You are right, I am trying to figure out ways to not live like a poor grad student. I am just exploring the possibility of not doing it. I was homeless when I was a teenager and have worked very hard by myself to get to this point in life ( do not live in luxury by the way, very thrifty). I don't want my children to suffer because of something I want to pursue. I hope you understand that point. I could be the happiest person as long as I have my health but my family should not have to sacrifice so much maybe? I can't quite justify it as an investment because it is really more of something I want to do rather than hoping to get financial returns (though it would be nice). I would probably start my own practice after law school to practice law in my industry, which has a need for lawyers with technical expertise.
I’m going to suggest again you look into part-time. Like I said I’m part time, I also own my own small business and I clerk part time for a lawyer, I end up working about 20-30 hours a week most weeks. I also don’t live like a law student at all. In fact I just sat down last week and figured out what I have spent in the last 3.5 years, it was north of 300k, most of that living expenses because, well, I am NOT thrifty and I like buying stuff. Hell I just spent $600 bucks on a pair of ski pants (WTF I know…).
Point is you can still live very well going to school PT if you can find decent paying jobs to work while you’re not in school By the way PT is only 3-4 credits less than FT at most schools per semester, I’ll be done in four years but only because I purposely set it up so I would only be taking 1 class this semester so I could study for the bar at the same time, otherwise I could easily be done in 3.5 or less like many of my classmates. You can also get all the financial aid FT students get (minus the extra tuition money they get for having 3 more credits) if you want to borrow along the way.
Another advantage to going PT is that you have lots of extra time to network. Networking will be KEY if you plan to start your own firm right after law school. You will need to have a core group of lawyers and judges who will mentor you, give you advice and send you referrals. Meeting people like that and developing relationships takes time so you need to start doing that right away, have your days more open will help a lot with that.
you have very good points. It is not that I just totally discount the possibility of PT programs. I have to go to school in philly, and I should have the grades and score to get into Penn, hopefully, and they do not have a PT program. if I end up going to Temple I will most definitely seriously consider their PT program, which seem to be very good. But if I get into Penn then I will have to try to make it work if at all possible. I will surely keep PT in consideration when the time comes to choose. For now just planning
to Stole Your Nose!, you are making some huge assumptions on what I mean by not suffering. You don't really have any idea what my standard of living is right now, or what I want to retain. I do understand and appreciate your views, and I thank you for your advice. I have read some pretty good info on here, I hope with some luck and hard work I would be able to do it!
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