Archive for November, 2009

“Financing Law School” Giveaway: Twitter Contest!

Enter for a chance to win a free copy of Accepted’s essential guide to “Financing Your Future” in our Twitter contest!

We’re giving away three copies of Accepted.com’s new Ebook Financing Your Future: Winning Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards for Grad School, by Linda Abraham and Rebecca Blustein. In Financing Your Future, an instantly downloadable Ebook, Linda Abraham and Rebecca Blustein reveal practical, hands-on advice to help you complete your fellowship, scholarship, and award applications and obtain those critical funds. Linda Abraham is president and founder of Accepted.com, and has advised literally thousands of successful applicants over the last fifteen years. At UCLA’s Scholarship Resource Center, Rebecca Blustein assisted students at all levels with their essays and personal statements for scholarship, fellowship, and grant applications, from newly-admitted freshmen to graduate school, professional school, and Ph.D. students.

All you have to do is sign up to follow Law School Podcaster on Twitter (LAWPodcaster) and tweet about our new show “Financing Your JD,” mentioning LAWPodcaster! Then email info@lawschoolpodcaster.com with a copy of your tweet and your preferred contact information. Remember to put “Book Giveaway” in the subject line. You will then be automatically entered in our contest.

All entries must be received by January 4, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST to be considered eligible for this contest (but we welcome your tweets about our shows anytime after that too!). We will contact winners by email within 3 days.

This is a game of chance. Odds of winning are based on eligible number of entries. Winners will be selected at random using an independent auto-generated selection process available at http://www.random.org/integers/ .

Good luck! And thanks in advance for the Tweets!

You can listen now to our new podcast, Financing Your JD: How to Pay for Law School, which runs down what you need to know about paying for your law school education.

In this segment, Law School Podcaster Host/Producer, Bonnie Petrie, spoke to Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services at Fordham School of Law and Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of two essential financial aid information and planning websites FinAid.org and Fastweb.org and had them break down the different financing options available to law students.

We also get expert advice not only on obtaining and paying back student loans from Patricia Nash Christel, Sallie Mae’s expert in Saving, Planning, and Paying for college, but we also get important insight from Mike Spivey, the Assistant Dean for Career Services at Washington University Law School about assessing how financial aid considerations will impact your career choices.

We also bring you an update on how the federal student loan program will be affected by current legislation before Congress. Finaid.org Publisher, Mark Kantrowitz tells us that the US House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (SAFRA). “It cuts the costs of the student loan program by eliminating the federally-guaranteed student loan program, and replacing it with 100% direct lending from the federal government. The savings will be used to index the Pell Grant to inflation plus 1% and to expand the Perkins Loan Program and to establish a College Access and Completion Innovation Fund to try to increase the rates at which students graduate from college.” Tune in to learn more about what this might mean to law school applicants and students.

Listen to the full show to hear all the details about financing law school.

Here are the answers to Atlas LSAT’s Logic Games Challenge #16: Composite Board: (1)E
(2)C (3)B (4)C (5)A (6)B (7)E. Good luck with the next challenge!

Our next show, “Financing Your JD” runs down what you need to know about paying for your law school education. In this segment, Law School Podcaster Host/Producer, Bonnie Petrie, had our experts break it all down for listeners. In our recent blog post, we previewed some of the information we cover in this show about “free money resources.” Tune into the show to hear our experts cover the landscape on all the different loans options available, and then tackle the question of how applicants qualify for each. Another topic covered in this segment – what about those law students who aren’t seeking jobs with BIGLAW or who want a career in government service or non-profit work? What then?

We asked Mark Kantrowitz at FinAid.org to tell us how much debt a student should reasonably take on. “The general rule of thumb is that you should not borrow more than your expected starting salary for your entire education. So, if you expect to be earning $100,000 a year after you graduate, then you can borrow up to $100,000 and easily afford to repay that debt in a ten-year term, which is a standard repayment term. However, let’s suppose that you’re intending to go into public service law, such as civil legal service attorney or public defender or a prosecutor where your salary might be much lower than $100,000. In that case, there is a new repayment plan called “income-based repayment” that bases the monthly payments not on the amount you owe but rather on your discretionary income.”

This program dovetails nicely with “Loan Forgiveness.” Mark Kantrowitz says “[f]or students who enter into public service and are working full-time in public service for a period of ten years, and their loans have to also be in the direct loan program, at the end of that ten-year period any remaining debt is forgiven. So you can use “income-based repayment” to reduce the monthly payments to an affordable level. For most borrowers, this will end up being less than 10% of your gross income and to prevent the loans from hanging over you for the rest of your life, there’s forgiveness at the end of ten years. If you don’t participate in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, then the forgiveness occurs in “income-based repayment” after 25 years. The forgiveness after ten years is not taxable. Under current law, the forgiveness after 25 years is taxable, but there’s a chance Congress may change that.”

Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services at Fordham University School of Law, Stephen Brown, is excited about these repayment options. “This is an amazing program for people who are absolutely sure they will spend ten years in government or the non-profit world. If you do not spend ten years in government or non-profit work, there are penalties and this could become a very expensive program. If you spend ten years, this is the greatest program anyone could imagine for young people working in government or working in non-profit.”

Assistant Dean for Career Services at Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law, Michael Spivey, explains how the amount of debt students take on will influence their choices. “If you start making $160,000 a year, you can take on significant debt. But there’s bimodality in market salary in that the vast majority of students graduate from the vast majority of law schools, and receive about $50,000 to $60,000 to $70,000 a year. There are now 200 ABA-approved law schools, and that number is ever growing, and there are more and more students with bright eyes who look at the $160,000 salary and, I think, fail to note that most students are only making $50,000 to $60,000 to $70,000 upon graduation.”

Our experts agree that you should think carefully about what you want to do with your JD before you start signing loan papers.

Listen to the full show, “Financing Your JD,” which covers all this and a full run-down on the various loan options available to help you figure out how to pay for your law school education.

Our next show, “Financing Your JD” runs down what you need to know about paying for your law school education. In this segment, Law School Podcaster Host/Producer, Bonnie Petrie, spoke to Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services at Fordham School of Law and Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of two essential financial aid information and planning websites FinAid.org and Fastweb.org.

These experts detail the many financing options that will help you pay for law school and, not surprisingly, a lot of the focus is on federal student loan options. But, one thing that neither Brown nor Kantrowitz wants you to overlook is the completely free money that’s out there. This can be an overwhelming process. Kantrowitz says his website, Fastweb.org, can make finding free money a little less daunting. “There are a variety of fellowships available to help pay for law school, and the best way to find out about these awards is to search the Fastweb scholarship database, which includes not only undergraduate scholarships but also awards for graduate and professional students. This will match your background against each of the awards and show you a list of the awards for which you are qualified. Then it’s up to you to apply for them and hopefully get them. For example, I am aware of some law awards for minority students who are typically underrepresented in law schools.”

Some of these scholarships may be so small it seems like it’s not worth the trouble to apply. Fordham’s Brown says it is. “It adds up. Even if it’s $500 or $1000, its money that the student doesn’t have to earn on his own or borrow. Look under or sign up for the scholarship searches, poke around, ask around, really use the web as a resource for that. Anything to reduce debt is a good thing.” There is also the possibility you might qualify for or win a grant. “On a need basis or merit basis, and those very much vary by school, but some schools are offering lots of need money, some offering lots of merit money, and some places in between.”

Once you’ve exhausted all of your free money resources, it’s time to start looking at loans. We’ll preview more about that soon. We also get expert advice not only on financing options from Patricia Nash Christel, Sallie Mae’s expert in Saving, Planning, and Paying for college, but we also get important insight from Mike Spivey, the Assistant Dean for Career Services at Washington University Law School about assessing how financial aid considerations will impact your career choices.

Stay tuned for the full show, “Financing Your JD,” which runs down everything you need to know about paying for your law school education.

It’s a busy time right now for those of you working on your law school applications. One frequent question we hear over and over again from applicants is “when is the best time to submit my law school application?” When is the best time to get that application in front of the admissions committee? Is there any significance to timing?

Would you like to hear what some of the Deans of Admissions at the law schools you are applying to have to say in response to these questions? In a few of our recent episodes, Law School Podcaster spoke with the people in charge of admissions at UCLA School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, University of Chicago Law School and George Washington University Law School and asked them to share their views on when the best time is to submit your application and the reasons for this strategy.

UCLA School of Law, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Rob Schwartz tells us that, “in general, it’s better to be able to apply earlier in the process — particularly for very selective law schools that are getting thousands and thousands of applicants.” In our segment, “Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now to Help You Get Accepted,” Dean Schwartz explains: “Most people will tell you that it is certainly better to submit your application earlier than later. For example, at UCLA, our application deadline is February 1st, we received about 8,200 applicants this year and we’re only going to admit a class of 300. We do admit conservatively enough because we know that we’re going to be getting applications through February 1st and we know there are going to be applications that will come in later that we are going to want to admit to the law school.”

What does “early” mean? Schwartz says that “[g]enerally, it is good advice to get it in as soon as possible. I generally would say to people to try to shoot for the latest by the Christmas, New Year’s period and if you can get it in by Thanksgiving or between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even better.”

Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University Law Center, Andy Cornblatt, agrees with that time frame. In our segment, “Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Application,” Dean Cornblatt offered tips to law school applicants and said “I think probably the most underrated piece of this, is when to apply. Most law schools have rolling admissions and that means the sooner you apply, the better your chances are of being admitted. So while the application deadline is February 1st, I strongly suggest that applicants get their application in before Thanksgiving and that means usually that most of our successful applicants take the LSAT in June or October of the application cycle that they are in. December is just fine, but if you want early consideration, which really helps your chances, you want to have already have taken the LSAT, which means that I would recommend that most students, if they can, take it in June or October of the application cycle that they are in.”

The application process provides several opportunities for applicants to stand out and our experts tell us that getting your application in early communicates something significant to the admissions committee. Dean Cornblatt at Georgetown offered this insight: “Someone who is on top of their game and who is applying early and who is in the mix sooner rather than later. That communicates to us someone who is organized and someone who is really interested.”

While earlier is better than later, don’t submit your application until it’s in top form and error free! Consider these words of advice from Anne Richard, Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, for George Washington University Law School. “The time to submit the application is when it is done and in the best shape possible but, earlier is better, because I believe most law schools have a rolling admissions process.”

Finally, even if you get your application in early, don’t read too much into the fact that you don’t hear back right away. Assistant Dean for Admissions at The University of Chicago Law School, Ann Perry, advises applicants to understand that the rolling admissions cycle is a process that requires some patience. “I think the applicant needs to just realize that they need patience in the admissions cycle, meaning that just when they turn in their application, they are not going to get an answer within a week. They need to give the schools time to review all of their applications as they are making their decision.”

Tune in to the full shows, “Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Help You Get Accepted” and “Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-by-Step Guide To Creating The Best Application” to hear more tips from these experts on how to make your law school application stand out!

Law School Podcaster is also working on a new show, “The Law School Personal Statement and Letters of Recommendation,” to help you with these important parts of your application.

Every 2 weeks, our friends at Atlas LSAT Test Prep post a new Logic Game Challenge, and follow up with the answer when the next challenge is posted. Law School Podcaster will post these bi-weekly challenges on our blog so our listeners can join in!

Are you ready for the challenge?

Atlas LSAT Logic Game Challenge #16:Composite Board

Atlas Industries is constructing composite boards that include at least 6 but no more than 7 layers. The materials that are used as layers in the boards are categorized as either insulating, metallic, or wooden, and a board must include at least one layer of each of the three categories of material. No other categories of materials are used.

There are exactly three insulating materials available – fleece, Gore-Tex and hay – two metallic materials – krypton and lead – and three wooden materials – pine, oak and spruce. A board may not contain two layers made of the same exact material. During the construction of a board, the bottom layer is always numbered 1, with layers above that numbered in increasing and consecutive order until the top layer, which is numbered 6 or 7. A layer touches only the layers that lie above or below it in a board.

The construction of the boards must adhere to the following conditions:

-Any insulating layer that is used must touch exactly two layers, neither one of which is an insulator.
-A layer of lead cannot touch a layer of fleece.
-Krypton can touch fleece only if krypton touches two insulating layers.
-No wooden layer can touch a metallic one.
-The top layer is wooden if, and only if, the bottom layer is as well.

1. Which one of the following could be a list of the layers used in a board, in order from bottom to top?
(A) pine, oak, Gore-Tex, lead, fleece, spruce
(B) krypton, Gore-Tex, spruce, fleece, oak, pine
(C) spruce, hay, krypton, Gore-Tex, lead, pine
(D) pine, fleece, krypton, lead, Gore-Tex, oak
(E) oak, spruce, fleece, krypton, Gore-Tex, pine

2. If fleece is second, each of the following could be true EXCEPT:
(A) A layer of insulator is sixth.
(B) A layer of wood is seventh.
(C) A layer of metal is sixth.
(D) A layer of insulator is fourth.
(E) A layer of wood is sixth.

3. If spruce is the fourth of seven layers, each of the following could be true, EXCEPT:
(A) Oak touches Gore-Tex.
(B) Fleece touches spruce.
(C) Pine touches hay.
(D) Pine touches spruce.
(E) Lead touches hay.

4. If lead touches krypton and Gore-Tex, and pine is not used in the construction of a given board, how many different arrangements of layers can be used?
(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 4
(D) 5
(E) 6

5. Each of the following could be true EXCEPT:
(A) Lead is the first layer and fleece is the fifth.
(B) Lead touches Gore-Tex and hay.
(C) Pine touches oak and spruce.
(D) Oak is the second layer and Gore-Tex is the sixth.
(E) Krypton and lead touch each other.

6. Which one of the following, if substituted for the condition that a layer of wood cannot touch one of metal, would have the same effect on determining the arrangement of layers?
(A) All three layers of wood are used.
(B) All three layers of insulator are used.
(C) Both layers of metal are used.
(D) Each layer of insulator must touch both a layer of wood and one of metal.
(E) Each layer of metal touches at least one layer of insulator.

7. If two wooden layers touch each other and two metallic layers touch each other, what is the greatest possible number of layers in between Gore-Tex and spruce?
(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
(E) 4

Think you have the answers? E-mail them to logicmaster@atlaslsat.com. First person to submit the correct answers wins a $25 Amazon gift card.

The best explanation posted on www.atlaslsat.com/forums wins $25 as well. Writing your own questions earns you brownie points in that contest.

Coming Soon to Law School Podcaster’s Blog…

From their Hall of Fame & Archive, THE LOGIC GAME CHALLENGE, brought to you by our friends at Atlas LSAT Test Prep. Every two weeks, Atlas LSAT Test Prep posts a “Logic Game Challenge” on their blog and follows up with the answer when the next game is posted.

Law School Podcaster will be reprinting the LSAT Logic Game Challenge, and we will follow up with the answers, so that our listeners can see if they are up for the challenge!!

The following post is from our friends at Atlas LSAT Test Prep.

You’ve taken the LSAT! Hoorah . . . but how did you do? If you’re one of the many folks considering whether to re-take or not, you should take a look at this blog post.

One interesting development in the latest LSATs is the introduction of a new strain of question in logic games. The LSAT has begun to ask which rule change would have no effect on the scenarios possible under the rest of the game’s constraints. One of the impressive aspects of the LSAT is how it continues to evolve so that it remains an accurate assessment of one’s ability to make inferences. Strict executors were thrown for a loop by those questions since they’re new and not directly covered in most courses or books. Flexible test-takers were able to adapt. One of the major considerations with such a question — and a line of thinking that can help you avoid the time-consuming testing out of each answer choice – is “How does the removed rule affect the game?” All rules limit the possibilities, so the challenge is to figure out how that happens in relation to the other rules.