Washington & Lee Class of 2012 Forum

[ORGAN21]

With the deposit deadline quickly approaching, has anyone else decided on W&L?

Yep, I'm going. I just sent my deposit in last night!

Happy to hear it Organ21! Congrats on all your acceptances (per your profile)! What sold you on W & L?

Aside from the scholarship offer and the cost of living, I was deeply impressed in every way when I went to the ASD. Let's see if I can list a few things. The school is in a lovely setting with a view of trees and mountains from nearly every classroom. The Dean's discussion of "The New Third Year" sounds like a worthwhile opportunity that might give me an edge in this unstable economy. Furthermore, the small class sizes and personal attention is a real selling point with me. Brett Twitty even described W&L as "a liberal arts approach to law." The honor code seems to actually work at the school-- I saw laptops, printers, and other juicy items unattended in students' study carrels. Apparently there is virtually no threat of theft, and several students said that since W&L is so small, cutthroat practices (something I was really concerned about) almost doesn't exist, simply for the fact that if you are cutthroat, you have no friends, etc. So the small school atmosphere acts as quite a deterrent. I also really liked the town. Even though it is small and I originally wanted to go to a large metropolis, it is close to DC and Richmond for weekend trips. Plus, if I went to a big city, I think studying might be harder because there are so many distractions. A student said to me that what's nice about W&L is that there's enough to do if you're looking for something, but not so much that you feel you're missing out. Several students explained that W&L is very aware of what Lexington does and does not offer, so it brings in events. Someone said Blues Traveler was coming and they've had Three 6 Mafia, so it seems pretty eclectic. Overall, what most impressed me is that the students and admissions staff I met were frank about what W&L can or cannot offer. I appreciated the honesty instead of trying to gloss over things like the size of the town, for instance. Overall, it was a refreshing visit and after reflection, I decided it was the perfect fit for me.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope that helps

[presh]

.

[underwhere759]

My fiance and I just went up and signed our lease this weekend. We have the whole bottom floor of a huge house. The top is divided into two one bedroom apartments. i think they were between 500 and 600 a month. Everything but electricity and cable and internet is included I believe. So if anyone is looking let me know and I'll PM you the real estate agents info. I would love to have fellow 1L's above so that they are people in the same situation as I am and in about the same noise level. Since I will be married I cant live in the dorms, and it would be nice to be fairly close to people for studying, questions and etc. will be more law students next door , but otherwise a residential neighborhood so really quiet.
personally I think it would be nice to have other 1l's around so that im not totally socially separated from the rest of the class.
The lady also has other homes and apartments and hers have been the nicest I have seen in town so far. A lot of the houses are fairly old so they arent always as nice inside.

[hokiehi]

Congrats on getting a lease signed! I bet that feels great. We are hoping to sign our lease when we are in town May 7th-ish.

Housing definitely is hit or miss in the area, but if you get started early you should be fine. Here's to hoping there are some jobs available for incoming spouses.

Anyone else make the big decision with the deadline coming tomorrow?

[underwhere759]

thanks! it is definitely a big relief. we are going to put a work wanted ad in the newspaper for him next week or the one after. we missed this weeks deadline,
hopefully that or the mass mailing of resumes helps

[lasolas]

just sent in my deposit, but unless my significant other can secure work in Lexington in the next month its $600 down the drain. 1L stress is going to be nothing compared to this whole application process. ugh!

[nmca]

just sent in my deposit, but unless my significant other can secure work in Lexington in the next month its $600 down the drain. 1L stress is going to be nothing compared to this whole application process. ugh!

I'm in the exact same boat. My significant other has been looking in Roanoke and Charlottsville in addition to Lexington.

[LawSchoolRocks]

Anyone going who is single? If this thread is any indication, the class will have a large percentage of married/soon to be married students. I apologize for posting on this particular thread as I have sent in my deposit but I am still trying to determine whether or not to attend. I had a nice time visiting but can anyone sell me on being a single male in Lexington?

[Noonvale]

Anyone going who is single?

Me. I know of a few others going that are also single. I don't know how representative a sample of the class this thread is! *shrug*

[gregw8705]

Based upon what current students said at the most recent admitted students weekend, the vast majority of students are single. Maybe married or coupled up people are more likely to post on TLS, but the current students report only a handful of married couples, if I recall.

[terpfan99]

Just sent in my deposit last night...

I didn't think I'd ever be going to a school in lexington but the ASD was really impressive

[LawSchoolRocks]

Is the on campus housing at W&L really limited to just 4 bedroom apts with one bath? The website directed me to Woods Creek East and that is what I found. I may be looking for housing over the next month and would like to be walking distance from the law school. Any ideas?

[veryconfused]

Anyone going who is single? If this thread is any indication, the class will have a large percentage of married/soon to be married students. I apologize for posting on this particular thread as I have sent in my deposit but I am still trying to determine whether or not to attend. I had a nice time visiting but can anyone sell me on being a single male in Lexington?

haha, about 8% of the class is married, so 92% aren't. The average age of incoming classes are usually around 24/25

[enygma]

well, sent in my deposit yesterday. barring an acceptance from NU I'll be seeing you guys next fall.

[underwhere759]

Anyone going who is single? If this thread is any indication, the class will have a large percentage of married/soon to be married students. I apologize for posting on this particular thread as I have sent in my deposit but I am still trying to determine whether or not to attend. I had a nice time visiting but can anyone sell me on being a single male in Lexington?

haha, about 8% of the class is married, so 92% aren't. The average age of incoming classes are usually around 24/25

I dont know about the rest of the non singles, but my fiance and I are probably about the same age as the rest of you we are both 23. We just decided to get married sooner than originally planned because law school didnt seem like the time to be planning a wedding, nor afterwards when I would be burdened with debt. And we didnt want to wait 3 more years. but we still have plenty of "party" left in us too.

[gregw8705]

Is the on campus housing at W&L really limited to just 4 bedroom apts with one bath? The website directed me to Woods Creek East and that is what I found. I may be looking for housing over the next month and would like to be walking distance from the law school. Any ideas?

If I recall from my visit, there is some within "walking" distance, if you're willing to take a longer walk. Woods Creek residents can literally throw a rock and hit the law school building, but I think there might be some private housing further away but not too far to walk.

[veryconfused]

Is the on campus housing at W&L really limited to just 4 bedroom apts with one bath? The website directed me to Woods Creek East and that is what I found. I may be looking for housing over the next month and would like to be walking distance from the law school. Any ideas?

If I recall from my visit, there is some within "walking" distance, if you're willing to take a longer walk. Woods Creek residents can literally throw a rock and hit the law school building, but I think there might be some private housing further away but not too far to walk.

A lot of people found houses with the intent to walk to school, but nobody does. Law school makes you lazy. The only people who walk is from Woods Creek, which is literally a one minute/2 minute walk to the law school

[LawSchoolRocks]

What's the verdict on Woods Creek? Decent place to live? Are the apts. fully furnished or can one bring some of his/her own things? Thanks for the responses...

[veryconfused]

What's the verdict on Woods Creek? Decent place to live? Are the apts. fully furnished or can one bring some of his/her own things? Thanks for the responses...

Because housing with roommates in town is around 300-350, Woods Creek seems severely overpriced. It is across the street which is nice, but the apartments aren't great. Most people who stayed there aren't the next year. They are fully furnished and you can bring your own things. they even give you a 3 year supply of toilet paper, no joke. 2 Huge Boxes of toilet paper

[21124]

is anybody somewhat worried about the new rankings?


i heard woods creek apartments aren't that bad, but he would recommend not living in them unless you don't have time to look for a place.

[House Trained]

is anybody somewhat worried about the new rankings?

Maybe slightly annoyed. Otherwise no. Salaries and clerkships are more important rankings to me than U.S. News. A magazine ranking won't pay the bills.

[midwesterngal]

hey, most people at w&l aren't that worried b/c the thing that employers look at isn't our ranking but our reputation score in the law community. That didn't change. Our reputation score is still ranked around 20-25.

No firm in their right mind is going to start getting people from University of Indiana instead of say, George Washington, Washington and Lee, or Fordham just because IU is ranked higher this year. It's about the quality of the students and the reputation these schools have built up the last 100 years.

My friend works for USnews law section and he jokes that they always mess with the 20-35 because that's where the controversy is. Had they dropped a T-14 school to say 20th, their would be huge riots about the legitimacy of USnews. They feel they can stir up the 20-35 without much consequence. Controversy Sells.

[House Trained]

Some of the schools ranked with or ahead of us (Can I say "us" now?) make me scratch my head.

Have they recently hired away Cooley admin to help with the rankings?

School / % graduating class employed at NLJ 250 Firms / % Clerkships / OCI firms per student

OCI numbers from LSN, other numbers from here:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... 7904905714


Washington and Lee / 19%/ 18% / 1.51
Washington / 16% / 15% / 0.70
Minnesota / 12% / 18% / 0.57
Iowa / 16% / 8% / 0.84
Indiana / 13% / 7% / 0.60
Alabama / 11% / 8% / 0.16


Oh well, they can have their U.S. News rankings. I'll take the better employment prospects.

[dreamcmtru]

I went down to Lex last week to look at houses and I looked at a really nice house (it would be great for a couple, a couple with 1 or 2 young children, or a single parent--it would also be great for two roommates but there are a lot of young children in the neighborhood and there's a playground at the end of the street and a lot of young couples so I thought it would be particularly good for a young family). I think the rent was 1050 negotiable. It was 3 bedroom and 2 1/2 baths. It was a really cute, sunny house (only a few years old). It even had a cute, round stained glass window in the front. It was too small for my family (I have three older kids) but I am renting the one next door and I would love to have fellow W & L law students as neighbors. If anyone wants the landlord's info, PM me..

Also, I met a local realtor who is really nice and she has a lot of one and two bedroom rental listings and a couple of three and four bedroom...PM me for her email address

What I found looking for a house is that it is hard to find a place with more than one bathroom--therefore, when you do find a house with two bathrooms, the rental price is about $400 higher than a similar one with one bath. It seems like a lot to pay for a bathroom, but I have three daughters...

I know that most people attending are not as old as I am, but if anyone else has school aged children, PM me...I've found out a lot of the ins and outs (like the fact that the town doesn't have school busses) and would be happy to share that kind of info.

I also found that almost everyone I met in Lex is in some way affiliated with W & L and they instantly love you when you tell them you are going to school there...

I have been down there three times and every time I feel that I made the right decision in deciding to attend W & L. It just seems like a nice, relaxing place to spend the most stressful year of my life...good luck to everyone who was waitlisted...I hope that all the ratings obsessors drop their seats so that people who really love W & L for the right reasons will be in the class of 2012!

[dreamcmtru]

I know that a few other people who applied late in the cycle received an admissions letter that said scholarship decisions would be made for them after April 15. I was just wondering if anyone had heard anything about scholarships recently?? I'm still hoping, wishing, praying that I get at least some $ to take the edge off this anxiety I feel about my loan situation...