UC Irvine c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013) Forum

[lrslayer]

One interesting thing I read on their class of '15 profile was that self-indentified students of color comprised 49% of the class...

UCLA and UC Hastings are not much different; both have <50% whites (self-identified).

This should not be surprising since a lot of Asians who attend UC undergrad and stay instate for LS.

^This. We have a lot of Asian students in our class.

[sonny]

I just wanted to extend a congratulations to those who have been accepted! I'm a current 1L at UCI and if anyone wants to message me about the school, feel free! I'm sure if you have been accepted and eventually join the facebook group you'll be able to tell who I am quite quickly, haha. I'm an international student (from Canada) so any other international students can feel free to ask for help!

As for my experience at UCI so far - it's been great for a law school experience. Let's face it - law school sucks and 1L year is hard and busy and you have no free time. However, UCI does its best to make it an enjoyable as possible and I really have appreciated it. The staff and faculty are so warm and helpful. I lost my grandmother immediately prior to exams last semester and I honestly could not have asked for a better support system in terms of the faculty - I've never had so many people emailing me and asking to help me in whatever way they could - including the Dean! After that experience I knew I had chosen the right law school.

A note on transportation, though! I chose to live in Costa Mesa because I like it a bit better than Irvine and it's a bit cheaper. I don't have a car though and it's awful. OCTA is terrible and I'm a slave to the bus schedule. So if you're going to live a few miles off campus, you need a car. I've survived (somehow) without one but I'm pinching pennies to save up for a car for the summer/next semester. So while the school is fantastic, the public transportation sucks and I wish someone had told me before I had moved. So just make sure you live on campus and/or have a car and you'll be fine!

Thanks for the insight. Do you know of any drawbacks of living on campus? How common does it seem for the law students? I don't anticipate having a car for all three years.

[Big Dog]

Not having a car in SoCal makes life difficult. This ain't San Francisco, Chicago or New York.

[twenty]

Southern California public transportation is truly awful. Get an older car with 100k~ miles on it from the late 90's for 4k-6k, and you're set.

[DoveBodyWash]

Lurker here,

Read this thread after someone in the WUSTL thread told me they were really interested in UCI...ended up doing a bunch of research into UCI, the Dean, US News rankings methodology, job placement etc...cuz it was pretty interesting.

All seems very legit and promising , especially for candidates with Cali ties or Cali ambitions.

Kinda disappointed because I was hoping UCI would suck so I could dissuade any WUSTL defectors ...but oh well..c'est la vie!

Best of luck to everyone . Here's hoping you're all rolling in scholly money!

[mantel]

I just wanted to extend a congratulations to those who have been accepted! I'm a current 1L at UCI and if anyone wants to message me about the school, feel free! I'm sure if you have been accepted and eventually join the facebook group you'll be able to tell who I am quite quickly, haha. I'm an international student (from Canada) so any other international students can feel free to ask for help!

As for my experience at UCI so far - it's been great for a law school experience. Let's face it - law school sucks and 1L year is hard and busy and you have no free time. However, UCI does its best to make it an enjoyable as possible and I really have appreciated it. The staff and faculty are so warm and helpful. I lost my grandmother immediately prior to exams last semester and I honestly could not have asked for a better support system in terms of the faculty - I've never had so many people emailing me and asking to help me in whatever way they could - including the Dean! After that experience I knew I had chosen the right law school.

A note on transportation, though! I chose to live in Costa Mesa because I like it a bit better than Irvine and it's a bit cheaper. I don't have a car though and it's awful. OCTA is terrible and I'm a slave to the bus schedule. So if you're going to live a few miles off campus, you need a car. I've survived (somehow) without one but I'm pinching pennies to save up for a car for the summer/next semester. So while the school is fantastic, the public transportation sucks and I wish someone had told me before I had moved. So just make sure you live on campus and/or have a car and you'll be fine!

Thanks for the insight. Do you know of any drawbacks of living on campus? How common does it seem for the law students? I don't anticipate having a car for all three years.

It's extremely common for 1Ls to live on campus. It's the norm, and it makes a great community. If you live on-campus without a car, you'd be fine. Everything you regularly need is within walking distance, and for those irregular trips there are Zipcars and borrowed cars.
You will probably want a car by 2L year, though, because students often have off-campus stuff going on--externships, etc..

It's true. Orange County does not have a respectable public transit system

[teiswei]

Lurker here,

Read this thread after someone in the WUSTL thread told me they were really interested in UCI...ended up doing a bunch of research into UCI, the Dean, US News rankings methodology, job placement etc...cuz it was pretty interesting.

All seems very legit and promising , especially for candidates with Cali ties or Cali ambitions.

Kinda disappointed because I was hoping UCI would suck so I could dissuade any WUSTL defectors ...but oh well..c'est la vie!

Best of luck to everyone . Here's hoping you're all rolling in scholly money!

+1

Very cool of you cuse

[anteater1]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

I'd be happy to ask on your behalf tomorrow during our meeting.

[Dmini7]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

I'd be happy to ask on your behalf tomorrow during our meeting.

When they say they will reconsider us for money... How likely are they to actually give us money? Ok, sorry I am just sad I didn't get money .

[teiswei]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

I'd be happy to ask on your behalf tomorrow during our meeting.

Ask him if he's participating in any of the marriage equality Supreme Court hearings next month.

[Big Dog]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

What sort of perqs will they be offering for the Class of '17? Is it worth deferring (for high stats)?

[teiswei]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

What sort of perqs will they be offering for the Class of '17? Is it worth deferring (for high stats)?

Ha because of this I am glad to attend this year. Going next year would make it that more difficult to succeed in law school.

[ChaseInk]

Current 2L here. Law review member, moot court participant, research fellow for the writing skills program.
If anyone wants the UCI perspective from a 2L who has been through OCI and the law review write on, PM me.

Just for the record, we have about 14 2Ls with SA positions in big law in San Diego, OC, LA, Portland, and SF. Most of the 14 of us pulled two to three offers each. Our new CDO big law student advisor worked for Cravath in NYC and is starting to work her connections with the other V20 firms for OCI next fall. Only about 30-40 of the 85ish of us participated in fall OCI. We also have a few 2Ls going to top public interest law firms in Pasadena, the EPA, and other good positions. Spring OCI is only now just getting underway.

[CAteacherguy]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

What sort of perqs will they be offering for the Class of '17? Is it worth deferring (for high stats)?

Ha because of this I am glad to attend this year. Going next year would make it that more difficult to succeed in law school.

What do you think will be different for the Class of '17? Now I'm intrigued. [Though I'm going to be a part of some law school's Class of '16, regardless.]

-CAtg

[Dmini7]

Current 2L here. Law review member, moot court participant, research fellow for the writing skills program.
If anyone wants the UCI perspective from a 2L who has been through OCI and the law review write on, PM me.

Just for the record, we have about 14 2Ls with SA positions in big law in San Diego, OC, LA, Portland, and SF. Most of the 14 of us pulled two to three offers each. Our new CDO big law student advisor worked for Cravath in NYC and is starting to work her connections with the other V20 firms for OCI next fall. Only about 30-40 of the 85ish of us participated in fall OCI. We also have a few 2Ls going to top public interest law firms in Pasadena, the EPA, and other good positions. Spring OCI is only now just getting underway.

How come only 30-40 participated? I thought UCI did not rank and frowned upon sharing rankings... was it an invite only event? I guess I am not understanding why less than half saw it worth the effort, or if there were still grade cut-offs or what. Sorry if this is an obvious question

[ChaseInk]

Current 2L here. Law review member, moot court participant, research fellow for the writing skills program.
If anyone wants the UCI perspective from a 2L who has been through OCI and the law review write on, PM me.

Just for the record, we have about 14 2Ls with SA positions in big law in San Diego, OC, LA, Portland, and SF. Most of the 14 of us pulled two to three offers each. Our new CDO big law student advisor worked for Cravath in NYC and is starting to work her connections with the other V20 firms for OCI next fall. Only about 30-40 of the 85ish of us participated in fall OCI. We also have a few 2Ls going to top public interest law firms in Pasadena, the EPA, and other good positions. Spring OCI is only now just getting underway.

How come only 30-40 participated? I thought UCI did not rank and frowned upon sharing rankings... was it an invite only event? I guess I am not understanding why less than half saw it worth the effort, or if there were still grade cut-offs or what. Sorry if this is an obvious question

It's not that they didn't see it as not worth the effort. It's that they don't want to work for big law. A lot of my class is still on the public interest/non-profit track. Regardless of them, OCI was great. The vast, vast majority of us had callbacks (i know one person who had 11) and most of us who got offers got two to three offers. OCI interviews were based fully on lottery, although certain firms did set a certain GPA cut off (e.g. JD was 3.3, Latham and K&L were 3.5, OMM was 3.80). Other firms have "unofficial" GPA cutoffs (e.g. Rutan is 4.0) that track with UCLA's (e.g. Milbank is 3.75) There were also a handful of other firms that did resume drops.

Let me know if I can answer anything else re: OCI.

[teiswei]

Any questions you guys have for Dean C?

What sort of perqs will they be offering for the Class of '17? Is it worth deferring (for high stats)?

Ha because of this I am glad to attend this year. Going next year would make it that more difficult to succeed in law school.

What do you think will be different for the Class of '17? Now I'm intrigued. [Though I'm going to be a part of some law school's Class of '16, regardless.]

-CAtg

Because this will be the incoming class ranked by USNews they will be throwing out a lot of money to have the best numbers possible. Because of this, the incoming class is likely to be incredibly sharp and it would make it more difficult to get strong grades. It's a positive thing.

[wannabelawstudent]

Because this will be the incoming class ranked by USNews they will be throwing out a lot of money to have the best numbers possible. Because of this, the incoming class is likely to be incredibly sharp and it would make it more difficult to get strong grades. It's a positive thing.

Congrats on your scholly teiswei! I know we didnt see eye to eye in the WUSTL thread but I'm glad you're having a good cycle.

[teiswei]

Because this will be the incoming class ranked by USNews they will be throwing out a lot of money to have the best numbers possible. Because of this, the incoming class is likely to be incredibly sharp and it would make it more difficult to get strong grades. It's a positive thing.

Congrats on your scholly teiswei! I know we didnt see eye to eye in the WUSTL thread but I'm glad you're having a good cycle.

Thank you, sir. Hope some positive things come your way from WUSTL this week.

[andres]

Current 2L here. Law review member, moot court participant, research fellow for the writing skills program.
If anyone wants the UCI perspective from a 2L who has been through OCI and the law review write on, PM me.

Just for the record, we have about 14 2Ls with SA positions in big law in San Diego, OC, LA, Portland, and SF. Most of the 14 of us pulled two to three offers each. Our new CDO big law student advisor worked for Cravath in NYC and is starting to work her connections with the other V20 firms for OCI next fall. Only about 30-40 of the 85ish of us participated in fall OCI. We also have a few 2Ls going to top public interest law firms in Pasadena, the EPA, and other good positions. Spring OCI is only now just getting underway.

Chase: How helpful is the career center with OCI (do they have an experienced staff)? Does UCI have good connections? When I think about UCI, I mostly think of public interest/judicial clerkships. Are most UCI students interested in this type of work? Is big law a minority? Thanks!

[ChaseInk]

Current 2L here. Law review member, moot court participant, research fellow for the writing skills program.
If anyone wants the UCI perspective from a 2L who has been through OCI and the law review write on, PM me.

Just for the record, we have about 14 2Ls with SA positions in big law in San Diego, OC, LA, Portland, and SF. Most of the 14 of us pulled two to three offers each. Our new CDO big law student advisor worked for Cravath in NYC and is starting to work her connections with the other V20 firms for OCI next fall. Only about 30-40 of the 85ish of us participated in fall OCI. We also have a few 2Ls going to top public interest law firms in Pasadena, the EPA, and other good positions. Spring OCI is only now just getting underway.

Chase: How helpful is the career center with OCI (do they have an experienced staff)? Does UCI have good connections? When I think about UCI, I mostly think of public interest/judicial clerkships. Are most UCI students interested in this type of work? Is big law a minority? Thanks!

There are quite a few firms in OC that are fully committed to hiring from UCI (these are firms that don’t hire from the other OC or SD law schools, but do hire from UCLA and USC). For example, we now have one person from each class at Sheppard and Jones Day in OC and OMM Newport has made offers to people each year. We also have or have had people heading to (or received offers from) these OC firms: Rutan, Latham, Alan Matkins, Bryan Cave, Troutman, etc. But that’s just OC. There are also a couple dozen firms in LA and a dozen or so SF/SV firm that fully engage in OCI, offered call backs, and in many cases made offers. It seems clear that more and more firms are interviewing during OCI. We’re not at the size of UCLA or USC OCI, but we also don’t have the class size to support that many firms interviewing. As our graduates populate more firms in LA, SF, SV, and OC and as classes grow, OCI will get bigger—it already is.

There are still quite a few people who are fully interested in PI/non-profit, but there are also quite a few of us who are looking to do big law. I think the 1Ls this year have an even bigger big law focus.

CDO here is very helpful. We are assigned a CDO representative December 1 of 1L year based on our career preference (i.e. big law, non profit, government) and then we have mandatory meetings with them where they help us with our resume and cover letter. They give us red lined comments on our resume until it’s perfect. Depending on your career preference, we also have mentors assigned to us from area firms (mine was at a V20 firm) who help us with resumes and cover letters. In CDO, Erin, who is the rep for big law, is an HLS graduate, Cravath and Cooley SD alum. She knows her stuff

[anteater1]

Meeting with the Dean went well, met with a few students and a couple admin officers. Overall my impressions were very positive. UCI Law seems that it wants it's students to do well more so than the other schools I've visited. The faculty seem very active in employment, which bodes well in this market.

[ChaseInk]

Meeting with the Dean went well, met with a few students and a couple admin officers. Overall my impressions were very positive. UCI Law seems that it wants it's students to do well more so than the other schools I've visited. The faculty seem very active in employment, which bodes well in this market.

This is something I forgot to touch on before: how involved the faculty are in employment. They do so, so much legwork to leverage their connections with firms to get them here for OCI and to hire. I cannot emphasize this enough.

[Dream Weave]

Meeting with the Dean went well, met with a few students and a couple admin officers. Overall my impressions were very positive. UCI Law seems that it wants it's students to do well more so than the other schools I've visited. The faculty seem very active in employment, which bodes well in this market.

This is something I forgot to touch on before: how involved the faculty are in employment. They do so, so much legwork to leverage their connections with firms to get them here for OCI and to hire. I cannot emphasize this enough.

This alone makes me regret not applying. Couldn't ask for more from any school.

[Jonathk1]

Quick Q: Average $$ for need-based grants?
I read somewhere either on here or last year's UCI thread that UCI gave $5000 for 1st year, and $0 for 2nd/3rd?