Vandy 2L taking questions Forum

[canon1845]

1. Is it realistic to go to Vandy targetting NYC biglaw?

2. What does being median at Vandy mean for that student in the 2L OCI? Is he or she screwed for biglaw?

3. Are there any foreign students, who had their UG outside of North America, at Vandy? If so how do they fare?

Thanks!

Other ppl on this board would know better than I do, but here are my thoughts

1. People definitely get NYC biglaw, but it is far from guaranteed.
2. Depends. I think at median things would be difficult, but a lot depends on your interviewing skills/ networking, connections, luck, etc (as I said others on this board would have better perspective on this)
3. Yeah, there are international students, but I can't tell you how well they did

Many thanks for the great response mate.

[arklaw13]

1. Is it realistic to go to Vandy targetting NYC biglaw?

2. What does being median at Vandy mean for that student in the 2L OCI? Is he or she screwed for biglaw?

3. Are there any foreign students, who had their UG outside of North America, at Vandy? If so how do they fare?

Thanks!

1. There's a good shot, although obviously not the same as most T14's. It's hard to really tell because most people who come here aren't as NYC-focused as higher-ranked schools.

2. Anecdotally, my class seems to have done well overall, but I have no idea how people around the median did. That's the main difference between us and, say, Duke or Virginia--median there puts you in line for most NYC firms. That is generally not the case here.

3. There are foreign students, and I have no idea how they do. There are a lot of LLMs, but I'm not sure how many foreign JD students there are.

[canon1845]

1. Is it realistic to go to Vandy targetting NYC biglaw?

2. What does being median at Vandy mean for that student in the 2L OCI? Is he or she screwed for biglaw?

3. Are there any foreign students, who had their UG outside of North America, at Vandy? If so how do they fare?

Thanks!

1. There's a good shot, although obviously not the same as most T14's. It's hard to really tell because most people who come here aren't as NYC-focused as higher-ranked schools.

2. Anecdotally, my class seems to have done well overall, but I have no idea how people around the median did. That's the main difference between us and, say, Duke or Virginia--median there puts you in line for most NYC firms. That is generally not the case here.

3. There are foreign students, and I have no idea how they do. There are a lot of LLMs, but I'm not sure how many foreign JD students there are.

Thanks for the input mate.

[Big Red]

Since this keep coming up in the 0L threads - has anyone ever successfully negotiated? The language on the scholly letter is pretty prohibitive

[arklaw13]

Since this keep coming up in the 0L threads - has anyone ever successfully negotiated? The language on the scholly letter is pretty prohibitive

I only directly know of it happening for people coming off the waitlist after the deposit deadline. My advice would be to wait as late as possible. The only reason for them to negotiate is to raise their numbers, which they won't know if they need to do until they start getting commitments.

[vdh2102]

Does anybody have thoughts on whether it's a big mistake to live in the Bellevue area vs. closer to campus (but for more $$)? It seems like you get a lot more for your money but I'm not sure how impractical the 15-20 minute driving commute might end up being for a busy student.

[arklaw13]

Does anybody have thoughts on whether it's a big mistake to live in the Bellevue area vs. closer to campus (but for more $$)? It seems like you get a lot more for your money but I'm not sure how impractical the 15-20 minute driving commute might end up being for a busy student.

I actually live in Bellevue. My commute is between 20-25 minutes, which isn't too bad in my experience. If you like to go downtown to the bars a lot, Bellevue probably isn't for you. I pay around what I would pay to live with a roommate closer to campus, and my complex is pretty great (360 gated, no worries about crime, etc.). If you want more information about a specific place, feel free to PM me.

[YoungSimba]

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[BearLaw]

Since this keep coming up in the 0L threads - has anyone ever successfully negotiated? The language on the scholly letter is pretty prohibitive

I only directly know of it happening for people coming off the waitlist after the deposit deadline. My advice would be to wait as late as possible. The only reason for them to negotiate is to raise their numbers, which they won't know if they need to do until they start getting commitments.

Just to be clear, what do most feel is "as late as possible"? The week before the deposit? 2 business days before?

The week of may be good. I doubt you will get much out of them. Admissions seems to have a pretty strict set of award brackets people fall into. If you are offered 35K a year, that seems to be the top end unless you get one of the full scholarships. If you are below that you may get an extra few dollars, but I get the feeling the amounts don't move much.

3L here for what its worth.

[BearLaw]

Does anybody have thoughts on whether it's a big mistake to live in the Bellevue area vs. closer to campus (but for more $$)? It seems like you get a lot more for your money but I'm not sure how impractical the 15-20 minute driving commute might end up being for a busy student.

A fair number of people live 15-30 minuets away and in Nashville, that means you can live about anywhere. Realistically, Nashville isnt that big and traffic is usually only bad for an hour or so each morning and evening. Time your leaving and watch for crashes and you can do fine commute wise.

I live out west of school, at Charlotte and White Bridge roughly. Its a 15 min. drive or a 30 min bus ride. The bus has saved me probably around 3-4K in parking, gas, and wear and tear on my car in three years. I also live in some dirt cheap apartments for Nashville.

[fa1493]

Another question on where to live:
I assume there are times people want to go out without the worry of having to drive back. That being said, is being closer to the school going to make you closer to where people tend to hang out ? I don't mind waking up to drive a little further to school...but having a long walk on the weekend seems inconvenient.

[BearLaw]

Another question on where to live:
I assume there are times people want to go out without the worry of having to drive back. That being said, is being closer to the school going to make you closer to where people tend to hang out ? I don't mind waking up to drive a little further to school...but having a long walk on the weekend seems inconvenient.

A lot depends on context. There are plenty of places to live that are close enough to walk to school, and to some bars. But Nashville is really split into three major centers of entertainment (Downtown, Gulch, Midtown) and several smaller areas with a few places each (Bellmont village, 12 South, East Nashville, Silvan Park, Charlotte Ave now). You will have to drive/get a ride sometime. That being said, Nashville is not big. It is good sized for TN, but it is not actually big. At times when you want to go out, it will take longer to find parking than to get most places. That being said, there is ample parking in Nashville. All the street meters are free after 6 and on weekends. There are cheapish garages/lots everywhere.

As for walking, if you live near school, Midtown is walkable. Live downtown, DT is walkable. Live in the gulch, Gulch is walkable. Otherwise, not so much. Transit is mediocre and shuts down well before the bars. BUT- there are a ton of cabs--expensive, but almost all vans so you can split 3-6 ppl easily. There are also tons of Uber/Lyft drivers. And they keep getting cheaper. There has been an ongoing pricewar between them and it is not only $5-7 to get from school to Downtown, less if you are splitting.

[fa1493]

Another question on where to live:
I assume there are times people want to go out without the worry of having to drive back. That being said, is being closer to the school going to make you closer to where people tend to hang out ? I don't mind waking up to drive a little further to school...but having a long walk on the weekend seems inconvenient.

A lot depends on context. There are plenty of places to live that are close enough to walk to school, and to some bars. But Nashville is really split into three major centers of entertainment (Downtown, Gulch, Midtown) and several smaller areas with a few places each (Bellmont village, 12 South, East Nashville, Silvan Park, Charlotte Ave now). You will have to drive/get a ride sometime. That being said, Nashville is not big. It is good sized for TN, but it is not actually big. At times when you want to go out, it will take longer to find parking than to get most places. That being said, there is ample parking in Nashville. All the street meters are free after 6 and on weekends. There are cheapish garages/lots everywhere.

As for walking, if you live near school, Midtown is walkable. Live downtown, DT is walkable. Live in the gulch, Gulch is walkable. Otherwise, not so much. Transit is mediocre and shuts down well before the bars. BUT- there are a ton of cabs--expensive, but almost all vans so you can split 3-6 ppl easily. There are also tons of Uber/Lyft drivers. And they keep getting cheaper. There has been an ongoing pricewar between them and it is not only $5-7 to get from school to Downtown, less if you are splitting.

Thank you! That was very helpful.

[adil91]

Do you know how the job search for 3Ls below the median is going?

[arklaw13]

Do you know how the job search for 3Ls below the median is going?

I personally have no idea. Maybe a 3L can chime in with a general sense of things.

[BearLaw]

Do you know how the job search for 3Ls below the median is going?

Based off of a single data point, poorly. But honestly, I couldn't tell you. For one, with no published rankings (or even medians for that matter) it is impossible to know where anyone falls. For another, its not something most people wear on their sleeve. I do know of several people who are still waiting for confirmation they will be hired after the bar. No idea what their grades are (I can assume they are medianish overall).

I know a number of people with jobs in every practice area, from big law, to clerkships, to PI and Gov jobs (both fed and state). Overall I get the feeling that our class did pretty well overall, but I have also stuffed myself into a certain set of classes with a certain group of people at this point, so I havent spoken at length about job searches with a lot of people.

[vdh2102]

Since we're on the topic of housing, where does it seem like the majority of the law students live? What is ideal?

[KMart]

For a student with ties back to Chicago, would you recommend Vandy over UIUC/WUSTL/ND for going back to Chicago? The latter schools worry me with their unemployment, but Vandy worries me about the Chicago prospects.

[arklaw13]

For a student with ties back to Chicago, would you recommend Vandy over UIUC/WUSTL/ND for going back to Chicago? The latter schools worry me with their unemployment, but Vandy worries me about the Chicago prospects.

I know quite a few people who are either going to Chicago or got offers there and went elsewhere. They all had very strong ties (of the top of my head, three went to northwestern for ug, another worked as a paralegal for a big Chi firm) and good grades, 3/4 with LR. Those are just the people I know personally. There could be more.

I also know people who struck out in Chicago because they lacked either ties or strong grades. Middle of the class will not get Chicago.

I don't really like your other options all that much either. It's a tough choice. If the goal is Chi, I'd honestly try for northwestern.

[KMart]

I'm from here, worked in a law firm during UG in Chicago, and went to UG here. I like to at least think I have some level of ties. However the grades is always the unknown.

Agreed very much on the NU aspect. Currently I'm held. Thanks for at least showing me it's a poachable market. Do you know if they mass mailed or had firms from OCI for their offers?

[rahulg91]

I'm from here, worked in a law firm during UG in Chicago, and went to UG here. I like to at least think I have some level of ties. However the grades is always the unknown.

Agreed very much on the NU aspect. Currently I'm held. Thanks for at least showing me it's a poachable market. Do you know if they mass mailed or had firms from OCI for their offers?

There's a Chicago interview program as well as a few firms that interview for OCI. If you're a minority you'll get another shot at the CCBA fair.

[KMart]

Thanks so much for the info guys!

[arklaw13]

I'm from here, worked in a law firm during UG in Chicago, and went to UG here. I like to at least think I have some level of ties. However the grades is always the unknown.

Agreed very much on the NU aspect. Currently I'm held. Thanks for at least showing me it's a poachable market. Do you know if they mass mailed or had firms from OCI for their offers?

Of the four I mentioned, none of those firms come to OCI, although some do come to the Chicago job fair though.

[Wipfelder]

Can anyone answer questions on child care? The Mrs is looking to work, not really sure what options look like in Nashville.

[smiles123]

I know the the T14 gives you a major edge over Vandy for biglaw, but how does Vandy compare to the lower T14 for PI and Gov jobs?