Highway robbery.

[_octopod]

Holy shit, I spent $400 today. I have spent, so far:

• $290 on grad school application fees
• $80 on fucking GRE score reprints
• $28 on transcripts

for a total of $398. Ugggggh. Suddenly I'm glad I got a decently well paying job this year.

Comments

[ctrl_a]

I feel your pain. I'm starting to go through the process of preparing to take the bar next summer, and it's appalling how many different things I have to pay for and how much they cost. $415 for a moral character determination, plus $20 to get fingerprints done, then $60 for the Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam, and I don't even know how much for the bar exam itself. (I think I already paid for that, though, and "only" had to pay $95 because I committed to taking the California bar two years ago or something like that.)

I can't complain too much because I am going to work for a firm, and they will reimburse me for everything as long as I sell them my soul for a few years, but I don't see how people can go straight into public interest, with all of the bar fees on top of student loans. It's like you have to be independently wealthy to do good as a lawyer.

[_octopod]

$415? For a moral character determination? What the cringing balls is that?

[ctrl_a]

It's where they run background checks, verify your residences and employment for the past 8 years, and send letters to your references asking whether you are a good person. (Kind of like what you would go through if you wanted to work for the FBI or the Department of Justice.) It seems really hokey to me, but I guess it's a big deal. Given the administrative burden it must be to track down all the people -- I wonder what the response rate is on the questionnaires -- $415 doesn't seem like all that much. But whether the whole ordeal is necessary to begin with...