When is Attending a "Bad" Law School Justified? Forum

[spleenworship]

I was concerned about renting to someone while living hundreds of miles away.

This is dumb bro, youre giving up tens of thousands of dollars. What do you think people that own multiple properties do?

They either live in the same city so they can monitor their property, find tenants, and easily fix their properties themselves, or (and this is more common) they hire a management company. Since my ass couldn't afford a management company unless I chose to break even by having them keep what they charge above my mortgage, I would make zero money and could potentially have a liability if the management company couldn't find renters. I would hate to wake up in December when all my loan money is tapped to find that my renters absconded leaving me in the hole for a grand... or two, or three, or more until it got rented again.


ETA: a guy at my law school owns his duplex, rents out half. I would say that about a third of the time he has been without renters, and he has had to go fix their plumbing/turn on their heater/etc. instead of studying on multiple occasions. After watching him, I'm so glad I stayed here and just paid my mortgage.

[Ruxin1]

I was concerned about renting to someone while living hundreds of miles away.

This is dumb bro, youre giving up tens of thousands of dollars. What do you think people that own multiple properties do?

They either live in the same city so they can monitor their property, find tenants, and easily fix their properties themselves, or (and this is more common) they hire a management company. Since my ass couldn't afford a management company unless I chose to break even by having them keep what they charge above my mortgage, I would make zero money and could potentially have a liability if the management company couldn't find renters. I would hate to wake up in December when all my loan money is tapped to find that my renters absconded leaving me in the hole for a grand... or two, or three, or more until it got rented again.

I'm confused, aren't you paying for this place currently anyway?

[spleenworship]

I was concerned about renting to someone while living hundreds of miles away.

This is dumb bro, youre giving up tens of thousands of dollars. What do you think people that own multiple properties do?

They either live in the same city so they can monitor their property, find tenants, and easily fix their properties themselves, or (and this is more common) they hire a management company. Since my ass couldn't afford a management company unless I chose to break even by having them keep what they charge above my mortgage, I would make zero money and could potentially have a liability if the management company couldn't find renters. I would hate to wake up in December when all my loan money is tapped to find that my renters absconded leaving me in the hole for a grand... or two, or three, or more until it got rented again.

I'm confused, aren't you paying for this place currently anyway?

Yes. But if I was living in another city, then I would be responsible for the mortgage anytime it wasn't rented, PLUS the rent wherever I was living.


ETA: I might have been unclear. I still live in my house in my city with my law school. If I had left for a T1 instead, however, I would've had to rent.... or sell and lose equity.

[manofjustice]

Hello. The Pollfessor has waded into the on topics...

The bottom line is that there is never a good reason to attend a "bad" law school. There was never a good reason to buy a "bad" sub-prime mortgage bond...well, okay, if you bough a super-senior tranche...but bad law schools are sinking ships. They are firing faculty. Observers wonder how they'll be able to maintain accreditation and fill their classrooms, as applicants crash to likely their lowest levels ever since law school existed--at least the lowest on record, since we started keeping records in 1983: and then, we had fewer law schools with smaller class sizes. So who buys the "super-senior" tranche at a "bad" law school? Law professors and faculty, probably. But even if you were given a full scholarship to a "bad" law school, got bad news for ya--time to grow up and get a job. You'll have to earn money doing something in this world if you want to progress to the next stage in life, and the general unemployment rate in this economy is about 10%. For graduates from a "bad" law school, it's about 50%. So you tell me, dear OP of his early 20s, why would you ever go to a "bad" law school?

Just grow up and find a way to hack it in this awful world. And vote for people who will improve the economy.

-The Pollfessor

Ah.... generalizations. How could they be wrong?

Oh, wait, here is one of three T2s or T3s I could think of offhand where it would totally be worth going, if you wanted to be a lawyer: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=lsu

I'm not saying a T2/3/4 isn't a risk, but you can't say that every one of them is a bad idea for every 0L. If you lived in Louisiana and wanted to practice in Louisiana, well, then LSU isn't a bad choice with a nearly 80% full time legal employment rate. The key here is someone who wants to be a lawyer. If you don't, any law school outside of the T14 is probably not a good idea. If you do, a T2/3/4 can be a good choice if you research well.

Ya got me. LST reports are the end of the question, and you're right. But I made the generalization for the greater good, because we know the hoards of students pounding down the doors of TLS to discover whether they should go to the shitty T2/3/4 they just got accepted into probably are not as clear-headed as a Louisiana resident who wants to practice law in Louisiana and has scholarship to LSU.

Just looking at the big picture.

[spleenworship]

Ah.... generalizations. How could they be wrong?

Oh, wait, here is one of three T2s or T3s I could think of offhand where it would totally be worth going, if you wanted to be a lawyer: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=lsu

I'm not saying a T2/3/4 isn't a risk, but you can't say that every one of them is a bad idea for every 0L. If you lived in Louisiana and wanted to practice in Louisiana, well, then LSU isn't a bad choice with a nearly 80% full time legal employment rate. The key here is someone who wants to be a lawyer. If you don't, any law school outside of the T14 is probably not a good idea. If you do, a T2/3/4 can be a good choice if you research well.

Ya got me. LST reports are the end of the question, and you're right. But I made the generalization for the greater good, because we know the hoards of students pounding down the doors of TLS to discover whether they should go to the shitty T2/3/4 they just got accepted into probably are not as clear-headed as a Louisiana resident who wants to practice law in Louisiana and has scholarship to LSU.

Just looking at the big picture.

Fair enough dude. But your hyperbole sometimes kills me.

Just say "Unless you have done your research, and unless you want to live in that market, and unless you get wicked good in-state or a big scholly, plus you have some personal factors that make it hard to move, these are not worth it. Since that doesn't describe 90% of the people lurking here, if you are reading this and the above doesn't describe you, please, for the love of all that is good... don't go to a T2/3/4."

It takes just as much effort bro.

[manofjustice]

I would limit my exception to the above parameters and to only a school that has numbers as good as LSU, which would include LSU-type schools that are the major players in their regional homegrown markets.

I'd imagine there are maybe three such schools among the 230 T2/3/4.