moving from Miami to Boston

[LexWest]

Let's still be reasonable here. Latin American culture has a much larger impact in Miami than Boston, given the City's ethnic majority. While Boston's ethnic majority is not White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, it's certainly not Latino. That's neither a positive nor a negative in my book, just a clear cultural difference; although I don't perceive it's a real concern to Original Poster.

[professeurpablo]

There's nothing unreasonable about noting that the diversity of the Latin American population in Greater Boston is more than a little bit more varied than what you suggested, which is all I stated. The OP seems enthused about Boston, so I wanted to send along some encouragement and reassurance that perhaps some of the flavor she is used to from Miami might in fact be available in this part of the world. Still, I agree that it's nothing like what you would find in the Miami area.

[BabyBoomers2]

Funny, while searching for what Patriot fans are saying (or thinking) about the Jacksonville Jaguars, I came across this thread.

First, not much of a Jags fan as I have a much higher regard for Brady than I do Bortles. I really, honesty think that the Jags will have to get pretty lucky to win this Sunday. Right now, all Jags fans think this upcoming game is already won. Actually, I'm getting a little sick of hearing/reading all the "hoopla" about the Jags. Haven't heard a "peep" from any Patriot fans that live her in Jags country and there definitely are some. So, you Patriots show the Jags just how good you can play and see how these "big cats" can handle it.

Second, concerning what the OP said about Miami in his opening statement: We have been living in Jax since Jan 2009. We spent a year in Huntersville, NC, but wife didn't like it there. Previously, and the area we REALLY liked and lived for 5 1/2 years........28 miles south of Denver, CO. We got attracted to Jax due to all the water for boating here. Had a 16' Bowrider in Colorado that we used almost every weekend during the summer months. We bought a descent 1992 20' Cuddy Cabin here and have used it on the St. Johns River. Unfortunately, we have changed our minds about how much we like boating here, let alone the summer heat/humidity and now the winter cold we've been experiencing.

So, a year or so ago, we decided we wanted to move back to Colorado. Yes, back to beautiful mountain scenery, Elk, freshwater lakes, rodeo action and, of course, "Old Man Winter" with his ice and snow. Wife and I will be in our early 70's when we plan on moving in 2019 and retired. Actually, I'm currently retired and she will be when we leave. I'm an old ex "farm boy" who really misses seeing livestock (not working with livestock, just seeing it).

Bottom Line here: Some people here in Jax think we are absolutely nuts, while others wish they could move with us. Yes, there are those that don't like Jax, let alone Florida, at all. Thing is, we don't make good Flordians or Southerners.

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by professeurpablo

Just to chime in on the Latin American population for a moment...

There is actually a significant presence of people from a wide swath of Latin America. The Boston area has significant Colombian, Central American (mainly Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan) and Peruvian communities, among others. There is a large Dominican presence and a smaller but still significant Puerto Rican population. East Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Saugus, Waltham, Malden, Everett, Somerville and Cambridge all have sizable Latino communities, as do Dorchester, Roxbury, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain and many other areas around Boston (the latter bunch are more heavily Dominican and Puerto Rican; the first bunch is more mixed but trends more South and Central American.) Many of the aforementioned places have some good dining options in case you're ever missing the Latin flavor of Miami. Good luck with your move.

also i think that haitian-american is the largest latine population (though most persons only categorize us as black).

[chicagoliz]

I wouldn't bother with New England School of Law.

Get some roommates -- you're going to want to live not too far from where the schools are.

You absolutely can work during your second year of law school. Law school is not the ball and chain that they depict in The Paper Chase and One L. You could probably even work your first year (at least part time) if you allocate your time wisely, and since you are 28 and not 21, you should have some sense of how to do that.

There is some kind of Guatemalan association in Waltham. Waltham also has several Guatemalan restaurants and bakeries. But, Boston does not have as much of of a Latin American presence as Miami or some other cities like New York or Chicago. Not sure which specific Latin American group you're looking for.

Also, the winters will be brutal compared to Miami. But not every winter is so bad. Last winter had a stretch of very cold weather, but it didn't last that long and we had a week of 60s and even 70s in February last year. We're not International Falls, MN, or even Buffalo, NY. Especially if you are in the city and can walk places, it really isn't so horrific. What I find more irritating is not that it can be in the single digits for a week or two (although that weather affected a whole bunch of cities beyond Boston) is that it is still freakin' chilly in May and even into June.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by Dm84

Personally I think OP will have an easy time getting accepted. Lower tier law schools have suffered from shrinking enrollment for years and are pretty eager to boost their numbers.

Your questions about whether it's worth it or not are pretty legitimate, but that's not our problem because we won't be making his student loan payments for 20 years. IMO, it doesn't matter where he goes to school because it's going to cost serious money wherever that winds up being. It's important to go to school somewhere where you think you can have a decent quality of life which helps ease the stress.

Can OP afford Boston? Maybe, but he needs to plan out how that's going to work. If OP can find a part time law school program and keep working as a paralegal he'd be in better shape financially. Of course then he's up against the fact that he'll be taking the bar exam in his mid-30's and competing with people 10 years younger for entry level attorney jobs.

This is a horrible issue and is practically fraud. (Some graduates have even sued some of the bottom tier schools.) Kids graduate with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, then can't get a legal job and end up waiting tables or working at the same job they had before, but this time with a huge monthly debt payment.

Going to school is an awesome way to live in another city with an end date where you have a natural "out" if you want to move somewhere else But, the alumni networks are very important in the law field, and if you don't go to Harvard or a top ten name school that places graduates everywhere, your best chance of finding a job is in the city where the law school is located. It's really hard to find jobs in a different metro area.

It depends on why OP wants to go to law school. Perhaps he'll find a job up here and it works out well enough that he decides not to go. But it is a HUGE consideration whether it is financially worthwhile. Law school is great -- it provides a wonderful education. But it's not always a good financial move.

[SalamanderSmile]

There is no way you should move to Boston just to go into massive debt to Suffolk for their mediocre law school. If you have your heart set on random community college law school find somewhere cheap to live and go to their mediocre law school. If your LSATs are marginal enough that you need to re-take them you are exactly the prey that they are looking for. I would recommend looking into "random midwestern university" law school.

That said, if you just want to move to Boston, go for it. The problem is your career. I moved to Boston as a real estate paralegal- guess what? No work. I was competing with all of the low-end lawyers that Suffolk, et al. churned out. Why pay me $65k/year when they can pay an actual lawyer. I switched to IT and never looked back. Maybe consider doing the same.

There are many cities that this is NOT true of, that would be glad to partake of your paralegal skills, Boston is not one of them however.

ETA: If you just want to further yourself with an advanced degree there are many employers that offer a tuition remission benefit. Most of the local colleges and universities do. Consider getting a random job at Suffolk or Umass or the state of MA or Brandeis or Bentley and using their tuition remission benefit to get an MBA or something for free. Suffolk looks like it specifically prevents employees from using this benefit at it's law school however.

[missionhill]

Thread is 3 yrs old...

[CaseyB]

Well there's no rule against posting on old threads, but no doubt the OP has moved on.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Well there's no rule against posting on old threads, but no doubt the OP has moved on.

Wonder what happened-- He could be starting his final semester of law school this month!