<p>I agree with greybeard’s statement above.</p>
<p>I know that without the availability of a pretty massive amount of federal and private student loans, I would not have been able to attend law school. However, I went into law school with my eyes wide open, having taken time to work in NYC for a few years before attending law school, and having researched student loans and the law schools to which I applied. </p>
<p>I knew that I would have to find myself a BIGLAW job, but I knew that the law school I was going to attend had an excellent track record in that regard. Was that a risk? Sure. At that time, however, a significant percentage of students at my law school (particularly JD/MBA candidates, like I was) did very well during the on campus recruiting process. This is (or should be) still a major factor for potential law students in choosing a law school.</p>
<p>I also (wrongfully) believed at the time that attending a law school that was not as highly ranked as others to which I had been admitted would give me a leg up in my classes. I would not recommend making that same assumption. Law school exams are often unpredictable, and in most cases, a law student’s entire grade is determined by that one final exam. </p>
<p>The reality is that law schools need not act as guardians, providing you with warnings and explanations about what may occur in the future. (The caveat, of course, is that law schools that fraudulently manipulate placement statistics should get what is coming to them.) There are almost always success stories (no matter how infrequent) that law schools with poor placement statistics may shout from the rooftops. It is each potential law student’s obligation to question the “advertising”. Potential law students must also understand the potential effect that six figures worth of student loan debt will have. </p>
<p>Lskinner may have a point (and I don’t know enough about it to agree with the causal relationship lskinner posited) that tuition has risen because of the availability of federal student loans, but today, here and now, it is incumbent upon potential law students to think critically about the very serious decision to attend law school.</p>