I’m starting to pick my final list of law schools to apply to, now that I’ve gotten back my December LSAT score. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to finance law school — there doesn’t seem to be much need based aid, and I’m overwhelmed by how to figure out my options besides taking out massive loans — where should I start? Help!
– H.
Dear H.,
Financing law school can be a scary process, you are right about that. Fortunately, there is a lot of information out there to help you be strategic.
An easy place to start is to compare the tuition for the different schools you are interested in. Some schools may charge as little as around $10,000 a year; others may be upwards of 50,000. It depends in part on whether they are private or public institutions, if there is an in-state tuition option, and other factors.
Likewise, the cost of living may be significantly different at the schools, depending on where they are located. By understanding tuition and cost of living, you can gain a lot of knowledge about overall upfront costs of the different law schools. Then, you can try to reduce the full cost of attending those schools, by looking for scholarships and grants.
You can easily compare scholarship and grant awards at the different law schools. If you look at the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA- Approved Law Schools there is a handy chart which breaks down the percentage of incoming students who receive awards and the median award. This chart can be incredibly educational. Like tuition, awards vary widely from school to school. Be careful — many schools make continuation of the award contingent on your GPA. Make sure to find out what grades you might need to hold onto your scholarship.
A great next step is to research all of the external sources of awards and grants — www.fastweb.com/ and www.finaid.org/ are good places to start, for an overview. I would definitely look at the legal bar associations at the national, state, and local level, as another great potential source of scholarships.
Check out www.americanbar.org, the site for the American Bar Association. They have links to many different scholarship sources, including their own, such as the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund. Google the state bar association for the state in which you live— they also often have scholarship opportunities.
Next, check out the financial aid web page of each school —they generally have helpful links to external scholarship sources. They may also have alumni specific scholarships offered to students of their particular law school. The employment statistics posted by each law school (you can link to them on the school’s web site, or at http://employmentsummary.abaquestionnaire.org,), can provide additional valuable insight. They can tell you more about what types of jobs their graduates are working in, and where the jobs are located.
There’s a lot of information out there, fortunately, to guide you in making your decision about where to apply, and ultimately what law school to attend. Of course finances are not the only factor–once you get your acceptances you can visit, talk to students and professors, and see how you ultimately feel about the schools.
– Hillary Mantis
Hillary Mantis consults with pre-law students, law students, and lawyers. She is a Director of the Pre-Law Advising Program at Fordham University, and the author of Alternative Careers for Lawyers. You can write to Hillary at altcareer@aol.com.
Hillary Mantis Esq.
Hillary Mantis consults with pre-law students, law students and lawyers. She is the Assistant Dean of the Pre-law Program at Fordham University and author of career books for lawyers. Admissions questions? You can reach her at altcareer@aol.com.
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Financial aid: Where to start
Financial aid: Where to start
By Hillary Mantis
I’m starting to pick my final list of law schools to apply to, now that I’ve gotten back my December LSAT score. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to finance law school — there doesn’t seem to be much need based aid, and I’m overwhelmed by how to figure out my options besides taking out massive loans — where should I start? Help!
– H.
Dear H.,
Financing law school can be a scary process, you are right about that. Fortunately, there is a lot of information out there to help you be strategic.
An easy place to start is to compare the tuition for the different schools you are interested in. Some schools may charge as little as around $10,000 a year; others may be upwards of 50,000. It depends in part on whether they are private or public institutions, if there is an in-state tuition option, and other factors.
Likewise, the cost of living may be significantly different at the schools, depending on where they are located. By understanding tuition and cost of living, you can gain a lot of knowledge about overall upfront costs of the different law schools. Then, you can try to reduce the full cost of attending those schools, by looking for scholarships and grants.
You can easily compare scholarship and grant awards at the different law schools. If you look at the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA- Approved Law Schools there is a handy chart which breaks down the percentage of incoming students who receive awards and the median award. This chart can be incredibly educational. Like tuition, awards vary widely from school to school. Be careful — many schools make continuation of the award contingent on your GPA. Make sure to find out what grades you might need to hold onto your scholarship.
A great next step is to research all of the external sources of awards and grants — www.fastweb.com/ and www.finaid.org/ are good places to start, for an overview. I would definitely look at the legal bar associations at the national, state, and local level, as another great potential source of scholarships.
Check out www.americanbar.org, the site for the American Bar Association. They have links to many different scholarship sources, including their own, such as the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund. Google the state bar association for the state in which you live— they also often have scholarship opportunities.
Next, check out the financial aid web page of each school —they generally have helpful links to external scholarship sources. They may also have alumni specific scholarships offered to students of their particular law school. The employment statistics posted by each law school (you can link to them on the school’s web site, or at http://employmentsummary.abaquestionnaire.org,), can provide additional valuable insight. They can tell you more about what types of jobs their graduates are working in, and where the jobs are located.
There’s a lot of information out there, fortunately, to guide you in making your decision about where to apply, and ultimately what law school to attend. Of course finances are not the only factor–once you get your acceptances you can visit, talk to students and professors, and see how you ultimately feel about the schools.
– Hillary Mantis
Hillary Mantis consults with pre-law students, law students, and lawyers. She is a Director of the Pre-Law Advising Program at Fordham University, and the author of Alternative Careers for Lawyers. You can write to Hillary at altcareer@aol.com.
Hillary Mantis Esq.