Din’t*
I’m not saying that there won’t be curveballs. I understand that, but I’m getting the impression that people are discouraging me from law school. That’s why I’m kind of “going against them”. But I understand that debt is no joke and not everything works out
No one is discouraging you from going into law. We’re just giving you the information and experiences for this career.
Now, as for loans, your parents will need to take out a Parent Plus loan. Any amount of a loan will require a credit check as well as a look at your parents’ collateral (home, stocks, bonds, anything that can be resold).
We had our children take out loans to build a credit ranking, and deal with incidental expenses at their school, but we only allowed them to take out what we thought they would earn in a year, while going to school~ $6K+ per year.
What you don’t realize is that these Parent Plus loans get sold and resold and the conditions of the loans change with the new lenders.
So, you could start off by getting a loan that will “wait” until you graduate, but that loan could be sold and the new lender might require “pay as you go”. That happened with 2 of our kids. Fortunately, we had the funds to cover their bills.
Plus, as the years go by, your parents credit rating can change and they may be denied for future loans because they wont be able to cover the repayments.
If you plan on law school, then please start saving some money. Law school is very expensive. You wont have a whole lot of time to work if you want to do well in law school.
I started as a pre-law student- way back when. I loved my professors and loved the “history of law” classes, but as I continued, I realized that I really wanted a quality future life. The professors were extremely honest about the amount of hours needed at the start of the career. My sister’s crazy 16 hour days led to her early retirement.
If you’re going into law, good for you. Be cognizant of what you need to do to prepare yourself for this career. This means you need to go as cheap as possible and limit your loans.
2 Likes
I haven’t read anyone discourage you from law school. You’re perceiving that.
What people are saying is - you need to find or try and secure lower cost options. Back to your initial question - you had school A for $22K and B for $35K.
People are saying School B is out - period, end of story.
School A could work if you could afford it. But if you pile on debt to get it and it’s just half of your education, you will have a difficult time working out from underneath it after you finish the 2nd half of your education.
That’s why some suggested community college. Hundreds of thousands of kids every year successfully navigate CC to a 4 year school. Penn State is also set up for this.
If you had two more years of no/low debt, the overall burden would be less.
I think where you read that most intending to go to law school never do - and whoever said that was stating a fact - they weren’t saying you won’t go. They are saying the odds are your plans may change. And @cma22 brought up a ton of salient points - and she had real world examples.
I might add - what if you don’t qualify for the law school - that’s another thing - ie. your LSAT isn’t high enough.
I will say - just looking at admissions data from individual law schools but @CMA22 could comment better - it seems like work experience in between undergrad and law school is a lot more common, and even desired - then in past years. Would you agree?
3 Likes
May I ask what you ended up doing? If law doesn’t work out, I’d pursue some other kind of career in law or go into the education field.
My mom said she didn’t want to do the parent plus loan. Idk if that’s possible
I’ll pm you.
1 Like
As I said, I do have backup plans. What do you think about what the director said? He said that they don’t do the 3+3 program with the first school because they get into better law schools for more money. He didn’t say they never went. I just wanted to see your opinion on that.
I don’t want to do penn state because I know I’d get screwed over there, and they’re actually pretty expensive and don’t give out many scholarships. CC isn’t a bad idea, but I know so many people with bad experiences around it tho
I have no opinion - I would ask for data. But if no one does the 3+3 - why would he sell himself short and acknowledge that.
I would assume but don’t know - that like most grad school - people tend to go to a second school. Not always but typically.
So you just wrote that your parent won’t do the Parent Plus Loan.
So school A is $22,000. You can borrow $5,500 the first year. Where is the other $16,500 coming from?
1 Like
No, they’re doing a loan. Just not the parent plus one.
No he said they go to better law schools for cheaper…
Sounds good
It’s hard to answer - you won’t say the school> I’m assuming it’s Widener.
Anyway, too many messages - PM me - and hear from others - but I’ll stop on this chain. Thanks
I know that when I was young, I thought doctors and lawyers made great money so it didn’t really matter how much debt it took to get those jobs.
But the cost of medical school and law school has gone up a lot faster than the salaries have. So the doctors and lawyers aren’t the richest ones in town anymore and might be driving beat up Toyotas to their fancy offices instead of buying second homes and joining country clubs like back in the 1960s.
That doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good profession. It just means it doesn’t necessarily elevate you into a different socioeconomic circle as easily as it once did. At least not for those who had to take out a lot of school loans.
And that’s fine. People choose law because they have a passion for it and want to be part of effecting change or making big transactions happen.
But people who go into it with certain lifestyle expectations can be disappointed, that’s all. I never did buy any designer bags or a second home. 
4 Likes
I go into it because I see so many people getting screwed over in the judicial system……wow.
1 Like
Perfect. That’s what I was hoping. If you are going into it to effect change, you won’t be disappointed.
a couple thoughts somewhat captured by others - I don’t know anything about your situation and I am not sure why i feel compelled to share this perspective but, having your parents co-sign for $120k+ of undergrad student debt is putting their financial security and retirement at risk. I am sure you don’t want to do that.
You could work 20 hours a week and take the federal loan in your name for rest. and easily make the 22k school work.
1 Like
I would look at the avg starting salary of the law school that you are thinking about here.
https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/median
There is a huge difference between salaries between high and low ranked schools. Especially when you add the extra tuition and loss of income from the extra schooling.
9 Likes
What is the objection to the Parent Plus loan? Are they thinking that they can get a lower interest rate or better repayment terms by getting the loan someplace else? Some people take out a second mortgage or borrow against retirement funds. In that case the loans will be in their names, not yours & you would pay them back.
This is a bit of a wild card, but do you have family in another state, especially MD? or NY or VA? They all have really good community college systems. Maryland only has a 3 month residency requirement for in-state community college tuition (NY & VA it’s 1 year). Not only do they have good community college systems, but they are well integrated into the state university system- which are much more affordable than PAs. The Maryland system has a pretty good advising system (I would say ‘great’ but it’s a big system and I only know. small part of it, plus there are bad apples in every bushel, so I don’t want to oversell it!), designed to make sure that you get the courses you need to meet your goals, including transfer admission. In-state tuition is $3-10K, depending on the county (most are $6-8K). If you moved to Maryland at the start of the summer, get a job & change your drivers license, you would be resident in time for the autumn term.
After 1.5-2 years (AP credits should shorten the time), you would be able to transfer to UMd where in-state tuition is ~$10K. UMd estimates total COA (tuition/r&b/books/meal plan/cable & phone) at $28K- before any financial aid or merit scholarships. That is more than your $22K option - but it’s for 2 years, not 3 or 4.
Just an another option.
3 Likes
I can’t take a big loan like that in my name till I’m 24. That’s just how it works. I’m the one paying for everything anyways…my parents have never provided for me. I already pay my own bills.
I’ll be sure to look at that. Thanks for the link!