See Jane Get Rich

Today, I logged into my bank account to find that my account balance jumped by $4,000.   “Whoa!  What happened?!” I asked myself.  As I quickly scanned my bank account transactions I saw a refund from my law school in the amount of $4,000.  I then quickly logged into my student account to review account charges for Spring 2010 and under credits there is a credit under “outside scholarship $4,000.”   

 I had an outside scholarship that paid for $4k of my tuition for Spring 2009 and I used another $4k for my Fall 2009 tuition.  I found the terms of the scholarship and it states:

 The $4,000.00 scholarship is renewable for the third year of law school (except in the event of unusual circumstances, determined in the discretion of the firm, that may involve the Scholar’s academic performance or conduct subsequent to the award….)

 It seems I was wrong in my interpretation in thinking $4k was just for the third year as a whole.  The scholarship must have renewed again for the Spring semester since I still meet the requirements.  I paid my tuition somewhat early before the scholarship was applied to my tuition and I believe this triggered the refund.  

This brings down my total all time out-of-pocket law school tuition expenses from $29,377.50 to $25,377.50 and my Spring 2010 tuition from $8,777.50 to $4,777.50.   

 An unexpected $4,000 is the best way to start off the week!

Come spring 44,000 law students will graduate with their JD and what will the overwhelming majority have in common?  Debt to the tune of $76,563.  That is the estimated average law school debt.  Actually, those figures were for 2004-2005 and Forbes puts that number at $100,000.   Mint puts it at $92,937 in their interactive Student Loans by the Numbers guide.  Of course, this is in addition to any debt accrued from undergrad and graduate school. 

According to the American Bar Association, the average tuition and fees for a private law school rose from $16,798 in 1995 to $26,952 in 2004, including a 5 percent jump from the $25,574 tuition average in 2003. To help pay for that education, students attending private law school borrowed an average of $76,563 in 2004-2005, according to the ABA.

I always stayed away from debt because I wanted to know that after Law School where and what I decided to do would be my own choice.  That choice should only be dictated by my personal preference (and the job market) and not how much I must make to meet my monthly debt payments. 

Having such a huge debt means that students will not only forego an ideal job for one that pays the most, but research shows that student loans will cause 44% to delay buying a house while 28% will delay having children per Mint’s data.   

I don’t believe in the concept of good debt versus bad debt because I think all debt is debt.  Debt for education is not necessarily good because it is for education.  It will only be financially benficial if it will increase your earning power in a significant manner for the amount your paid for the education plus the amount of money you lost by staying out of the job market while pursuing the education.  I think the term ”good debt” causes people to skip the careful analysis that they should be doing whenever they take on any kind of debt. 

Do you agree with the concept of good debt and bad debt?

Hmm…networking or animal sacrifice?  What a tough choice to make!  The sample size is small so, “Emailing resumes, 300th time’s a charm!” is most definitely still in the running.   

 There is a very honest article  titled Unemployed law student will work for $160k plus benefits from a third-year Harvard Law student who was “no-offered” by his/her summer firm similar to me.   The author did forget to mention a crucial piece of information.  Harvard Law is taking close to half a million from their endowment and creating jobs for their graduates in the form of public interest fellowships.   Now, that’s an unexpected benefit of going to a top law school.  The law school will actually create jobs for its unemployed students.  

The poll did give me a good laugh.

In my last post, I pointed out that I made a difficult yet strategic decision.  The difficult decision was between two externship choices.  Internship 1 was a regulatory externship where I would get to do legal work.  Internship #2 was also with a regulatory body but the internship would not be legal but it would be more related to my Master’s degree.   I was hoping to do both internships but I was told that I could do only one because to do both would be a conflict of interest. 

I had to make a decision about which internship to go with.  If I am only thinking about the short-term then the best choice would be internship #1 because it is a legal internship that would relate to the kind of courses I am taking right now.  Internship #1 is a highly desirable experience for a law student.   Internship #2 offeres regulatory work which isn’t strictly legal.  It also offered a smaller department to work in and a director who seemed eager to mentor incoming externs. 

I chose internship #2 and here’s why. 

 Mentoring – I felt that internship #2 had a director who was more focused on mentoring.  As a recipient of really good mentoring from many of my current and former mentors I strongly believe in it.  I need to have an ally or a “true fan” on my corner.   Having a mentor can smooth the road to attaining many goals.   I need to be very careful about that crucial “first job” of my career and I can see myself being part of this organization and growing within in it.    My director knows that I turned down a very sweet legal offer for the chance to work with her.  Coming in to an organization with a favorable impression is golden. 

I mentioned in my last post that I needed to get in the game.   By getting an externship I am on the sidelines watching the game closely.  My goal now is to make a move from the sidelines to the actual field and get in the game.  In other words, I need to land a job here. 

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Actually, not free.  I’ve been dying to write a headline like that.  This is a post about my adventures with laptops and how I ended up with a $350 Sony Viao laptop.

Laptop Love

I love laptops in the way someone who never had a desktop would.  I just can’t imagine life without one.  I like the way it sits just perfect on my lap when I am in bed doing work and I can adjust it to the perfect degree for optimum view of the screen and the least amount of stress on my neck.

My First Laptop was an IBM (used) & then a Toshiba (used)

I got my first laptop when I was a senior in high school.  The black IBM was a used one that was bought for around $700-$800.  But, overheating and other complications lead me to buy a used widescreen Toshiba from my friend for around $600.  The Toshiba was a beauty because it had that dark blue glossy color.  But it was a heavy laptop and I felt as if I was chugging it everywhere with me instead of the more delicate act of merely carrying.   

Toshiba Died Due to a Paper Cut

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Sandwich Platter

 

My Free Sandwiches

If there is an upside to being a student then its your access to free things in general and especially free meals.  Colleges are full of programs for students and food is a sure way to lure them in.  Generally, I have one and sometimes two free meals a week but due to so many programs going on at my school this week I’ve been having a free bonanza. 

The downside of the free meals is that a lot of these programs take up your time.  Your time is the most valuable thing you have in law school.  In the beginning of the semester, I may go to a program because of the free food but in October I am much more careful with my time and in November I cut out events almost completely.  There were several things this week I needed to go to that came with free food or other items.  Here are a list of free things that I got this week.  I’ve estimated the cost of the item if I were to go out and get it on my own based on the quality and quantity. 

Free Coffee & Mug from Green Mountain Coffee introducing their product to students.  Time: 5 minutes  Estimate: $5

1st Free Meal - Tuesday – Sandwiches, Salad & soda  I had to attend an event about the application process for a program that I will be participating in.  Time: 30 minutes Estimate: $ 8

2nd Free Meal - Tuesday - Two Slices of Pizza Attended a program about financial regulatory work.  Something else I am applying for next semester.  Time: 30 minutes  Estimate: $6

3rd Free Meal – Thursday - Two Slices of Pizza, 4 cookies & soda  Went to hear an ACLU lawyer speak.  I was really starving and and didn’t want to pay for food.  Time: 45 minutes Estimate: $8

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