CU Boulder 2011 Forum

[theavrock]

Who else is applying to Boulder?

Love the area and Colorado in general. Me and the gf are actually spending Thanksgiving in Boulder this year, so if any residents or current Boulder students have input on where to go, I would love to hear.

[queenlizzie13]

I am applying to Boulder as well.

Sorry, I don't live in Boulder though, so I cannot help you out on places to go.

My app for Boulder is just about ready. I will probably submit it by tomorrow.

[vegenator]

I applied a few days ago. I can't tell you anything about Boulder, but I'm oddly intrigued by Colorado as a state, particularly Denver & Boulder. It just has a good vibe and it wouldn't be the first time I've applied to a school in a state I'd previously never visited.

[rekopter]

Current 3L here happy to answer questions.

[theavrock]

Current 3L here happy to answer questions.

Any suggestions on places to check out over the Thanksgiving weekend? Mainly going to be in town on Thursday and Friday. I've been to Boulder before, but mainly just walked Pearl Street and driven through on the way to Rocky Mt. National Park. Particularly interested in cool bars/restaurants and hikes that wouldn't be too far out of town or out of the way.

I get an acceptance, I'm sure I'll have more questions about the law school!

[4for44]

Not law school related, but make sure you go to Hapa Sushi and get the multiple orgasm roll... your welcome

[rekopter]

Any suggestions on places to check out over the Thanksgiving weekend? Mainly going to be in town on Thursday and Friday. I've been to Boulder before, but mainly just walked Pearl Street and driven through on the way to Rocky Mt. National Park. Particularly interested in cool bars/restaurants and hikes that wouldn't be too far out of town or out of the way.

I get an acceptance, I'm sure I'll have more questions about the law school!

Pearl St. is nice. What sort of food are you looking for? Effrains is a great greasy spoon, Salt on Pearl is a bit more upscale but they've a great happy hour. Southern Sun and Mountain Sun are quintessential Boulder bars. If you're looking for a great sandwich a cut above a fast food place, check out Dish on Pearl St. but East a few blocks of the walking mall.

It will probably be on the colder/snowy side over Thanksgiving, but you can't go wrong with the Chatacqua-area hikes--although you might need snow shoes.

[akili]

Boulder is my top choice! Hoping to squeak in (or dominate my retake)!

[Barbie]

Applied back in September. Went complete early October. Would LOVE an acceptance to CU, but unfortunately it doesn't seem likely.

[queenlizzie13]

Just submitted my application. I will let you guys know how it goes.

[brose]

Applied a few days ago. Boulder in my top choice, although I was too scared to apply binding... Hoping I can get in regardless!

[brose]

To anyone who is complete: do you have a link to the online status checker? I can't seem to find it on their website.

[thewarflamingo]

To anyone who is complete: do you have a link to the online status checker? I can't seem to find it on their website.

I don't think they have a status checker. I haven't received one yet if they do.

Applied 10/20, Complete 10/29

[brose]

To anyone who is complete: do you have a link to the online status checker? I can't seem to find it on their website.

I don't think they have a status checker. I haven't received one yet if they do.

Applied 10/20, Complete 10/29

Oh man... so it's just gonna be a lot of waiting around and not knowing... It's gonna be hard since it's one of my top choices...Thanks for the info!

[queenlizzie13]

So far USC, Kentucky, and American sent me emails with status checkers. I have not heard anything from Boulder yet, but I just applied this weekend.

Although I just applied to USC, Kentucky & American this weekend as well...all three schools were amazingly fast. I don't know whether that is good or bad...

[Barbie]

So far USC, Kentucky, and American sent me emails with status checkers. I have not heard anything from Boulder yet, but I just applied this weekend.

Although I just applied to USC, Kentucky & American this weekend as well...all three schools were amazingly fast. I don't know whether that is good or bad...

I applied in September,.. no status checker.

[JakeL]

So far USC, Kentucky, and American sent me emails with status checkers. I have not heard anything from Boulder yet, but I just applied this weekend.

Although I just applied to USC, Kentucky & American this weekend as well...all three schools were amazingly fast. I don't know whether that is good or bad...

I applied in September,.. no status checker.

Same.

[queenlizzie13]

Colorado sent me an email today - I'm complete as of 11/10/10.

[DreamShake]

Just went complete today as well; submitted 10/20.

Current 3L here happy to answer questions.

What's your GPA/rank? How did OCI go? What did you for 1L and 2L summer employment? Do you have anything set for after graduation? Anecdotally, how about your classmates?

I'm not very familiar with the value Colorado companies/firms place on a UC-Boulder JD, but is it similar to that placed on UT JD's in Texas (good enough to compete with pretty much everybody save HYS)? Does its regional appeal extend to nearby states, like New Mexico, or is it primarily limited to Colorado?

Is the high QOL in Boulder even noticeable during law school, or have you been too inundated with work to take advantage of it?

Lastly....what's the cost of living like up there? How much for a studio or 1BR relatively near the campus, without any extravagances?

Edit: Thanks in advance!

[rekopter]

What's your GPA/rank? How did OCI go? What did you for 1L and 2L summer employment? Do you have anything set for after graduation? Anecdotally, how about your classmates?

I'm not going to get into any personal details here, but I'll speak generally about OCI.

Denver biglaw is very difficult to get from CU. Most of the cutoffs are top 10 or top 20 percent and nearly every big firm prefers law review. It's very competitive.

A large majority of 3Ls don't have anything lined up for next year. Several have biglaw offers and several have clerkships, but I think about 75%+ don't have a clue.

I'm not very familiar with the value Colorado companies/firms place on a UC-Boulder JD, but is it similar to that placed on UT JD's in Texas (good enough to compete with pretty much everybody save HYS)? Does its regional appeal extend to nearby states, like New Mexico, or is it primarily limited to Colorado?

(While we are the University of Colorado, the Boulder campus is known as "CU").

We are clearly the best school in CO but we don't have the reputation that Texas does. Several of the big firms here hire out of the t14 in about equal numbers while some tend to have a strong preference for CU, and to a lesser extent DU grads.

Is the high QOL in Boulder even noticeable during law school, or have you been too inundated with work to take advantage of it?

Absolutely. There's always time for skiing, hiking, biking, and the great Colorado outdoors. It's a big attraction to a lot of us, and we don't get as many hardcore gunners as other schools do.

Lastly....what's the cost of living like up there? How much for a studio or 1BR relatively near the campus, without any extravagances?

Edit: Thanks in advance!

COL is approximately what you'll pay in Denver. You can get an older but livable 1br or studio for about 650-700 within a 5 minute walk from the law building.

[theavrock]

What's your GPA/rank? How did OCI go? What did you for 1L and 2L summer employment? Do you have anything set for after graduation? Anecdotally, how about your classmates?

I'm not going to get into any personal details here, but I'll speak generally about OCI.

Denver biglaw is very difficult to get from CU. Most of the cutoffs are top 10 or top 20 percent and nearly every big firm prefers law review. It's very competitive.

A large majority of 3Ls don't have anything lined up for next year. Several have biglaw offers and several have clerkships, but I think about 75%+ don't have a clue.

Would you comment a little more on this? If 75% of the class doesn't have something lined up, what will the majority of them end up doing? If only the top 10-20% are looking at big law what are the other sorts of opportunities out there for CU grads? Do most stay in CO upon graduation? Is the cutoff for BigLaw where it is because of the small market or because Denver has many other T-14 grads coming in?

[rekopter]

Denver biglaw is very difficult to get from CU. Most of the cutoffs are top 10 or top 20 percent and nearly every big firm prefers law review. It's very competitive.

A large majority of 3Ls don't have anything lined up for next year. Several have biglaw offers and several have clerkships, but I think about 75%+ don't have a clue.

Would you comment a little more on this? If 75% of the class doesn't have something lined up, what will the majority of them end up doing? If only the top 10-20% are looking at big law what are the other sorts of opportunities out there for CU grads? Do most stay in CO upon graduation? Is the cutoff for BigLaw where it is because of the small market or because Denver has many other T-14 grads coming in?

The universe of legal employers which hire a year in advance is relatively small: biglaw firms, big government agencies (DOJ Honors, for example), and the prestigious clerkships. At CU, I would guess that about 10, maybe 15 of us have clerkships and about the same with biglaw offers.

The bulk of the legal profession is made up by smaller and mid-size law firms and smaller govt positions (DA's, for example) and these employers generally hire as the need arises. DA's offices generally don't make any offers until bar admission. CU graduates generally mirror the attorney profession as a whole--the bulk of our graduates will end up in jobs from this paragraph; fewer in the previous paragraph. And CU does place many graduates in the less-competitive trial and podunk-area clerkships which won't hire until 2011.

The grade cutoffs are what they are because the big firms can afford to be choosy. The vast majority of law students at CU and elsewhere desperately want these high-paying jobs and there are few vacancies in the best of times and very few in times like this. Several of these vacancies are inevitably filled with t14 grads.

[Pufer]

Another CU 3L here.

If 75% of the class doesn't have something lined up, what will the majority of them end up doing?

Last year's grads are working as trial court clerks, lawyers in small to midsize firms, small government lawyers, solo practitioners, public defenders, businesspeople, restaurant servers, and are going back to school to get a degree in an area people are hiring in (or at least to keep their loans from coming due). "Restaurant server" should probably be higher on that list if it were ranked in order of prevalence.

If you're going to law school at CU (or at any other law school ranked, oh, 20-80), you should be picturing your ideal career path as being a trial court clerk for a year, then networking your way into becoming a lawyer who writes up documents relating to small insurance settlement trust accounts, in a small-ish firm in a Denver suburb, making no more than $60k/yr (and probably closer to $50k) at the outset and working your way up the ladder with 50-60 hour weeks. You will be moderately dissatisfied with your life, living in a rented condo far from downtown, driving a used Corolla, Civic, or Focus (seriously, like 60% of the lawyers in CO drive one of those three vehicles), and drinking too much with other lawyers surprisingly frequently.

I will reiterate, that should not be your fallback option, it's more of a reasonable thing to strive for. Talking biglaw is a bit of a joke amongst the vast majority of law students in this country.

If only the top 10-20% are looking at big law what are the other sorts of opportunities out there for CU grads?

You don't get biglaw from CU, and the foregoing statement requires some explanation.

Maybe 8% of each class at CU has the credentials to get a legitimate biglaw interview (note that URM status is a credential). Maybe 4% have the credentials to get a summer clerkship with a biglaw firm in Denver. Maybe 2% have the lawyering and interpersonal skills necessary to get a permanent offer. In this economy, 0-1% will get such offers.

The 10-20% figure refers to the folks who have a chance to be hired by the larger firms in the Denver market. These firms will give you a biglaw-like paycheck, and require biglaw-like hours to be billed by you, but they won't be ranked on any biglaw list. In this economy, I'd guess that only 5-8% of the class has any particular chance at any such positions.

Do most stay in CO upon graduation?

Yes. If they don't stay in CO upon graduation, it's only to go to Montana, or New Mexico, or something like that. CU places well throughout the mountain west region, and only throughout the mountain west region. Of course, the only real legal market in the mountain west region is Denver.

Is the cutoff for BigLaw where it is because of the small market or because Denver has many other T-14 grads coming in?

Does it matter? The cutoff for biglaw is where it is because there aren't that many biglaw (or biglaw-lite) jobs out there that are attainable by CU grads upon graduation. The competition or the size of the market aren't going to change anytime soon, so they're largely irrelevant.

-Pufer

[queenlizzie13]

Which school(s) place well in Denver then??

[whitman]

Which school(s) place well in Denver then??

I'm very curious about this as well. I have no connection to Colorado but really want a shot at Denver. I was thinking about CU because it's supposed to be good for environmental law/Denver, even though it's by far the lowest school I'm considering. Well, I also just want to live in Boulder for three years.