paying for law school

[TheBaron]

so due to my extreme lack of forward planning, it has just come to my attention that I will be graduating at the end of this summer. I know where I'm going to apply, and I am (or can be) on the ball for the LSATs, but the real question is money.

If law school costs ~$40k / year, where could this money come from? lets say my parents earn $130k / year, none of which goes to me. The FAFSA will say they can afford to send me to college, so no gov't financial aid. The way I see it, I can make at best $20k / year working part time and I doubt I can get another $20k in loans (you always here about people with college loan debts, but I've yet to hear about a student actually doing it this way. Is it usually like parents taking out a mortgage and having students pay them back?).

so guys, any ideas?

[RADA]

Remove yourself as their dependant, (only on paper, if necessary). This will open you up to a huge amount of govenment grants, scholarships, and low interest loans. If you have a part time/full time job, all the better. Government throws $$ at people trying to better themselves through higher eduation.

PM me if you want some places to look for grants and loans, been through it all.

[TheBaron]

Remove yourself as their dependant, (only on paper, if necessary). This will open you up to a huge amount of govenment grants, scholarships, and low interest loans. If you have a part time/full time job, all the better. Government throws $$ at people trying to better themselves through higher eduation.

PM me if you want some places to look for grants and loans, been through it all.
well I know they throw money at Engineers looking to better themselves (I honestly can't see how I'll end up paying for school if I decided to go EE PHD) but I was unaware the same applied for law. I'll look into it (btw I've already been dropped as a dependent, thanks for that advice)

[Gargoyle]

A friend of mine is going to a very good law school entirely on loans, and I think her family makes roughly the same as yours. Fill out the FAFSA and see what you can get.

Sure, it's a hell of a lot of money in loans, but you'll be able to pay it off if you go to law school.

[profdlp]

My GF went all the way through med school on student loans. She even got a semi-annual stipend for living expenses. The nicest thing is that she doesn't have to start paying it off until her Internship & Fellowship period is over (a few years from now) and she starts raking in the big coin. The only downside is having hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt hanging over your head in the interim.

[CB]

FAFSA doesn't beleive that your tax-based dependancy on your parents has anything to do with it, they have their own rules for what makes you 'independant':

You must be one of these things:
25 yrsold
an orphan
in the military
married


Also, FAFSA rarely gives money to students who have already earned a Bachelor's degree.

Most law student have either rich parents or lots of student loans.

[celcho]

prof, is your gf working on a specialty? some of those can make some serious money. neurosurgeons make 1.5 million a year (salary) even with all the rediculous insurance premiums doctors are paying these days. the president of the hospital in tallahassee told me they need neurosurgeons so badly they will actually just put them on salary for the 1.5M and deal with all their expenses like insurance and office staff through the hospital. of course, uncle sam would take you down to a little under a million, but that wouldn't be that bad.

[profdlp]

prof, is your gf working on a specialty?...
General Surgery.

She has already received a tentative offer from a hospital in Arizona. Starting salary $275,000 with an automatic raise to $375,000 after one year. That's $650,000 over the first 24 months, with the potential for much, much more after that.

She still has a couple years of Internship left (100-Hour workweek; measly pay), plus at least a year in a Fellowship after that. Including med school it means an investment of about ten years of brutally hard work before the big paydays start rolling in. Slice $250,000 in student loans off of that 650K, then divide by twelve years (ten years of training plus the first two years making big money), and you're looking at an average of $33,333 a year (plus the money she's making now as an Intern). It's not bad money once you get there, but you certainly pay your dues along the way.

The process is somewhat similar for lawyers. You'll probably start out as an associate making decent (but not spectacular) money, then cash in when you make partner or form your own firm.

[RADA]

Also, FAFSA rarely gives money to students who have already earned a Bachelor's degree.


????? - FAFSA forked out loan $$$ for my Masters Program!

[RADA]

General Surgery.

She has already received a tentative offer from a hospital in Arizona.

Where Prof? We gonna be neighbors soon? :thumbsup:

[profdlp]

Where Prof? We gonna be neighbors soon? :thumbsup:
I'll have to ask her, I can't remember.

Doctors have been trying to get me to go to Arizona for years (allergies & asthma). Maybe this one will finally get me there. :p

[TheSmJ]

How do you pay for law school?

Sue someone.

[TheBaron]

lol, pwnt. so you guys are saying its easier to get large loans for graduate school than it was for undergrad? I had pretty much zero luck on that front

[profdlp]

lol, pwnt...
Get your JD and you'll be the pwnor. :vimp:


...so you guys are saying its easier to get large loans for graduate school than it was for undergrad? I had pretty much zero luck on that front
I'd say that it probably is. With your Bachelors Degree in hand, you have proven that you are worthy of the investment, not to mention that your earning potential goes way up - meaning you're more likely to be able to pay the loans off. :thumbsup:

[njbmd]

so due to my extreme lack of forward planning, it has just come to my attention that I will be graduating at the end of this summer. I know where I'm going to apply, and I am (or can be) on the ball for the LSATs, but the real question is money.

If law school costs ~$40k / year, where could this money come from? lets say my parents earn $130k / year, none of which goes to me. The FAFSA will say they can afford to send me to college, so no gov't financial aid. The way I see it, I can make at best $20k / year working part time and I doubt I can get another $20k in loans (you always here about people with college loan debts, but I've yet to hear about a student actually doing it this way. Is it usually like parents taking out a mortgage and having students pay them back?).

so guys, any ideas?

Hey there,
If you are over 24, you can apply as an independent student. You will end up with loans sub and unsub but if you get in, you get the bucks. You get the max that your school budgets in loans from the feds.

I took the LSAT and got in but I have to wait until I am done with residency. I don't think I could sit in another classroom (not even William & Mary) at this point.

Good luck
Natalie :)

[GHoosdum]

????? - FAFSA forked out loan $$$ for my Masters Program!

Yes, that's loan money. CB was referring to FAFSA's stinginess with the grant money that is given to individuals with low income (such as college students) who aren't dependent on their parents, but FAFSA still considers them dependents for purposes of witholding grant money.