slippin_jimmy wrote:Hildegard15 wrote:Anybody else crunch the numbers for debt going to HLS and get really depressed?
I mean. Who hasn't....
I'm in the same boat, but I also am less debt-adverse than the vast majority of TLS (it seems). A lot of the points I would make in argument of my mindset are largely the same as the ones that I made in the Harvard Waiters thread a few weeks ago, but I think it really boils down to this:
Harvard churns out nearly 600 lawyers a year. All of them are attending with no merit aid, and I would venture that the majority are financing via loans (rather than having parents/trust fund pay). The vast, vast majority of HLS grads go on to be very successful people, and they will manage to pay off their debt and continue living a life that was made better by attending Harvard. Taking out debt is not an objectively bad thing.
Depending on your goals, taking out debt to go to HLS can be a bad move
relative to your other options. If you have a full-ride to t14, or especially t6, and you don't have a good idea on what you want to do with your law degree, you really ought to consider your options very, VERY carefully. You should examine the risk-reward calculus you are using to make your decision and make sure that everything is being given its due value. I personally think that this process should be far more individualized than some of the more vocal debt-adverse TLS population would suggest.
There may well be people who went to Harvard who turned down a Darrow or a Butler who regret their decisions, but I am hard pressed to believe that the vast majority of people who go to HLS are not happy and do not go on to lead successful lives.
ETA: Seriously, I want to stress that everyone should think carefully about whether or not the above advice actually applies to your situation. If you think that you just want to end up in Biglaw and you want to go to HYS to maximize your chance of getting V5 preftige, and you don't care about debt because you'll be making bank so why should you even care, this is the moment to stop reading this thread and get over to the Legal Employment forum and learn about what being in Biglaw, or even transitioning in-house, actually entails. The above advise is predicated on actually understanding what it is that lawyers do, and your still having a desire,
not to make money, not to get a prestigious degree, and certainly not to go into business with your HLS degree, but to actually
practice law. If that doesn't apply to you, then
take the money and run, because you're risking way too much otherwise.
Thanks! 
