Deep contemplation

Sorry about the long hiatus. For the past month or so, work has been a bit demanding with 60 hour weeks and all. It's died down a little bit now thankfully, but the projects I worked were interesting actually, so it wasn't too bad. The client we served on this particular project received a good bit of national news coverage for a few weeks so it was pretty cool being right in the middle of a "controversy."

There have been some new developments in the law school front. I was accepted by the University of Florida (Go GATORS!!!) and the University of Pittsburgh raised my scholarship offer....(I haven't decided if I want to tell that story quite yet). Now originally I didn't consider Florida a serious contender. However, after some research, I am seriously considering matriculating. The prime reason is the very liberal residency policy of the state of Florida. After 1L year, I am basically guaranteed in state tuition....which is a little under 10k/yr. Compared to my other choices, this is very appealing. I've broken down (very quickly) my "How poor will I be" in a chart below of all schools that I am seriously considering. All info is based on USNews figures that have been reported to them by each school.

School and USNews Rank	Tuition	Cost of living/yr	Aggregate Scholarship amount.	Cost of attendance for 3 years	Aggregate Debt (COA-scholarship)
University of Florida (47)	-29,227 first year -9,861 2nd and 3rd year	12,830	0	87,438	$87,438
Pittsburgh (57)	29,056	16,860	44,000	137,749	$93,748 (+6,310)
Temple University (60)	25,552	19,254	36,000 contingent on a 2.5 gpa with a 2.85 curve.	134,418	$98,418 (+10,980)
Maryland (36)	19,105	23,848	0	128,859	$128,859 (+41,421)
Wisconsin - Madison (31)	30,816	13,650	0	133,398	$133,398 (+45,960)

So the question becomes, is the difference between a 31st or a 36th ranked school and a 47th, 57th, and a 60th ranked school worth $40k or so extra? Along with the debt I've incurred in undergrad and the interest my loans will accrue during law school (the unsubsidized and private ones), I will have over $100k in loans no matter where I go, and over $150k if I go to the 'better' schools I've gotten into. Is $40k more debt really that big of a deal in the long run? Thats just a new BMW....that would be nice to have though.

Seat deposit deadlines are coming soon and I am as lost as I was a month ago. I know that this decision will have big ramifications long into the future. I will need to spend some time to make sure I make the right decision. It's funny to think back a few months to when I was worried that I wouldn't get into any schools. Now the plethora of choices is almost suffocating. Sorry if I sound flippant for those who are still waiting to hear from a choice school. Best of luck to everyone else out there though.

This leads to whats been on my mind recently - What do I ultimately want to do with a law degree? After seeing first hand the life of "Biglaw" partner/associate, I'm not quite sure this is the life I want to live. Sure the money is great and the prestige of wanting to be the next Thurman Arnold and Paul Porter is appealing. But times have changed. The associates work ridiculous hours and so do the partners for that matter. I wonder how or if they ever have the time to spend with their kids, go fishing, take a walk, or go on an actual vacations (wihtout the leash of a blackberry) without having to make up time to meet their yearly billable hours. I don't want to want up one day 25 years later in a disfunctional marriage, with kids that don't know me, and with a scar down on my chest from my last bypass. I'll be filthy rich, but does that matter if I'm not happy? The thing is, if I do go to the higher ranked schools, these 'biglaw' jobs will be the only ones that will be able to pay off my loans.

Do I really want to be shackled by these golden handcuffs? Deep down, I want to be a happy, healthy and an ethical lawyer.