WUSTL Recent Grad (and others) Taking Questions Forum

[chuckbass]

Getting yelled at by photographers for a half hour while sweating your ass off in a suit at orientation is a rite of passage an act of hazing for WUSTL 1Ls.

I am disappointed to hear they didn't do it this year.

Oh ok actually now I'm happy not to have had to endure this, tyvm.

[WanderingPondering]

The only reason I can think of that she wouldn't want a class picture is because she is embarrassed about the (lack of?) diversity on campus. Seriously, how much could that save the school?

[JCougar]

The only reason I can think of that she wouldn't want a class picture is because she is embarrassed about the (lack of?) diversity on campus. Seriously, how much could that save the school?

Lack of diversity? When I went there, I thought we had a pretty diverse class. I think like 40% were from some sort of group that could have been considered diverse.

I wonder what happened.

[chuckbass]

The only reason I can think of that she wouldn't want a class picture is because she is embarrassed about the (lack of?) diversity on campus. Seriously, how much could that save the school?

Lack of diversity? When I went there, I thought we had a pretty diverse class. I think like 40% were from some sort of group that could have been considered diverse.

I wonder what happened.

Pretty sure the school is like 90% white and Asian now.

[LET'S GET IT]

The only reason I can think of that she wouldn't want a class picture is because she is embarrassed about the (lack of?) diversity on campus. Seriously, how much could that save the school?

Lack of diversity? When I went there, I thought we had a pretty diverse class. I think like 40% were from some sort of group that could have been considered diverse.

I wonder what happened.

Our class (current 1L) is 28% minority students per the website. I don't think it's that. Maybe because transferring is so much more prevalent now? Our class is going to look quite a bit different by next year than it did at orientation.

[M13D10]

Quick Question: I was just requested an interview from Wash U Law. What does that mean for my application? It was not one of my top choices but I have been considering it more and more.

[qlinault]

Quick Question: I was just requested an interview from Wash U Law. What does that mean for my application? It was not one of my top choices but I have been considering it more and more.

This is a good sign.

[M13D10]

Do they request interviews for all applicants or do they pick ones in specific?

[hoos89]

They definitely do not interview all applicants.

[futago]

USNWR has the tuition at $50,152, is that accurate? If so that is a very small increase from $49,725.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ouis-03092

[hoos89]

Employment at graduation of 53% is....concerning.


I'm glad we have 717,845 library volumes though.

[JCougar]

Employment at graduation of 53% is....concerning.

I'm glad we have 717,845 library volumes though.

That was better than our class.

The local bar has a pretty poor impression of WUSTL law. One local attorney today called the CSO at WUSTL "a bunch of assholes." No one in STL wants to hire the students, because if they do, they work there for 1 year and than flee to bigger cities. The only exception is if you grew up in St. Louis and pretty much spent your whole life here.

I think lack of a home market makes WUSTL's placement stats worse than their peers. Even STL Biglaw would rather hire from the Top 10% at SLU who is a STL native rather than someone top 10% at Wash U. but from out of state. Neither graduate is going to be all that productive in their first year, but at least the SLU one will stay.

[hoos89]

Yeah it also seems like they counted full time long term school funded jobs in this, and WUSTL doesn't typically have many of those (4 last year). Emory had north of 60 last year, so their % looks better.

[JCougar]

I'm pretty sure that will change by next year, and those won't count as jobs. That's at least one plus. A lot of WUSTL's closest competitors are some of the most abusive re: school-funded jobs.

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... osed-.html

The Worst Offenders (school-funded jobs as a % of all FT law jobs) / US News Ranking

1. William & Mary (25.9%)
2. Emory (25.4%)
3. George Washington (18.8%)
4. Virginia (16.7%)
5. American (16.0%)
6. Georgetown (13.5%)
7. UCLA (12.3%)
8. Illinois (11.9%)
9. Lewis & Clark (10.4%%)
10. UMass (10.3%)
11. Berkeley (9.6%)
12. Vanderbilt (9.6%)
13. Cornell (9.3%)
14. Boston U (9.1%)
15. NYU (8.6%)

If I remember correctly, the class of full scholarships is about to graduate (2015), and they now have an over-sized class on the rolls (2017). So they will probably have a lot of budget leeway this coming year for scholarships. If they can use that to boost their LSAT a point (either through scholarships or admitting a smaller class or a combination of both), and couple that with a lot of their peers losing their school-funded boost, next year's rankings might be an interesting time.

But figuring out a way to mend their relationship with the local market might be another good way to improve pretty quickly. Part of that is the students fault for using STL firms only as a launchpad in the past, part of it is STL's fault for having an inferiority complex as a city...but I didn't realize the CSO had a bad reputation itself until today.

[sublime]

..

[JCougar]

If we are talking about the same full ride class, it is c/o 2016. And current 1Ls are c/o 2017

Whoops on the 2017.

But I was almost sure it was the current graduating class that got the huge scholarships. My class (2013) got a $10,000/year baseline for a median-or-above LSAT. For 2014, that doubled to $20,000. I thought it was the year after that where everyone basically got close to a full ride for a median-or-above LSAT.

[hoos89]

No, my year's (2015) baseline was $20k for median+ LSAT, I think.


ETA: Just saw this over on ATL. Not sure how much credit law school funded positions receive, but it's probably more than none.

"For the 2016 edition of the Best Law Schools rankings, U.S. News has changed its methodology so that law schools receive less credit for employing their own new graduates.

Starting with this year’s rankings, law schools with large percentages of graduates who hold jobs funded by the law school or university typically will rank lower than they would have if those jobs had been at law firms or in government.

For new J.D. graduates, being employed by their law school or holding a university-funded job is less desirable than being employed more permanently in a law firm, in government or in a corporation."'

If they can use that to boost their LSAT a point (either through scholarships or admitting a smaller class or a combination of both), and couple that with a lot of their peers losing their school-funded boost, next year's rankings might be an interesting time.

The 5 point difference in overall score between Vandy (74/100) and WUSTL (69/100) is the largest difference in the rankings.

[cheesin23]

Does Wash U have a Barrister's Ball? Or similar event?

[futago]

Does Wash U have a Barrister's Ball? Or similar event?

Yes, there is a Barrister's Ball.

The 5 point difference in overall score between Vandy (74/100) and WUSTL (69/100) is the largest difference in the rankings.

Where did you find the numerical score?

[chuckbass]

Does Wash U have a Barrister's Ball? Or similar event?

Yes, we just had it a week and a half ago. Open bar, fun time.

[hoos89]

Where did you find the numerical score?

Hover your cursor over the rank.

[futago]

Where did you find the numerical score?

Hover your cursor over the rank.

Haha, simple. Thanks.

[JCougar]

No, my year's (2015) baseline was $20k for median+ LSAT, I think.


ETA: Just saw this over on ATL. Not sure how much credit law school funded positions receive, but it's probably more than none.

"For the 2016 edition of the Best Law Schools rankings, U.S. News has changed its methodology so that law schools receive less credit for employing their own new graduates.

Starting with this year’s rankings, law schools with large percentages of graduates who hold jobs funded by the law school or university typically will rank lower than they would have if those jobs had been at law firms or in government.

For new J.D. graduates, being employed by their law school or holding a university-funded job is less desirable than being employed more permanently in a law firm, in government or in a corporation."'

If they can use that to boost their LSAT a point (either through scholarships or admitting a smaller class or a combination of both), and couple that with a lot of their peers losing their school-funded boost, next year's rankings might be an interesting time.

The 5 point difference in overall score between Vandy (74/100) and WUSTL (69/100) is the largest difference in the rankings.

Well, there goes my theory of any sort of bump. Although the ABA might pass rules to eliminate from counting school-funded jobs at all, so there might be more of a penalty next year.

Paul Carron posted the reputation rankings, and we're three tenths of a point below Vandy on that as well, which is also a pretty big gap for that metric. So it's not just a placement thing.

Nevertheless, from the looks of LSN, it seems like the median-or-above LSAT baseline this year is $30,000, and they're giving it to 167+ splitters, so it looks as if they're at least entertaining the theory of raising the median back to 167. Vandy has already admitted some 167 semi-splitters, but have some lower-GPA 167s waitlisted, so it's hard to tell what they're up to.

[chuckbass]

The only problem for the medians is that if the class shrinks (obviously what should happen) then they may have trouble with anything higher than a 166. They accepted a lot of people last year below both medians and paid them to defer, so they started the cycle out pretty behind.

[11:11]

The only problem for the medians is that if the class shrinks (obviously what should happen) then they may have trouble with anything higher than a 166. They accepted a lot of people last year below both medians and paid them to defer, so they started the cycle out pretty behind.

I'm not sure that "a lot" is an accurate qualification. I've heard like 5-10 people. And they subsequently proceeded to admit people off the waitlist who were below median.

I was under the impression that Wash U was asking people who would not affect median/25/75 to defer as a kind of insurance against a more difficult cycle this year, and probably so that they could admit people off the waitlist to pay sticker.