After Law School My Student Loan Debt Will Be...

[How much will your TOTAL student loan debt (undergrad, law, other) be after you finish law school?]

How much will your TOTAL student loan debt (undergrad, law, other) be after you finish law school?

$0 - Debt Free!

 3 (6.5%)

$1 - $5000

 0 (0%)

$5001 - $9999

 0 (0%)

$10,000 - $24,999

 1 (2.2%)

$25,000 - $49,999

 5 (10.9%)

$50,000 - $99,999

 15 (32.6%)

$100,000 - $149,999

 16 (34.8%)

$150,000 - $199,999

 4 (8.7%)

$200,000 - $249,999

 1 (2.2%)

$250,000 - $299,999

 1 (2.2%)

$300,000 - $349,999

 0 (0%)

$350,000 - $399,999

 0 (0%)

$400,000 - $499,999

 0 (0%)

$500,000 +

 0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 41

[joespecial]

I am kind of lucky because I didn't have student loans from my undergrad years, and if I had, they would have been paid off by now anyway.

But I am concerned about the younger generation. If you went to a private school for undergrad, and now go $150,000 into debt for law school, you could come out with close to $300,000 in debt. Am I wrong? That is frightening.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/01/pf/college/reverse_dowry/index.htm

[bvrlvr]

eeek. probably around 220k  unless some miracle happens. but i doubt it.

[HippieLawChick]

I think it's because a similar question has been asked before.

[dbgirl]

Nobody wants to think about racking up $1 mil in debt and selling everything they own for the "joy" of being slapped around in law school. If you stop and ponder it, you get pretty damn depressed.

[Stacie]

I will be thanking my lucky stars for a "renewable if you stay in good standing" scholarship.

Right now, I'm debt-free (divorces involving a house sale are good for something), and won't have to take out living-expenses loans for year 1. We'll see what happens during 1L and 2L summers to see if that changes.

[philibusters]

I am one of the people in the 50 to 100 range though I will be near the lower end of it.  I am a little nervous, but not too much because the thing about law is that you don't usually start out at 30 gran, usually twice that or more, so it should be manageable.

[the_red_dragon]

If I just go with the best possible school, it will probably be in the 120-150k range.  If I choose a school that offers a scholarship or something, it should be a lot less.  I am very worried about how much debt I will have from law school (I owe nothing for undergrad because I took the less prestigious school).  This will greatly affect what jobs I could take, what lifestyle I can have and how stressed I am for the next 10-30 years.   

[Tiwaz]

I'm estimating 135K, but that's with very conservative estimates of what I'll make during the summers.  It also assumes the budget provided by my school is accurate.  I'm hoping to live much cheaper than that; I think the threat of paying interest on everything I buy will encourage me to be frugal.

[the_red_dragon]

I'm estimating 135K, but that's with very conservative estimates of what I'll make during the summers.  It also assumes the budget provided by my school is accurate.  I'm hoping to live much cheaper than that; I think the threat of paying interest on everything I buy will encourage me to be frugal.

I really respect that attitude.  Knowing myself, I'll probably buy an extra round for my friends, pick the more expensive suit and keep hitting up Starbucks because I'll make money in the long run...

[Tiwaz]

I really respect that attitude.  Knowing myself, I'll probably buy an extra round for my friends, pick the more expensive suit and keep hitting up Starbucks because I'll make money in the long run...

See, I read the salary ranges for my school, and a little voice in my head keeps saying, "But not you.  You'll never make that much."  It's very strange.  I think that, like the debt, the number's just too high for me to wrap my mind around.