Fordham Part-time?! Forum

[Ms4life]

Currently working at an ~50k job, got into Fordham PT, don't need to pay COL (I can live with my parents). My job prospects look grim (humanities degree), and I took a year off and decided if I wanted to practice law, which obviously is a yes because I took the LSAT and really thought about it. I really want to stay at work in order to keep my loan to a MINIMUM. My question is, has anyone that's taken this route (Fordham PT) faired well at OCI? Anyone get a BigLaw job out after 4 years? I know the percentage of that is grim, and even moreso for federal clerkships (which I'd also like to attempt), but can it be done if I somehow manage to get on LR?

Thanks in advance.

[Johann]

How many hours per week do you work and what is your upward mobility? Part time prolly wouldn't be the worst thing because worst case scenario you're back at square one but The outcomes you want are limited. Does your job suck? If it doesn't suck I'd stay one more year before deciding.

[Ms4life]

How many hours per week do you work and what is your upward mobility? Part time prolly wouldn't be the worst thing because worst case scenario you're back at square one but The outcomes you want are limited. Does your job suck? If it doesn't suck I'd stay one more year before deciding.

It doesn't completely suck. At times, I actually kind of enjoy it. I'd say my upward mobility, would be capped at 70k, which any person in NYC knows is not enough, because the living index here just seems to keep going up. I feel like if I'd stay another year, I'd come back to the same decision, as I've already thought about it for two years now.

[twenty]

A PT program mixed with a full time job can be a solid way to go. The problem here, unfortunately, is your expectations are a bit off.

You probably realize this already, but Fordham is not (and will probably never) get you into biglaw or a federal clerkship. At the end of four years of a part time program, you'll probably only make marginally more in law than you make right now, and certainly less than the 70k upward mobility you have in your current job.

If you must have biglaw/A3, and it sounds like it, you probably need to quit your job and go to school full time. Living at home and commuting to NYU or Columbia will drastically lower your cost of attendance. What are your numbers?

[03152016]

depends on what you mean by "fairing well at OCI". only 127 out of 481 fordham c/o 2013 students obtained a job through oci
fordham has only 36.6% bl+fc and isn't known for pi self-selection, so it's not a good choice for anyone who's biglaw or bust
it's hard to get biglaw from shitlaw/midlaw if you don't get it straight out of law school and don't have a portable book of business
everyone thinks they'll be at the top of their class and make law review. literally every single person thinks this.
1 out of 7 fordham c/o 2013 employed grads worked for the school because they could not obtain other employment
a shocking 26.6% of the class is underemployed, meaning they are working in part-time, short-term, or non-professional jobs, or are completely unemployed
fordham has fallen in every single measure of student selectivity for the last three years
only two out of three c/o 2013 grads obtained a long-term, full-time position as an attorney a full nine months after graduation
fordham's cost is shocking. just PT tuition and books, you're looking at 40k for four years ($160k), BEFORE cost inflation, BEFORE loan fees, BEFORE interest, BEFORE bar fees
that includes NO living expenses, NO room, NO board, NO transportation, NO wardrobe budget, NO computer, NO entertainment/going out