- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 9010
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Fri Mar 27, 2020 12:58 pm
#74522
Below is a law school admissions question from a student, Alex, and a response from PowerScore CEO Dave Killoran.
Alex: "Hi Dave,
Would appreciate some advice if you have the time. I am planning on attending law school part time in the NYC area and am mostly interested in big law, particularly trusts and estates law (which is the field I work in now). I am a little older (recently turned 27), and just finished paying off undergraduate debt and am a little weary of taking on more . That being said, my goal is a good paying job in big law, so some debt may be worth it. As I had decided on part time, these are the schools I am deciding between:
Fordham – minimal scholarship money, lets call it sticker price
Seton Hall – $19,500 in renewable annual scholarship (need to stay in top 75% of class)
Brooklyn Law – $24,000 in renewable annual scholarship (need to stay in top 80%)
New York Law – Full Scholarship
Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions, I know the school name does matter, but I am wondering if it matters any less going part time and already having a job in a similar field? Fordham seems to be consistently the best ranked, and being that I am going part time while working would not be taking on any cost of living debt. Seton Hall seems close behind with considerable scholarship money but I plan to stay in NYC, and what I’ve seen so far is a lot of Seton Hall’s job placement is in NJ. Brooklyn does seem to be ranked considerably higher than NY Law School but the question seems to be, is the better ranking worth about $75K in debt? Any help or things to think about would be appreciated. Thanks a ton!"
Dave Killoran: "Hey Alex,
Thanks for the message! To get this down to a manageable choice, we need to eliminate some of these schools from the running. Seton Hall and Brooklyn match up reasonably well here from a financial standpoint, so looking at them head-to-head is useful I think. It’s a close call, but Seton Hall has the better employment stats, so I’d lean that way (which is just numerical; you might like Brooklyn better, and there’s nothing concerning about that at all). So, if we remove Brooklyn, it leaves you with NYLS, Seton Hall, and Fordham (comparison here: https://www.lstreports.com/compare/newy ... l/fordham/). This is then the point you need to contemplate, because the choices are rather stark:
NYLS: Free, but the employment stats are not great. If biglaw is a goal, this puts you on rocky ground. I also hate that over 22% of their jobs are “JD advantage” and not full attorney spots. It’s free, but job-wise this is an uphill climb.
Seton Hall: Here you get a little bit of both worlds. The price is reduced and biglaw is a more attainable outcome (although not hugely so).
Fordham: Debt is heavy, but half the class goes into a large firm job. That’s what you are paying for right here: $300K in order to half a 50-50 shot and a major firm job.
Personally, $330L at Fordham vs $220K or so at Seton Hall would make me tilt towards Fordham, but I’m not the one taking on the debt. And so it comes down to what kind of job you want vs how much debt you can handle. I’m debt-averse, and strongly recommend you look at the full cost and monthly payment to handle that debt, because this is sort of an all-or-nothing choice with Fordham vs NYLS.
I’m not sure that’s a huge help, but most of this decision rests with your personal preferences and life preferences. Please let me know what you decide. Thanks!"
Alex: "Hi Dave,
Would appreciate some advice if you have the time. I am planning on attending law school part time in the NYC area and am mostly interested in big law, particularly trusts and estates law (which is the field I work in now). I am a little older (recently turned 27), and just finished paying off undergraduate debt and am a little weary of taking on more . That being said, my goal is a good paying job in big law, so some debt may be worth it. As I had decided on part time, these are the schools I am deciding between:
Fordham – minimal scholarship money, lets call it sticker price
Seton Hall – $19,500 in renewable annual scholarship (need to stay in top 75% of class)
Brooklyn Law – $24,000 in renewable annual scholarship (need to stay in top 80%)
New York Law – Full Scholarship
Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions, I know the school name does matter, but I am wondering if it matters any less going part time and already having a job in a similar field? Fordham seems to be consistently the best ranked, and being that I am going part time while working would not be taking on any cost of living debt. Seton Hall seems close behind with considerable scholarship money but I plan to stay in NYC, and what I’ve seen so far is a lot of Seton Hall’s job placement is in NJ. Brooklyn does seem to be ranked considerably higher than NY Law School but the question seems to be, is the better ranking worth about $75K in debt? Any help or things to think about would be appreciated. Thanks a ton!"
Dave Killoran: "Hey Alex,
Thanks for the message! To get this down to a manageable choice, we need to eliminate some of these schools from the running. Seton Hall and Brooklyn match up reasonably well here from a financial standpoint, so looking at them head-to-head is useful I think. It’s a close call, but Seton Hall has the better employment stats, so I’d lean that way (which is just numerical; you might like Brooklyn better, and there’s nothing concerning about that at all). So, if we remove Brooklyn, it leaves you with NYLS, Seton Hall, and Fordham (comparison here: https://www.lstreports.com/compare/newy ... l/fordham/). This is then the point you need to contemplate, because the choices are rather stark:
NYLS: Free, but the employment stats are not great. If biglaw is a goal, this puts you on rocky ground. I also hate that over 22% of their jobs are “JD advantage” and not full attorney spots. It’s free, but job-wise this is an uphill climb.
Seton Hall: Here you get a little bit of both worlds. The price is reduced and biglaw is a more attainable outcome (although not hugely so).
Fordham: Debt is heavy, but half the class goes into a large firm job. That’s what you are paying for right here: $300K in order to half a 50-50 shot and a major firm job.
Personally, $330L at Fordham vs $220K or so at Seton Hall would make me tilt towards Fordham, but I’m not the one taking on the debt. And so it comes down to what kind of job you want vs how much debt you can handle. I’m debt-averse, and strongly recommend you look at the full cost and monthly payment to handle that debt, because this is sort of an all-or-nothing choice with Fordham vs NYLS.
I’m not sure that’s a huge help, but most of this decision rests with your personal preferences and life preferences. Please let me know what you decide. Thanks!"