Hills to Harvard

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Selling My First-Born, and other Financing Options

This is Part II of a response to a reader. Paying for law school begins with good planning. And by good planning I mean having rich parents. Because that’s the only way you’ll pull it off without borrowing a ton of money. (A note: some people don’t like talking about money because they feel it is in bad taste. If that’s you, quit reading now) Take Harvard Law for example: That’s just for one year. Law school is three years long, so break out your calculators. Don’t forget the annual tuition increases, and the 7% that compounds DAILY. Thanks to the handy cost of attendance calculator on Georgetown’s website, I can now calculate exactly how much a debt-financed Ivy League education costs. That’s a little over a quarter million dollars. How exactly can anyone pay that off? The short answer is that the job prospects are very good at HLS, as new associates make $160,000 a year at the large law firms.

How to get into Harvard Law (for Dummies)

This is my first reader requested blog. I had a friend from high school message me and ask how I got into Harvard Law, and how I’m managing to pay for it. Since my background is nothing if not humble, I doubt she is the only one wondering, and I'm happy to tell my story. Still, how to get in and how to pay are two different topics, so today I’ll talk about how I got accepted. My next post will be about financing this absurdly expensive education. Whether it’s law, medical, or business school, the first thing you have to do is figure out which school you want into. Then figure out what they want. I always knew that I wanted into Harvard Law. And it was surprisingly easy to figure out what they wanted. Law schools are easy – they want students who help their rankings. So I figured out how the rankings are calculated. Law schools are ranked by two inputs: the median GPA and median LSAT scores of their students. The law schools obsess about their rankings, so I ha

How I (Almost) Became a Sperm Donor

Around November of last year I panicked about money. I can’t remember exactly why, but it was probably because I looked at my student loan balance and had a good ole’ case of debt fright. But by fortuitous happenstance, I saw a little banner ad on the side of the page – a little banner of hope. Sperm donation! If I passed their “rigorous” admissions process, I would have the opportunity to make $100 a pop, up to three times a week. That’s $1,200 a month. In one fell swoop I would solve my money woes and achieve genetic immortality. I was extremely enthusiastic about my prospects as a sperm donor. These people are eugenicists. I knew my chances were good. I sent a couple of emails, and quickly had an appointment after class made for California Cryobank’s Central Square office. They would test my first “donation”, and then determine if I’d made the cut. What ensued was perhaps the most awkward experience of my life. After arriving at the office, I was made t

Starting Law School!

I've been negligent posting on here, but I have a passable excuse: moving and settling in at Cambridge. Jess and I drove 26 hours (not counting dog walks) to get up here, and let me tell you, that drive sucked. I was driving the U-haul truck, so I've discovered a new respect for truckers. Driving something that big is nerve-racking. Anyway, we're all moved in and settled down now. We've explored downtown Boston, visited the planetarium, and today we visited Walden Pond. Yeah, that Walden Pond. The transcendentalist one. It was a big deal for me. I read Walden when I was 18 and it had a profound influence on me. I can't say that I've lived up to the ideals that Thoreau espoused, but at least I've got a role model I can believe in. Class Begins Thursday is the beginning of Orientation. The class of 2015 consists of ~560 individuals who are divided into seven sections of 80. I'm in section 1. Every one of my classes will be with these 80 p

Icarus

You'd think that I would have learned not to procrastinate. But in just about every aspect of my life, I wait until the last conceivable minute to do what needs to be done. Whether it's moving cross-country or going for a run at night, I'm pretty bad about punctual planning. But it's worked for me so far, so I don't have plans to change. Which brings me to my first topic of the night: Moving I was lulled into a false sense of security about the ease of moving during college. Back then, everything I owned fit snugly in the back of a Mercury Cougar (terrible car, don't buy one), and moving felt like an adventure. Sort of like I was a high class hobo. But no more. Now, moving involves my truck (15 mpg), an extortionate U-haul fee, and sedating the dogs. The silver lining is that the urge to burn everything I own out of frustration probably makes me less materialistic. Jess might not agree. Question I've had the exact same question as

Inaugural Post

Hello hypothetical reader! I'm starting this blog/diary because I thought it would be nice to keep a record of my journey to Harvard law school. Also, I somewhat immodestly hope that my Arkansas friends might be interested in hearing what the experience is like. The title of this blog derives from my life experience and the fact that alliteration is memorable. I grew up in Newton County, which if you google you'll be treated to a broad swath of green. Even many of my friends don't know that I grew up out there, since we moved to Russellville when I was about 5. But from Newton county to Russellville, and Fayetteville for college, there's no doubt that I'm a child of the Ozark hills. So that's the "Hills" part. The Harvard part references my admittance to Harvard law school, where I start my studies in t-minus one month (plus a couple of days). My girlfriend Jess (we are living in sin) will be moving up to Boston with me, as will our two won

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