Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt Forum

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smallfirmassociate

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by smallfirmassociate » Mon Apr 04, 2016 12:25 pm

I know you're asking for ideas on what might happen, OP, but the missing link in this thread is that you haven't explained why you took on $500k in debt. You said HOW, but not WHY. I understand you might not want to give more details for the sake of staying anon, but I feel like the C&F folks might want an answer to that question.

If you went to med school (for example) and then just decided, "I want to be a lawyer, just because" and then switched over, passing up an opportunity to work and pay the bills, that's one thing. If you had some kind of disability, traumatic experience, life situation, etc. that explains it, then that would be another thing.

BillCooper

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by BillCooper » Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:31 pm

MarkinKansasCity wrote:
lawman84 wrote:That's just wrong. You're going to let this person go into $200,000 to $300,000 debt in order to become a lawyer and then deny them the opportunity to repay that debt? Sickening.
Generally speaking, I completely agree, but the two cases that showed up on Google of this happening seem like they were less about the amount of the debt and more about how the grad was handling it.
Another thing regarding those cases was the rather flippant responses by the applicants. For example, the bar requested a credit report from one of the applicants. The applicant sent them a piece of paper that said "Credit Report: Excellent!"

As you can imagine, they were not amused.

Nebby

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Nebby » Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:38 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
MarkinKansasCity wrote:
bowser wrote:Not on topic exactly, but I gotta think PAYE or something is better for your situation than actually paying off half a million.
I probably wouldn't lead with that on the bar application though.

Just ran that number through studentloans.gov at 6.8%. $5,700 a month for ten years? I'd say PAYE.
Wish I could. Unfortunately, I had one loan taken out in 2007 for around $1800 to help with books and board during undergrad and that makes me ineligible for PAYE.
REPAYE

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:56 pm

I was admitted to NY with more than 500k in student loans (MBA+JD+LLM, I took a lot of detours to find what I want to do), almost 20k in credit card debt, and ~680 credit score, which I understand is a little low. I was prepared to explain the REPAYE plan and that I had no intention of defaulting on my loans.

It didn't even come up, at least not as far as I can remember. They were much more concerned with police taking me to the station for loitering when I was 12. I was never arrested and it was only a pretext to bring me somewhere so they could call my parents and school to let them know I was truant.

I really don't think the loans are problematic. It's only combined with some plus factor (like late payments) that it would actually come up.

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:09 am

I don’t even think my jurisdiction asked me how much student loan debt I had. They just asked if I’d ever defaulted or whatever.

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:57 pm

Yep; original anon, here. Had no issues with admission and am still happily practicing in New York.

QContinuum

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by QContinuum » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:58 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Yep; original anon, here. Had no issues with admission and Am still happily practicing in New York.
Congrats and thanks for updating us!

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:45 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Yep; original anon, here. Had no issues with admission and am still happily practicing in New York.
What did you end up doing to manage the debt? I graduated with about $200k less total debt than you and still kick myself every day for refinancing and not going PSLF.

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nealric

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by nealric » Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:09 pm

MKC wrote:
bowser wrote:Not on topic exactly, but I gotta think PAYE or something is better for your situation than actually paying off half a million.
I probably wouldn't lead with that on the bar application though.

Just ran that number through studentloans.gov at 6.8%. $5,700 a month for ten years? I'd say PAYE.
Glad the OP was admitted. Frankly, I don't think it was ever in doubt. However, I would disagree with the idea that OP should just do PAYE or other forbearance programs if the OP is in biglaw. As painful as it would be, I'd rather live like a monk for 10 years than accept the idea of paying for 30 and then getting hit over the head with a tax bomb right as I am looking to retire. If OP stays in biglaw (or gets a good in-house gig after a few years), it's even possible to do it quicker than 10.

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Re: Bar admission trouble due to student loan debt

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:25 pm

were you able to get in for NY?

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