GW Finaid

[Erapitt]

That is ludicris.  A high paying job is pretty much guaranteed at GW.  The middle bottom third of last years class had a median salary of 95K a year.  The BOTTOM THIRD.  The avg. was around 125K.  Law schools are in business to make money.  Welcome to life....

[glascow1]

a high paying job is not guaranteed or practically guarnateed from GW - its a great school with great connections but a gurantee?  I dont think so only Top 7 schools can pretty much offer that ...............

oh and GW pretty much said at admit day that they over-promised on money and more people ended up accepting last year so they were offering a lot less money this year to make up for the short fall last year for both entering 1L's and 2L's which i think really sucks!  a big reason why i didnt go althought not getting the right vibe from the school added to it.       

[Erapitt]

How do you figure glascow?  Avg. person walks out of GW Law making 125K a year.  How do you figure that isn't good money?  Bottom 1/3rd of the class is still at the 95K mark.

[RufusTheStuntBum]

How do you figure glascow?  Avg. person walks out of GW Law making 125K a year.  How do you figure that isn't good money?  Bottom 1/3rd of the class is still at the 95K mark.

I have read in a few other places that the starting salaries are usually inflated.  I don't know how but even if they are slightly inflated I think getting a good job out of GW is very likely and you will be able to pay off the $150k loans.  Going to a school like GW also gives you a shot at a summer associate position after 2L, which will pay you $24k. 

glascow, which school did you pick over GW?  I am guessing it is one of the big ten schools?

I actually think it is better not to give lots of aid.  Every T1 law school is non-profit so if they are giving lots of aid to some students it is because they are taking more from the students who don't get aid.  And need-based aid is absurd considering the amount of money most people will make after graduation.  They should put the need-based aid in the LRAP fund and help the people who really need it, not the people with the poorest parents at the time of law school entrance.

[waiterlawyer]

How do you figure glascow?  Avg. person walks out of GW Law making 125K a year.  How do you figure that isn't good money?  Bottom 1/3rd of the class is still at the 95K mark.

Where are you getting your numbers from?  Becuase I walked in the offices at GW and several other similarly ranked schools and the avg. starting salaries I seem to remember were very different from what you are posting.  Especially since a sizeable ratio of GW and other tier 1 grads take public interest jobs or judicial clerkships that don't pay 95k, much less 125k.  Even many private sector or business related jobs don't pay those figures.  I'd like to believe the numbers you posted are accurate but from all the information I've gathered, they don't seem to be real at all. 

I wouldn't also use the term bottom third so flippantly.  In good schools all of the students are competitive, so I would imagine being in the bottom half or bottom third isn't something that's reserved for people who don't try at all. 

I agree with the other poster about need based aid. 

[glascow1]

actually GW was the highest ranked school I got in to - I dont know if previous poster was trying to be snarky or not about getting in top 10...I decided to go to Fordham. 

GW is a top 20 school(but could just as easily be bounced out into low 20s), great market - and you can definitely leave with 125K salary or what ever the going rate on Top Law jobs are but to think that even top 1/3 of class is leaving with that is crrrazy.  Maybe Top 10 - 20% - but the same can be said for some other top 20 - 50 schools....

The average person DOES NOT walk out of GW with a 125k salary  - i think  a lot of schools do inflate their salary numbers and employment numbers ....having said that graduating from GW gives a significant boost in attaining that salary.

(as for me when it comes to getting the highest paying job I can get out of school - Fordham = GW, so I took the less expensive option. 

regarding financial aid - one of the deans or administrators at GW admit day said they over extended aid to people last year and were giving a lot less this year to new 1L's and 2L's to balance it out.  Anyone on admit day who attended aid session heard that.

[Erapitt]

I don't know where you are living but to say that only the top 10-20 percent of GW are making 125K is abusurd.  I am in the working world.  I work in the government sector of life.  I am a federal employee.  In three years I will be making 80K.  That is with a Bachelors.  I guarantee you that most GW grads that aren't in public interest or other low paying fields are definately making six figures.

[waiterlawyer]

where are either of you getting your numbers from?

I don't believe the avg. person out of GW is making 125k to start, but I also don't believe that only 10-20% are making 125k straight out.  If I had to wager it would be somewhere around half are making that.

Can anyone back up these figures with concrete data?

[glascow1]

I can agree with that  - I would like to see actual numbers posted too - I was guessing.....and trying to counter the irrational exuberance of erapitt - GW is a great school - but its only a golden ticket - if you make it so - it aint guaranteed - that's my line and I am sticking to it

[waiterlawyer]

yeah but 10-20 percent seems very low.  If you think about the number of law firms in this country that are known to pay starting associates 125k a year.  And the number of positions they offer each yeah.  Then you take into account that GW is ranked 20th nationally...  It seems like a greater percentage would get high paying jobs just bsed on that.

Many of the top 25 law schools have pretty small class sizes.  There are only 180 or 200 students in some of these schools.  So if it's all about going to a big name school to get a big name job it seems like there wouldnt be enough lawyers to fill those positions if they only took 10-20% of the class from top 20 or top 30 schools.