Indebtedness

I got a big scare yesterday that I'd missed financial aid application deadlines. I've since learned that's not true, but it GW's "need-based aid" is pretty much first-come, first-served (for those who qualify), so I went ahead and did all the outstanding paperwork. It's pretty sobering. At the end of one year of law school at GW (yeah, ok, the end except for those pesky finals), the numbers are:

Current educational loan debt: $68,025 (includes roughly $35k in undergrad and previous grad school debt)

Estimated expenses for 2004-2005: $49,495 (as estimated by GW)

Amount that will be borrowed to pay for 2004-2005: Probably all of it, unless GW comes through w/some aid, but that's looking unlikely. Borrowing it all will put total indebtedness a year from now at $117,520.

Bottom line: Law school is making a PhD in English look pretty cheap. And it's worth all of this, why? Oh, and keep in mind, I'll be lucky to make $40-60k/year upon graduation as a public interest lawyer. Many many starting positions pay much less. Very discouraging....

I guess this is why the good kids do their financial aid way before finals, huh?

Posted 08:30 AM | Comments (15) | law school

Totenberg Reports

On Tuesday the SCOTUS heard arguments "about the constitutionality of detaining so-called "enemy combatants" at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." For some of the best concise coverage of the case, listen to NPR's Nina Totenberg set up the case the morning before arguments, provide first reactions of the arguments themselves, then wrap up and look ahead to likely outcomes the next day.

Nina Totenberg rocks my world.

Posted 06:49 AM | Comments (4) | law general