WUSTL Recent Grad (and others) Taking Questions Forum

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romothesavior

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by romothesavior » Sat Apr 30, 2011 12:02 am

I am going on a TLS hiatus for a few days. I need to focus on my exams, and my TLS addiction is killing my productivity at times. So if anyone here PMs me or asks a question and I don't respond, that's why.

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Jackson Pollock

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Jackson Pollock » Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:14 am


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JenDarby

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by JenDarby » Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:43 am

Jackson Pollock wrote:Just discovered this:

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectT ... p?sid=1147

Interesting.
That website got me a lot of easy As in UG...

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Hannibal

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Hannibal » Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:15 pm

JenDarby wrote:
Jackson Pollock wrote:Just discovered this:

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectT ... p?sid=1147

Interesting.
That website got me a lot of easy As in UG...
My GPA before discovering this site was 2.8.

ebw1080

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by ebw1080 » Sun May 01, 2011 1:33 pm

From the Wash U Website: The School of Law offers numerous scholarship awards thanks to the generosity of our alumni and friends of the University. Scholarships represent a three-year commitment by the School of Law, with awards guaranteed for the second and third years as long as the student remains in good academic standing.

Does anyone know what good academic standing entails? A GPA requirement? If so, what is the distribution of A's, B's etc. I apologize if these questions have already been answered on previous threads, couldn't locate them though. Would really appreciate some feedback!

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Hannibal

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Hannibal » Sun May 01, 2011 1:36 pm

As I understand it, good academic standing means you give at least a token effort in your classes.

I wonder how many people get sub-74s.
Last edited by Hannibal on Sun May 01, 2011 1:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sambeber

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by sambeber » Sun May 01, 2011 1:52 pm

ebw1080 wrote:From the Wash U Website: The School of Law offers numerous scholarship awards thanks to the generosity of our alumni and friends of the University. Scholarships represent a three-year commitment by the School of Law, with awards guaranteed for the second and third years as long as the student remains in good academic standing.

Does anyone know what good academic standing entails? A GPA requirement? If so, what is the distribution of A's, B's etc. I apologize if these questions have already been answered on previous threads, couldn't locate them though. Would really appreciate some feedback!
From the 2010-2011 WashU Law Student Handbook (--LinkRemoved--) page 5:

"To be in good academic standing, a J.D. student must achieve a 1) cumulative grade point average of at least 79 at the end of each academic year and, 2) a yearly grade point average of at least 79 by the end of the 2nd year."

Some information regarding grades from various WashU sites:

- Grading scale = 70 to 100
- Minimum passing grade = 74
- Minimum GPA (cum & 2nd yr "yearly") to remain in good academic standing = 79
- Mandatory mean range for first-year courses = 86.5 - 87.5

HTH.

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by ebw1080 » Sun May 01, 2011 2:00 pm

Thanks- very helpful stuff.

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fl0w

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by fl0w » Sun May 01, 2011 7:53 pm

if you do poorly enough to loose your scholarship, you're doing poorly enough where you will never get a job unless your daddy owns a law firm and is planning to hire you (in which case it doesn't matter that you lost your scholly because daddy can pay for it).

it's not like some of the bastard schools that require a 3.2 or something.

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ebw1080

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by ebw1080 » Mon May 02, 2011 8:07 am

yeah i caught that nyt article about scholarships being revoked at law schools, so I just wanted to see what the situation was at Wash U.

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stratocophic

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by stratocophic » Wed May 04, 2011 4:32 am

Hannibal wrote:As I understand it, good academic standing means you give at least a token effort in your classes.

I wonder how many people get sub-74s.
FWIW exactly 0 people got a 74 or below last year in any of my classes. Worst grade awarded in any of the 3 main courses was a 75. I think it'd take less than a token effort or some huge personal issues during finals to actually hit the failing grade.

http://law.wustl.edu/registrar/pages.aspx?id=8496

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by greendot » Wed May 04, 2011 11:40 pm

You Gotta Have Faith wrote:
thexfactor wrote:i heard a rumor that anyone in the top 10% at the end of the year without a scholarship gets a 10k scholarship?
Can anyone confirm or deny that? Has anyone else heard that?
It is not the top 10%. It is the top 10 people. You do not have to be without a scholarship either. However, the school will not give out money (i.e., if you are going for only $7K/year, you will go for free, but will not receive an additional $3K/year. If you have a full ride, you will get nothing for being one of the top 10 people).
In my experience, this is not true. I can't speak for the rest of the top 10, but I received no additional scholarship money. I heard the same rumor my first year, so there probably are some sort of discretionary scholarship funds to retain students, but it's not as cut and dry as "the top 10 get money."

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Kabuo

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Kabuo » Wed May 04, 2011 11:43 pm

NVM missed a post.

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You Gotta Have Faith

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by You Gotta Have Faith » Thu May 05, 2011 5:16 am

greendot wrote:
You Gotta Have Faith wrote:
thexfactor wrote:i heard a rumor that anyone in the top 10% at the end of the year without a scholarship gets a 10k scholarship?
Can anyone confirm or deny that? Has anyone else heard that?
It is not the top 10%. It is the top 10 people. You do not have to be without a scholarship either. However, the school will not give out money (i.e., if you are going for only $7K/year, you will go for free, but will not receive an additional $3K/year. If you have a full ride, you will get nothing for being one of the top 10 people).
In my experience, this is not true. I can't speak for the rest of the top 10, but I received no additional scholarship money. I heard the same rumor my first year, so there probably are some sort of discretionary scholarship funds to retain students, but it's not as cut and dry as "the top 10 get money."
I'm just regurgitating verbatim what I was told by one of the Admissions deans when I visited as a 0L. It's not a "rumor" that I have heard anywhere apart from in that office alone. Maybe she lied, who knows? Feel free to add something if you like... I'm just sharing my experience.

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fl0w

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by fl0w » Tue May 10, 2011 11:02 am

so i finished 1L and i'm doing my write-on competition now.

i so conclude...
do not go to law school.

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Jeffro » Tue May 10, 2011 5:33 pm

In general, this thread has been an amazing resource. The commitment, thoroughness, etc. of current students rocks and definitely helps me look forward to attending. Thanks for the wealth of info, notwithstanding the warning above to not attend law school.

I spoke with a big-name-for-a-smaller-town-type attorney the other day here in North Carolina and told him I was going to be attending WUSTL. He blinked at me for a second or two and kind of dumbfoundedly said, "that's one of the best law schools in the country." I was happy to hear him say this, as most laypeople in NC I tell have no idea about WUSTL it seems, and asked him his thoughts as far as name recognition with firms in NC. He assured me that "the people who matter [at firms] know WUSTL and it will carry well back to NC."

Do any current students have info/opinions on hiring prospects for students looking to practice in the Southeast? Is this one lawyer's take unusual or the norm do you think? I'm pretty set on WUSTL and am willing to sacrifice networking opportunities in NC by attending a law school well out of state (namely for the trial advocacy focus, not because I'm passing on Duke or UNC even), despite the fact that I plan to eventually return to NC (maybe not immediately after graduation, but eventually). Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Stephanie13 » Tue May 10, 2011 6:28 pm

Jeffro wrote:In general, this thread has been an amazing resource. The commitment, thoroughness, etc. of current students rocks and definitely helps me look forward to attending. Thanks for the wealth of info, notwithstanding the warning above to not attend law school.

I spoke with a big-name-for-a-smaller-town-type attorney the other day here in North Carolina and told him I was going to be attending WUSTL. He blinked at me for a second or two and kind of dumbfoundedly said, "that's one of the best law schools in the country." I was happy to hear him say this, as most laypeople in NC I tell have no idea about WUSTL it seems, and asked him his thoughts as far as name recognition with firms in NC. He assured me that "the people who matter [at firms] know WUSTL and it will carry well back to NC."

Do any current students have info/opinions on hiring prospects for students looking to practice in the Southeast? Is this one lawyer's take unusual or the norm do you think? I'm pretty set on WUSTL and am willing to sacrifice networking opportunities in NC by attending a law school well out of state (namely for the trial advocacy focus, not because I'm passing on Duke or UNC even), despite the fact that I plan to eventually return to NC (maybe not immediately after graduation, but eventually). Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I'll take a stab at this. From what I have gathered, WUSTL does have a pretty good name in the legal community to a certain extent outside of the midwest but from what I can tell this reputation is very new. WUSTL was not very highly ranked just 10 years ago but I do think that law firms are beginning to recognize that we have been producing good lawyers.

I'm from Texas and I had never heard of WUSTL until I began to apply for law schools. Like you, I took the gamble to come to WUSTL even though I had a pretty good idea that I did not want to stay in the midwest (although Chicago was always an option). It will take good grades and lots of your own legwork to make it back to NC but if it is worth it to you then it can be accomplished. Now I know the WUSTL website has published the percentages of students who end up in certain geographical areas so you might want to look at that but it is important that often these percentages reflect self selection to a certain extent. I believe we send the most students to STL, Chicago, and then NY and DC. The midwest is where our reputation is the strongest so that is also where most of the student body is from and where they want to end up.

I think going to WUSTL can be a good and bad thing for going back to a geographical area that WUSTL does not traditionally place in. For me, the pros are that you are competing with less of your other students for contacts and prospective jobs in that area simply because less students want to go there. Also, there is a small chance that you can distinguish yourself from the multitude of students who will be applying for jobs in NC from local schools. Cons, however is that there will be less chances to network in your choice geographical area and locally the reputation of WUSTL may be less known. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it is just that it is more of an unknown factor to employers. They can assume that WUSTL produces good lawyers but they don't know from experience and sometimes a firm would rather hire from what they know then something that is unknown.

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG! Hopefully it is helpful. These are just my thoughts as a Texan at WUSTL trying to get back to Texas.

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seatown12

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by seatown12 » Tue May 10, 2011 6:37 pm

Jeffro you just have to understand that you will need to work a lot harder than others in your class and with little to no help from the school, but you can get back to NC. Do you have any personal connections you can call on? It seems like that's how many people looking for jobs outside the typical WUSTL markets are getting it done.

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by fl0w » Tue May 10, 2011 6:44 pm

Stephanie13 wrote:stuff
As a guy from Chicago that just wants to end up somewhere that isn't st. louis, that was good advice. Also, don't worry about getting stuck in STL. The firms here will be able to tell, for the most part, that you don't want to be in St. Louis using a two factor test

1) you go to WUSTL. Most students from wustl don't want to stay in St. Louis. Firms go to SLU for people they know are staying in the market
2) something on your resume names a city that is not StL. You can't really hide it.

These things will serve as motivating factors for you to do that legwork that Miss "Stephanie13" mentioned (hey girl!). It's really about the work you put in. WUSTL "got" her back to Texas this summer. WUSTL "got" me to San Fran this summer. But we both did work. Respected practitioners / judges don't look at WUSTL on your resume and go "HUH!?!?!" They see it and say, "nice, they'll do work."

erryday i'm wustlin'

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Jeffro » Tue May 10, 2011 6:54 pm

Excellent responses, thank you everyone. I think this is confirmation of everything I was thinking. I do have decently extensive connections to call on back in NC and realize I will have to do my own legwork, but also appreciate the fact that I will be able to bring some "variety" back to NC by virtue of coming from a T20 school outside of the typical NC Law schools.

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romothesavior

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by romothesavior » Wed May 11, 2011 1:15 pm

Jeffro wrote:I spoke with a big-name-for-a-smaller-town-type attorney the other day here in North Carolina and told him I was going to be attending WUSTL. He blinked at me for a second or two and kind of dumbfoundedly said, "that's one of the best law schools in the country." I was happy to hear him say this, as most laypeople in NC I tell have no idea about WUSTL it seems, and asked him his thoughts as far as name recognition with firms in NC. He assured me that "the people who matter [at firms] know WUSTL and it will carry well back to NC."
Haha, I dunno about one of the best law schools in the country, but hiring people do know of WUSTL all over the country. I always chuckle a little when people say stupid things on TLS like, "No one has ever heard of WUSTL outside of the midwest." No doubt that this is where our rep is strongest, but if a hiring partner has really never heard of WUSTL, then they aren't doing their job.

Anyways, I agree with Stephanie. There are pros and cons to going to a school like WUSTL when you're not from the area. My best advice is that you really need to make the most of your visits home over break. Go to firm receptions, call/email attorneys in the area and have coffee, and try your hardest to work there over your summers. Just because you are out of the state for law school doesn't mean you can't still network and work your connections back home.

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TatteredDignity

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by TatteredDignity » Wed May 11, 2011 2:56 pm

This probably deserves its own thread, but I'm more comfortable in here than out in the wilds of TLS, so here goes...

How does being a traditional splitter affect one's 1L summer job prospects? The factor that got me into law school (LSAT) isn't going to help me much when searching for these jobs, right? I've never heard of anyone putting an LSAT score on a resume'. Presumably, since we won't have our first semester grades back when Dec. 1 rolls around, all employers really have to look at is our resume', and mine contains a quite poor undergraduate record.

Thoughts on this?

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Rock Chalk

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Rock Chalk » Wed May 11, 2011 5:22 pm

.
Last edited by Rock Chalk on Thu May 24, 2012 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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TatteredDignity

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by TatteredDignity » Wed May 11, 2011 6:41 pm

Rock Chalk wrote:
0LNewbie wrote:This probably deserves its own thread, but I'm more comfortable in here than out in the wilds of TLS, so here goes...

How does being a traditional splitter affect one's 1L summer job prospects? The factor that got me into law school (LSAT) isn't going to help me much when searching for these jobs, right? I've never heard of anyone putting an LSAT score on a resume'. Presumably, since we won't have our first semester grades back when Dec. 1 rolls around, all employers really have to look at is our resume', and mine contains a quite poor undergraduate record.

Thoughts on this?
I didn't send mine out until I had 1st semester grades to include, so I can't speak to the strategy of Dec. 1st-resumé-blasters. You'll probably just be stuck either including your undergrad GPA or omitting it and letting them assume it's nothing to be proud of. You're correct about LSAT scores though - no place on a resumé.

Edit to include: From what I've heard you're only okay omitting your UG GPA (without drawing skepticism) if you've included a pretty good LS GPA.
Ahhh, neat. I didn't know that one could afford to wait until grades were available. Isn't that usually in the middle of January? Either way, I'm glad to hear you can omit your UG GPA. Thanks!

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Rock Chalk

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Re: WUSTL 1L Taking Questions

Post by Rock Chalk » Wed May 11, 2011 8:41 pm

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Last edited by Rock Chalk on Thu May 24, 2012 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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