Texas Law School Choice

[claudia17]

I am wondering if you could help me decide on a school? This is where I got into:

Texas Tech offered a $7,500 scholarship. Around $100,000 in debt for 3 years (not sure if they take Hazelwood but I do not like the location)

St. Mary's offered a $20,000 scholarship. I could owe around $90,000 in debt for 3 years (I would move in with family which saves housing).

A&M offered a $15,000 scholarship. I do have the Hazelwood Exemption so I would get one year free. Total debt for 3 years is around $110,00 including my rent, tuition, fees, etc.

SMU offered a $16,000 scholarship. They do not accept the Hazelwood Expention so the total debt for 3 years is around $200,000 again including everything.

I am mostly considering SMU and A&M. SMU has more connections in Dallas and they have more chances of landing a job in Biglaw to help pay off debt. I am not sure what field I want to go into. I am mostly worried about the cost right now. I am from Texas and would prefer to practice in state in a big city. Thank you!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Claudia,

First of all, congrats on having so many options to choose from--you've clearly done something right in your application cycle!

The first sorting choice I'd make is based on your comment about location. You don't want to spend three years, and significant money, in a location where you'd be unhappy. For that reason, I'd cut Texas Tech from your list. They're a good school, with many good employment options, but you have options in A&M and SMU that are either nearly as good (A&M) or better (SMU) in terms of school quality, employment options, and (to a lesser extent in SMU's case) cost.

The second sorting choice I'd make is based on cost and school quality. The cost to you of attending Texas A&M is slightly more than St. Mary's, but not so different that I would let it be the dispositive criterion. Texas A&M is enough better in its employment score than St. Mary's that I would choose A&M over St. Mary's if I were you (see comparison statistics for SMU, A&M, and St. Mary's here: https://www.lstreports.com/compare/smu/texasam/stmarys/). It's true that St. Mary's would allow you to live at home, but I think you're going to want the freedom of living away from home while you're in a professional graduate program. So I'd cut St. Mary's from your list as well.

SMU has a fantastic reputation in Dallas (I lived and worked in Dallas for many years), and I have several friends and former colleagues who graduated from SMU and work for big firms in Dallas. If you're interested in staying in Dallas, it's almost a no-brainer. But before you make a final decision in favor of SMU, I'd do a couple things. First, review the comparison statistics I posted above. It's clear that SMU has the advantage when it comes to working at large firms, though you will need to perform well in your first year (you'll likely need to be in the top quarter to top third of the class to give yourself the best employment options). Second, look at calculations of how much you'll be paying monthly on your student loans with debt of $110,000 (around $1,200 to 1,300 a month) versus $200,000 (around $2,300 to 2,400 a month), and think about what kind of job/income you'll need to comfortably pay off those loans.

Your preference to work in-state, in a big city, probably counsels in favor of SMU. But if you're more debt-averse, and would prefer the option to take a job in public service or at a smaller firm, then I'd take A&M.

Either way, you have a bright future ahead of you, so congrats on all your hard work so far! Let us know if this raises additional questions for you.

For now, I hope this helps!

Jeremy