I have no idea how to pay for law school.

[Johnny Stuffs His Mouth]

I went to W&M undergrad on a full scholarship and know absolutely nothing about Stafford, FAFSA, Pell, or anything similar. All I know is that I plan on taking out a loan and paying it back after law school. How does one go about doing this? Do I fill out a FAFSA (I have no idea what this is), do I contact a bank? If so, when? I'm out of college, so I can't just ask an advisor. Please help.

[J D]

The borrowing limit on the Stafford Loans is only $18,500 per year, though.  If you need to borrow more after this, there are a number of private places that lend money for law school; your school should have a list of them through the financial aid office.  I'm personally with Access Group, but it pays to shop around to make sure you get the best terms possible.

[LawSchoolCutie]

I am wondering if I can get loans for law school that will cover living expenses and rent payments. Do you think its possible?

[FossilJ]

I'm signing up on this thread.  Only difference is, I'm not a US citizen, and I have no idea how I'm going to procure loans without a co-signer.  Shoot me.

[EEtoJD]

I am wondering if I can get loans for law school that will cover living expenses and rent payments. Do you think its possible?

My undergrad loans always took this into account. I've basically lived off loans (and scholarships) for the past three years without a problem. Well, except for December, which is when I usually run out of money until the check for January arrives.

[thestradgirl]

I'm signing up on this thread.  Only difference is, I'm not a US citizen, and I have no idea how I'm going to procure loans without a co-signer.  Shoot me.

[pikey]

I'm signing up on this thread.  Only difference is, I'm not a US citizen, and I have no idea how I'm going to procure loans without a co-signer.  Shoot me.

Thirded.

[sladkaya]

Same here.  I did my bachelor's and master's in the US as well, and always chose the lesser-ranked school with full-tuition over higher-ranked school with partial/no scholarships.

Anyone figures out creative loan ideas, let me know.  Best I can offer is buy an undervalued real estate property (i.e., house), do cosmetic repairs, re-appraise and get a home equity loan for the higher appraised value (at 7-8%).  But that presume current income to be able to buy/finance the property and make repairs. And real estate skillz.

[EEtoJD]

Same here.  I did my bachelor's and master's in the US as well, and always chose the lesser-ranked school with full-tuition over higher-ranked school with partial/no scholarships.

Yeah, but law school decisions are a bit different. Going to Harvard with no money and Penn with lots of money is a tough decision, but I'd choose Harvard because my earning potential seems to be larger than from Penn by enough to make it worth it. This is only from anecdotal evidence, though, I have not researched any sort of numbers along these lines.

[sladkaya]

Same here.  I did my bachelor's and master's in the US as well, and always chose the lesser-ranked school with full-tuition over higher-ranked school with partial/no scholarships.

Yeah, but law school decisions are a bit different. Going to Harvard with no money and Penn with lots of money is a tough decision, but I'd choose Harvard because my earning potential seems to be larger than from Penn by enough to make it worth it. This is only from anecdotal evidence, though, I have not researched any sort of numbers along these lines.

I suppose I should have replaced "chose" with "had to attend" in that quote.  I did not even apply to Harvard et al because I CANNOT go.  There are no financial aid options out there for non-US citizens to take out 90K+ in loans with no significant assets to their name.  It's not even an choice.  Heck, I may not even be able to afford UT, and they gave me a scholarship