<p>I know that considering I'm a senior in high school, I might be jumping ahead a bit, but this has really been worrying me.</p>
<p>I've posted something similar on the law school thread, but I was wondering, if I were to go to law school, has anyone any suggestions as to how I might pay for it in the future? I've heard of some schools paying for tuition in exchange for students working for the school as a TA or whatsoever. I've heard things about fellowships, but essentially I know nothing.</p>
<p>This is really coming out now considering the fact that paying for grad depends alot on what I dish out for undergrad. Comments? Suggestions?</p>
<p>Note: PLEASE no "just live your life as it is now" or "don't think about that now" comments. I really just want some advice as to how paying for gradschool can be done. :)</p>
<p>I was under the impression that for Law School, the idea was that it's ok to dig yourself into debt, because you'll get paid so much when you graduate that you can pay it back in reasonable time. Is this just an urban myth that us poor art students are jealous of?</p>
<p>It's confusing when you use the names 'law school' and 'grad school' interchangebaly. Typically, they are considered separate. </p>
<p>Law School: If you aren't given a grant by the school, you typically have to take out a loan. </p>
<p>Grad School (non-professional school): Funding comes in the forms of RA's, TA's, and fellowships. If you don't get any of those things, you typically have to take out a loan.</p>
<p>The vocational degrees like Law, Medicine, and the MBA you pay for up front.</p>
<p>Some law schools with big endowments have deals where they cover your tuition if you contract to do public service work for a certain length of time after school.</p>
<p>Many MBAs are paid for by the student's employer.</p>
<p>PhDs in the sciences are very often paid for by the student working in a professor's lab, TAing, and so forth.</p>
<p>Humanities PhDs are usually paid for by outright fellowships and TA/RA work.</p>
<p>And there are the big name fellowships you'll hear a lot about, mostly in the sciences.</p>
<p>Masters programs are more varied - I don't have statistics but based on the stories here and elsewhere its about 50-50 paid vs. "free".</p>
<p>There are a couple good books on the subject of getting a PhD:</p>
<p>Getting What You Came For
Graduate Study for the 21st Century</p>
<p>The upshot of all this is: except for the vocational degrees, you'd be nuts to pay for grad school. </p>
<p>So - finish high school, get into the "best" undergrad school you can without killing yourself or your parents, get good grades, have fun, and forget about grad school for a while!</p>
<p>"Masters programs are more varied - I don't have statistics but based on the stories here and elsewhere its about 50-50 paid vs. "free"."</p>
<p>I would say it's most common for masters programs, particularly those where the masters is the terminal degree or PhDs are extremely rare, to get partial funding.</p>