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heading out in early july, staying with a friend of a friend until aug 1 when the lease starts...we should definitely hang out when we get there!!!

Just wanted to pop by and say hi since I can finally join this thread!

I was admitted off the WL today. Still pretty shocked and had to re-read the email a few times to make sure I didn't misread.

I was all set to go to Wisconsin, even have a lease signed and everything. My SO is a little shaky on CU because we are both from WI and we were all set to move back. She has a job already lined up. Trying to think about it as if CU just took a really long time to decide they liked me enough to let me in.

Waiting to hear on $$ because unexpectedly UW came through with a very generous offer in addition to in-state tuition and at sticker the difference is $60K which would unfortunately knock CU out of the running. I spoke with someone over there and hopefully they can find some money in the couch cushions or something.

Still am a little in disbelief, but just wanted to say hi to everyone. I have been lurking in here a little bit, hoping that I could post at some time

congrats and welcome, avrock!! i can't imagine what it would be like to get new news at this point, good luck with shifting gears and heading west!!!

Thanks!

Technically I am already West (New Mexico), so I would be heading north, but I am not 100% sold on CU. I think it is going to come down to whether I want to practice in CO or WI and how much (if any) $$$ CU can throw at me, since Wisconsin has been pretty generous thus far.

Going to be a very tough decision.

well, good luck...this is not an easy process, but at least you know you have good options and you just have to pick the best for you!!

Anyone know CU-Boulder's acceptance rate or median LSAT this cycle ?

Curious since Colorado Law had the largest increase (up 12%) in applications among tier one law schools--at least to the best of my knowledge.

theavrock wrote:Thanks!

Technically I am already West (New Mexico), so I would be heading north, but I am not 100% sold on CU. I think it is going to come down to whether I want to practice in CO or WI and how much (if any) $$$ CU can throw at me, since Wisconsin has been pretty generous thus far.

Going to be a very tough decision.

Definitely want to also add in the cost savings of the diploma privilege in WI. That's an extra $3k saved on bar expenses over what it would be for CU/the CO bar, plus cost of living for that summer (not to mention the opportunity costs inherent in actually having to prepare for and take the fucking test).

-Pufer

Pufer wrote:

theavrock wrote:Thanks!

Technically I am already West (New Mexico), so I would be heading north, but I am not 100% sold on CU. I think it is going to come down to whether I want to practice in CO or WI and how much (if any) $$$ CU can throw at me, since Wisconsin has been pretty generous thus far.

Going to be a very tough decision.

Definitely want to also add in the cost savings of the diploma privilege in WI. That's an extra $3k saved on bar expenses over what it would be for CU/the CO bar, plus cost of living for that summer (not to mention the opportunity costs inherent in actually having to prepare for and take the fucking test).

-Pufer

On the other hand.... Wisconsin...

Hey gang, I'm living in Boulder now so if anyone wants to get together and do something let me know. I work full time during the week so weekends are better for me. PM me if you are interested in meeting up and we can exchange contact info.

DYING to get there!!!!
looks like we'll make it to denver about the 17th....and will spend 2 weeks staying with friends doing nothing productive until our lease starts on aug 1 can't wait to meet y'all!!

Pufer wrote:

theavrock wrote:Thanks!

Technically I am already West (New Mexico), so I would be heading north, but I am not 100% sold on CU. I think it is going to come down to whether I want to practice in CO or WI and how much (if any) $$$ CU can throw at me, since Wisconsin has been pretty generous thus far.

Going to be a very tough decision.

Definitely want to also add in the cost savings of the diploma privilege in WI. That's an extra $3k saved on bar expenses over what it would be for CU/the CO bar, plus cost of living for that summer (not to mention the opportunity costs inherent in actually having to prepare for and take the fucking test).

-Pufer

Very true. I hadn't thought of that.

Well I received my scholly offer today. And sure enough. Its just over $40K difference.

Gah! I just don't know if I can pull the trigger on that. I know its only 40K, but that is essentially what I am paying for a UW degree tuition wise.

They mentioned the accelerated degree option as well which could help reduce the difference. Is anyone familiar with the pros and cons of the accelerated degree?

I know I would rather be in CO than WI, but I wouldn't be upset to be in WI at all. Just not sure if I can reconcile paying twice the amount for the degree. UGH!

theavrock wrote:They mentioned the accelerated degree option as well which could help reduce the difference. Is anyone familiar with the pros and cons of the accelerated degree?

Unless they're changing something for next year, the "accelerated degree program" consists of a booklet explaining how you can schedule all of your classes (using summer, intersession, and maymester, along with increased credit loads during the regular year) such that you can complete your JD more quickly. You could easily come up with a similar at any law school that doesn't actually require three years of attendance.

Upside is that you finish early and rejoin the workforce. Downside is that you have to stuff three years worth of work into two, which means you lose your breaks and have less free time with which to gain work experience while in school.

-Pufer

So if one would be ok with the quicker time frame and increased work load graduating sooner wouldn't provide many cons?

I didn't see this in the thread anywhere, but does anyone know what CU curves to? Just trying to figure out where one would have to finish to lose the scholly.

theavrock wrote:So if one would be ok with the quicker time frame and increased work load graduating sooner wouldn't provide many cons?

The negatives pufer highlighted are real and substantial.

I didn't see this in the thread anywhere, but does anyone know what CU curves to? Just trying to figure out where one would have to finish to lose the scholly.

The new curve (enacted last fall) mandates a B+ median for all courses. --LinkRemoved--

theavrock wrote:So if one would be ok with the quicker time frame and increased work load graduating sooner wouldn't provide many cons?

I didn't see this in the thread anywhere, but does anyone know what CU curves to? Just trying to figure out where one would have to finish to lose the scholly.

I could be wrong, but isn't the accelerated program they advertise 2.5 years? If that is the case I'm not sure how 2.5 years (on regular semesters) + 2 summer semesters is really going to save you a significant enough amount of money to overcome the lost opportunities of work experience gained during law school as well as the lost free time and breaks. Although, I haven't done the math on it.

Right. I wasnt minimizing the negatives. Simply making sure there was nothing else I was missing.

I have not looked into it enough yet. Was just curious if others had any experience with it.

Does anyone have good employment info for Class of 2010?

I asked CDO and they told me that they couldn't provide anything other than the # of JD's because that info was still being compiled and wouldn't be ready until fall.

Seems pretty odd given that all of that info needed to be reported in Feb to US News. Thought I would try to see if anyone on here had any of the info I was looking for.

Looking specifically for: # grads with jobs at grad and 9 months, # of school sponsored and temp positions, # of jobs that required or preferred a JD with breakdown (private practice, public interest, clerkships etc.), list of employers and cities represented.

Sort of a random question that I knew the answer to at one point and forgot: is this a kitchen type area in the law school?

theavrock wrote:Looking specifically for: # grads with jobs at grad and 9 months, # of school sponsored and temp positions, # of jobs that required or preferred a JD with breakdown (private practice, public interest, clerkships etc.), list of employers and cities represented.

Don't think they've ever compiled any of those stats for public consumption.

LeDique wrote:Sort of a random question that I knew the answer to at one point and forgot: is this a kitchen type area in the law school?

In the student commons there's a refrigerator (brand new this last spring), a couple microwaves (one of which is new), and a water supply ("hydration station" for filling water bottles, not a sink). The clinical suite, the journal suite, and the faculty have proper sorts of kitchen areas, but you really won't have access to them unless you're in a clinic, on a journal, or are a RA or something, respectively. There are a couple other kitchen type areas that are limited to only staff and special events, but no students have access to them (as far as I'm aware, at least).

-Pufer

Pufer wrote:

theavrock wrote:Looking specifically for: # grads with jobs at grad and 9 months, # of school sponsored and temp positions, # of jobs that required or preferred a JD with breakdown (private practice, public interest, clerkships etc.), list of employers and cities represented.

Don't think they've ever compiled any of those stats for public consumption.

-Pufer

Any reason for that you are aware of?

I haven't had any problem getting that from any other law school I've applied to and it seems like pretty standard info so one can get a good idea of post grad prospects.

The stats are probably really bad, but they have reorganized a bunch of the administration over the past year and a handful of important people have retired/changed positions. So yea, the numbers are probably shitty and they probably don't want to tell you, but they could have legit reasons for statistics not being compiled/ready yet.

theavrock wrote:

Pufer wrote:

theavrock wrote:Looking specifically for: # grads with jobs at grad and 9 months, # of school sponsored and temp positions, # of jobs that required or preferred a JD with breakdown (private practice, public interest, clerkships etc.), list of employers and cities represented.

Don't think they've ever compiled any of those stats for public consumption.

-Pufer

Any reason for that you are aware of?

I haven't had any problem getting that from any other law school I've applied to and it seems like pretty standard info so one can get a good idea of post grad prospects.

Really? Schools have given you actual numbers, not percentages? I mean, the percentages are on the website, and I imagine they'll update them with last year's numbers as soon as they get them together (which I wouldn't hold your breath for what with the general disarray in career services), but there weren't any schools giving actual numbers back when I was applying four years ago, and I just checked out a handful of other schools' websites, and they're not any more detailed than the CU one (although they are up to date).

They don't really do school sponsored positions that would still be in place at the relevant 9 month period. I honestly don't know that they do a list of employers/cities represented for anything but people employed at graduation (I suspect not), and since virtually nobody was employed at graduation last year, the list wouldn't be particularly helpful even if it did exist.

My recommendation would be to assume the worst about every school you're applying to. I mean, those of us who just graduated applied back when the law business was still booming, and CU had employment numbers significantly superior to comparable schools. Whatever is happening now has no relation to how bad it could be in a few years. Probably won't be, but better to not expect that CU's employment stats will remain where they are presently, in either relative or real terms.

-Pufer

Yea absolutely. Some schools have been less forthcoming than others and maybe I have gotten lucky, but I was able to get that information for the 4 schools I was seriously considering.

None of the schools published these numbers on the website, but asking them specifically for them was not a problem. Most schools specifically use school sponsored temp positions around the 9 month period to boost this stat when they report to US News. If CU doesn't thats awesome, but every school I have talked to has engaged in this practice. It just seems that this information would be valuable for the school to track. I'm not a career services professional obviously, but how do you track your performance in this area if you aren't tracking where your grads are ending up?

I understand that the numbers aren't going to be relevant by the time I am graduating, but students are investing a lot of time and money into obtaining a JD, with the intent of getting a job when they graduate. These statistics are a great way to evaluate how schools one is considering stack against each other. One can't predict the future, so using current statistics is the next best thing IMO.

theavrock wrote:Yea absolutely. Some schools have been less forthcoming than others and maybe I have gotten lucky, but I was able to get that information for the 4 schools I was seriously considering.

None of the schools published these numbers on the website, but asking them specifically for them was not a problem. Most schools specifically use school sponsored temp positions around the 9 month period to boost this stat when they report to US News. If CU doesn't thats awesome, but every school I have talked to has engaged in this practice. It just seems that this information would be valuable for the school to track. I'm not a career services professional obviously, but how do you track your performance in this area if you aren't tracking where your grads are ending up?

I understand that the numbers aren't going to be relevant by the time I am graduating, but students are investing a lot of time and money into obtaining a JD, with the intent of getting a job when they graduate. These statistics are a great way to evaluate how schools one is considering stack against each other. One can't predict the future, so using current statistics is the next best thing IMO.

You are smart to be doing this and you are smart for recognizing how these statistics are gamed. (Compare UC-Davis's USNews employment vs. any top school, for example).

To his credit, our current/past dean has always been upfront and honest about these kinds of numbers. I tend to think that our #s mean a heck of a lot more than most schools in terms of accuracy.

Just thought I'd share with you all a video of Senator Udall (D-CO) who gave a floor speech commemorating the life of the late Dean David Getches.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Sena ... stop/15619