Weighing the options… Going to a higher ranked school and taking out a bigger loan, or a 4th tier school for less $$$ (scholarship). Given the crippling debt associated with a law degree, and the lack of guarantee of a high paid job, it’s a huge factor. Opinions, thoughts, pros and cons, whatever.
Thanks community.
Define “higher ranked.”
Simple (but not easy):
Look at both schools, their bar pass rates, and their employment rates. Drill down as much as possible into them and figure that you’ll be slightly below the median (just, you know, plan on not-quite the worst). Figure out about how much money you’ll earn over the ten years after law school and what loans you can comfortably service on those. From that calculation, back into how much each school is ‘worth.’ (For example, if School A’s slightly-below-median employment outcomes means that you’ll be able to pay $15,000 a year for ten years, the school is ‘worth’ spending about $125k-$150k on.)
Then consider if the cost is more or less than the school is worth according to your calculations. Most of the time, law school is overpriced for everyone; if the end result is that both schools are overpriced, don’t go to law school.
It is a simple calculation, but it’s not easy to face the reality that you were potentially admitted to two schools that are too expensive for you to attend, even though one is prestigious and the other comes with scholarship money.
I don’t think that I’d even consider a 4th tier school in this job market unless it were free.
Thus I’d consider only the more highly ranked school.
This is NOT due to school snobbery; the placement from a 4th tier school would likely be very poor and the cost of 3 years of lost salary plus tuition would probably just not make it worthwhile.