My financial Aid Package. Is this the norm??

[justadreamer]

So I plan to go to New York Law School. This is the Financial Aid package I'm getting, I was wondering if this is the norm. any suggestions will be greatly aprreciated. Thanks

Tuition: $42,500
Unsubsidized loans : $12,000
Subsidized loans: $8,500
NYLS money: $5,000 ( I dont have a scholarhsip and they said this is the max they give)
Perkings loan: $3,000
Remaining Money I have to come up with: $15,000

So is this the norm for someone who does not get any scholarships?? is 15,000 of private loans to much??? what type of loans do you guys suggest???

onece again, I dont know much about the subject, therefore any help will be very useful...

[siski]

This is a decent financial aid package, in that you get the Perkins loan (which is low interest and reserved for the neediest of students), and you get the full amount in Stafford subsidized/unsubsidized loans. $15K in private loans isn't horrible. But you should keep in mind, this is just for covering tuition. Unless you are fine with being homeless or living for free with parents, you're going to have to come up with living expenses (more loans). And then there's books and supplies (and more loans and loans).

[DCLabor25]

Yes, this is the reality of law school.  And the last person is 100 percent right -- this is only the tuition costs.  Your going to need to take out money to live on as well, which is probably going to be at least another $15K in NYC.

You will either have to secure private loans or GRAD Plus loans.  Either way, the interest rate is going to run 8.5% (Grad Plus is set at that level; privates can be more or less but 8.5% is a good ballpark range) 

I don't mean to burst any bubbles, but have you looked at financial aid calculators to accurately estimate exactly how much your repayments are going to be?  If not, you should really look at that before you sign anything.  I mean $15,000K in Plus loans for tuition, another $15K in cost of living, over three years is $90k at 8.5% percent.  That alone will be over $1100 a month.  The staffords will total another $700 a month.  The Perkins are a great deal, but add another $25-50 or so.  Are you really set on paying back about $1800 a month in loans?  Have you explored all of the employment prospects from the school you want to attend?

I don't say any of this to make you feel bad.  I just hope that you really consider the decision and understand the financial aid aspect.  It's been my experience that very few schools lay out exactly what this type of debt means for people.  I hope this helps!

B

[justadreamer]

Thank you all for the help. Yes I do understand that this is for tuition only. I do currently live in NYC with parents, and I have no choice then support on them for a while. I know once I get out of school, I do have lots and lots of loans to pay off, which will most likely take more than half of my pay check. However, I believe that this is a sacrifice that we all have to go through when we decide to go to law school.

I have good credit so I applied for a citibank Grad PLus loan and got accepted, therefore I will use this as a measure to get the rest of the money I need including tuition and other expenses.

[wcombs65]

I got the EXACT same amount of subsidized and unsubsidized loans as you.  $20,500

[Martin Prince, Jr.]

I got the EXACT same amount of subsidized and unsubsidized loans as you.  $20,500

This is not coincidental, as that is that maximum amount of Stafford loans authorized for a calendar year.

[wcombs65]

This is not coincidental, as that is that maximum amount of Stafford loans authorized for a calendar year.

Well, that would explain it then.  I thought I really had something there.

[JCDenton]

If that is your financial scenario, you shouldn't go to law school. There perhaps ten or so law schools in your state better than NYLS. TEN! The employment prospects coming out of that school are going to be absolutely dismal. The top few kids in your class will get market paying jobs (and by few I mean less than five), a few more will get non-market but still six figure, and the rest of the people in the top 10% might be able to pull $80k.

The vast majority of people in your class will make $30k-$60k, and that's assuming they actually get jobs as lawyers(which will be hard). A good portion won't practice law at all, and will instead do things like paralegal, sales, secretary, etc. IE: jobs you don't need a JD to do.

Even if you are one of the lucky ones and pull down a $80k job, your outcome is still pretty crappy. You'll need $2500+ in pre-tax earnings each month to pay on those loans (so you're looking at knocking $30k/yr off your gross salary). That means you'll be living like someone making $50k/yr, and that is near best-case. You have a ninety percent chance of doing much worse than that. When you take a job at some personal injury or insurance defense toilet making $45k with no benefits (and let's face it, you'll be grateful to get that offer because your alternatives will be contract attorney or not being a lawyer), your after-loans salary is going to be less than $20k. That will  result in a standard of living lower than the average illegal immigrant.

It's a fact that you're screwing yourself financially by going to law school. You need to think long and hard about if it's worth taking such a low standard of living to be a lawyer (hint: it's not. being a lawyer sucks).

[hbb]

Pretty gloomy for a first post, JC...

[$Bill]

http://www.jdunderground.com/thread.php?threadId=17627

Some outside thoughts on this thread, for what its worth.