Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges Forum

[homestyle28]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

At my BIGLAWL Chicago firm NU outnumbers UChi on the order of 2:1 or so.

[Dog]

Do people ever split hotels/crash at current students' places for ASW? I know I've seen stuff about that for other schools. I'm looking to cut cost without couch surfing w/ a potential serial killer.

[Mullens]

Do people ever split hotels/crash at current students' places for ASW? I know I've seen stuff about that for other schools. I'm looking to cut cost without couch surfing w/ a potential serial killer.

I know people who split it last year and it worked out for them. The people in charge of ASW are soliciting students to host admits for ASW so that might end up being an option, but I'm not sure how good of a response they've gotten.

[MT Cicero]

Do people ever split hotels/crash at current students' places for ASW? I know I've seen stuff about that for other schools. I'm looking to cut cost without couch surfing w/ a potential serial killer.

I remember some folks split hotels at ASW last year. I didn't because I was an established old, so I never looked into it.

The admissions committee sent out an email attempting to get volunteers to be ASW student hosts, but I'm not sure how that information get disseminated to the attendees. I'm guessing admissions has a list of really needy future students or something.

I may volunteer, I don't know. Now that I turned in my final CLR brief, the serial killer in me has subsided.

ETA: scooped

[Dog]

Thanks I'll probably ask around over in the Class of 2018 thread to see if anyone wants to split. Also if anybody is down to host shoot me a PM and I'll bring your favorite case of beer or something. It might be a longshot, figured I'd check.

[zugzwanger]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

At my BIGLAWL Chicago firm NU outnumbers UChi on the order of 2:1 or so.

I disagree with this to a certain extent. I would imagine GPA cut-offs are different at UChi vs. NU for OCI. It seems many of the staple big Chicago law firms taking (what is considered in Chicago to be) big classes want above median from NU. I would be pretty surprised if the cut-off was the same at UChi...just something to take into account

[cookiejar1]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

At my BIGLAWL Chicago firm NU outnumbers UChi on the order of 2:1 or so.

I disagree with this to a certain extent. I would imagine GPA cut-offs are different at UChi vs. NU for OCI. It seems many of the staple big Chicago law firms taking (what is considered in Chicago to be) big classes want above median from NU. I would be pretty surprised if the cut-off was the same at UChi...just something to take into account

The cut-off differences are probably true for non-Chicago market firms (e.g., CSM/DPW/S&C) and definitely are true for the most selective firms (MTO/W&C).

I just don't think there are meaningful differences in cut-offs for Chicago based firms. You mention that most Chicago biglaw wants competitive-ish grades, but couldn't the same be said about U of Chi? How many Chicago kids in KE's class are even at median this year? Maybe of U of Chi student can chime in?

[cubs_fan69]

I'm thinking about transferring to NU. As there doesn't seem to be much traffic on the transfer forum, can anyone here chime in on whether they think it makes sense for me to do it? http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... &p=8482762 Thanks

[star fox]

I'm thinking about transferring to NU. As there doesn't seem to be much traffic on the transfer forum, can anyone here chime in on whether they think it makes sense for me to do it? http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... &p=8482762 Thanks

I think in your circumstances a transfer might make sense since I'd imagine Chicago firms don't really recruit heavily at UCLA the way they would Northwestern. I'll defer to people that have been through OCI though (I'm a 1L).

[homestyle28]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

At my BIGLAWL Chicago firm NU outnumbers UChi on the order of 2:1 or so.

I disagree with this to a certain extent. I would imagine GPA cut-offs are different at UChi vs. NU for OCI. It seems many of the staple big Chicago law firms taking (what is considered in Chicago to be) big classes want above median from NU. I would be pretty surprised if the cut-off was the same at UChi...just something to take into account

I don't think the stats bear this out and talking to the UChi kids at my firm, they tend to agree. Maybe limited to Chicago big law I suppose, but even that I'm not convinced of. If you read the past few years UChi OCI forums, people at median and below struggle there too. Also, much fewer of them have get the pre-law school employment bump.

[zugzwanger]

Wow that's pretty surprising. I was only referencing Chicago biglaw. I would not have expected Kirkland & Sidley to require ~top 40/top third grades from UChi for CBs, but obviously stand corrected if that's the case.

[splitsplat]

I'm thinking about transferring to NU. As there doesn't seem to be much traffic on the transfer forum, can anyone here chime in on whether they think it makes sense for me to do it? http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... &p=8482762 Thanks

when you say "moving home to Chicago" - does your resume and your narrative bear this out? Transfers usually have pretty high grades, so how they do targeting Chicago @ OCI is usually more a product of how compelling their Chicago ties are and how impressive their resume is.

[wojo98]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

This is my experience/understanding as well.

This is only tangentially related, but very few folks transfer out of NU - and none usually to UChi. If I recall correctly, there were only two outbound transfers last cycle - one to Stanford and one to Berkeley. Compare that to a school like Cornell, where a decent number move to NYU/Columbia annually.

You'd think if there was a marked improvement in Chicago BL placement from NU to Chicago, market forces would incentivize NU to UChi transfers. But the data just doesn't support that.

[skers]

The most prominent placement difference seems to be w/r/t the top tier NY shops. I've seen OCI grade data from both schools and UChicago places essentially an equivalent number of students at Chicago firms w/ approx 100 fewer people, and there's some marginal placement differences (at least appears to be). But I don't really know what kind of $$ figure you'd put on that, if at all.

[Redynsje]

I need some insight on housing. Can anyone suggest good neighborhoods? I am looking for something safe, close to parks/shops/etc, in areas that may have good schools, convenient public transit options. Where should I start looking?

[star fox]

I need some insight on housing. Can anyone suggest good neighborhoods? I am looking for something safe, close to parks/shops/etc, in areas that may have good schools, convenient public transit options. Where should I start looking?

Lincoln Park and Lakeview.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

If I attend NU my S/O will go to grad school around Central Loop (basically down the street from the Art Institute/across from Grant Park). What would be a good location for us? I hear Streeterville blows, but it seems to be solid for our situation. What about living in Chicago Loop? Stupid?

[dolfan0516]

If I attend NU my S/O will go to grad school around Central Loop (basically down the street from the Art Institute/across from Grant Park). What would be a good location for us? I hear Streeterville blows, but it seems to be solid for our situation. What about living in Chicago Loop? Stupid?

Anywhere on the Red Line would be perfect

[franklyscarlet]

If I attend NU my S/O will go to grad school around Central Loop (basically down the street from the Art Institute/across from Grant Park). What would be a good location for us? I hear Streeterville blows, but it seems to be solid for our situation. What about living in Chicago Loop? Stupid?

The loop isn't terrible, it just dies at night. I'd actually recommend lakeview still- your s/o can take the 146 with you and stay on it down michigan then walk a little, or take the 135 express to the loop. Just make sure to live above Belmont on the lake so they can grab that bus before it's packed.


Eta: on the red line is solid too.

[masterherm]

I'm from Chicago and have a lot of college friends living in the city. Should I move in with a couple of them in Lakeview for 1L, or should I take the plunge to Streeterville (I know it sucks) to live with other law students? I feel like I should be immersed in the law school experience and am slightly worried about losing focus if I'm not surrounded by law students... is this crazy? Any benefits to living with other 1Ls?

[franklyscarlet]

I'm from Chicago and have a lot of college friends living in the city. Should I move in with a couple of them in Lakeview for 1L, or should I take the plunge to Streeterville (I know it sucks) to live with other law students? I feel like I should be immersed in the law school experience and am slightly worried about losing focus if I'm not surrounded by law students... is this crazy? Any benefits to living with other 1Ls?

Sounds like an awesome idea. Immersing yourself in 1L and cutting off the outside world will make you crazy.

[star fox]

I'm from Chicago and have a lot of college friends living in the city. Should I move in with a couple of them in Lakeview for 1L, or should I take the plunge to Streeterville (I know it sucks) to live with other law students? I feel like I should be immersed in the law school experience and am slightly worried about losing focus if I'm not surrounded by law students... is this crazy? Any benefits to living with other 1Ls?

Move in with friends. You don't need to immerse yourself in the law school experience and I would recommend against it.

[Holly Golightly]

Firms here view NU and Chicago students interchangeably.

From what I've seen this is pretty dead on with the Chicago market. The real discernible difference from what I can tell is the clerkship bump UChi has.

At my BIGLAWL Chicago firm NU outnumbers UChi on the order of 2:1 or so.

I disagree with this to a certain extent. I would imagine GPA cut-offs are different at UChi vs. NU for OCI. It seems many of the staple big Chicago law firms taking (what is considered in Chicago to be) big classes want above median from NU. I would be pretty surprised if the cut-off was the same at UChi...just something to take into account

I still have no idea what Chi's nonsensical number system means.

[rkspurs21]

Alright current students, where's the bullshit hipster part of town?

(cuz i prob want to live there :/)

[bjsesq]

Alright current students, where's the bullshit hipster part of town?

(cuz i prob want to live there :/)

Bucktown/Wicker Park