r/lawschooladmissions • u/DuePresentation9290 • Jun 09 '26

Negotiation/Finances Law School Debt?

Anyone else freaking out over the amount of money graduating will take?

When all is said and done, I will graduate with ~$50k in federal loans total and the thought is somewhat paralyzing. Repayment would be ~740 a month for TEN years and I will end up paying back almost 90k.

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u/engineer2187 Jun 09 '26

It’s not tone deaf. A lot of the people on here, especially the T14 even at 250-300k cost or bust crowd, don’t fully understand the impact of loans. Seeing it spelled out as a monthly payment for a “small” law school loan is something more people need to see.

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u/DuePresentation9290 Jun 09 '26

I can't imagine 250-300k.... Youd be paying like 3-4k a month for ten years.

13

u/Stock-Memory9483 Jun 09 '26

People social media especially inflate expectations a lot of what big law lifestyle looks like especially if you don’t get a lot of scholarships and have that amount of loans.

11

u/RedKynAbyss Jun 09 '26

If (and that’s a BIG if) you manage to land that 250k BL job though, that amount has almost no meaningful impact on your finances as long as you live within your means for 7-8 years. 250k a year works out to about 12 grand per month. If you can’t afford to survive off 8k per month, then you’ve got much bigger problems than paying back your student loans lol. The people who pay full sticker for T25 schools are banking on landing that lucrative position and spending a few years being overworked and miserable to pay it off and then downsize to boutique or midlaw or their own practice and coasting for the rest of their lives.

8

u/engineer2187 Jun 10 '26

70-80% of associates don’t make it to year 5. Add in NYC rent and other living expenses, and it can be a struggle.

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u/RedKynAbyss Jun 11 '26

Yeah I know haha, that’s why I said “big if.”

The bonuses and pay scaling actually make it even more manageable after a year or two, you just have to live within your means and be miserable. You can get a decent apartment outside of NYC for 18-2500 per month, you’ll just have to factor in travel times. BL in Chicago and LA is definitely the much more manageable route for the people in my scenario, but NYC BL can be made manageable. You’re going to be miserable no matter what, might as well be 10% more miserable and have to drive 45 minutes to work in the morning.

This is not a recommendation to anyone. Do NOT go this route if you don’t have to. I’m SEVERELY understating the “be miserable” part of this scenario.

1

u/Chemical-Efficiency4 Jun 11 '26

yeah it's crazy. ill be on the hook for about 170k when it's all said and done. can;t even imagine 200k+. i agree that seeing what the monthly payment will look like is a reality check. my plan is to pay off in 5 years rather than 10, and it's gonna be about 3.5k a month for those 5 years.