Top Law Schools

For those of you who took the full scholarship route, what is life like after graduation?

Do you mean full scholarship in the T14, e.g. the Darrow at Michigan, or do you mean full tuition at one's regional school? Clearing up some ambiguity about what you mean may generate some responses.

I'd imagine it's like not having a full scholarship, but with less debt?

mtn663 wrote:I'd imagine it's like not having a full scholarship, but with less debt?

+1!

Good question. I'd imagine that Yale doesn't really give full scholarships. How about from CCN down to GW, USC, Minnesota.

To be more specific, I'm just wondering is it more likely for y'all to get the best case scenario, and what the worst case scenario might look like.

shtickel wrote:

mtn663 wrote:I'd imagine it's like not having a full scholarship, but with less debt?

+1!

This applies to me so I will bite....the above is accurate. I am, certainly, glad that I went this route. I went to a T25 for free. Currently work at a NLJ 350. Took out a little bit in loans to cover living expenses which I paid back, in full, within about nine months of graduating. Absence of debt obviously allows for a decent portion of my take home to go toward savings/retirement. I also would not describe my lifestyle as frugal.

Doesn't change the fact that my job my job is sometimes stressful. Thanks to my relative "freedom" from debt I am going to clerk in 2015. When discussing that plan with a friend of mine who has a lot of debt, she said she would be terrified to leave full time employment for a temporary thing -- so I suppose that kind of provides some illumination as to our respective situations.

Going this route is in some ways safer, and in some ways involves more risk. When I was deciding on a school, I asked this site if I should take the full ride that I ultimately took, which had a GPA stipulation or take a somewhat worse scholarship at a better ranked school with no GPA stip. If I remember right, the better ranked school won in the poll I started by almost 2-1. While I really, really respect the opinions on this site, I am very thankful that I went against the conventional TLS wisdom.

melmoththewanderer wrote:Good question. I'd imagine that Yale doesn't really give full scholarships. How about from CCN down to GW, USC, Minnesota.

To be more specific, I'm just wondering is it more likely for y'all to get the best case scenario, and what the worst case scenario might look like.

What kind of job do you consider to be a best case scenerio for people with full scholarships?

WheatThins wrote:

melmoththewanderer wrote:Good question. I'd imagine that Yale doesn't really give full scholarships. How about from CCN down to GW, USC, Minnesota.

To be more specific, I'm just wondering is it more likely for y'all to get the best case scenario, and what the worst case scenario might look like.

What kind of job do you consider to be a best case scenerio for people with full scholarships?

Good question. I'd say if you're making $85K and up a year, you'd be doing pretty good.

But also, if you have no loans, would a small law firm job or clerkship that pays 50K be terrible? Or worse comes to worse, being a waiter/waitress on minimum wage.