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Why anyone would choose a degree and field based on others saying it would be high paying and all, is beyond me. One should choose something because they want to do it.
Second, I have a feeling he used some of his loans to pay other expenses.
Steve Pederzani thought going to law school was the best decision for him.
After graduating from college and working as a social worker, Pederzani, now 32, wanted to continue helpinng people and saw a law degree as the next big step in doing so. As a first-generation student, he said he was frequently advised by attorneys and those around him that pursuing a law degree would leave him well off — and keep a roof over his head, even while in school — so he thought taking out student loans would be worth it.
Get the federal government out of the student loan process! Tuition will drop like a rock, when this happens!
For the unfortunate soul who took out $347,000 in loans, you signed on the dotted line. There is no one else to blame but yourself. Have fun for the next thirty years...
$347,000 !! That is Stupid Money to both borrow and now have to pay back. What was this guy thinking?
There was a funny cartoon the other day. A smiling old guy sitting in a chair at the nursing home with a cake. One nurse asks the other, Is it his Birthday? She responds No he just paid off his student loans...
Why anyone would choose a degree and field based on others saying it would be high paying and all, is beyond me. One should choose something because they want to do it.
Second, I have a feeling he used some of his loans to pay other expenses.
Why anyone would choose a degree and field based on others saying it would be high paying and all, is beyond me. One should choose something because they want to do it.
Second, I have a feeling he used some of his loans to pay other expenses.
Sort of sounds what my Mother said about my brother, that he was lured into being a lawyer by the note that the average lawyer made so much a year......and what he didn't realize that the average figure came from the few lawyers who made it BIG......and all the lawyers who made it small.
Then, there is what my brother said which was essentially that while there were lots of law schools around, that you are no one unless you go to one of the few big name ones.
Why anyone would choose a degree and field based on others saying it would be high paying and all, is beyond me. One should choose something because they want to do it.
Lots of people do that. Many people don't really know what they want to do, so they go into a field just because it pays well.
That's what we grew up with.
Naive students are taken advantage of by predatory lenders
We were told to go to college or we might be stuck in McDonalds. Only to find out it's more about who you know than what you know. Education is important but it's nothing without connections.
"Predatory lenders" is a concept created to shift the blame from the "poor, naive, borrower" to the "rich, evil, lender".
It's all a bunch of BS.
Nobody is forcing anybody to take out a loan. There are types of lawyers that can easily pay off that loan, and there are types of lawyers who cant. He should have know the difference and become the type of lawyer that can. Or, he should have not taken out the loan in the first place.
An 18 year old can live on his/her own.
An 18 year old can decide to join the military and go to war.
An 18 year old can sign his/her own consent for a medical procedure.
An 18 year old can decide to change their gender.
But an 18 year old can't decide whether or not to take out a loan?
First of all, the tuition at that school per year is $53k. Include all of the other expenses, including room and board, and he is in for $82k annually, or for a standard 3 year law school stay, is $246k, which is $100k less than his loans. So right off the rip, he borrowed $100k beyond what covers even living expenses estimated by the school itself.
But he claims his loans were just for tuition. So back that down to $162k. Because Seattle U School of Law right now, for 2022-2023 academic year tuition + fees annual = $53,800, and I rounded up to $54k. Still absurd, but for the 3 year course of study, still $185k less than what he borrowed.
As far as not taking the bar exam, the average JD holder takes the bar exam within 2 months of having their degree conferred. Medical issues with someone else are an excuse for what amounts to an individual failure on his part.
Now, to the salary for lawyers vs the cost of law school. A 30 second search on Google shows that in WA state, lawyers/attorneys average around $95-105k, with 4-5% annual growth. Another quick Google search shows monthly take home pay in WA state for a $105k salary is $5,100. So even if he took the bar and was working as a licensed attorney, on average that is what he could optimistically plan on for net pay. What someone advertised vs what any of a dozen salary websites tell you is reality...well, those can be and are different. Shame on him for not doing basic research.
OK, so now we search student loan payback on his retarded 7.35% interest rate graduate loans. Had he taken just what was needed for his tuition and fees ($162k), his repayment is $1,910 monthly for ten years. Take the bar and actually gain employment as a lawyer, and while losing 40% of your take home sucks, 10 years later at 4% growth, your age 33ish take home is now $6500, and lookie....no student loans! But nope, he borrowed out the wazoo for slightly more than double what he needed for tuition and fees, and the repayment on his $347k under standard student loan 10 year programs is $4100. That sucks hard.
But wait...who took out twice the loans needed in the first place, under an optional high interest program? Who chose not to work during law school? Who chose not to take the bar for a number of years?
And final note - who chose to ignore the fact that WA is one of four states where you can take and pass the bar without actually attending law school, so long as you meet the apprenticeship requirements of working essentially 4 years worth of full time in the legal profession? Oh shizzle...you mean you can become a lawyer without law school debt AND while earning a wage with an actual job? And some IT schlep on the Internet figured that out with 30 seconds of research, while a future wannabe lawyer couldn't figure it out in the last decade? Huh...odd.
Sorry, but he made a rather long string of stupid financial decisions, and I have exactly ZERO sympathy for him. None whatsoever.
He grew up working class and had to wonder where his next meal would come from??? If you live in the USA and you are working class and you are working diligently, that should not happen. I have been working class all my life and never once did I have to skip a meal. I had to give up vices like smoking and not drink much, but I never went hungry. Sometimes, people like to blame their own misfortune on circumstances beyond their control because it makes them feel better.
A lawyer without a job. I mean its a good thing right?
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