Passing up Columbia Law for a Tier 2...am I crazy???

[Polo08816]

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@sallyawp

First, considering the living expenses in the major cities where BIGLAW law firms are located, no one with $200,000 of student loans is going to be able to pay off those loans in “a few years,” even with a huge salary coming in. It is more likely to be 6-10 years of paying off loans (and that is on an accelerated pace from what the terms of the loans would require) with not insignificant sacrifices along the way to make those extra loan payments.</p>

<p>Second, there is no guarantee right now or in the future that anyone, including a student from a T14 law school, will land a BIGLAW job. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that BIGLAW will continue to pay the rediculously high starting salaries that they are currently paying.

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<p>I agree that you have to factor in everything including cost. The scenario you put forth has a lot of relevance to my future situation.
I’m currently a 3rd year PharmD student in a 6 year accelerated program from HS. I’m also an Officer Candidate with a commissioning date of Sept 09 in the NJ Army National Guard.
In NJ, we have a 100% tuition waiver for members in the NG for any degree, any number of credits, at any public institution in NJ. I’m currently paying nothing for my PharmD.
The opportunity cost of attending a T14 law school is just too high for me when I could be going to Rutgers Law for absolutely nothing. In terms of acquiring a JD, I hypothetically have 2 options:</p>

<p>Option A
Attend a T14 law school full time for 3 years
Net cost: -$200000</p>

<p>Option B
Attend Rutgers Law School part-time for 4 years while working full time in the pharmaceutical industry (cost = $0)
Net benefit +$500,000</p>

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Yes. You are crazy if you pick either of those over Columbia unless you don’t care about being gainfully employed.

Yes and no. If you’re talking with respect to the OP and I assume his only educational background is an undergrad degree, then I’d agree with most people here. Go to the best law school that you could possibly go to.</p>