iLawStudent.com

RateMyProfessors.com was destined to make it to the web.  The idea is a simple, but great one: Have a ratings list of all the teachers at the college or university level.  Of course, they don’t have all of the professors, but they have a nice collection so far and the popularity of the site will continue to grow as it holds tremendous value to students in weighing in on whether or not to take a professor.  The difference between a good and bad professor in regards to your grade and quality of education is huge.  A good professor will enhance, illustrate, and guide you through the textbook.  A poor professor, well a poor professor is capable of any number of things, but you for sure want to avoid them.  If you don’t already, I fully encourage you to thoroughly scout your professors and see what multiple students who have taken their course have to say about them.  You will receive a much better value for your dollar by registering for the best professors.  Thanks to RateMyProfessors for developing a review site.

Finance is always a big topic, but right now it looms even larger.  Now that you have a moment to catch your breath, this is one area where you want to evaluate your current standing and how you can improve.  Although you’re not technically running a business while you’re in school (or maybe you are), you might want to think of your life as such.  After all, you are investing tens of thousands in yourself.  With that in mind, maybe you can decrease your overhead costs.  Obviously you want to do this without decreasing your quality of life.

One idea that will save you hundreds if not thousands over the course of law school is splitting a residence with someone.  I know, this comes with a huge asterick, but if you can pull it off, you can save tons of cash.  Cash or not, you have to make sure you set this up right.  Example: I don’t recommend an incoming 1L blindly seeking out a roommate to save money.  $10,000 isn’t worth a year lease with the wrong person.  If you can’t affirm this personally, just trust me.  Should you go this route, try and seek out someone with similar values and behavior as you.  If you manage to find a solid roommate, you can easily save $50-$100 per month and quite possibly more.

Another way to save money in law school is charting everything you spend.  Now that you have the time, evaluate your outgoing cash flow.  What discretionary income could you reduce?  Were there debits that could be lowered or eliminated by acting in the alternative?  For example, do you spend $1 everyday to buy a bottled water at the vending machine?  If so, you can effectively drop this amount to $0.25 buy buying water in bulk and bringing it to school.  This example is a great illustration of how you can save money without changing standard or living.  Carry this out into other facets of your spending like eating at restaurants and you begin to see how you can easily save thousands over the course of law school.

A clause for the above paragraphs:  I’m not advocating living on a bare minimum.  It’s ok to go out and spend discretionary money for entertainment and food.  Just be conscious of what exactly you’re spending.  If you account for your spending and maintain a level of disclipline, you will ensure a healthy budget.

When examining your finances, the big bold numbers that are your tuition are likely to be the first expenses that grab your attention.  You don’t have to accept these figures as reoccurring inevitable fees.  Apply for various law scholarships.  Many, many scholarship offers get little to no response.  If you’re willing to put in the extra work, you’d be surprised how good of chances you have at making more money.  Also, apply for general assistance scholarships and grants from your school.  Most schools have an allowance of money just for this purpose.  I’d be willing to bet concentrating more of your endeavors to scholarships will have a greater chance of yielding much larger dollars than anything else you could be doing.  Another bonus to winning scholarship is prestige.  An award winning scholarship is invaluable addition to any legal resume.

Of course, there are many more avenues to increase your blackline.  Use your common sense and the aforementioned tips to springboard your own creativity in increasing positive cash flow and reducing expenses.