you make > $51,667.

The person in the HRW bureau in Africa might be in (B) rather than (A), but still "in LRAP."

can you switch back and forth between the two? ie, if i spend 8 years working in domestic PI and 2 years abroad, am i screwed and have to do the non-IBR plan?

Yes, they seemed very good about switching between the two. They also said that one thing that sets them apart from other top schools w/ LRAPs tied to federal IBR is that they are totally committed to not letting anyone be worse off under the new program than the old one, as you might otherwise be with "negative amortization."

So suppose you're in federal IBR and you're making payments (actually, NYU is making payments for you, or reimbursing you) that are smaller than the interest you are generating, so the loans are actually getting bigger. In federal IBR, you get loans cancelled after 10 years, and it's all or nothing. Say you decide to switch out of federally-qualifying public service (or out of public service altogether) before the 10 years are up: you're now going to be stuck w/ bigger loans than you started with. NYU says they will not let that happen, and if you're in that position, they'll pay the loans down for you to where they would have been if you were on a 10-year repayment schedule under the old plan. And then if you're going into non-federally-qualifying public interest, they'll move you into the old plan from there; if you're leaving public interest work altogether, then you'll be out of LRAP but with only the debt load you'd have at that point after payments on a 10-year repayment schedule.

You should definitely talk to them about this stuff rather than just taking my word for it, but this is what I believe they spent a long time explaining at the LRAP panel. The assertion that they will not let you be worse off for pursuing public interest, or for switching in or out, or for being under the new program, was something they really emphasized.

[somewhere]

I'm just wondering for the other things- under IBR, what does the government consider to qualify? Do they consider work for an organization that has a 501c3 number, but that is done internationally, to count? (For example)

From http://www.ibrinfo.org/what.vp.html#pslf:

What are eligible jobs? In most cases, eligibility is based on whether you work for an eligible employer. Your job is eligible if you:

are employed by any nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization;
are employed by the federal government, a state government, local government, or tribal government (this includes the military and public schools and colleges); or
serve in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position.
If you don't meet these criteria, the Department of Education's regulations create a two-part test of other circumstances under which you may still be eligible:

(1) your employer is not "a business organized for profit, a labor union, a partisan political organization, or an organization engaged in religious activities, unless the qualifying activities are unrelated to religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing;"
and,

(2) your employer provides any of the following public services: emergency management; military service; public safety; law enforcement; public interest law services; early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly; public health; public education; public library services; and school library or other school-based services.

Also keep in mind that getting LRAP assistance from NYU requires a law-related job (ideally one that requires or is helped by a law degree—they specifically excluded paralegals, for instance), so you might qualify under the federal program but NOT NYU's LRAP. The example I remember they used was being a high school teacher: qualifies for federal IBR and 10-year forgiveness, but not for the LRAP, because you didn't need to go to law school for that.