Hastings v. 3rd tier with $$$

[tahoetahoe]

I agree with the previous post.  This is hardly a rush move to Cali.  I have moved at least 15 times in the past 6 years...piece of cake. 

I am going to Hastings, so I may be biased, but I would definitely say, go to Hastings.  It will afford you many more opportunities and pave the way for an excellent career.  I think anyone can succeed from a third tier as well...it is just more difficult.  In the grand scheme of things, if you come out making 125K, this difference won't mean much to you.  If you come out of a tier 3 making 70K, well, it will make up the difference in the first year.

PS  I would also evaluate where you want to practice.

[ebrumm]

Id go to Hastings - but because thats where I am waitlisted with pretty much the same stats as you, dont go unless you are sure and leave a spot for us who are!

[pinktinker]

Thanks for all the advice and info!  I'm still pondering what to do.

Another question: anyone have any idea of what the average age of incoming students at Hastings might be?  I'm assuming most of the new students will coming straight from college.

[zankoku]

Well, Barron's Guide to Law School 2003 states that the average age of entering students is 24, with an age range of 20-49.  Take it as you will.  Some of Barron's numbers seem funny to me.

[ebrumm]

I'm assuming most of the new students will coming straight from college.

I dont think so... have you visited the campus?

[pinktinker]

No, actually, I haven't visited the campus.  I don't have the money or the opportunity to take off from work right now to go there during the week (when the offices would be open, and I could speak to people, etc.).

Money, unfortunately, has become the overriding factor in the decision.  Going to Hastings would put me into more credit card debt.  It'd be the only way I'd be able to afford the move, but since credit card payments can't be deferred like Staffords, I'd be saddled with that expense in addition to rent, car payment, other various and sundry expenses -- all this while trying to do well in my first year in law school in a city with which I'm completely unfamiliar. 

I worry -- with good cause, I believe -- that going to Hastings might prove to be too much for me to take on financially.  Even though I'd probably stand a better chance of getting a better job if I graduated from Hastings, the major problem is the issue of the moving expenses right now and the expenses I'd accrue during the school year.

Unless there's some sort of drastic change in my financial situation (where's Ed McMahon when you need him?), it's very likely that I'll be going to my third-tier.  With any luck, I'll do well and make good contacts for the future. 

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in with their suggestions and advice! 

[neverends]

Pink,

God bless you for not going to Hastings!  Now I'm one millllimeter closer to getting in off of the waitlist.

Listen though...

If the biggest issue is the expense of moving, f it, and reapply next year.  I'm 30, and really don't have time to wait, relative to my lady's ticking time bomb of a biological clock, but for such a serious thing as your schoolin, I wouldn't let the petty expenses of moving hinder your entire life.  Take a year to work and store up the cash, so you'll have no worries.  Maybe take the lsat again, and get into stanford?

Think about it?

Good luck with whatever you do!