Whittier 2011 Applicants Forum

[sanjola]

Perfect. Now apparently there are 200 people on the waitlist. Do you think I have a good chance?

I will be withdrawing this week. Hopefully that helps!

What are your numbers, Oblivion? I can't believe they wait-listed you this early.

[Oblivion_08]

3.1 and 150 LSAT. I was wait listed february 10.

[Oblivion_08]

Thanks guys keep withdrawing lol!

Can anyone here tell me what's the best site to look for housing?

[hbliam]

At least you got waitlisted. I've been in committee review since March 8th. I'm only applying for part time but would like an answer. 3.39/151. I know, poor LSAT score. No one's fault but my own. I decided to go JD rather than Masters a few weeks prior to the test, and studied for literally 3 hours. My plan now is to wait until May 1st and if I don't get an answer, sign back up to retake the LSAT in June.

[hbliam]

Thanks guys keep withdrawing lol!

Can anyone here tell me what's the best site to look for housing?

craigslist

[vacations]

At least you got waitlisted. I've been in committee review since March 8th. I'm only applying for part time but would like an answer. 3.39/151. I know, poor LSAT score. No one's fault but my own. I decided to go JD rather than Masters a few weeks prior to the test, and studied for literally 3 hours. My plan now is to wait until May 1st and if I don't get an answer, sign back up to retake the LSAT in June.

Good luck to you, however you said you only studied 3 hours TOTAL for the LSAT?

If so, that's completely unheard of and frankly speaking that is the worst way of going about law school applications. Simply, you walked in with no preparation at all. Nobody would ever go into ANY test without a substantial amount of studying right? (especially for such an important test like the LSAT).

If you are serious about law school, you should strongly consider taking a prep course or buying supplemental materials and studying on your own and giving the LSAT all you got. I would think 10 weeks more or less of intensive studying is pretty much the norm.

You essentially took the LSAT cold and got an initial diagnostic score of 151. With adequate studying and preparation, a 10 point jump is not unheard of at all.

You might be surprised and end up with a very very high score.

[vacations]

I e-mailed my LOCI and I am going to visit on April 5th. I have to make a deposit to either Western State or Thomas Jefferson, because I am on the wait-list at both SW and Whittier.

Which one would you guys go to? TJ or WS?

Honestly? If waiting it out or retaking isn't an option (and I am NOT a huge fan of the people who say that on these boards), I would say Western State. But only because it's cheaper to live in Fullerton than in San Diego.

You should also take into strong consideration where you want to live and practice law. Western State will HEAVILY limit you to the Orange County area in terms of finding a job. Same goes for TJ - you'll most likely find a job after you graduate only in the San Diego area.

Are there students from TJ that find jobs outside of San Diego after graduation? I'm sure there are, but they're outliers - so don't bet on these numbers. Same logic applies to Western State in Orange County.

[Oblivion_08]

If I get more $$$ to go to Western State compared to Whittier, do I still go to Whittier? I might get into SWLAW for part time..what I'm confused about is

SWLAW PT or Whittier FT?

[vacations]

If I get more $$$ to go to Western State compared to Whittier, do I still go to Whittier? I might get into SWLAW for part time..what I'm confused about is

SWLAW PT or Whittier FT?

If Western gives you more $$$ than Whittier, I would go to Western. Be sure to read the scholarship $$ stipulations carefully. Whittier is known to give ridiculous / hard to maintain stipulations.

Same idea for the SW PT and Whittier FT dilemma - comes down to money and to a certain extent location.

As a part-timer, are you okay with graduating in four years opposed to three? A lot of PT students do it simply because it's cheaper, which is very understandable. Plus they can hang onto their day jobs.

Keep in mind, a Whittier degree limits you to orange county jobs for the most part. A SW degree is slightly more mobile, but in the end count on only finding a job in the LA market with a SW degree.

[Oblivion_08]

See I don't know, is there a big difference between these schools? Is Sw that much better than Whittier or Western State?

WSU will allow you to keep your scholarship as long as you maintain a 2.6, don't know about Whittier.

[vacations]

See I don't know, is there a big difference between these schools? Is Sw that much better than Whittier or Western State?

WSU will allow you to keep your scholarship as long as you maintain a 2.6, don't know about Whittier.

I can't speak to what grades are like at Western - so I don't know if it's hard or not to maintain a 2.6 but I would bet anything that Western's stipulations are way more lenient than Whittier's. Whittier is notorious for making things difficult.

Whittier's grading curve is very very low, meaning they grade harshly. Whatever stipulations Whittier gives you, just know that it's going to be difficult to maintain whatever GPA they want you to maintain.

If your choices come down to these schools, go to whichever offers you most money and then assess whether or not you'll be happy launching your career in that region.

[Oblivion_08]

I actually searched for WSU grads, a lot are practicing in the valley in LA. I'm not worried about jobs just yet, I have family in the business who are willing to help me out. I'm starting to get the feeling that all of this stuff doesn't really matter. It's not like I'm choosing between LA and SC. I feel like these schools are all the same and attrition rates/bar pass rates are just a case by case thing, If I do my best, and beat the living shit out of all my tests, I wouldn't need to worry about being kicked out. I think I, just like many people on these forums are just scared, and we need to justify our decisions with other people, I heard everything I need to hear about every school. If I'm at the top of my class...that's all that matters. Who thought VCU would defeat Kansas? Or Giants defeat the Pats? People who judge teams by rankings or even schools for that matter CAN BE WRONG. Look at the NCAA tournament(yeah I know it might be different, but not by much right?) No one ever gets the final 4 correct, because they don't take everything into account. I feel like people looking at stats for justification is wrong, there is SO MUCH behind the stats....sorry I went on a rant.

[hbliam]

At least you got waitlisted. I've been in committee review since March 8th. I'm only applying for part time but would like an answer. 3.39/151. I know, poor LSAT score. No one's fault but my own. I decided to go JD rather than Masters a few weeks prior to the test, and studied for literally 3 hours. My plan now is to wait until May 1st and if I don't get an answer, sign back up to retake the LSAT in June.

Good luck to you, however you said you only studied 3 hours TOTAL for the LSAT?

If so, that's completely unheard of and frankly speaking that is the worst way of going about law school applications. Simply, you walked in with no preparation at all. Nobody would ever go into ANY test without a substantial amount of studying right? (especially for such an important test like the LSAT).

If you are serious about law school, you should strongly consider taking a prep course or buying supplemental materials and studying on your own and giving the LSAT all you got. I would think 10 weeks more or less of intensive studying is pretty much the norm.

You essentially took the LSAT cold and got an initial diagnostic score of 151. With adequate studying and preparation, a 10 point jump is not unheard of at all.

You might be surprised and end up with a very very high score.

I know, I know. I am not making excuses. And I know it looks like I'm not serious. Just busy. I'm a full time cop working 12.5 shifts on a night shift. I wanted to attend testmasters but not a single one of their schedules would correlate with mine. I used some of the real LSAT's to "study" but obviously would benefit with some real study time.

[Kurt Cobain]

Does anyone have a renewable scholarship to Whittier? Or does everyone have the 1/4 scholarship for top 20%, etc.?

[lretter]

accepted with 3.45 (from W&M) and 151
$11,000 for the first year


does anyone know how to go about negotiating scholy money?? Should I just reply to the email asking if its possible to get more?

[vacations]

accepted with 3.45 (from W&M) and 151
$11,000 for the first year


does anyone know how to go about negotiating scholy money?? Should I just reply to the email asking if its possible to get more?

Congrats to you. Send a nice and thoughtful email to the Director of Admissions - Tom McColl - to ask for more money. Give him specific reasons why you want and deserve more $$. You can talk about your personal financial situation, scholarship offers from other schools / local schools, etc. Try to play up the fact that scholarship $$ is a big part of your decision-making process and if Whittier were to give more $$ it would really really make your choice to attend Whittier a lot easier. You get the gist....

I'm a 1L at Whittier - feel free to shoot over any questions you may have about the school or anything.

[BobbyDigital]

Vaca-

Do you mind giving us your overall experience so far as a Whittier 1L?...professors, fellow students, facilities, etc...

How did you come to decide whittier over other socal schools?

Does it seem hard for most students to either hold onto their scholarships or get an increase after good performance?

Thanks!

[vacations]

Vaca-

Do you mind giving us your overall experience so far as a Whittier 1L?...professors, fellow students, facilities, etc...

How did you come to decide whittier over other socal schools?

Does it seem hard for most students to either hold onto their scholarships or get an increase after good performance?

Thanks!

No problem at all - hopefully my thoughts will answer some of everybody's thoughts/concerns.

FACILITIES = overall the school is small, but very quiet and nice. Don't expect any state-of-the-art technology in all rooms. With that said, the library is pretty spacious and quiet. Everybody respects everybody else's studying time. There's never a problem of finding a place to study. There's also plenty of study rooms - however there must be a minimum of two students per study room. Never a problem with parking either. The lecture halls - again don't expect the nicest looking decor either - the rooms and seats are simple and its certainly not old and run-down. They're clean, smells fresh and you have plenty of space and they have projectors and that sort of stuff....so trust me, it's modern enough. I know some schools have reclining chairs and amazing stadium-like seating and what-not- this is not Whittier. Our facilities are simple, but it certainly gets the job done. I have never had a problem finding resources to help me succeed.

PROFESSORS = There are three full-time day sections for 1Ls (I know nothing about part-time and evening students' sections) and I have a pretty good impression of all of them. For the most part, they're great...maybe except for one or two. This is because they're grads from the old-school train of thought where they teach heavily based on socratic instead of the more modern / practical socratic method where professors "hold you by your hand" when you get called on. I don't think any of the 1L professors are "cut throat" - they generally will let you slide if you get stumped in class, but of course you should always come to class prepared. I have seen an instance or two of students getting grilled from slacking off too much.

CAREER SERVICES and other personnel = I have a pretty good impression of our carerr services staff. They're always giving students a heads up about internship opportunities, networking events on and off campus, etc. They work hard to try to help us find jobs and positions...problem is most students ignore these emails or they are simply too lazy to show up and meet some attorneys and network. This baffles me. Other than that, school personnel are really helpful. If you have a question, they will certainly provide an answer for you.

SCHOLARSHIPS - not going to lie, it is very difficult to maintain your scholarship after 1L because as most of you know the stipulations are ridiculously hard to keep up with. Let's fact it - this is a Tier 4 school and the attrition rate is no secret - therefore, most students work their butts off (which is great to see - so many ppl dedicated to their studies) and of course, this creates stiffer competition. The ones who end up at the top of the class are seriously the bright and super smart ones - they're the one on moot court, trial ad teams, TAs for classes, etc.

FELLOW STUDENTS = There are a lot of WHittier students who work hard - this is because we're a Tier 4 school and pretty much the whole TLS and legal community blacklists us simply because we are Whittier Law School. Therefore, we go about with an "underdog" mentality - always wanting to prove something to the rest of the legal community. For the most part, a lot of my classmates love the experience so far - we're all friendly with each other and we want to succeed. HOWEVER - I gotta keeps it realz - we have a number of students who simply should not be in law school. They should have never been admitted in the first place. These folks are slackers, lazy and they're only here because as an adult, their parents told them to go to law school. I've already seen a number of people in my section drop out - what a waste of time and MONEY. goodness.

Trust me folks - law school (especially here at Whittier) is about self motivation - DO NOT SLACK.

Many of you might not know this but Whittier has a new Dean who joined the school two years ago I believe. She's been implementing a lot of new programs to change how Whittier functions - especially the bar passage rate and overall, I think she's gained the respect of the faculty and student body. her efforts aren't certainly going to happen overnight, but there's a plan in place and slowly but surely, the school is improving and optimistic. Not only that, this year we brought on aboard a faculty member who headed up Cal Western's Bar Prep Program - for those of you who don't know - in the last five years or so Cal Western has had amazing and very impressive bar passage rates (check them out). So for Whittier to snatch up this guy and to integrate some of his programs, it's certainly refreshing.

So in the end - for those of you that have visited the school - it's a small community but you would agree that it's nice. It's quiet and nice. Again, I have never had trouble finding the right resources to help me study and succeed.

I hope I've given you guys a better picture of Whittier. Again, if there are any questions, feel free to ask and I'll be sure to give a thorough and HONEST opinion.

[lsatextreme]

how are job prospects out of whittier?

[vacations]

how are job prospects out of whittier?

To be honest with you, I really do not know because I'm just a 1L and I haven't interacted with too many upperclassmen yet.

I can speak to finding a placement as a 1L. In this area, there are PLENTY of opportunities. A lot of students complain that its the school's fault for not landing them a job/internship. That's ridiculous. Landing the job is up to the applicant, right? I talk to these people and then I find out they never show up to networking events, workshops nor do they keep in contact with their mentor...which by the way Whittier has a mentoring program where they pair you with an alumni.

My alumni is a recent grad and he's doing real well in terms of job satisfaction, salary and experience at Whittier.

Many of my classmates are disillusioned - they think they can go back to their home state and land a great paying job .....or they think they can land a job making six figures off the bat. Let's keep it real, right? This ain't gonna happen. Whittier is a super SUPER regional school. I keep telling everyone to accept the fact that you'll most likely be launching your career and spending many years here in Orange County if you are a WLS grad. Most people just choose to ignore these words.

If you like Crim Law....Whittier has an excellent relationship with the Orange County and Riverside County DA's Office - they're always on campus interviewing. WLS also has a crim law concentration program. The school also has a very reputable IP program where we send students into big name companies on various internships.

[Oblivion_08]

I'm going to visit campus tomorrow, I just came back from Thomas Jefferson, man that new campus is INSANE.

[BobbyDigital]

Thanks a lot for the info, Vacations!

Oblivion- Same here, I was blown away with Tj's new campus. Once you go to whittier, you'll be like, this is it huh? I'm just trying to look past the flashy aspects, and make a decision.

[ljeucla]

How long after your status checker said "In committee review" did you get a decision? Just wondering if any of you could give some insight, mine just changed to that today.

Thanks!

[ljeucla]

Anybody got anything on this?

[hbliam]

Anybody got anything on this?

Depends on your stats. I've been in review since 3-8. Someone with better stats posted that they applied and went to accepted in ten days or so.