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Over the last few days, I've been trying to recount the amount of money spent towards anything law school related since my decision to pursue a J.D. Honestly, it makes me a teeny tiny bit sick to my stomach. Being that I am solely responsible for not only supporting myself, but also my child, I have to be extremely discerning about where I choose to spend the dollars I earn. It is not to say that I regret any of it, because I don't, but it is to say that anyone who is thinking about making a decision to pursue a J.D. degree needs to take into account that doing so is far from cheap.

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At this point I know of the expenses I've already incurred such as, a KAPLAN prep class, application fees, LSAC report fees, travel expenses (should you choose to visit various schools), my seat deposit, my security deposit for housing, deposits for utilities, postage costs for external scholarships, and moving expenses. I know there will be additional expenses once I get to College Town and am trying to plan accordingly.

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Then there's that situation where you aren't allowed to work during your first year. Honestly, the concept on its face is a bit foriegn to me because I was one of those people who worked full-time, sometimes with overtime, and carried a full undergrad schedule. It was alot, but I made it work and was pleased with the results. Initially, I thought I would buck the trend and get a little job anyway....but after talking to several law students, it became clear that being hard-headed probably wouldn't serve me well in this situation. "So, you mean to tell me that I'll have to rely solely on LOANS TO LIVE?!?!?!?" The thought still makes me shudder...just because it's not the way I've been used to living.

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So, now I'm working on adjusting my spending habits. I anticipate doing things like clipping coupons, cooking more often (YIKES!), staying FAR away from malls and other shopping centers, and creating a budget that I can hopefully stick to. At this point, I look at it as a challenge. I always LOVE a good challenge!

Law Preview

I first heard about Law Preview (www.lawpreview.com) while reading "Law School Confidential" (a book I would recommend to all 0L's and anyone who is considering attending law school). It's basically a mini law school boot-camp that provides an overview of the subjects taught in the first year of law school. It takes place over the course of six days and they have classes all summer at various law schools across the country. Now, like anything else that has to do with law school and law school prep, this course isn't cheap. However, some super sleuthing allowed me to come across a need-based scholarship that would cover most of the cost of the class. Aside from filing out the application and providing supporting documentation, the only requirement is that once you become an attorney, you "pay it forward" and provide legal assistance to three needy people, free of charge. How great is that?!?!

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After reviewing the website, reading the testimonials, and even emailing one of the students that attended the course, I became convinced that it would be something that would definitely give me an edge. I feel as though I need all the help I can get and I want to have a certain level of confidence once the "games" begin. Not to mention, if you attend the course, you get discounts on your first semester books AND free study aids.

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So a couple of months ago, I sent in my application for the scholarship and imagine my delight a couple of days ago, when I received an email saying that I was chosen for the scholarship! I'm sure it's going to be a hectic week, full of lots of work, but I'm really excited to attend and will definitely make the most of the information I receive.

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I will definitely provide a play-by-play of the course. I think it will be interesting!

Place to Live?...CHECK!

So, it seems that each step thus far in the process of preparing for law school comes with its own set of issues. This week, I had to deal with the complications that came with securing a place to live. After making a visit a couple of weeks ago, I was settled on our future home. This time I even submitted my application BEFORE leaving town (didn’t want to make that mistake twice). I emailed the woman who showed me the property to make sure she had everything she needed to process my application and it looked as though things were moving along pretty smoothly. That is, until I received the lease agreement. The rental amount on the lease was 25 bucks more than what she initially told me. So after an email and two phone calls, she tells me that her owner assigned all of the units that rented for the price we discussed and the more expensive units were all she had available. I respond by telling her to remove my application because I wasn’t interested. I mean, I’m on a budget and the most irresponsible thing I could do is accept a price that was outside of my budget. Besides, I had other options.

About an hour later I get a phone call from the owner of the property. She was interested in what happened to make me withdraw my application. I told her the situation, I found information on the internet that quoted a specific price, emailed her property manager who confirmed the specific price, viewed the property with the manager who once again confirmed the specific price, but then I end up with a lease locking me in with a different price, which I didn’t plan on paying. The owner was really nice in explaining that basically her property manager screwed up. The price on the lease is apparently what the unit rents for presently, and the price I was quoted might have been a winter special. Regardless, I wasn’t going to pay more than what she verbally quoted me, on more than one occasion. The owner apologized for her manager’s mistake and agreed to change the paperwork to the verbal quote. Problem solved!

This is definitely a situation that has some characteristics of a hypothetical that could be used in a contracts class, LOL! Tokyo Kiss got me thinking about it after the whole “unsigned check in the mail” debacle. What if I really wanted the unit for the price quoted? Would I have a cause of action to get the unit at the price verbally quoted? What if I signed the lease without paying attention to the altered rent amount? Ok, I’m going to stop now, LOL!

Admitted Students Day

Admitted Students Day presents the opportunity to visit the schools you've been accepted to in order to determine if you are ready to take the next step of forking over the cash necessary to reserve the seat offered. At this point I realized that somehow I miscounted the schools to which I have applied, (it was nine instead of 8...weird) but even with this oversight I'm still pretty set on which school I plan on attending. Although my "choice school" has not yet scheduled its Admitted Students Day, I know I will be one of the first to register.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to notice a trend with some of the schools and their Admitted Students Day. Schools are offering travel stipends and reimbursements to perspective students. So far it's ranges from $75-$250 for one or two days. It's nice to see these schools realize the cost associated with visiting a school, especially if you are attending out-of-state. I'm on the fence about whether I will take advantage of the offers, mostly because I don't want to waste my time or anyone else's if I'm not totally sold on the school. On the other hand, you can't really tell what a school is about by just looking at their viewbook. Furthermore, if time (as opposed to a lot of money) is all I have to give up in order to make the best decision about where to spend the next three years of my life, and most importantly, where to begin what will be the foundation of my career, it's worth serious consideration. At the very least, it will get me out of this cubicle for a couple of Friday's next month. Who could ask for anything more?

Credit Cards, Taxes & FAFSA's Oh My!

At this moment, I am pretty much focused on taking care of as much financial stuff as I possibly can. I filed my taxes over the weekend, and filed my FAFSA on Monday. Though doing both of these things is somewhat time consuming, I figure the earlier it's done the sooner I'll have tax refund in hand, which will go straight to credit card balances. As far as the FAFSA is concerned, I have alleviated some stress in that department as I have notice that some schools have a deadline as early as March 1st. Also, having these two items complete means that I have a couple more components needed to submit external scholarships, should I choose to do so.

And that leaves CREDIT CARDS! Right now I considered them to be the devil! I can admit that in the past I was an avid credit card charger and I liked having those pieces of plastic at my disposal. I must also admit that as a full time undergraduate student, a parent, and an employee at a job that just barely allowed me to make ends meet, the cards supplemented my income. I can recall many of the items I purchased and feel that most were justified, but once I decided that law school was going to be the next destination in my life, it became quite obvious that I needed to get rid of this awful debt. So far I have gotten off to a really good start paying down my balances and hope to have it all credit card debt zapped by this summer!