Lewis & Clark 2011 Applicants Forum

[sidhesadie]

Hm, I think the mentors they have call people do, in fact, know the scholly numbers if one exists. I had a call from a judge and she congratulated me on my 'very generous scholarship" (which, it was) and knew what I had received. But, I got it in my initial packet, it wasn't a 'wait and see' one, so I don't know.

[lawyerorbust]

A 3L called me last night, and I assume some other folks got calls too? It went well - she actually had some interesting things to say about the school. She had work/internships throughout school and has a job lined up as a regulatory specialist. Turned down acceptance at Michigan to attend L&C. Said that the fact that L&C is the only school in Portland gives it a nice advantage when it comes to local clerkships and govt positions. Recommended Ground Kontrol arcade. Really stressed the point that L&C students have a large sense of camaraderie - she had the impression that it was different than the cutthroat nature of most schools.

I got a call from a Professor a little while back, let him know I needed money in order to go there...hopefully that works!

Out of curiosity, how did the Professor respond to that?

Yeah, that's a little tacky. Just sayin!

Well, as with many things, it's all about how you spin it. I let him know I was very interested in the school and program, and that I had notified a financial aid officer that I was interested in being re-evaluated for scholarships. I then mentioned that unfortunately undergraduate fees went up as I was attending the Unviersity of Washington, so finances will play a large part in whether or not I can attend L&C. He did say that he understood where I was coming from, and encouraged me to attend the preview in March and wait for my FAFSA eval before I make a decision.

I don't think it came off as tacky, I think it came off as honest. I can't afford 60k a year on my own.

[tsutsik]

Well, as with many things, it's all about how you spin it. I let him know I was very interested in the school and program, and that I had notified a financial aid officer that I was interested in being re-evaluated for scholarships. I then mentioned that unfortunately undergraduate fees went up as I was attending the Unviersity of Washington, so finances will play a large part in whether or not I can attend L&C. He did say that he understood where I was coming from, and encouraged me to attend the preview in March and wait for my FAFSA eval before I make a decision.

I don't think it came off as tacky, I think it came off as honest. I can't afford 60k a year on my own.

Sounds reasonable to me.

[Rucks689]

Is anyone from outside of the Northwest/not doing environmental law considering L&C? I am looking at Indian law but I am from Michigan and am looking to return to the Midwest eventually. It doesn't look like an L&C degree travels too well . . . although I would love to get out of here for a few years. Any thoughts?

[Kinderby]

I really don't know about L&C in particular (or most schools, tbh) but I know a LOT of attorneys and they all say the same thing. Where your degree is from matters for your first job. After that, your next job depends more on where that first job is. Sure, your HYSCCNMVP degree will probably help at all levels of career, but if you can get a good job out of an L&C degree, and stay there for a few years and make something great out of it, I think you'll be able to get a job back in MI after awhile. Maybe that's too sunshine-and-roses, but it's what the attorneys I know say.

I'm not from the Northwest, and my heart's not set on environmental law (though it is definitely a possibility) and L&C is pretty high on my list. But I'm not looking to move back to Texas any time soon.

[clintone88]

Is anyone from outside of the Northwest/not doing environmental law considering L&C? I am looking at Indian law but I am from Michigan and am looking to return to the Midwest eventually. It doesn't look like an L&C degree travels too well . . . although I would love to get out of here for a few years. Any thoughts?

I'm from Wisconsin and seriously considering L&C. I'm not really interested in ever coming back to the Midwest though, and I would like to live in Oregon permanently. I probably wouldn't suggest it if you want to go back to the Midwest.

edit: I'm doing patent law not environmental.

[twozeroseven]

Held today via email. Status checker still just says my file is complete.

Anyone else get the not-so-good news? They must be getting towards the end of the pile.

[BackToTheOldHouse]

I really don't know about L&C in particular (or most schools, tbh) but I know a LOT of attorneys and they all say the same thing. Where your degree is from matters for your first job. After that, your next job depends more on where that first job is. Sure, your HYSCCNBERKELEYMVP degree will probably help at all levels of career, but if you can get a good job out of an L&C degree, and stay there for a few years and make something great out of it, I think you'll be able to get a job back in MI after awhile. Maybe that's too sunshine-and-roses, but it's what the attorneys I know say.

I'm not from the Northwest, and my heart's not set on environmental law (though it is definitely a possibility) and L&C is pretty high on my list. But I'm not looking to move back to Texas any time soon.

FTFY

[Bearlegdairy]

Held today via email. Status checker still just says my file is complete.

Anyone else get the not-so-good news? They must be getting towards the end of the pile.

Same. But I've come to love my dog so much that I'm probably just going to stay in San Diego and attend USD, even if I get accepted to a better school. He's just too cute to leave.

[lawyerorbust]

Anyone else going to the preview this week? Not sure what to expect...never been invited to something like this before. Any reason it's L&C and not any of my lower end schools?

[theavrock]

Anyone else going to the preview this week? Not sure what to expect...never been invited to something like this before. Any reason it's L&C and not any of my lower end schools?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&t=147227

Come join the fun

[IamAskier]

Held today via email. Status checker still just says my file is complete.

Anyone else get the not-so-good news? They must be getting towards the end of the pile.

Same. But I've come to love my dog so much that I'm probably just going to stay in San Diego and attend USD, even if I get accepted to a better school. He's just too cute to leave.

I got the hold email last week. Do you think its better to be held or on the WL?

[twozeroseven]

Held today via email. Status checker still just says my file is complete.

Anyone else get the not-so-good news? They must be getting towards the end of the pile.

Same. But I've come to love my dog so much that I'm probably just going to stay in San Diego and attend USD, even if I get accepted to a better school. He's just too cute to leave.

I got the hold email last week. Do you think its better to be held or on the WL?

It's better to be held. At least this way you can tell your friends that you would probably have gotten in in a normal admissions cycle. But seriously, I expect this means that they admitted a bunch of high number applicants that they expect will withdraw -- opening up more places than they would usually expect / use a waitlist to fill. (Conjecture only.) On the other hand it could just be a 'soft' waitlist.

What do you think you will do, send a LOCI and cross fingers? Or just make another plan and move on. I haven't decided.

[crit_racer]

Trying to decipher L&Cs job prospects...help!

TLS lists 92% of grads employed 9 months after graduation, but then it says that the median private sector salary is $90,000 w/ only 43% reporting. How do they get info on % of graduates employed but not how much those ppl are making?

L&Cs website lists the overall median salary for graduates at $62,000 (I believe this number includes public interest as well as private sector). This is only for the 79/235 that reported. Also, 207/235 reported getting jobs but the majority of those I guess didn't list how much they made.

Trying to figure out what job prospects are actually like from this school. I don't want biglaw and wouldn't mind PI work at all. Ideal situation would be a small firm or something. Will I be able to find gainful legal employment from this school (not doing doc review)? Fine with making anything above $50,000ish to start, but I just want to know that I'll be able to get a job from here! Really debating going to L&C over much higher ranked school b/c I like the PNW/PDX so much, but I know that any fulfillment I get from living in Portland could be outweighed by the misery of doing doc review/working at McDonalds.

Anyone who has any info about jobs from this school please chime in!

[theavrock]

Just got the stats for class fo 2010 at the ASW. Still need to get some info to get a more complete picture, but this is a start.

If you want more info I would suggest emailing Libby Davis. She is the one who reported to us at ASW and was very nice and open to questions.

They have 190 of 198 graduates with known employment info. 178 were employed, 3 in full time degree programs and 9 unemployed at 9 months out.

Salaries and Employment Type Breakdown:
Private Practice: 37% - Min: $32K Median: $61K Max: $160K
Government: 14% - Min: 50K Median: $62K Max: 85K
Clerkships 13% - Min: $31K Median: $44K Max: $62K
Business 17% - Min: $48K Median: $72K Max: 180K
Public Interest 9% - Min: $33K Median: $45K Max: $60K
Academic: 10% (includes students in degree programs and those in school subsidized positions)

Region Breakdown
Pacific 85%
Mountain: 5%
East South Central: 2%
South Atlantic: 4%
Other: 4%

One thing Libby did say was that 20-30 of the positions were school subsidized temporary positions. Even taking the full 30 out we can say at a minimum 148 were employed which is app. 75% of all applicants. That being said I still have some questions I wasn't able to ask at ASW.

My next questions to Libby are going to be how many of the 178 are JD required positions and how many of the 190 reported salary.

Overall I was very impressed with ASW. Everything the school did was presented in exactly the manner I was hoping.

The general statements that everyone from faculty to students (including those that were put on the spot) was that the best thing about the school was the collegiality of it and that everyone there truly has an open door policy. The community seems very strong. I am sure this has to do with the fact that its a small school and a small legal community.

Overall very impressed.

[crit_racer]

awesome...thanks for this info! Please do let me know when Libby responds to your question about if those jobs are actually lawyering jobs or not as well as any other info. This employment data seems promising, though.

Any other comments about the ASD?

[LilMan'sMom]

Thank you, theavrock, for that information. I wasn't able to go to ASW, and your post helped answer a few of my questions.

[theavrock]

My pleasure guys. I'll let everyone know what I hear back from Libby.

[theavrock]

Heard back from Libby today.

163 of the positions were JD required or preferred and s 77 of the total graduates provided salary info.

She also provided info on their Fall and Spring on campus interviewing.

There are 35 employers interviewing in fall, however only 7% of the class offers came from OCI. This is in line with everything that I heard from everyone in that "networking" is paramount to your success.

She also said there are usually anywhere from 60-80 employers on campus in the spring as part of their Public Service Career Fair.

[LilMan'sMom]

Thank you!

[fiery_searcher]

Just an FYI - the subsidized positions were reported to last 6-8 weeks.

[LeDique]

Tried to negotiate for a little bit more $$ today. Was told they reconsider later. Decided to try to get stip removed instead. Got a reply that only about 5% of the students with scholarships lose them. Thinking I'm going to keep asking anyway. I do have larger offers, and a stip-free offer, from higher ranked school as leverage.

[hope11]

Heard back from Libby today.

163 of the positions were JD required or preferred and s 77 of the total graduates provided salary info.

She also provided info on their Fall and Spring on campus interviewing.

There are 35 employers interviewing in fall, however only 7% of the class offers came from OCI. This is in line with everything that I heard from everyone in that "networking" is paramount to your success.

She also said there are usually anywhere from 60-80 employers on campus in the spring as part of their Public Service Career Fair.

You mean to say that 93% of people did not get an offer from OCI out of 35 employers in the Fall? That is INSANE! These are either the worst law firms in the universe or law students at L&C are networking jedis (or networking Sith lords) lol. No but seriously, how crazy is that? and I've heard unemployment is high in the state. I'm in between UK and L&C and even though I much rather live in beautiful Portland than the dry Midwest it's hard to beat paying 16k a year at UK.

[sidhesadie]

You mean to say that 93% of people did not get an offer from OCI out of 35 employers in the Fall? That is INSANE! These are either the worst law firms in the universe or law students at L&C are networking jedis (or networking Sith lords) lol. No but seriously, how crazy is that? and I've heard unemployment is high in the state. I'm in between UK and L&C and even though I much rather live in beautiful Portland than the dry Midwest it's hard to beat paying 16k a year at UK.

This doesn't really surprise me, first of all, there are 3 law schools in Oregon and the state population is pretty darn small, so there are a LOT of law students to choose from.

Also, I think networking is way more important here than it might be in *some* other places. Most of the current L&C students I've talked to indicated that A) No one who wanted a job and worked hard to get one is without one and B) almost all of those people got jobs (both during and when out of school) via networking of some type or another. They REALLY stressed this at the ASD.

Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, this doesn't surprise me at all. This area is very...entrepreneurial in general. So it doesn't surprise me that most jobs are obtained via self-motivated means.

Unemployment is high, but it's close to the national average (I think nat'l avg is 9.8%, PDX metro is 10%.)

[theavrock]

Also remember that not only do they have Oregon to do OCI in, those employers probably also do OCI in Northern California and Washington.

It did seem a little low, but I don't view L&C as the type of school anyone would go to expecting to get a job at OCI.

That being said I am still not at all worried about getting a job should I attend. They are the best school in the state and have many strengths. Will it be easy and will someone just hand me a job? No, but I can put the legwork in to do so.