Quote from: dcforlife on July 06, 2007, 07:55:59 PM

To the OP -- why would you go with private loans in the first place?

Current rate for private = 6.75%, while GradPLUS is 8.5% + 3% origination. You also have 9 months to start paying back the private loans as opposed to 30 days with the GradPLUS.

Is that a fixed rate? And why are the private consolidation rates you stated significantly higher than the original loan rate, whereas federal loan consolidation rates are the weighted average of your existing rates? And wouldn't the paying back timeframe on the original loan be negated by consolidation repayment terms?

Lots of people have mentioned that as an option, to either make money on the deferred interest or lessen the impact of charged interest. Can't tell you whether or not it's il/legal un/ethical.

Hopefully, H.B 916 passes so that working at a public defender's office is feasible. I have a family to feed!

Oingo

I suppose every little bit helps, but it still seems like it'll barely make a dent. What's $60,000 against loans that over 30 years of interest amount to $500,000, when a firm job could pay them off in 5 years. Wish it had been for more.

Everything I said just went right over your head. "Quantitatively," having more firms interview does not mean greater opportunities, and "qualitatively" your point is well-taken but it misses the overall fact - in D.C., at GWU, you're competing against 500+ people just like you in a market where there are many better schools' graduates attempting to get a job. You've totally neglected this fact, that it is difficult for GW grads outside of the top 1/3 to get a job in D.C. You instead pass off the fact that the school is in D.C. as if they have "considerably better options," when "quantitatively" and "qualitatively," the advantage you gain by going to a D.C. area school can be totally outweighed by the level of competition you're facing.

Do you have any evidence for either of your contentions -- the first being that simply graduating from a different school (BU) makes you so compellingly different from every other GW student that it'll be a leg up, just because of the different name -- and the second being that it is difficult outside of the top 1/3 to get a job in DC?

I honestly don't know if what you're saying is at all true, and my gut tells me the opposite on both points, which is why I'm asking for any evidence.

You'd be nuts to go to GW.

BU and GW are and will likely continue to be similarly ranked. Don't pay attention to year to year changes. They're both currently T25 schools.

But GW is not worth the extra money. Boston has been a top law school for a long time...GW only recently came on the scene. That's something to consider.

This whole if you want to work in DC then go to GW thing is silly. Remember that DC jobs are difficult to get and, most importantly, they go to the best students. This doesn't imply that being at a DC school makes it easier to get. In fact, it is often more difficult because of the sheer number in the job market.

Go where you feel more comfortable. GW is a gunnerish, large law school. BU is neither. You already have a lease in Boston and seem to be quite comfortable in the NE. Go there, seriously.

Uh, what?... the schools are almost identical with each offering a few benefits the other doesn't. Choosing either over the other doesn't strike me as particularly notable and certainly not "nuts".

"Extra money" is said as if it's a lot. As far as I can see on LSAC, tuition differs by less than a grand. When talking about a six-figure cost for education nitpicking a three-figure number seems a little silly.

As for GW recently coming on the scene... not sure how I could interpret that to make sense. Both BU and GW have been around for about 150 years... not really new. And as for top law school status, year to year rankings, etc... the rankings are here if you want to see them. I don't see much difference b/w the two there either.

On school size, it's no comparison if you look at total students; but it's worth noting that the 1L section sizes are almost identical, and the total size of GW takes into account 100+ part-time students who likely aren't on campus during the day.

I'm not going to try and speak to job opportunities or gunners as I have between 0 and anecdotal evidence there... and to be honest I'm betting that's true for pretty much everyone else on the pre-law boards. DCB's argument strictly to the location, though, is definitely one of the benefits GW offers that BU doesn't. BU in turn offers things that GW doesn't.

I dunno. I always saw the schools pretty much equally. Equal schools + preference for one over the other = no brainer.