New to LA

Oh, and personally, in LA, I wouldn't take anything but UCLA and USC and even then, only with money.

Yeah, if you're goal is to feel lucky to get a 40k/yr job with 180k in student loans, then be my guest and don't take the the cookie cutter approach. The reality is you have no idea what it's like until you've been through it. There are very little jobs and they all pay less than being a cop or teacher. Sure there is the opportunity to advance and make a high salary, but the days where it was guaranteed are long over and the loans make it extremely risky. For example, the cop making 52k on just a high school diploma has an extremely higher net income, especially when taking into account student loans. So that 40k is looking more like 18k. But you could always do IBR, it'll just take 25 years. Unless its a full scholarship, without retention being contingent on performance, I wouldn't. I say this and I actually really love the law and law school. The majority don't! And that's purely the financial side. I haven't even gotten into how difficult it is to do well academically. Everyone there is smart, everyone works hard. True at every T1-T2 and some T3's. It's not college where everyone can get an A. There are mandatory curves. Just don't expect to think things will go great cause "hey, I'm a smart kid" that's not going to cut it. Unless your willing to only get 3-4 hours of sleep, assuming you actually want to finish all the work assigned, and start preparing for finals at least 1 month in advance, then I wouldn't. I memorized word for word every Evidence rule in the FRE and state distinctions, as well as the Cali probate code, crim pro, and actually every rule in every class. But, it took me a long time to realize that's what it took. 1.5 years to figure it out. I'm still lucky, because some go 3 years without figuring out how to do well. I just want people to know what it's like. People told me the same thing I'm telling you, and I brushed it off like they were being a-holes. You likely will too. But, I just feel you should know what you're getting into. Ask yourself, can you handle being in the bottom quarter of your class? Will the feelings of inadequacy affect you everyday, day after day? Will you fall into a deep depression and feel like your the dumbest person on Earth? It's easier than you think to end up there. If you do, then it's even harder to dig yourself out.