Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!! Forum

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aboutmydaylight

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet

Post by aboutmydaylight » Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:09 pm

lawschool22 wrote:
aboutmydaylight wrote:Am I wrong in thinking that the quarter system is much more favorable to student loans than the semester system? Not only does semester start about a month before quarter system, but you also have to take out more money up front because its divided by 2 instead of 3. That seems to be a pretty significant difference.


For example, assuming you start at the beginning of August and take out the max $20,500 in Stafford loans, that means $10,500 per semester. Second semester starts at the beginning of January. By the beginning of August next year you've had 12 months of interest on the first part of the loan, and 7 months of interest on the second part of your loan. With an interest rate of 5.41%, that's 5.41% * 10500 + (5.41%*(7/12)) * 10500 = 568.05 + 331.36 = $899.41 in interest.

For quarter system, its $6833 per quarter, in September, January, and April. That means by August of next year (assuming your big law job starts at the same time regardless of semester/quarter), you'll have 11 months on the first part of your loan, 7 months on the second part, and 4 months on the last part of your loan. Again, that's (11/12)*5.41%*6833 + (7/12)*5.41%*6833 + (4/12)*5.41%*6833 = $677.719 in interest. That's significantly lower.

Or am I making a wrong assumption about how loans are distributed?
I didn't check your math but I don't really consider $220ish differential to be significant when we're talking about $100-$200k loans
Well that's only for 1 year of loans, and that's only for $20,500 in Stafford loans, and that's before the loans capitalize. I haven't calculated the difference over repayment but it could easily turn out to be ~10k or so.

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Yea All Right

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet

Post by Yea All Right » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:39 am

Just stopping by to say thanks LawSchool22, very helpful!

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lawschool22

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet

Post by lawschool22 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:13 pm

Bump. Some of you need to be using this lol

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Pneumonia

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by Pneumonia » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:15 pm

would you pm this to me? I'm getting a 404 error when I try to download from google docs. thanks LS22

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lawschool22

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by lawschool22 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:25 pm

Pneumonia wrote:would you pm this to me? I'm getting a 404 error when I try to download from google docs. thanks LS22
Shoot me your email

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KatyMarie

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by KatyMarie » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:37 pm

Thanks for this. This is so awesome :)

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bkegslounge

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by bkegslounge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 6:25 pm

Wow, this is really amazing! Everyone should use this! Thanks so much!

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by buffalo_ » Thu Apr 03, 2014 7:33 pm

Great job LS22 and all helpers.

Tagging this awesome tool.

Mods should seriously sticky this.

LawStudents42014

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by LawStudents42014 » Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:06 am

PLEASE READ....

Petition directed at Law Schools across the nation:
LOWER TUITION COSTS, for the sake of the future of the legal profession and the national economy...

Those bright law students you wish were applying to your schools right now?
Here we are, fed up at the high cost of tuition and law schools' blind adherence to the rankings game.
Is this the legacy that the legal profession deserves? Over-charging students who want to contribute to the legal profession itself?
We understand that institutions of higher learning have become for-profit based on a demand for certain degrees, including the J.D., but we do not concede to the incredible indebtedness that most of us will graduate with. It will limit our job choices. Even loan forgiveness programs for public interest are not guaranteed to those of us who may want to pursue that route.

The U.S. and World News Rankings allow for this insanity of elitism, over-charging and discrimination to endure. The game is dangerous in that it allows for the NUMBERS to do all the talking. Students have been as much at fault for adhering to the U.S. World News "recommendations" as law schools themselves, but as the cost of legal education rises beyond students' means for paying it, we become burdened with life-long debt that can eventually contribute to a crippling of the economy AS A WHOLE.

If the middle class (as most law students are) is burdened with crippling debt, the rest of the nation will also suffer. Any economist will attest to the fact that the middle class is an important pillar to the success of a nation's economy. If today's youth is put in a stranglehold of debt since their early twenties, how can we ever expect to recover, and therefore, contribute positively to the economy?

This is a petition written by law students and anyone else who believes in the future of the legal profession in allowing opportunities for future attorneys and practitioners to follow their passions by attaining economic stability.

A law degree should not be worth the same amount as a mortgage.
And this issue does not just belong solely to the economically underprivileged.

Sincerely,

Prospective law students of the United States

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Hitchensian

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by Hitchensian » Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:35 pm

Tagging. And thanks to those who've contributed in putting this together/editing!

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Pneumonia

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by Pneumonia » Tue Apr 08, 2014 8:49 pm

I'm no good with spreadsheets, but what would be the best way to incorporate undergrad debt into this?

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lawschool22

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by lawschool22 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:04 pm

BUMP - does anyone know how to get this stickied?

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by mydasmarie » Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:52 pm

hey ls22, is the google doc down? I tried downloading it since I switched over computers but it wont load on my new laptop...is it just my laptop acting up?


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buffalo_

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by buffalo_ » Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:00 am

Well deserved sticky!

Maybe LS22 can relinquish some edit rights to an admin (or just be diligent) so that interest rates can be updated each year. Unsubsidized Stafford graduate loans have an interest rate that varies each year to the tune of the June 1st T-Bill rate + 3.60% (with a cap at 9.5%); Grad Plus loans will have the Stafford rate + 1%.

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koval

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by koval » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:25 am

Thanks for this, time to crunch some numbers!

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lawschool22

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by lawschool22 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:56 am

buffalo_ wrote:Well deserved sticky!

Maybe LS22 can relinquish some edit rights to an admin (or just be diligent) so that interest rates can be updated each year. Unsubsidized Stafford graduate loans have an interest rate that varies each year to the tune of the June 1st T-Bill rate + 3.60% (with a cap at 9.5%); Grad Plus loans will have the Stafford rate + 1%.
I'll try to keep up with it. I think I may just add the in a URL to those rates in the spreadsheet so people can update them on their own.

buffalo_

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by buffalo_ » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:02 am

lawschool22 wrote:
buffalo_ wrote:Well deserved sticky!

Maybe LS22 can relinquish some edit rights to an admin (or just be diligent) so that interest rates can be updated each year. Unsubsidized Stafford graduate loans have an interest rate that varies each year to the tune of the June 1st T-Bill rate + 3.60% (with a cap at 9.5%); Grad Plus loans will have the Stafford rate + 1%.
I'll try to keep up with it. I think I may just add the in a URL to those rates in the spreadsheet so people can update them on their own.
Thanks!

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Winter is Coming

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by Winter is Coming » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:44 am

This is awesome, thanks.

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by zazmo2 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:51 pm

This is so helpful -- thank you!

It's a lot to ask, but I'm wondering if a future version could include Perkins loans for those who qualify!

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Sls17

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by Sls17 » Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:51 pm

zazmo2 wrote:This is so helpful -- thank you!

It's a lot to ask, but I'm wondering if a future version could include Perkins loans for those who qualify!

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by mela36 » Tue Jul 21, 2015 4:51 pm

I know this post is a year old, but I'm seriously loving this spreadsheet.

Is there a way to make a part-time version? I manipulated the interest calculations myself to be based on the 4 year plan instead of 3 years, but it could be helpful to post it for us non-traditional folks. Also - it would really be beneficial to incorporate the impact that making interest payments while in school will have on the total COA. I tried fiddling around myself to do this...but ADD got the best of me.

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bmathers

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by bmathers » Fri Aug 05, 2016 1:21 pm

This is amazing - thank you for this. I've been searching Google for something like this and have had no luck. This is very helpful

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by dietcoke1 » Fri Dec 16, 2016 5:49 pm

this is awesome, thank you for this.

I'm not sure that I'm using it correctly tho. If I entered Cornell's tuition for year one at $61, 485 (from new 509) and put room fee at $23,436 (also from new 509), no scholarship info, a 10 year re payment period and 3 month long grace period, it says that the total amount of money I would pay is, with all the interest and fees accumulated, $488,825

would I really be paying close to half a million dollars to attend Cornell at sticker price and if I paid it all back in 10 years?????

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guynourmin

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by guynourmin » Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:06 pm

dietcoke1 wrote:this is awesome, thank you for this.

I'm not sure that I'm using it correctly tho. If I entered Cornell's tuition for year one at $61, 485 (from new 509) and put room fee at $23,436 (also from new 509), no scholarship info, a 10 year re payment period and 3 month long grace period, it says that the total amount of money I would pay is, with all the interest and fees accumulated, $488,825

would I really be paying close to half a million dollars to attend Cornell at sticker price and if I paid it all back in 10 years?????
It looks like while you are in school, you would accumulate ~$45,000 in interest before you even start paying anything back, which means your entire first year goes to basically nothing but interest. If that is the case, then paying ~$100,000 in interest otherwise seems about right (simple 7% interest over 10 years on $280,000 is well over $100,000).

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dietcoke1

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Re: Law School COA Calculator and Comparison Spreadsheet - USE!!

Post by dietcoke1 » Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:17 pm

guybourdin wrote:
dietcoke1 wrote:this is awesome, thank you for this.

I'm not sure that I'm using it correctly tho. If I entered Cornell's tuition for year one at $61, 485 (from new 509) and put room fee at $23,436 (also from new 509), no scholarship info, a 10 year re payment period and 3 month long grace period, it says that the total amount of money I would pay is, with all the interest and fees accumulated, $488,825

would I really be paying close to half a million dollars to attend Cornell at sticker price and if I paid it all back in 10 years?????
It looks like while you are in school, you would accumulate ~$45,000 in interest before you even start paying anything back, which means your entire first year goes to basically nothing but interest. If that is the case, then paying ~$100,000 in interest otherwise seems about right (simple 7% interest over 10 years on $280,000 is well over $100,000).
wow, that is scary. thank you for that

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