<p>My parents are rich however they are refusing to pay for my college education (I understand why, and I think they are teaching me a good lesson.) I have very good chances of getting into every school I applied to, Im a recruited athlete and URM with "good" grades- 3.8uw and 2200 sat (which after reading a few of these threads i realize ya'll dont think is very good), anyway I have received unofficial acceptances/likely letters from the following schools: Brown, Yale, Pomona, might also get into a few others. Anyway I plan on going to a top 5 law school after graduation where I would major in Economics or Political Science. This process would end up costing me about 70k for undergrad and then 100k law school, However If i am able to achieve a top gpa at a LA school like Pomona i should get into a school like Yale for law school, and theoretically starting salary is 130k, so I would be able to pay off my debt in 5 yrs or so if i only used half of my income and used the 2nd half towards paying off debt. 60k+60k+60k+60k+60k=360k which would be more than enough? Anyway how does this plan sound, i'm open to advice or criticism, however I have evvery reason to believe I will score well on lsats and do well in my undergrad.</p>
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<li><p>You are still in high school. That means you have no idea what the practice of law is like. It’s a bit early to dedicate your life to a profession you know nothing about. Luckily, you don’t have to. </p></li>
<li><p>To fix the above problem, you need to intern. Once you’re in college there are plenty of opportunities for you to get some real,hands-on experience with the practice of law. These are the kind of experiences you need before you look into law school. Since you seem fairly interested, you should try to get one as soon as possible. As a recruited athlete I understand that scheduling may be tricky, but I have known other athletes turned law school students (including professional athletes turned lawyers) and they managed to make it work so I am sure you can too.</p></li>
<li><p>Going to a liberal arts college does not mean you will or should get into Yale. Law schools do not care where you went to undergrad. They also do not care about your major. They do, however, care about your GPA. Keep that to a 3.6 or better.</p></li>
<li><p>Major in something that you like and can do well in. Law schools don’t care about major, just GPA. You should aim for something that provides you salable skills should law school not work out. Law school does not work out for most people. Most score poorly on the LSAT or have a poor GPA. Of those making it into the top schools, a substantial portion nevertheless either cannot find work or, if they do, burn out quickly. A backup major/minor provides substantial peace of mind when entering this (fairly absurd) process.</p></li>
<li><p>When you start nearing the end of college, you’ll take the LSAT (not “LSATS”). There’s no reason to worry about it until then.</p></li>
<li><p>Banking on a theoretical starting salary to pay a theoretical debt incurred in a theoretical future is a silly exercise. Focus on keeping your debt low now. Once you get to the phase of your life where applying to law school is real, rather than merely theoretical, come back here and we can discuss options. </p></li>
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<p>If your parents are rich and are refusing to pay for college, you have bigger fish to fry them going to law school.</p>
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<p>None of these schools offer Academic or Athletic scholarships. IF your parents are rich, then you will most likely not receive any need based aid.</p>
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<p>If your parents are not paying for undergrad, it will cost you ~220k for undergrad with another ~210k for law school.
For undergrad, you cannot borrow 70k no less the 220k it will cost you for undergrad without a co-signer. The most that you can borrow is
$5500, freshman year, $6500 sophomore year, $7500 junior and senior year. </p>
<p>Even should you get into Yale, they will still need your parents income/assets for need based financial aid.</p>
<p>accually, no, when applying for law schools everyone is considered independent.</p>
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<p>Don’t forget the government will take about half first for taxes.</p>
<p>Chris,
Yes, while everyone is considered independent for graduate/professional school, for need based aid at graduate/professional school many schools will still ask for your parents income assets through need access.</p>
<p>You are interested in attending Yale. HYP and at most of the other T-14s if you are under 27 (up to 30 at other schools) you will have to supply the income and assets of your parents (and spouse if married) in order to get need based aid.</p>
<p>Yale specifically states:
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<p>Forget law school for the moment. How are you planning to pay fall tuition if your parents won’t? And did your parents submit the CSS forms and you have estimated aid already? Or where are you getting 70k figure from?</p>
<p>(and curious minds want to know, what is this lesson they are teaching? pay your own way you aren’t in our family anymore, or debt is good for 18 yo’s to take on, or college isn’t necessary? or you need to go to the cheapest school or what?)</p>
<p>Your plan has too many “ifs” and assumptions and is too premature.</p>
<p>Just go to a good college, study as hard as humanly possible, and then figure out law school. The legal job market will be definitely different in 4+ years. FWIW, the typical starting salary for a large firm in a large city- where anyone from Yale can get a job- is $160k, and the government takes half of that.</p>