Paying off Law School Loans

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hey everyone.
I am a current high school junior that wants to be a commercial litigator in biglaw. I will probably go to either DePaul or Boston University for my undergrad (at least I hope). At DePaul, I will probably get some sort of scholarship.
Anyway, I hope to either go to Columbia Law School or NYU School of Law (once again, hopefully). I realized that I will probably be $200,000 in debt by the time I get my JD.</p>

<p>To tie this all together, $200,000 is a lot of money, about how long will it take me to pay off my loans? How long did it take you to pay off your loans (if you don't mind sharing)? Should I choose a cheaper undergrad (DePaul) to save money or do the opportunities at BU outweigh the cost? What is your advice to cut costs? Is it worth it to be in so much debt? I know any type of academic or career plan is not concrete, but law is my passion and I plan to follow it. I've heard that my starting salary could be $160,000, but I don't really trust that figure nor believe that it will be my saving factor. </p>

<p>Thank you for any input. I appreciate your thoughts and time.
~ambition94</p>

2

<p>Tough love: DO NOT expect to repay your loans. NEVER expect or assume that loans can be repaid. Thus, NEVER take $200,000 unless you KNOW that you have or will have a way of paying it back.</p>

3

<p>It cost almost $200,000 NOW to pay for law school. Expect it to be a lot more 5 years from now.</p>