Navigating Residency & Tuition in Law School
I'm pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but I wanted
to talk more about residency and the struggle I had getting in state tuition
because it was literally tens of thousands of dollars on the line. I decided to
go to law school in my home state of Indiana. This is hilarious because I told
myself, and everyone else who would listen, that there was no way I would go
here because it is the rival of my undergraduate school.
Turns out I visited and fell completely in love with it.
After my visit I committed the next Monday and all was great. Then, a week
later I was totally blindsided to learn that I was no longer considered an
instate resident and would be paying an extra $20,000 a year. After a minor
(major) freak out I decided I would do what I could to get around the situation
but that this school was still so worth to me so I would figure it out.
Here are the ways I navigated reducing tuition costs and
getting instate tuition:
- Negotiate
Your Scholarship - personally, I think you should be doing this even if
you think you got a great offer. I learned that there is always a lot of
room for negotiation, especially for students for have taken the time to
visit and show they are truly interested in the school. I got an increase
on my scholarship to offset the out-of-state tuition costs.
This is probably the most intimidating
part of the law school application process, but if you aren’t willing to ask,
no one will think to give. Reach out to your Office of Admission! I emailed the
Ast. Dean of Admissions because that is who sent me my welcome email. Be honest
with them about your offer and what you are looking for. Be direct – they know
what you are asking for and they aren’t surprised so you don’t have to pretend
you aren’t asking for more money. Remind the of what you bring to the table!
They admitted you for a reason. You deserve your spot and they may be willing
to give you a better scholarship to keep you. (PS – I’ll be posting a more in-depth
advice on negotiating scholarships so look out for it soon!)
- Reach
out to current students and professors - I got welcome emails from both
students and professors when I was admitted. One of the professors who
emailed actually was a huge advocate for me in this process and helped
keep my sane. I was completely honest with him about my financial
situation and he was really understanding. He reached out to the
admissions office and vouched for me when they were discussing increasing
my scholarship. He also researched the residency rules that got me in this
situation.
Side
Note: reach out to Alumni too if you have an contacts. Alumni send money and
support to the law school and there concerns definitely get heard. There are
often times alumni scholarship as well.
- Lastly,
reach out the Office of the Registrar and question their decision. I
emailed them and let them know that I had moved for work but would be
moving back and will have spent less than a year living out of state.
Turns out, all I need was the proof of this and bam I was considered an
instate resident.
Moral of the story - law school is expensive AF and you will
be blindsided with costs at some point. Take a moment to calm down and evaluate
what your next move is. Reach out to your support network and figure out a game
plan.
Let me know if you had any issues with residency or tuition
costs when you decided on your law school! How did you manage these issues?
Check out my newest post here!
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