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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.

With more students than ever considering the joint J.D./M.B.A. degree, Law School Podcaster and MBA Podcaster take you behind-the-scenes at some of the top schools offering these dual degree programs, for our upcoming show, “Deciding Whether To Pursue a J.D. and an M.B.A.: When It Makes Sense To Go ‘Two-for-One.’” In our previous post, we looked at some of the details for gaining admission to different J.D./M.B.A. programs and then featured some perspective on these programs from the deans and faculty members responsible for building and establishing the J.D./M.B.A. program at Penn Law/Wharton and Northwestern Law /Kellogg.

The upcoming show will also help you evaluate the impact a joint degree might have on your career goals. While there’s no doubt that a student pursuing the joint degree will have less opportunity to go in depth academically on either side of the J.D./M.B.A. degree, our experts advise to look carefully at your career goals to determine whether the long-term investment makes sense.

For that perspective, Host Althea Legaspi spoke with Pamela Mittman, Assistant Dean of Career Services and Student Activities, New York University Stern School of Business. Dean Mittman says that holders of the joint degree “are viewed by employers as ‘extremely bright,’ [they]‘have a unique background’ with an ‘enhanced network,’ and that the joint degree can afford more flexibility in securing employment during a down business cycle.” Mittman explains, for example, that “those [from a recent graduating class] that might not have pursued business opportunities, were able to continue with their legal focus.”

Wendy Siegel, Director of Recruitment and Marketing, New York University School of Law, Office of Career Services confirmed that J.D./M.B.A. graduates have wide-ranging career opportunities for legal employment as well. Siegel notes that joint degree holders pursue careers in real estate, hedge funds, entertainment, and some go straight through to law firms, and consulting firms.” And while she says they don’t necessarily need to do a J.D./M.B.A. to pursue these opportunities, ‘[w]e consider them a ‘double threat.’”

John Amer, Client Partner, Legal, at Korn/Ferry International confirms that that those holding a joint J.D./M.B.A. are very marketable, especially during economic downturns, where “it’s about increasing one’s options, flexibility, and marketability.”

Finally, we hear from two J.D./M.B.A. graduates, Blair Ciesel, Recruiter at International Consulting Firm; JD/MBA Graduate from Northwestern University Law School/Kellogg School of Management and Rob Neal, Executive Director of Tournament Golf Foundation; JD/MBA Graduate from Emory University to hear how their joint degree impacted their careers.

Stay tuned for the full show!

Law School Podcaster and MBA Podcaster Team Up To Take A Closer Look At This Popular Joint Program: The JD/MBA Degree

With rising graduate school tuition costs, and an uncertain job market, there’s a lot of interest in joint J.D./M.B.A programs. More schools each year offer more options for pursuing the dual degree. So, Law School Podcaster and MBA Podcaster teamed up to bring you an entire show devoted to J.D./M.B.A. programs – “Deciding Whether To Pursue a J.D. and an M.B.A.: When It Makes Sense To Go ‘Two-for-One.’” In this segment, we take a close look at everything from the different types of programs, to the appeal of such programs, to what types of career opportunities are out there for those holding the joint degree.

Host Althea Legaspi gets things started by looking at how different schools might handle the application and admission process. She spoke with David E. Van Zandt, Dean of Northwestern University School of Law, who created the first three-year joint J.D./M.B.A. program in the nation. He outlined the application process at Northwestern Law and The Kellogg School of Management. “Ours is unique in that it’s a ‘fully integrated 3 year program,’ in which the student gets both the J.D. degree, which qualifies them to sit for the bar in any state in the country and an M.B.A. from Kellogg. It’s integrated in the sense there is a single application separate from either the M.B.A. or J.D. application, and you don’t have to get accepted by both schools, you just have to get accepted into the program. We accept the GMAT, and you are required to give us the GMAT score; you are not required to give us the LSAT. We also do financial aid on a ‘fully integrated’ basis, which means that ‘if you get a financial aid award, it is from the program itself.’”

The University of Pennsylvania Law School and The Wharton School also launched a 3 year condensed J.D./M.B.A. program in the Fall of 2009, in addition to the 4 year joint program previously offered. The new accelerated J.D./M.B.A. program is seven semesters squeezed into three years, including one summer semester between the first two years. Edward B. Rock, of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, The Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law and Co-Director of Institute for Law and Economics at Wharton, is the architect of the new 3 year program and he explains that applicants to the joint degree program at Penn have to satisfy admission requirements at both the law school and the business school. “In our program, you have to be admitted separately to the law school and to the Wharton School, so the law school requires the LSAT, and Wharton requires the GMAT or the GRE.” No easy feat to accomplish both, but Rock points out that if you can, you graduate holding a joint degree with “valuable advantages in the marketplace.”

Van Zandt and Rock highlighted some of the advantages and the limitations of the J.D./M.B.A. programs, and it’s clear that these programs are not for the faint-hearted. Dean Van Zandt acknowledges the Northwestern/Kellogg program is “pretty intense, you’re in school for 22 straight months.” The joint program at Penn Law and Wharton is also “very concentrated” and “tightly focused.” Rock explains that while the 3 year route has its advantages, there are ‘clearly limits’ and a ‘cost in that sense in the focus.’”

Stay tuned and listen to the full show to hear more.

We’ll have another post about some of the ways a J.D./M.B.A. can impact your career goals, featuring some highlights from our conversation with the Directors/Deans of Career Services at NYU Law School and Stern School of Business, a client partner at Korn Ferry International and some words of wisdom from two recent graduates from J.D./M.B.A. program on how the dual degree helped shape their careers.

It’s not exactly news that the recession has significantly impacted the legal job market. Big Law firm hiring is down and there’s fewer opportunities and increased competition for public sector jobs as well. But, rather than just dish about “the number of layoffs” and “which Big Law firms are deferring start dates,” we talked to the experts for you to learn specifically where the changes in the marketplace are, strategies that applicants and students can use to maximize their job seeking opportunities and what our experts see as the emerging trends in legal recruiting. We’ve got it all covered in our new show, The Current Economic Environment: What It Means to Law School Applicants and Students.

Law School Podcaster Host, Diana Jordan gets right into things by getting a snapshot from our guests of the current recruitment landscape and the latest on what’s happening on law school campuses around the nation during the great rite of passage for students – the Fall Recruiting Season. She begins with insightful analysis from Jim Leipold, the Executive Director at NALP, National Association for Law Placement, a nearly 30-year-old non-profit, serving the needs of all those involved in the legal employment process. He says that while the downturn has significantly affected certain sectors, there are some silver linings. “The current recession has certainly had a dramatic impact and it’s had an impact across all sectors but it’s hit hardest probably the largest law firms whose practices were the most closely tied to the financial sector and, in particular, firms in New York City. And also public practice settings that require public funding or grant funding. Those are the two areas that have had the most dramatic slowdown. In fact, there’s a lot of firms positioned in the middle that have thrived during the recession, in part because they have lower cost for offering legal services to corporations. And, at a time, when “Corporate America” has been trying to save money on their legal spend, some of the middle-tier law firms have actually been using this economic recession to grow and hire more lawyers.”

While the number of employers coming to campus is generally smaller and employers that are coming to campus, typically are hosting fewer schedules and seeing fewer students than they have in the past, Leipold says that law firms are not withdrawing entirely from the recruiting process, but they may be delaying it. “ I think law firms have just seen that they need to almost put recruiting on hold for a little while until they see where this settles, when the economy is going to pick up, what sort of work they have. They’re not so much withdrawing from the recruiting process but delaying it, hoping to get a better sense of what their own situation will be financially.”

Leipold also shared NALP’s observations about the growing diversity in recruiting practices that the recession has helped to accelerate and may support in the future. Listen to the show to hear what NALP considers the future might look like for law firm recruitment.

During this show, we also get strategic advice directly from those on the front lines with the students and grads going through the job search in this uncertain market by talking with Carole Montgomery, Director of the Career Development Office at The George Washington University Law School and Kevin Donovan, Senior Assistant Dean for Career Services at the University of Virginia Law School.

We also hear how the recession has affected applications and financial aid from Jason Wu Trujillo, Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at The University of Virginia Law School and from Johann Lee, the Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Northwestern University Law School.

We are also joined by Ashby Jones, who writes the Law Blog at the Wall Street Journal and covers notable trends in the legal marketplace for the business community. He gives us his unique perspective on the job market during this tough economy and some valuable advice on practice areas that are in demand now and those that may continue to see growth in the future.

Listen to the full show on our website or from iTunes.

The LSAT®. You’ve heard a lot about it. You know it’s important; maybe even the most important part of the law school application process. But, what does it test? How important is it relative to other factors in the admissions process? How do law school admissions committees use the test to evaluate your application? Is there really a way to “prepare” for the test? Can you improve your score? What can you do you if you have a bad day on test day?

Law School Podcaster Host, Althea Legaspi, tackles these questions, and others, in our recent segment, “The LSAT®: Everything You Need To Know About The Test.” She spoke with law school admissions deans as well as test preparation companies to explore all the aspects of the LSAT®, including some of the myths surrounding the test, and the best approach for preparing for the test.

Just how important is the LSAT®? We went directly to the people who make the admissions decisions. Dean Sarah Zearfoss, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions at The University of Michigan Law School explains how schools use the test to evaluate applications: “As a general matter, it is just one piece of the pie, and I can tell you from my experience that what we’re looking for is an indication that the person has what it takes to do the work here. The LSAT® is a useful tool for helping us to assess that. But beyond that, once we’ve satisfied that question or satisfied our minds about that question, then we’re looking for all the other stuff that makes a class interesting and a student body great. ” While it is not the “be-all and end-all” that students may think it is, Zearfoss acknowledges that she “wouldn’t want to try to go through 5,600 applications without having some kind of apples to apples measure like that.”

So, is this a test students can really prepare for? Our guest Deans of Admission advise applicants to take the time to prepare. Chloe Reid, Associate Dean and Dean of Admissions for USC Gould School of Law, says that “[s]tudents can prepare, can study; if that were not the case, then I’m certain the Law School Admission Council would not be in the business also of providing [LSAT] test materials and copies of old tests for people to purchase and certainly study by, and certainly all these testing organizations wouldn’t necessarily be as successful as they are in their ventures in terms of the numbers of people who come to them for prep services.”

Our test prep experts also talk about their strategies for the LSAT®, the best ways to prepare for the test and provide advice that can help test-takers. Jeff Thomas, Assistant Director of Pre-Law Programs at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, provided us with specific insights about questions on the test. He says “that while there are multiple ways to answer some questions, there is one that is most effective and most efficient.” Thomas says that it is a “skills-based test” and “one that students can definitely improve performance on.”

David Killoran is the CEO and Director of Course Development for PowerScore Test Preparation and he has written several “Bibles” or studying guides that help students prepare for the LSAT®. He says that “there is a strategy to taking the LSAT® and that there are a variety of different levels of that strategy they give you in their courses.”

Listen to the full show to hear more detailed advice from our panel of experts about strategies for the LSAT® and learn more.