Top Law Schools

so im sitting bored at work, and this question popped up in my mind...Pretend you have acceptances from every school from 15 to say 25 (just an arbitrary cut off) and no t14. at what total COA would you be okay with if you had to finance law school exclusively through loans. lets also assume that you'd be perfectly happy working in the regions where these schools feed primarily into.

i know everyone's personal level of debt aversion is different and but i wanted to see if there was a TLS consensus around a certain number. less than 150k? less than 100k? would you need a full ride from one of these schools? would you be more comfortable taking on more debt from say UT as opposed to ASU because of their superior job placement? I just thought this was an interesting question.

0. Serious answer.

Would not attend law school if that was the case.

kingpin101 wrote:Would not attend law school if that was the case.

so if you guys got a full ride from Vandy (and knew you wanted to practice in nashville) you still wouldnt go to law school?

i know the question is kinda weird because, who would get a full ride to Vandy but not get into a t14? but for the sake of the argument lets just pretend that is the scenario.

I'd take 30k at a T20. That seems reasonable.

.

sjs12 wrote:

grades?? wrote:0. Serious answer.

I think that's a little extreme. I'd take out probably 50k for Vandy. I'd be willing to incur a small amount of COL debt for the other T20 schools (BU, Wash U, UCLA, USC) assuming I wanted to practice in those areas.

No, at least to me. The way the legal market has been and how likely at least another recession is on the horizon, I would not attend a non-t14 for anything more than a single cent.

sjs12 wrote:

grades?? wrote:0. Serious answer.

I think that's a little extreme. I'd take out probably 50k for Vandy. I'd be willing to incur a small amount of COL debt for the other T20 schools (BU, Wash U, UCLA, USC) assuming I wanted to practice in those areas.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't BU give you a decent shot at NY and even maybe DC?

.

.

grades?? wrote:

sjs12 wrote:

grades?? wrote:0. Serious answer.

I think that's a little extreme. I'd take out probably 50k for Vandy. I'd be willing to incur a small amount of COL debt for the other T20 schools (BU, Wash U, UCLA, USC) assuming I wanted to practice in those areas.

No, at least to me. The way the legal market has been and how likely at least another recession is on the horizon, I would not attend a non-t14 for anything more than a single cent.

Lol what? So you would go to GULC at sticker over Vanderbilt at half scholarship? Or just not pursue law school at all?

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:

grades?? wrote:

sjs12 wrote:

grades?? wrote:0. Serious answer.

I think that's a little extreme. I'd take out probably 50k for Vandy. I'd be willing to incur a small amount of COL debt for the other T20 schools (BU, Wash U, UCLA, USC) assuming I wanted to practice in those areas.

No, at least to me. The way the legal market has been and how likely at least another recession is on the horizon, I would not attend a non-t14 for anything more than a single cent.

Lol what? So you would go to GULC at sticker over Vanderbilt at half scholarship? Or just not pursue law school at all?

I wouldn't chose either of those options. Either a significant scholarship at a t14 (the closer you get to georgetttttown, the more $$$$ needed) and after GT, I wouldn't attend unless it was free. So if Vandy was completely free, then that would of course be better than no scholarship at GT. But if I had to pay 100k in loans at Vandy, I wouldn't go in any universe.

Anything less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k for any of the schools I'm applying to. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k,even 150k though, that's a great deal. That's because I love Nashville though and would prefer to attend that school than almost all of the T14's( if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school ) so I understand if people with a different outlook disagree on that one! I'm applying to W+M and W+L and T1 and the TCOA I'm looking for to be able to attend would be somewhere around 120k.

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

I'm not sure how that parenthetical made you sound any less insane.

I mean this in the least snarky way possible: What's the point of this thread? It gets made a lot and I'm not sure I've ever understood why. Is something of substance/something helpful to someone supposed to come from it? Or is it just a time killing hypo?

.

.

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

You're just shockingly comfortable with life crippling levels of debt and mediocre employment opportunities, aren't you?

UVA2B wrote:

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

You're just shockingly comfortable with life crippling levels of debt and mediocre employment opportunities, aren't you?

Would Vanderbilt really be considered a school with "mediocre employment opportunities?"

0.
But I'd sit out the cycle and reapply.

(That's not to say debt from a non-t14 is never worth it for anyone. But this questions asks 'you' and it wouldn't make much sense in my situation.)

BigZuck wrote:I mean this in the least snarky way possible: What's the point of this thread? It gets made a lot and I'm not sure I've ever understood why. Is something of substance/something helpful to someone supposed to come from it? Or is it just a time killing hypo?

hahah it came about as more of a time-killing hypothetical and just general curiosity. i just wanted to see if there was (somewhat) of a consensus about the amount of debt you'd be willing to take out for these schools. is 75k of debt for UT too much if you wanted to work in texas? 50k too much for Washington U if you wanted to work in St. Louis? etc.

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:

UVA2B wrote:

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

You're just shockingly comfortable with life crippling levels of debt and mediocre employment opportunities, aren't you?

Would Vanderbilt really be considered a school with "mediocre employment opportunities?"

For a student with six figures of debt, yes. That hypothetical student has less than a coin-flip chance at a job which will allow them to pay that debt off.

Otherwise, no. Vanderbilt gives you great opportunities in the South.

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:

UVA2B wrote:

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

You're just shockingly comfortable with life crippling levels of debt and mediocre employment opportunities, aren't you?

Would Vanderbilt really be considered a school with "mediocre employment opportunities?"

The bolded is what concerned me. Vandy has decent employment opportunities, and taking on some debt is perfectly reasonable for it. Same goes for most schools in that tier. But >150k debt is more than I'd take for anywhere. I probably wouldn't even consider six figs of debt anywhere, but that's me personally.

Also, anecdotes of people's comfort with debt for prestige is a pretty useless exercise.

.

cavalier1138 wrote:

Ferrisjso wrote:Less than 100k for TT, 100-150k at non T20 T1, not willing to go north of 150k. I don't have the numbers for T14 so I don't really know how far I'd be willing to go for that, maybe a little higher. I would be thrilled to have Vandy at 100k even 150k though that's a great deal(I like Nashville and would pick Vandy over every non T6 T14 if I had the sort of crazy numbers necessary to get into that sort of law school, just want to make that clear if people think I'm nuts for that )!

I'm not sure how that parenthetical made you sound any less insane.

I don't know what makes me insane about answering the question and saying what levels of debt I would be willing to take to go to different types of schools. I'm trying to keep my debt as close to the 100k mark as possible and far away from 150k as possible, seeing the crazy prices of law school today I feel that is a realistic goal. I know the prices are crazy but I'm not going to let a little bit of debt be a career roadblock because I'd rather pay an extra 50-75k for the school with the better employment prospects.