How to pay for law school? Forum

[Palavra]

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

[mattviphky]

the military worked out very well for me, and many other people on this site, as well.

[dingbat]

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

What you need is a really high GPA and a really high LSAT, so you can get full-tuition + stipend schollys (or just go to Yale, they'll cover your loan if you make below a certain amount no matter what you do)

Seriously, no one is going to reduce your tuition because you commit to working for an NGO. Instead, they might forgive your loan after you've worked for xyz type of organization for a number of years.

[llachans]

1. Kill the LSAT and have a superb gpa.
2. Don't go to law school.
3. Take out loans like everyone else.

[Mike12188]

1. Kill the LSAT and have a superb gpa.
2. Don't go to law school.
3. Take out loans like everyone else.

At first I read these as steps and not different options. Wasn't sure where you were going with it.

[rad lulz]

1. Kill the LSAT and have a superb gpa.
2. Don't go to law school.

Solid plan. Srsly.

[2014]

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

Not how it works. They make you pay full price and then if/when you work for said world saving organization they make your loan payments for you until they are forgiven. Most of the top 30ish schools have some form of this with it progressively getting better as you go up the ranks.

[cinephile]

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

Not how it works. They make you pay full price and then if/when you work for said world saving organization they make your loan payments for you until they are forgiven. Most of the top 30ish schools have some form of this with it progressively getting better as you go up the ranks.

Actually, there are full-ride public interest scholarships, completely different from LRAP. I know BU has a public interest scholars program and I when I was looking at UW, they have a Gates scholarship for public interest. Others probably have them too. But you need to demonstrate substantial prior commitment to public service and be able to articulate what you want to do afterward. These programs exist, but they're quite competitive.

[Palavra]

the military worked out very well for me, and many other people on this site, as well.

This would be great but is probably not an option for me as I am not an American citizen

[dingbat]

you could sell blood, eggs, kidney

[Palavra]

High GPA: Check. High LSAT: I'm working on it...

Is there a rule of thumb regarding financial aid? I mean something like: If you have a GPA and LSAt score above the 75th percentile of admitted students you will likely get 50% tuition covered? I wish the law school predictor had a function that enabled you to estimate the amount of financial aid you would get. I guess financial aid is more dependent on letters of recommendation and personal statement.






What you need is a really high GPA and a really high LSAT, so you can get full-tuition + stipend schollys (or just go to Yale, they'll cover your loan if you make below a certain amount no matter what you do)

Seriously, no one is going to reduce your tuition because you commit to working for an NGO. Instead, they might forgive your loan after you've worked for xyz type of organization for a number of years.[/quote]

[Palavra]

1 and 2 sound contradictory to me lol

1. Kill the LSAT and have a superb gpa.
2. Don't go to law school.
3. Take out loans like everyone else.

At first I read these as steps and not different options. Wasn't sure where you were going with it.

[Palavra]

This sounds risky. Where can I read more about it? I seriously don't care about making tons of money. I just want to be debt free, make a decent living and practice law. Loans scare me and so far I have been lucky enough to have various scholarships cover my studies.

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

Not how it works. They make you pay full price and then if/when you work for said world saving organization they make your loan payments for you until they are forgiven. Most of the top 30ish schools have some form of this with it progressively getting better as you go up the ranks.

[JCFindley]

the military worked out very well for me, and many other people on this site, as well.

+1 Gotta like going to LS for free with a housing allowance to go with it.....

Edit: I saw the not an option thing after I posted.....

[dingbat]

I just want to be debt free, make a decent living and practice law.

go to the school that gives you the fattest scholly
lots of schools give full tuition + stipend to a select few

[2014]

This sounds risky. Where can I read more about it? I seriously don't care about making tons of money. I just want to be debt free, make a decent living and practice law. Loans scare me and so far I have been lucky enough to have various scholarships cover my studies.

What schools offer free (or significantly reduced) tuition for students who commit to working for an NGO after graduation? The only reason I am hesitant to going to law school is that I want to avoid lending to pay for it. What if I don't like it or don't get a job after graduation? In other words, how do I pay for law school if I am not rich and don't want to take out loans?

Not how it works. They make you pay full price and then if/when you work for said world saving organization they make your loan payments for you until they are forgiven. Most of the top 30ish schools have some form of this with it progressively getting better as you go up the ranks.

The person who replied to me above made a good point that some schools do have PI specific scholarships but they tend to be very competitive so keep that in mind.

If you want to look into what I talked about in more detail though the relevant things to search are:
Income Based Repayment (IBR) - Federal program where your loan payment is capped at I believe 15% of your discretionary income.
Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) - This is a school specific program that varies, but for most of the T1 schools it basically means if you take a legal job that pays under 50-60k, you enroll in IBR above and then the school pays your loan payments for 10 years. Some schools have better or worse programs in terms of who is eligible. Like some go up to 80k I believe on a sliding scale and Yale for example lets you take any job not only law jobs. Look into this on a school by school basis.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) - If you take a job with a non-profit or government organization your loans are forgiven after 120 qualifying payments (10 years). Hence the schools paying your debt for 10 years, until it would be forgiven.

Search around for those terms to get yourself started, they are really good programs. The risk to it is that the government flakes out and pulls the plug as it is a federal program, but the consensus here is that they are reliable.

[sunynp]

If you are an international student it might be hard for you to get loans. I dont know how you will pay for law school if you dont get a full scholarship.

[Palavra]

I think that's true but I'm hoping to be able to get a loan from my local bank in my home country. I actually don't think that should be a problem. The biggest problem is going to be deciding whether or not it is worth going to a better school without a scholarship.

If you are an international student it might be hard for you to get loans. I dont know how you will pay for law school if you dont get a full scholarship.

[dingbat]

I think that's true but I'm hoping to be able to get a loan from my local bank in my home country.

Good luck with that

[FlanAl]

I'm pretty sure a couple of schools offer special scholarships for people going into pi.

http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestla ... /index.htm

[2014]

Didn't realize you were international, none of my advice applies. Pray for scholarships and don't go somewhere without them.

[mattviphky]

sooo you're swiss?

[Palavra]

Haha, no. Why? Any other guesses?

sooo you're swiss?