I knew law school was going to be expensive. What I didn’t know was just how expensive it would be—not just the tuition, books, and supplies, but the hidden costs that no one talks about.
I also didn’t realize that the financial decisions I made as a law student would continue to shape my career a decade later. If I had planned better—if I had been more aggressive about applying for scholarships and more strategic about budgeting for the entire journey, including bar prep and the early days of my career—I might not still be dealing with the weight of student loan debt today.
This post isn’t about regret—it’s about lessons learned and what I wish someone had told me before I signed those promissory notes. If you’re thinking about law school, my hope is that you enter into this process fully informed, so you can make choices that allow you to build the legal career you want without financial stress dictating your path.
The Hidden Costs of Law School No One Warned Me About
I went into law school thinking the biggest financial hurdle would be tuition—that once I had that figured out, everything else would fall into place. But I quickly realized that tuition is just the starting point of a much bigger financial picture.
There were the expected costs:
✔️ Textbooks that somehow cost a small fortune every semester
✔️ Fees for bar prep courses, exams, and moral character applications
✔️ Living expenses while in school
And then there were the unexpected costs that hit even harder:
💸 Networking and Career Development Expenses – Every time there was a networking event, I had to pay for parking, sometimes meals, sometimes registration fees. These were the spaces where students connected with potential employers or mentors, but I often found myself calculating whether I could afford to go.
💸 The Cost of “Experience” – Unpaid Internships – I knew I needed internship experience, but what I didn’t fully grasp was how much money it would cost me to work for free. Parking, transportation, meals, living expenses—it all added up quickly. My 1L summer, while some classmates earned a paycheck, I was paying out-of-pocket just to show up and build my resume. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed my summer experience but it’s hard to work for free, especially when you don’t have access to emergency savings or additional funds.
💸 Bar Prep and the Cost of Not Working – I wish I had saved specifically for bar prep living expenses. After law school graduation, there was a two-month gap where I wasn’t working because I was preparing for the bar exam. But bills kept coming, and my student loans weren’t set to disburse again. It was financially stressful at a time when I needed to be focused on passing the exam that would determine my career.
Had I known all of this, I would have done things differently.
The Advice I Wish Someone Had Given Me Before Law School
If I could go back, I would have applied for scholarships and grants relentlessly—every single month, if necessary. I wouldn’t have thought of them as “maybe I’ll get them” opportunities, but as essential tools for minimizing debt.
I also wish someone had sat me down and said:
🔹 Understand your long-term financial picture before you take out loans. Even though I had some experience with small student loan amounts, I was not prepared to take out six figure loans. I hadn’t grasped that large student loans would accumulate interest in ways that make it hard to pay them down, even with consistent payments. Ten years after graduating, I owe more than I originally borrowed.
🔹 Your career choices may be influenced by your student loan burden. I wanted to go into public interest law because it aligned with my values—but public interest law doesn’t pay the same as other legal fields. Even government attorneys earn more than most nonprofit lawyers. My loans became a factor in my career decisions, when I had hoped that my passion and skills would be the driving force.
🔹 Public Service Loan Forgiveness is not a guarantee. I thought that making my 120 payments while working at a non-profit organization would mean loan forgiveness at the end. But recent federal changes have made repayment more uncertain than ever. On March 7, 2025, the Republican White House issued an executive order, “Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness.” The executive order claims that the PSLF program has been misused to grant forgiveness to student loan borrowers who work at “activist organizations” whose mission allegedly has an “illegal purpose.” This is all vague and contrary to the PSLF statute that covers 501(c)3 organizations like my current employer. Still, the executive order signals that this current Republican administration seeks to deny loan forgiveness under PSLF to borrowers who work at non-profit organizations simply based on the employer’s speech or mission. If the legal challenges are unsuccessful and this Republican administration is able to enact this type of policy, I can see them denying me loan forgiveness and I will be devastated.
If I Had to Do It Over Again, Here’s What I’d Do
✔️ Apply for scholarships and grants like it was my job. Even if it meant setting aside an hour every week to submit applications.
✔️ Plan for summers and bar prep as early as my 1L year. That means saving for living expenses during that critical time between graduation and taking the exam, and for summers to cover unpaid internships.
✔️ Budget beyond tuition. Understanding that networking, internships, and career development all cost money and planning for those expenses upfront.
✔️ Consider lower-cost law schools more seriously. Prestige matters, but financial freedom matters, too.
✔️ Think about my long-term salary potential before borrowing. Public interest law was always my goal, and I should have made financial choices that supported that plan—not relied on loans designed for Big Law salaries.
Plan Ahead—So You’re in Control of Your Legal Career, Not Your Debt
I don’t say all of this to discourage anyone from going to law school. I say this because I wish I had this knowledge when I was making decisions about my future.
Law school is an investment—but that doesn’t mean you have to start your legal career weighed down by financial stress.
This is exactly why I created my latest mini workbook, Financial Planning for Law Students – Managing Law School Expenses & Scholarships. It’s designed to help you:
✅ Understand the full cost of attending law school—not just tuition, but all the hidden expenses
✅ Find scholarships and grants (and use my tracker to stay on top of deadlines!)
✅ Create a law school budget that includes bar prep, networking, and internship costs
✅ Feel empowered to make financial decisions that set you up for success
📥 Purchase it now and start planning your law school finances with confidence! → https://stan.store/AnaJD/p/-financial-planning-for-law-students.
If I could go back and change one thing about my law school experience, it would be this: I would have planned for my financial future before I even stepped foot on campus.
Now, I want to help you do the same.
📚 Need more guidance? I also offer one-on-one coaching for aspiring and current law students. Let’s build a plan that works for you.
👉 Book a session: www.brightnewbeginnings.blog
Final Thoughts
If you’re thinking about law school, you still have time to plan. Learn from my mistakes. Apply for every dollar of free money you can. Be strategic. And make financial choices that align with the career you want—not the career you feel forced into because of debt.
You’ve got this.
🚀 Ready to take control of your law school finances? Start here: https://stan.store/AnaJD.
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