Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ? Forum

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MangoPapi

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Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by MangoPapi » Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:25 pm

Hey everyone

I'll be applying for law school in the fall but unless I get accepted in the T14 with a good scholarship, I believe I'm going to be working for a year or two to save up for law school. My question is, would it be better if I work in the country I currently live in now (Canada) or if it's better to move to TX and work there as I'd like to settle in Texas eventually. I know it seems like a silly question at first since I'd be able to save more money if I just stayed and worked in Canada but I also know how sensitive the Texas market is and so if I could land a an associate/analyst job in Texas prior to attending law school, it'll show law firms that I'm dedicated to living in Texas. Also, by living in texas for a year, I'd be eligible for in-state tuition which would make my total debt a lot more manageable than paying out of state tuition (I know UT often gives OOS in-state tuition as part of their scholarship but it'll still be higher compared to what an in-state student with scholly would be paying). Granted, this scenario is all based on the assumption that I'll be getting into UT.

Phil Brooks

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Re: Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by Phil Brooks » Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:51 pm

Are you an American citizen? How will you work legally in Texas?

MangoPapi

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Re: Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by MangoPapi » Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:49 am

Forgot to mention but I do hold a dual citizenship

Sploshy

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Re: Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by Sploshy » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:02 am

Texas gives preference to Texas residents supposedly (some people say not so much). If you want to live in Texas anyways then I don't think it could hurt to move. SMU and UH are also 2 schools that have decent chances at Big law in Texas but you need to do much better than you would have to at UT.

I'm not sure about working 1-2 years beforehand to save up that doesn't make sense to me because your loans would be deferred until you graduate and you would make more as a lawyer if you do well and get into biglaw. People do fine with loans they just can't live extravagantly and you can't take trips etc you just have a decent amount of debt to work off. How much savings could you make in 2 years? I don't know what your situation is but maybe you are going to make much more than I'm thinking you would.

Working beforehand is more of a boost to your application apparently so that's what I'd do it for if you want to do it. It apparently distances you from your GPA, but if you already have a good gpa I'm not sure what it would do for you. Probably just make you look more mature.

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Mullens

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Re: Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by Mullens » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:31 am

Sploshy wrote:Texas gives preference to Texas residents supposedly (some people say not so much). If you want to live in Texas anyways then I don't think it could hurt to move. SMU and UH are also 2 schools that have decent chances at Big law in Texas but you need to do much better than you would have to at UT.

I'm not sure about working 1-2 years beforehand to save up that doesn't make sense to me because your loans would be deferred until you graduate and you would make more as a lawyer if you do well and get into biglaw. People do fine with loans they just can't live extravagantly and you can't take trips etc you just have a decent amount of debt to work off. How much savings could you make in 2 years? I don't know what your situation is but maybe you are going to make much more than I'm thinking you would.

Working beforehand is more of a boost to your application apparently so that's what I'd do it for if you want to do it. It apparently distances you from your GPA, but if you already have a good gpa I'm not sure what it would do for you. Probably just make you look more mature.
There's a good amount of misinformation in this post and information that isn't relevant to OP's question.

First, law school loans are not deferred until graduation the same ways as undergrad loans and they begin accruing interest as soon as you take them out. You just don't have to pay them until you graduate.

Second, you shouldn't go to SMU or UH for biglaw without ties to Texas. Your odds at biglaw would be low and it wouldn't make any sense when you could go to a better school in Canada or have a shot at the T14.

Third, I was able to save up enough money in two years of working to pay for my living expense for 1L and most of 2L so that can be worth it. This is especially true if by associate/analyst jobs you're looking at banking/consulting.

Fourth, working for a year or two won't do much to distance you from your GPA. Schools still have to report your GPA to USNEWS and working won't do much to mitigate that.

What working in Texas will do, however, is make it much much easier for you to get a job at OCI (regardless of where you go to school). Texas firms are going to be reasonably and understandably skeptical if your entire resume says "Canada" on it until you attend UT. You're going to have a much harder time to get a job in Texas than any other candidate at UT with similar grades and Texas roots. I think your best shot at a biglaw job in Texas is to work there for a year or two before law school, get your LSAT score as high as possible, then go to a T14 with a decent scholarship and apply to Texas firms at OCI. Work in the city you want to live in after law school while you're working before law school.

MangoPapi

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Re: Live and Work in Texas or Stay in Canada ?

Post by MangoPapi » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:52 am

I read somewhere there's a rule in Texas where they (UT) can only have a max of 30% of OOS in their class which if true, would make it a lot more competitive for OOS like myself to be accepted than if I were to be in-state.

If I were to work and live in Canada, I'd be able to cover my first two years of living expense and the earnings from summer of 2L would be used for 3L living expense so I'd only have to worry about the tuition really. If I were to move to Texas and work there, I'd be able to subsidize only 60-70% of my living expense in 1L but the upside to that is I'd be able to establish ties which would be good for OCI and the sorts.

Re: SMU,I know the Dallas market is a lot more ties sensitive but I'd like to practice litigation and Dallas doesn't have much of a market for that as there's only a select few firms in that market for litigation (due to mergers/dissolvent), atleast that's what I get from reading recent TLS threads about it.

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