Top Law Schools

albpert wrote:At what CoA should I consider going back to school a viable option?

Context: Deposited at HYS. I have around $75k saved up that won't count against my financial aid calculation and don't have rich parents so I should get some need based aid based on the financial aid handbook's formula. Longterm goals are academia and/or mediation/arbitration. Short term goals, other than avoiding debt, are anything that gets me closer my longterm ones (litigation, VAPs, etc). BigLaw scares the shit out of me based on what people post here, but a couple year stint seems doable.

I currently have a pretty low stress job that pays ~$75k/yr. Back when I applied I thought for sure law school was the right move. Now after working a few years I have no clue given that law school performance is impossible to predict, I don't need dat $160k to be happy, and I already make more than most PI jobs pay.

albpert wrote:At what CoA should I consider going back to school a viable option?

Context: Deposited at HYS. I have around $75k saved up that won't count against my financial aid calculation and don't have rich parents so I should get some need based aid based on the financial aid handbook's formula. Longterm goals are academia and/or mediation/arbitration. Short term goals, other than avoiding debt, are anything that gets me closer my longterm ones (litigation, VAPs, etc). BigLaw scares the shit out of me based on what people post here, but a couple year stint seems doable.

I currently have a pretty low stress job that pays ~$75k/yr. Back when I applied I thought for sure law school was the right move. Now after working a few years I have no clue given that law school performance is impossible to predict, I don't need dat $160k to be happy, and I already make more than most PI jobs pay.

mpc347 wrote:Why don't you just defer for two years, maximize your savings, and then go so the debt doesn't hurt quite so much? Theoretically you will also be older, so the deemed parental contribution might drop off as well.

albpert wrote:

mpc347 wrote:Why don't you just defer for two years, maximize your savings, and then go so the debt doesn't hurt quite so much? Theoretically you will also be older, so the deemed parental contribution might drop off as well.

Already deferred for a couple years, have considered requesting an extended deferral though.

albpert wrote:so I should get some need based aid based on the financial aid handbook's formula.

JohannDeMann wrote:You have a chance at academia so if this something you have to do with your life and that will define your life go for it.
If this was me and it was an means to end, I'd stay with what you have right now. If your job feels empty right now, academia won't make you feel any better as it's likely you'll be at a law school where kids go hundreds of thousands into debt and turn from naive 1ls hopeful about effecting significant change on the world into jaded third year law students without legal jobs or selling themself out into a personal injury ambulance chasing firm.
So unless law is something you have to do for self worth and life achievement purposes, I'd stick with what you have. Enjoy a less stressful life and appreciate the finer things in life.

mono172000 wrote:I don't actually have any valuable advice for the OP (in the exact same position: 0L, HYS, leaving a 75k job). I'm just curious how you expect the 75k you have saved up not to count against your financial aid. Sorry for the slight tangent.

pylon wrote:

albpert wrote:so I should get some need based aid based on the financial aid handbook's formula.

I didn't know this was a thing - mind sharing a link or something?

gamerish wrote:Do you actually like your job? If so I don't see a reason for you to go to law school at all.

jingosaur wrote:I made more money in a low-stress job and went to H and so far I don't regret it one bit. But I didn't feel like I would have been happy doing the job that I was doing forever. It's really a matter of personal choice. If I were you, I would attend the school's ASW and then make a decision from there.

ETA: Have not graduated.

jingosaur wrote:I made more money in a low-stress job and went to H and so far I don't regret it one bit. But I didn't feel like I would have been happy doing the job that I was doing forever. It's really a matter of personal choice. If I were you, I would attend the school's ASW and then make a decision from there.

ETA: Have not graduated.

jingosaur wrote:I worked in software testing. At the end of my run, I was working with a bank account platform and opened about 100 fake accounts per day to ensure that the system worked. Every 1000 accounts or so, I'd find something wrong and it would get fixed by an offshore development team withing a couple of weeks. So I'd find about 36 mistakes per year and worked on a base salary with no bonus so I ended up making around $2500 per mistake identified. There was zero upward mobility and the only way up was to supervise what I was doing and there was about 6 people on line in front of me to supervise. If you just want to make $90k per year forever and don't care about what you have to do to get there, get into software testing.

PeanutsNJam wrote:

jingosaur wrote:I worked in software testing. At the end of my run, I was working with a bank account platform and opened about 100 fake accounts per day to ensure that the system worked. Every 1000 accounts or so, I'd find something wrong and it would get fixed by an offshore development team withing a couple of weeks. So I'd find about 36 mistakes per year and worked on a base salary with no bonus so I ended up making around $2500 per mistake identified. There was zero upward mobility and the only way up was to supervise what I was doing and there was about 6 people on line in front of me to supervise. If you just want to make $90k per year forever and don't care about what you have to do to get there, get into software testing.

Go to HYS. Seriously people ITT are acting like it's not a phenomenal opportunity/privilege. It is. When life hands you a high GPA and an LSAT you ride life's silver platter to the top. Maybe you won't be SCOTUS, but it beats making test accounts all day.

Instinctive wrote: HYS has already opened doors for me that never would have opened before. I've emailed people in the NBA, NFL, and MLB on my job search and got immediate responses and interviews. I had previously emailed the same people from my state UG and never got responses. That @HYS.edu email is incredibly underrated.