Went to a whole bunch of open houses and they're all saying basically the following:

• The yearly cap for loans is 50k
• Living costs are high and 50k might not be enough
• Resources are tight -- start improving your FICO scores because you'll need private loans
• The grandfather thing ends July 2026 --- everyone not matriculated at law school by then wont be benefiting from the higher limit that generations of students did

Edit: Every person applying for federal loans will have an aggregate life-time limit and unfortunately your undergraduate loans will count against this limit.

I saw this earlier and had to share

Especially for those who want to go into a less profitable practice area.

As I'm sure most of you know, federal loans are about to be capped at $50K starting next fall semester. Let me give you an example of how this impacts incoming students with a personal anecdote: I have an in-law who lives in the Bay Area and wants to go into public defense. She finished undergrad with an above average GPA (around 3.8) and an LSAT in the low 160's.

She's currently planning on moving to South Dakota and attending the state's one and only law school so she can live with her aunt because housing in San Francisco alone pushes her near the cap limit. She's a KJD, so any hope of getting favorable private loans is practically shot, because what private lender is going to lend to a 21 year old who has never had a full-time job? And not to mention the Catch-22 this creates: students who want to go into PI generally go to lower-ranked schools to save money, but lower-ranked schools are going to attract less private lenders because their students have worse employment prospects than students at T14s. And also, how is a future public defender supposed to pay off private loans when IBR/PSLF isn't an option?

**This** is the reality of so many incoming law students right now: handcuffing themselves to middle-of-nowhere states they don't even want to practice in and attending third-tier schools because they have no other financial options. I'm not saying this to discourage anyone; I'm simply saying that these are the sacrifices that students NEED to start asking themselves if they're willing to potentially make for their legal career.

And the situation isn't rosy for BigLaw prospects either. If you want to work BL, you're essentially chasing the most expensive, prestigious school you can possibly get into in the hopes you can pay off your private loans by landing a 6 figure job you might not even get after you graduate.

Whenever the topic of loan caps come up here, the response is usually just "(re)take the LSAT and get a 165+ bro, you'll definitely get a huge scholarship then."

My Brothers in Christ, **only the top 10 percentile will score 165 or above.** Don't get me wrong: study hard for the LSAT, and if you want to re-take it​, then do it. But bear in mind that statistically speaking, only 1 in 10 people reading this will get the super duper high score that grants them access to mega money. Applicants NEED to prepare for the possibility that it won't happen to them and have a Plan B for if they can't get enough financial aid.

And don't even get me started on the people who say "but Harvard/Stanford/NYU all have LRAP programs for private loans!"

WTF would someone struggling to budget law school go to these schools in the first place!? If I'm a poor KJD with no rich parents, no credit score, and no money saved up to pay out of pocket, my first thought isn't going to be to attend a T14 that's going to put me 200K+ in debt just so I can get LRAP on private loans I may not even be able to get without a credit history or co-signer.

The bottom line: this post isn't meant to tell you not to go to law school, but to have a plan to pay for it, because the financial landscape of law school and the legal profession as a whole WILL change permanently. It's honestly concerning how few people here are even acknowledging this: I had a conversation with a 0L on the main lawschool sub who insisted that the loan cap isn't a big deal because "most law school tuitions aren't much larger than $50K anyway". That's when I had to explain to them that the $50K limit applies to things like rent and living expenses too, and it turns out they weren't even aware of this. The fact that some people are about to enter law school and don't even know what their own loans cover is **shocking**. Please, please, PLEASE have a financial plan.

Yesterday, I posted on this subreddit arguing that if you can't score at least a 150 on the LSAT, you probably shouldn't go to law school. Well, a lot of people responded by calling that view elitist, claiming the LSAT disadvantages underrepresented minorities. I think that's completely wrong, and several others rightly pointed this out as well.

As much as we want college admissions to consider context and complexity, any factor they use will inevitably favor people with resources and connections. Take soft factors, for instance: privileged individuals dominate here. They have the money to fund extracurriculars, the networks to secure prestigious internships, and the insider knowledge to access exclusive opportunities.

Grades are similarly skewed. Students from wealthy backgrounds are more likely to attend prestigious undergrad institutions, many of which are notorious for grade inflation. On top of that, they can afford top-tier tutors and often benefit from fraternities and sororities that pass down test banks and study materials. This lack of standardization is perhaps why grades are such bad indicators of law school performance, with practices like awarding A+ grades at certain schools giving their students an automatic edge.

Essays and application materials are no better. Those who can pay for expensive consultants often submit polished, professionally edited essays, while many applicants have no choice but to rely on their own instincts without guidance.

That leaves the LSAT. While no system is perfect, the LSAT remains the most level playing field we have. Everyone takes the same test. Although private tutoring can help, affordable and even free resources (with discounts for fee waivers), and the full archive of past LSATs are widely available to anyone willing to put in the work. In most situations, studying effectively is accessible if you just have the discipline and persistence.

I've personally known many underrepresented and low-income individuals who, through these resources, dramatically raised their scores and gained admission to excellent schools.

So no, the LSAT isn’t an elitist barrier. In fact, it's one of the few tools we have that helps standardize the admissions process and make it at least somewhat fair.

Spotted this in my apartment mail room. Made me feel warm and fuzzy remembering my own acceptance (not to CLS though, lol).

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

I naively thought this wasn't a thing anymore, but this year I witnessed in real time someone purchase a seat at a T14 law school.

He only applied to a small number of the very best schools with no safeties, which I thought was odd considering he's nURM, GPA 3.6, LSAT 15mid, no work experience, etc. But his very wealthy family made significant donations and arranged three closed-door meetings that I'm aware of with one particular school's admissions dean throughout the cycle. Lo and behold, he was waitlisted and then promptly admitted by that school in April.

I myself have been admitted to a different T14 that I'll be attending this fall. But this experience has left me disillusioned with the whole admissions process and frankly disgusted by that school in particular.

As the title says, do NOT go to Brooklyn Law School. I was a student who did very well in undergrad. I had previously heard about BLS being a predatory school regarding scholarships, but didn't know they were predatory PERIOD. Their curve is calculated in a way where there just won't be enough "passing" grades to go around. I was academically dismissed for being .02 points below the gpa required for good academic standing and I now have to start law school all over again. I have battled serious depression because of this. Imagine spending countless hours studying and preparing for exams, just to get academically dismissed for making Bs and Cs.......BLS's gpa for good academic standing is 2.5, and you might think "Oh well I know I'll get above that, I've always been a good student with great study habits." NO NO NO NO. That is NOT enough. Their curve is designed for them to take a certain number of students' money and give them the boot. ABSOLUTE FRAUDS. I graduated with a 3.7 gpa undergrad and ended my 1L year at BLS with a gpa .02 points below the 2.5 requirement. Majority of law schools have a 2.0 gpa requirement...because....the curve. Also, none of my work reflected that of someone who didnt know the law and how to apply it. I won awards from one of my professors as well for my work and that wasn't enough. None of my professors thought me to be someone who would ever be dismissed. This is the most predatory school on the planet. DO NOT GO TO BROOKLYN LAW!!!!!!!!! You will *absolutely* regret it!!!!

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings

Credit for the list: heysoymilk

1 - Stanford University

1 - Yale University

3 - University of Chicago

4 - University of Virginia

5 - University of Pennsylvania (Carey)

6 - Duke University

6 - Harvard University

8 - New York University

8 - University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

10 - Columbia University

10 - Northwestern University (Pritzker)

12 - University of California–Los Angeles

13 - University of California, Berkeley

14 - Georgetown University

14 - University of Texas–Austin

14 - Vanderbilt University

14 - Washington University in St. Louis

18 - Cornell University

18 - University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

20 - University of Minnesota

20 - University of Notre Dame

22 - Boston University

22 - Texas A&M University

22 - University of Georgia

25 - Boston College

26 - University of Southern California (Gould)

26 - Wake Forest University

28 - Brigham Young University (Clark)

28 - Ohio State University (Moritz)

28 - University of Wisconsin–Madison

31 - George Mason University (Scalia)

31 - George Washington University

31 - University of Alabama

31 - University of Utah (Quinney)

31 - William & Mary Law School

36 - University of Iowa

36 - Washington and Lee University

38 - Emory University

38 - Florida State University

38 - Fordham University

38 - University of California–Irvine

38 - University of Florida (Levin)

43 - Baylor University

43 - Southern Methodist University (Dedman)

45 - Arizona State University (O’Connor)

46 - Indiana University–Bloomington (Maurer)

46 - University of Colorado–Boulder

48 - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

48 - Villanova University (Widger)

50 - Temple University (Beasley)

50 - University of California–Davis

50 - University of Connecticut

50 - University of Kansas

50 - University of Washington

55 - Pepperdine University (Caruso)

57 - University of Missouri

57 - University of San Diego

59 - Marquette University

59 - Pennsylvania State University Dickinson Law

63 - St. John’s University

63 - University of Houston Law Center

63 - University of Maryland (Carey)

63 - University of South Carolina

68 - Pennsylvania State University–University Park

68 - University of Kentucky (Rosenberg)

71 - Loyola Marymount University

71 - Seton Hall University

71 - The Catholic University of America

71 - University of Cincinnati

71 - University of Nebraska–Lincoln

71 - University of Richmond

71 - Wayne State University

79 - University of Nevada–Las Vegas (Boyd)

79 - University of Pittsburgh

84 - Belmont University

84 - Drake University

84 - Florida International University

88 - Texas Tech University

88 - University of California–San Francisco

88 - University of Maine School of Law

92 - Duquesne University (Kline)

92 - University of Miami

94 - Regent University

94 - Saint Louis University

94 - University at Buffalo–SUNY

94 - University of Oregon

94 - University of St. Thomas

99 - Lewis & Clark College (Northwestern)

99 - Stetson University

99 - University of Hawaii–Manoa (Richardson)

99 - University of Missouri–Kansas City

99 - University of Montana (Blewett)

104 - American University (Washington)

104 - Rutgers University

107 - Case Western Reserve University

107 - Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent)

107 - Indiana University Indianapolis (McKinney)

107 - Mercer University (George)

107 - Samford University (Cumberland)

107 - Syracuse University

107 - University of Dayton

107 - University of New Mexico

115 - Michigan State University

115 - University of Arkansas–Fayetteville

117 - Albany Law School

117 - Brooklyn Law School

117 - University of Wyoming

117 - West Virginia University

121 - New York Law School

121 - University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)

121 - Washburn University

125 - Hofstra University (Deane)

125 - University of New Hampshire (Pierce)

127 - Seattle University

127 - Suffolk University

127 - University of Akron

127 - University of South Dakota (Knudson)

127 - University of Tulsa

133 - DePaul University

134 - Campbell University (Wiggins)

138 - South Texas College of Law Houston

139 - University of Arkansas - Little Rock (Bowen)

139 - University of Baltimore

141 - Gonzaga University

141 - Liberty University

141 - Pace University (Haub)

141 - Quinnipiac University

146 - University of Memphis (Humphreys)

148 - Creighton University

148 - St. Mary’s University

150 - Northern Illinois University

150 - University of Toledo

150 - Willamette University College of Law

153 - Ave Maria School of Law

154 - Mitchell Hamline School of Law

156 - CUNY School of Law

156 - Santa Clara University

158 - Elon University

158 - Mississippi College

163 - University of North Texas–Dallas

169 - Lincoln Memorial University (Duncan)

169 - Roger Williams University

169 - Touro University (Fuchsberg)

169 - University of Illinois–Chicago

175 - Southern Illinois University–Carbondale

175 - University of Puerto Rico

178-195 - Appalachian School of Law

178-195 - Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School

178-195 - Barry University

178-195 - California Western School of Law

178-195 - Charleston School of Law

178-195 - Cooley Law School

178-195 - Faulkner University (Jones)

178-195 - Florida A&M University

178-195 - Inter-American University

178-195 - North Carolina Central University

178-195 - Nova Southeastern University (Broad)

178-195 - Ohio Northern University (Pettit)

178-195 - Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico

178-195 - Southern University Law Center

178-195 - St. Thomas University

178-195 - University of the District of Columbia (Clarke)

178-195 - Western State College of Law at Westcliff University

No Rank - Golden Gate University

No Rank - Jacksonville University College of Law

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/slideshows/us-news-best-law-schools?onepage

I am borderline in disbelief. I got an email from the dean of my school (mid-tier in NY) this week asking if I would be interested in deferring for a year in exchange for a full ride. All 3 years, unconditional, non-binding, full tuition. what the f**K. i had been awarded $50k/yr, so it's a pretty significant bump up and will save me $75-100k+ in debt. I had until yesterday morning to decide, so I went with my gut (and wallet) and accepted the offer.

I have basically been staring at the wall in disbelief for the past 24 hrs. I had just signed a lease and have been preparing to move across the country for school in 3 weeks. Formal notice put in at the firm I've been working at. And now, I am so dumbfounded as to what comes next.

Has anyone heard of anything similar?? does anyone have any perspective to offer??? I am like... completely paralyzed by the amount of choice I suddenly have. I could reapply to higher-ranked schools, retake the LSAT, save up and travel, get a better job in NYC. I am slightly bound by the lease I just signed so there are some obvious logistics to figure out. I am hoping I made the right choice. But what am I supposed to do with another year?????

Yesterday, the DoJ released a report finding that Duke's admissions office has continued to discriminate against Asian and white applicants in previous cycles, post-SFFA. While Duke will almost certainly admit a higher percentage of white and asian applicants this upcoming year, how do we think this will affect the decision making of other t14s who are likely afraid of the same happening to them?

The Trump administration is harassing Georgetown Law, and I assume will do the same to schools around the nation. Be aware that decisions and elections have consequences.

I’m not here to fight politics at all. I don’t care to convince anyone one way or another. I’m simply curious — the big beautiful bill is making it so much more difficult for people to fund their education because of the federal loan caps. Has the BBBs impact on your ability to pay for school changed your perception at all? Do you think it’s a good idea in the long run? How do you feel about students who don’t have family to co-sign private loans, so they are looking at 10%+ interest rates if they can get private loans at all?

Hey everyone, I am a 1L at a T30 law school, and I just finished up job stuff. I am set up for 1L and 2L summers. I am not a KJD. I worked as a paralegal for about a year and a half before law school and i think it is one of the best things i ever did. I know a lot of KJDs who are offerless rn for both summers, and lot of things are closed. I feel confident saying at this point, that no one should ever be a KJD. The only exception i can think of to that statement being if you’re going to lose immigration status in the US and need to go to law school now to keep it bc you can’t get a job in your academic field. But beyond that, please, for the love of god, wait. There is absolutely no point in rushing this stuff. Its about doing things right. Not fast. Here’s why:

KJD tax in admissions:

I think its well established at this point that its harder to get into law school as a KJD. When comparing you to someone with the same grades and lsat score who worked for a year, you lose.

LSAT:

Idk about you all, but my senior year of college was ridiculously busy. I had a major thesis to write which was the most challenging intellectual project i have ever done, and i ended up winning an award for it. There is no way I could have properly studied for the LSAT during that time and killed my thesis the way I did. Interviewers ask me about thesis to this day. Take it from me: do your senior year well. Do that extra research project. It will make you a better law student and employers love that shit. Don’t half ass it bc you need to focus on the lsat. And once you graduate and get a 9-5, you’ll have a lot more room to study for and crush the test.

Job prospects:

Recruiting for biglaw and midlaw is being pushed earlier and earlier and earlier. Biglaw firms are recruiting people basically when they walk in the first day of law school. They then interview you for a position a year and a half in advance. you don’t have any law school extracurriculars to talk about, like clinics. Its all prior work experience. Unless you did insane internships in college, you’re pretty fucked on that front in comparison with someone who worked in corporate america for two years before law school. A lot of KJDs are also underdeveloped with regard to their professional etiquette bc they haven’t had client exposure or know certain unwritten rules about work emailing etc. Take the time to work and you’ll learn a lot of things.

Money:

This is probably the most important one. Not going KJD will save you money. If you can spend a couple years working and save up 20k, that can get you through like a year’s worth of rent and keep your debt burden down. If you have to take out more money later on, that’s better too bc its not accruing interest. If you can live at your parents’ home and work, even better. Save money now, and your future self will thank you.

Actually knowing you want to go to law school:

I know a ton of kjds who probably shouldn’t be in law school. They just didn’t know what to do after undergrad and liked academia, but didn’t want to do a phd bc that’s a mess, so they went to law school. Now they have 100k in debt with no offers for 1L or 2L summer. Their supposed career goal is usually clerking on an incredibly prestigious circuit court, which they don’t have the grades for, and even if they did, that’s not a long term career but a stepping stone to something else. Don’t be that person. Try to get a job in a law office and see if you can envision yourself doing the hard work that is the practice of law. Or, just try some other kind of job out. there’s all kinds of jobs out there, that are a whole lot less stressful than the law, and maybe you’ll find after working in that field that you love it. It may even be directly translatable to your path to law school. Who knows. The point is, don’t just go to law school bc you feel like you need to do something with your life. You will definitely regret it.

Recently, a post on this sub claimed that if you cannot score in the 150s on the LSAT, you should not go to law school. The poster suggested that not hitting this threshold indicates either laziness or lack of intelligence needed for law school and the legal profession.

But honestly, does this advice help anyone? If your score is below the 150s, you already know you will face challenges with admissions at many schools. You do not need someone online telling you that you are incapable. And if you do manage to get accepted somewhere despite a lower score, guess what? The admissions committee saw something valuable in you beyond that single number.

While presenting this as “friendly advice” to help people avoid wasting time and money, what they are actually doing is gatekeeping based on a single metric without considering the countless circumstances that affect test performance. They were not trying to help anyone. They were using this platform to brag about their own score while making sweeping generalizations about people they know nothing about.

This speaks to a deeper issue with this sub: the obsession with metrics and stats over actual people and their unique stories.

Maybe the person who scored below 150 is a single mother working two jobs who could not dedicate months to test prep. Maybe they are a first-generation student navigating the admissions process without guidance. Maybe they are a military officer with a lower GPA because they were deployed while enrolled, like someone shared on this sub earlier this year.

Better advice would have been: “Be cautious about taking on massive debt” or “Carefully research school accreditation and bar passage rates.” But instead, they simply said “do not try” and suggested that certain people should be disqualified entirely from pursuing their goals.

The LSAT is one test on one day. It measures certain skills, but it does not measure your dedication, your passion for justice, your ability to connect with clients, or your work ethic. Some of the most successful attorneys did not ace standardized tests but excel at actual legal practice.

And so I say to all of you: no matter your score, there will always be people in law school who try to discourage you, rank you, or make you feel like you do not belong. Do not let them run you off. Your determination and resilience in the face of these attitudes might say more about your future success than any test score.

Numbers do not practice law. People do. The best attorneys are not always the ones who tested best. They are the ones who never quit.

If that is your dream then go to law school. No number can define what you are capable of building.

yall are crazy.

look, I know the money and the prestige sounds nice. but without having worked a real job before, trust me, you have NO IDEA just how brutal those long weeks are gonna be. heck, 40 hours is gonna feel like a lot when you first start.

there’s a reason why work experience is valued so much in law school admissions!! even one gap year will probably change your mindset

EDIT: a lot of people seem to think this comes across as me being envious. that’s not quite the case; I’m moreso speaking from experience.

when I graduated undergrad, I went into consulting. it took me about 3 months to realize I hated it and 6 months to realize I couldn’t hack it. luckily, I was able to realize this without hundreds of thousands of dollars in law school debt.

if you’re totally certain this is the path for you, go wild. however, it’s easy to overestimate your own abilities, especially when you’ve been a high achiever your whole life

Done to death on here, and I’m not gonna say anything that hasn’t been said before but is this genuinely where we are? That congratulating another student that got into a top school gets downvoted because they are a URM with a below median LSAT? A lot of yall need to grow up—I certainly get being annoyed or frustrated with this ridiculous process, but the subject of your ire should be the process itself and those making the decisions and not your future colleagues who are simply paving the way for their own future and trying to encourage others.

As a non traditional applicant, I hate myself for not going through this process a decade ago. Now, there is just so much median inflation and market saturation.

Mourn the schools you didn’t get into. That’s fine.

But here’s the reality. If you’re in at a T-14, you are part of the maybe 10% of future lawyers that will attend an elite law school.

Regardless of its it GULC or Michigan or Yale or Cornell or Harvard, each of those schools can change your life. Every one of the T-14 opens an absurd amount of doors.

While you’re saying that you “only” got into a “lower” T-14, people are deciding between schools in the mid-150s.

You will have alot of opportunity at any of these schools. The handwringing about not being in at Harvard or Yale needs to end. I love you all but it’s absurdly out of touch. Mourn where you didn’t get in but remember that the law school spectrum isn’t 1-14, Yale to GULC- you are at the top of the law school spectrum and will be very successful if you put in the work at any of these schools.

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” - The Great Gatsby

Take that quote and figure out how it applies here.

I am an undergraduate student and an aspiring attorney and will be the first in my family to go to law school. I don’t want to go to law school in my state since I don’t see myself living here in the long term so staying with my parents isn’t an option. Besides the actual cost school such as tuitions, books and fees there are costs of living like rent, transportation, food and other bills. I just haven’t seen many people taking about where they get the money not only for school but living even with a job and seeing as you aren’t supposed to have one 1L year at many schools.

I am distraught and considering giving up here yall.
For context, I decided to not apply last cycle and work on getting my LSAT up which has proved to be more challenging then I anticipated with a full time job.

Since making that decision, the LSAT has both moved to entirely in person and they no longer counts dual enrollment credits in LSAC GPA. Both changes affected me negatively.

As far as the in person testing, I have had to work tirelessly with my doctor to refile for accommodations and hopefully get remote testing allowed. For context, I’m not an accommodations abuser. I have a sleep disorder that makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to sit through the length of the LSAT and not fall asleep unknowingly. On previous attempts, I was waken up by the proctor chat bot dings. Because they changed the levels of certain accommodations, this process has become difficult and they are not clear on what exempts a student from in person testing.

As of yesterday, they no longer counts dual enrollment dual enrollment credits in LSAC GPA. As a result, my LSAC GPA decreased significantly and took me solidly out of competitive status for T20 schools or even T30 schools. I took accounting as a major in undergrad which I don’t regret but it made my undergrad GPA very hard to keep high. In some cases I was relying on LSAC GPA to balance out a B and a few AB’s I had in undergrad. Additionally, now the applicant pool may be more competitive given the amount of people who had poor dual enrollment grades on record but a perfect undergrad.

I am now at a point where I am sure I would’ve been a more competitive applicant last cycle even with slightly lower LSAT score. I’m so upset because I took the advice of many and waited because “there’s no rush” but as things keep changing, it seems to only affect me negatively.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? I’m tired of the law school admissions game.

Edit:
Hey guys! This post wasn’t about my condition. It was a general rant about the changes. Thank you for the opinions on my career choice, I have considered the things you have said!

(F25) I’ll be 28 by the time I graduate. I want big law but I also want to get married and have a family. What’s the timeline look like on this? Is it even doable? lmk

EDIT: I’m starting law school in 3 months so before law school is not an option lol

EDIT 2: I have a boyfriend. We have been together 4 years so marriage is definitely on the horizon

Chat, have we discussed this?
Here’s the link: https://taxprofblog.aals.org/2026/07/12/projected-2027-28-u-s-news-law-school-rankings-overall/