Major life decision, confused- what would you do?

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

I have a problem.
All the regulars here know I will be starting law school in August. Though here is my dilemma:
I have been accepted to study in San Diego at California Western School of Law. And that is where I was certain I was going to study. Well I just received word 2 days ago from Florida International University College of Law I have been accepted there. Ok your thinking what’s the hard decision. If I go to Cal Western I will pay 16,200 per semester for tuition alone whether in state resident or as out of state resident, this is $32,400 a year times 3 years for a grand total of $97,200 tuition alone. I won’t be adding in the other costs such as housing, books, food etc because they are comparable to Florida.

Now at Florida International University I will pay as an out of state resident the first 2 semesters but I can qualify as an in state resident for my last 2 ½ years, because my mother moved to Florida in Jan 2005 in Florida and bought a house (and I have paper work that satisfies the requirement to become a resident since she owns real property in Florida.) In most cases even if you live in a state you just moved to for a year it doesn’t qualify for residency requirements if you are going to school fulltime. The cost for FIU is $10,800 per semester for an out of state ($21,600 a year) afterwards I would be paying only $2400 per semester as an in state resident. For a grand total of 21600+2400+2400= $26600.

In addition to both schools I will have to pay the incidentals such as books, housing, food, utilities, car, gas, etc which works out to around $24,000 a year. Figure $1,000 rent per month average and $1,000 per month for everything else.

Now I have like $68,000 saved up so I was going to use that for law school. And the rest was going to be loans.

CalWest $97,200 + $24,000(3) = $169,000 - $68,000 = $101,000 in loans over 10 years OUCH!!! Works out to like a $1,200 per month loan payment at 6.5%

FIU $26,600 + $24,000(3) = $98,600 - $68,000 = $30,600 Works out to like a $400 per month loan payment at 6.5%. But I most likely wont have this big of a loan because the FIU program is a part time program allowing me to work in law offices my 2nd and 3rd year while attending school, while the CalWest is a fulltime program and to do your required 2nd and 3rd year in office work, you have to take time off.

But I have other things to consider.
Surf- The way I look at it this doesn’t have much merit because I will be studying so much I won’t have a life for 3 years anyway so during study it doesn’t have that much importance. But on the other hand in Fl you have to wait for surf and when it comes you have to jump on it or miss it. Because its usually ankle to knee high. In California it’s like HI there is hardly a day where you can’t find something at least head-high. If I just wanted to go out for a few hours once a month I could do this in California and be guaranteed some surf
Also if I go to CalWest I will be indebt up to my eye balls and once I get out I wont have a life and will work like a slave whoring myself to get rid of my debts for at least 6-10 years so I won’t be doing much surfing. If I go to Florida I can pick and choose my work once I get out and will actually have free time to enjoy because I will have not a dime to pay back.

Next thing to consider is reputation and ranking on the national level and job outlook.

CalWest has a strong local reputation for the S. California region but nothing more. On a national level it’s just another law school. It has been around a long time, chartered in 1928. it is ranked out of 182 ABA accredited law schools nationwide at around 90 in terms of education received and job outlook nothing great but not bottom of the barrel. They have a decent job placement office, with over a 1,700 alumni.

FIU on the other hand has no reputation, the university opened up its law school in 2001. It was granted provisional American Bar Association status the day it opened (this is unheard of, so this is an impressive statistic- most schools go at least a decade before being granted provisional status) and if they complied with the guidelines which they have they will be granted full status after 5 years which is this Sept 2006. FIU is the newest of the Florida State University system having been chartered in 1972. But it has become one of their biggest and best funded and is slated to take the top spot (it has over 30,000 day/ night/ part time undergrad and grad students attending—1,000 faculty and over 180,000 alumni). Concerning ranking as a law school there is 10 ABA accredited laws schools (not including FIU) in Florida with the state schools taking the top 3 spots (University of Miami is private and ranked at 4th). In terms of national ranking the states schools range between 40- 68, FIU since it is so new hasn’t been ranked but is expected to rank within this range, and within the top 4 out of 11 in Florida. This will look better on my resume and help in job searches. Since they opened their school they have only graduated 2 classes of about 36 students each so there is no alumni base to look for jobs. But you still have the full state school system to network through. Plus word is FIU law job placements office works very hard to get you work.

You have to consider is how modern the school is, in terms of teaching techniques, infrastructure, and the library size and resources available.

CalWest is the same building since 1928 although they went through a major renovation in 2002. FIU started construction on a new 4 story building in 2004 and was finished April 2006 so I would be attending classes in a brand new building with modern infrastructure all digital multimedia training with power point type computer animation presentations gone the days of drawing on large paper boards to describe crime scenes. FIU has a larger library with more resources. FIU has huge funding and resources available due to it is a state school, while CalWest is a smaller private school and I would assume limited funding. But CalWest has a lot of clinical programs such as the “Innocence Project” something that FIU is severely lacking. And clinical programs are where you make your connections and get practice.

Last important thing is Bar passage rate for first time takers recently graduated.

CalWest is 79% with the average for the state at 61%. California is considered the hardest state bar to pass and confers prestige if you are certified in California. Top schools such as Berkley or Stanford are around 90% with bottom schools such as Golden Gate at 47%.

FIU is 89% with the average for the state at 86%. Florida is considered one of the easiest state bars to pass. U of Florida is like 94% and a bottom school like Saint Thomas at 53%.


Well I can’t think of much more and I am leaning toward FIU mostly due to the $$$ now but since it is so new I am very unsure. In fact I am visiting there on June 5th to speak with students and faculty to get a feeling and to help make up my mind.

[driftfast180]

Florida is chill and very inexpensive but if the school isnt that reknown will it be worth it? Surf in central Florida you prob get chest high waves a couple times a month. Thats no including the summer flat spells for 3 months. Hurricane season resembles hi. at times so thats good but cali over all kills it. The girls here are hot but the old people will wreck your car. Some of the girls over here are a little stuck up, I heard that the girls in cali or socal are much better. Supposably since there are more hotties in socal there standards arent as high. Well, at least thats what one of my boys told me.

The major disadvantage for Florida is way expensive gas every hurricane season.

the advantage of Fla is during hurricane season. Besides the waves......when the hurricanes hit last year because there was such a large disaster area w/ katrina etc....All the beer companies sell a 20 pack for 3-5 bucks. There was nowhere for beer to go so all the budwiser plants in fla. which is alot had to just get rid of it. For like a week you could get a 20 pack of anything in bottles or cans for $3

Spring break of course, you can goto panama city, key west, daytona beach , south beach miami etc...


Hope this helps with your decision. If ya end up comin to the east coast. Let me know Ill show ya how the haoles do it

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

1. I'm married.
2. I'm 35, I'm in bed by 12:30 am latest, not a party animal (happens when you get married.
3. FIU is in Miami
4. Even when you have a school break, all you do is sleep then study or you fall behind.
5. I know about hurricanes, I am from Puerto Rico.
Law School is 3 years of hell.

if the school isnt that reknown will it be worth it?

That is the million dollar question. Actually the $70,000 question.

[driftfast180]

my 2 cents. If ya plan on stayin in fla after school I would goto the fla one. If not goto cali. Ya get what ya pay for but if you stay in fla at least the job market will be more familiar with the law school. Good luck, its a tough decision.

[driftfast180]

The school Im going to is really expensive to but its worth it because of the resources they supply ya with. For instance, my career services department goes to hell and back w/ social networking etc.meeting with hiring managers..seein what the market wants.just so they can get us good jobs.


I would say if ya have a good career services dep. then go for it

[uncle]

IMHO - I'd stick with the original plan. If you pass the bar in California, you can pass the bar anywhere. Even Hawaii. California has more waves. If you do get any down time, at least you'll have something out there to surf. You are closer to Hawaii, so if you have a chance, you can hop a flight over here. Also, didn' you just move to California? Now you gotta drag your wife across the U.S. to go to Florida. She might not appreciate that.
Also, Florida has the highest rate of shark attacks. But, they're mostly reef shark which will just take a hunk out of your leg and run off. If they get you in just the right spot, you could lose a limb and maybe not surf anymore. At least in California the sharks are so big, you'll just get eaten and die.
Once you get out of law school, you'll be a rich attorney cashing in on all your billable hours and will pay off your loan in no time.

[driftfast180]

At least in California the sharks are so big, you'll just get eaten and die.

I dont know if that glass is half full or empty

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

I hear you uncle, those points are valid. Yes the wifey is pissed that we might be moving all the way back across the country, especially since she dislikes Miami (we both lived there for a couple of years about a decade ago) Me I could care less either way about Miami and when I grad I would probably moved back west or to HI but she dislikes Miami alot though $70,000 + change isnt something to take granted.

As for the job outlook natiowide there is a glut of lawyers so its a buyers market not good for me. Omly the str8 A's have assured jobs upon grad. so I will have to bust my ass, and having a wife nagging me constantly that she hates Fl won't help. I got a lot of thinking to do.

[goro]

imho, i'd goto florida...it all don't mean nothing in the end anyways...cali is quite a price premium w/ no guarantee you'd make it back...pass the easier bar first and then if you still got the gumption, study and take the cali bar...i know a number of people who did this...i went to an ivy for grad school mainly cause of prestige...but i didn't pay a dime as they paid me...i still regret i did this as i think i now would have been better off at the meat and potatoes place...the ivy sheepskin don't do shit for me here anyways...but then again my wife is a very patient and tolerant lady and willing to forgive lots of transgressions...

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

Update in the end I chose Florida. No matter how much I looked at it the price premium I couldn't justify paying that. It wasn't worth it like you said, maybe if the school in Cali would have been in the top 20 nationwide....possibly, but to be over 100 grand in debt vs. no debt I just couldnt accept that. I can deal with knee high waves for 3 years--plus the bahamas are only a 45 minute flight away and if I see a sure swell on the way and I have time I might hop over for a day or two. Though most likely I would go home to PR for the 2 days since I could go standby the last minute with just a bookbag and no checked luggage. As at my parents house I already have a board there, plus extra clothes, can use my moms car, and the food would be home cooked.

[driftfast180]

Youll get to surf more then ya think. All winter ya get beefy noreasters...yea for the windslop and during the summer we get record number hurricanes. Hell its june and we already had triple over head surf in the gulf from a Tropical Storm. Im sure ya like it,plus the cost of living is very cheap in comparison. Good luck

[driftfast180]

http://www.surfjaxpier.com/gallery.php check it out. It has images of the most recent storm. It wont be as bad as ya think bro