SoFi Blog

After 19 years of education—12 years in primary school, four years of undergraduate study, and three years of post-graduate work—you’ve finally done it: You’re a lawyer. Well, almost.

Before any graduate can practice law, he or she must take the bar exam . After years of school and countless hours of studying, your legal career will come down to passing the bar exam. Typically, graduates walk across the stage in May, then take the bar exam in their state of choice the last week of July (although most states administer the bar exam during the last week of February as well).

Then, they must wait to confirm their bar results and start working as a first-year associate. And all that adds up to is a ton of time off with nothing to do between taking the bar and starting a job. Nothing to do but celebrate, of course.

What do students do while waiting on bar exam results? The time-honored tradition of “bar trips” takes place each year during those few weeks after the exam and actually receiving the results.

When you’re busy focusing on exams and your bustling social life, it’s easy to let the details of student loans fade to the background. But student loans can be tricky, so it’s important to understand what you’ve signed up for when you borrowed them to fund your education.

We’re debunking some common student loan myths to help you feel more prepared with the knowledge you need to stay on top of them and in control.

A girl—or guy—has gotta eat. But how do you make sure you eat well while paying off student loan debt? You don’t have limit yourself to a diet of canned beans and ramen while repaying your student loans.

With some careful planning, you’ll be able to eat healthy, nutritious, and delicious food, while still having enough money to double down on your debt. If you’re looking for a way to save on groceries, we’ve got you covered. These 10 tips and tricks can help you learn how to budget for food so that you can satisfy all your cravings.

Ignoring a problem in the hopes that it’ll go away can feel very appealing on the surface. But while engrossing one’s self in the latest TV drama might be a good distraction, it isn’t actually going to resolve anything. This is especially true when it comes to student loan debt. If you pretend it doesn’t actually exist, you’re not going to make it disappear, and you may even make it worse.

If student loan stress is causing you to lose sleep, you’re not alone. Stress from debt can have an impact on some people’s mental health. A 2017 report found that 80% of working professionals with student loans claimed that their debt was a ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ stressor in their lives.

A great way to potentially counter stress from debt is to craft an action plan to get ahead of your debt. Help take charge of your student debt with these five tips.

You’ve seen the commercials. The ads pop up on websites when you’re online. Maybe your friends and family are doing it. As more Americans pursue degrees in higher education, more Americans are turning to online classes. But what are the benefits of online learning?

According to a 2017 federal report for the National Center for Education Statistics , the number of people enrolled in postsecondary education is expected to climb by 15% from 2014 to 2025. But, thanks to technology, the education of the future may look very different than it does now—and it may impact more than high school seniors.

Web-based distance learning is becoming commonplace at universities around the country, further enabling people in remote areas to gain access to educations like those obtainable in more urban areas.

The Digital Learning Compass organization reported in its annual Distance Education Enrollment Report that more than six million higher education students had taken at least one online class in 2015.

But is learning online really best? Here are some benefits of online education, and a few pitfalls to avoid if you’re looking to brush up on your skills with an online class—or a complete online degree, cap and gown and all.