Hi everyone,
I’ve got a little bit of a problem deciding between colleges. I’m torn between Mizzou and UT Austin for financial reasons- Mizzou will be around $25,000 including scholarship money while Texas will be about $40,000 (unless I miraculously get scholarships- probably won’t happen). Texas is my love. I knew I belonged there the second I stepped foot on the campus. But it’s so expensive, I’m not sure if I can justify going there over Mizzou. So, I have a few questions:
Is it easier to get A’s at a school like Mizzou over a school like Texas (will I be able to succeed more at one school over another)?
If I apply to law schools in the future, will it help I the admissions process to see one name over the other?
All these things considered, what do you think I should do?
Is this something you’re dealing with now (i.e. you were just called off a wait list) or are you speculating that you will make it into both schools and you are estimating the scholarships you believe you will win?
@SouthernHope I’m an incoming senior- they are both schools that I can comfortably get into and admissions reps from Mizzou have told me I will be getting the scholarship I mentioned. I know I have a while to think about this but I really wanted to get an early jump on this and get some opinions (:
Where will the $15,000 a year difference be coming from? Parents? Loans? Robbing convenience stores? If it’s parents, and they are willing and able, go for it. If it’s loans, it’s really not feasible or practical. If it’s a life of crime, that will be an even bigger obstacle for law school.
If I were in your shoes, I would choose the school you love, which appears to be UT Austin. If you love the school so much, it will be the place where you ultimately succeed and thrive. If the school is really worth it, I’m sure there could be opportunities for work study and/or finding a job to help pay. $40,000 is a LOT of money, and law school would be even more, but you have to do what ultimately will be best for your life. Go with your heart, and good luck man!
If I were in your shoes, I would choose the school you love, which appears to be UT Austin. If you love the school so much, it will be the place where you ultimately succeed and thrive. If the school is really worth it, I’m sure there could be opportunities for work study and/or finding a job to help pay. $40,000 is a LOT of money, and law school would be even more, but you have to do what ultimately will be best for your life. Go with your heart, and good luck man!
Law schools do not care which school you went to for your bachelor’s degre. They primarily care about your LSAT score and your GPA in said college. I really don’t think it will make a difference in this case
If you are OOS, UT-Austin is no guarantee. 75% of spots are reserved for the top 7% of each TX HS class, so everybody else is trying to get the last quarter of spots.
Law school admission is mostly about GPA and LSAT score; see http://lawschoolnumbers.com . Law school is expensive, so you want to save money and avoid debt in undergraduate study. The law job market is not particularly good, and is law school prestige conscious, so being top of your class at a top ranked (highly selective) law school is important.
The job market in Texas, and especially the Austin area, is much better and has been for a long time. If you are planning a major with good , high paying job prospects your should be able to make up the $60K difference quickly.
@codemachine 's advice is typical for a young naive person.
You won’t likely get WS or a job that would earn enough to make a dent in UT’s costs. If the parents won’t pay for UT, there will be no following “your heart” (which is typically the path to debt and financial problems)
Law schools won’t care…those are both big flagships.
What are your parents saying??? How much will THEY pay? That answer will determine where you can go.
In another thread, you mention your intent to borrow whatever’s needed to attend a dream school.
Are you aware that you can only borrow $5,500 for frosh year? that’s not going to pay for much.
How much WILL your parents pay each year?
Mizzou may not be affordable either. You’re OOS for Mizzou and some merit scholarships will still leave you with a lot to pay. I’m also concerned that your GPA will keep you from getting the merit that you want.
IMO it depends on what your family can comfortably afford. If UT is not a financial issue for your family, go there. If you and your family can’t afford UT without becoming saddled with debt, then go to Mizzou (especially since you see three years of law school in your future after undergrad).
Go to the cheaper school. For any type of grad school, including law school, you want to keep undergrad debt as low as possible. Also, law schools don’t care about the “prestige” or name of a school. They care about YOU. YOUR GPA and YOUR LSAT score. They want to see what you created out of your college experience.