WUSTL c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013) Forum

[icanbeohyes]

I really like the sociable atmosphere of WUSTL and it is one of the better schools I've gotten into, but for some reason I'm still skeptical about the location. Missouri :/

The people make the place, as they always say.

Yeah, true. I guess I'll see how I like it when I go for ASD. I've never been in the midwest before and I'm not sure if I want to commit myself to working there for at least the next 3-6 yrs of my life after law school.

I think you're right to be concerned about how you would enjoy the region/area you'd be living and studying in for the next three years, but keep in mind that "the midwest" is a very large swath of middle America, which includes both large cities and smaller, more rural towns. St. Louis is sort of like the best (and sometimes the worst) of both extremes. It's a larger city, but not as large as its regional counterpart, Chicago; and it has a small-town feel, but definitely not as cloistered nor as intimately small as an actual "small town." The city itself should certainly be considered for its merits apart from any overall reputation the Midwest may have. I definitely understand your trepidation about Missouri. It's got problems. (And plenty of backwards ignorant people *cough*Todd Akin!*cough*) But St. Louis, and to some extent Kansas City to the west, is a distinct and different kind of region within Missouri.

Also, as has been said quite a bit in this forum already, Chicago and St. Louis are Wash U's two biggest markets. So if big city is more your style, Wash U has connections in Chicago. There is also a new(er) externship at Wash U that puts students in NYC for a semester studying regulatory and business law. Could be a good way to make some connections there, if that's what you're into.

I get that, but I'm just preparing for the worst case scenario which would be me falling at or below the median and having no degree portability out of Missouri. I'm not from a city, but I was hoping to get out of the rural area I am from right now. Realistically, I have no idea where I want to live, but I have no ties in the midwest like I do on the east coast. (as in family ties). So I guess that's why I'm a bit skeptical.

[Crowing]

stl isn't rural. it's T20 metro area population in the US

[icanbeohyes]

shntn - Oh I assumed from TLS that it's national portability has been diminished in the recent years. Also, I'm just preparing for worst case scenario.

unoriginalist - see my last post. I have no idea, and so I'm mainly concerned w/ flexibility. I may fall in love with MO and never want to leave, or I may want to head over to NYC (which was what I originally planned) or come back to Florida where I am from. Mainly want to stay on the east coast, tbh but not really in Florida.

[Unoriginalist]

I get that, but I'm just preparing for the worst case scenario which would be me falling at or below the median and having no degree portability out of Missouri. I'm not from a city, but I was hoping to get out of the rural area I am from right now. Realistically, I have no idea where I want to live, but I have no ties in the midwest like I do on the east coast. (as in family ties). So I guess that's why I'm a bit skeptical.

From what I've heard, and someone please correct me if you know something contrary to be true, Wash U has an odd amount of name recognition on the east coast. I'm not sure why, but from what I can tell it seems to be the case. Anyone else have perspective on this?

But, yeah, Wash U won't be a ticket to NYC Biglaw below median, but no degree really is these days. But trust me, I sympathize with your hesitations about what happens at/below median.

[wannabelawstudent]

WUSTL is also well known for giving engineering achievement awards, right crow?

[shntn]

shntn - Oh I assumed from TLS that it's national portability has been diminished in the recent years. Also, I'm just preparing for worst case scenario.

The past few years have been a doozy all around. Keep your eyes peeled for the most recent job data coming in the next month or so. For the class of 2011, though, about a quarter stayed in MO.

[JayJones78]

I really like the sociable atmosphere of WUSTL and it is one of the better schools I've gotten into, but for some reason I'm still skeptical about the location. Missouri :/

What parts are you skeptical about? Since I am from there, I can try to answer any questions/doubts you might have.

Just the whole living there. Idk. Haha I just have no idea what I'd be getting myself into. And I assume that the lack of portability of a WUSTL degree will keep me living there much longer than the 3 yrs for law school. :/

Just on the flip side one of my best friends is doing a surgical residency in STL and after a year there he has a lot of mixed feelings about the city. Since he works basically all day he can pe pretty much compared to a law student. He's not very content with the city (came from the PNW as well) or the social scene. I don't think one person is a true testiment but my issue with STL is that it's not here or there in regards of being a real big city. In some ways I would rather either be in a big city i.e NYC/DC/Chicago of be in small town.

[DoveBodyWash]

From what I've heard, and someone please correct me if you know something contrary to be true, Wash U has an odd amount of name recognition on the east coast. I'm not sure why, but from what I can tell it seems to be the case. Anyone else have perspective on this?

But, yeah, Wash U won't be a ticket to NYC Biglaw below median, but no degree really is these days. But trust me, I sympathize with your hesitations about what happens at/below median.

Among lawyers WUSTL is a national school. Sure it won't cause mass panty-dropping, it's not HYS, but it's considered a top school and people will acknowledge students who do well there. Most lawyers aren't gonna doubt the general competency/intelligence of a student who did well at Vandy, USC, UCLA, GW, WUSTL, Texas. Or even the T-30..but once you start getting lower than that, there might be some skepticism.

WUSTL and Vandy are somewhat unique as far as portability because a large part of their national placement is probably due to self-selection. Both schools attract students from all over, so if and when those students go back home, it becomes "national placement." Is this completely because of self-selection? No, I'm sure the quality of both schools has something to do with it. There are plenty of students at T-1 schools that can't make it back home.

re: WUSTL on East Coast. I think we mentioned this earlier, but WUSTL's lay prestige is very good around here. Most non-lawyers will just assume the law school of a prestigious/elite university is an elite school. Your average person will be impressed with Harvard Law, it wouldn't matter if it was ranked 1st or 20th. It's Harvard. This is a boost to some schools (Emory) and it "hurts" the lay prestige of others (like NYU). WUSTL as a university is just extremely well-regarded in the East Coast, this translates into respect for the law school among people who aren't familiar with law school rankings.

[andy261]

I really like the sociable atmosphere of WUSTL and it is one of the better schools I've gotten into, but for some reason I'm still skeptical about the location. Missouri :/

What parts are you skeptical about? Since I am from there, I can try to answer any questions/doubts you might have.

Just the whole living there. Idk. Haha I just have no idea what I'd be getting myself into. And I assume that the lack of portability of a WUSTL degree will keep me living there much longer than the 3 yrs for law school. :/

Just on the flip side one of my best friends is doing a surgical residency in STL and after a year there he has a lot of mixed feelings about the city. Since he works basically all day he can pe pretty much compared to a law student. He's not very content with the city (came from the PNW as well) or the social scene. I don't think one person is a true testiment but my issue with STL is that it's not here or there in regards of being a real big city. In some ways I would rather either be in a big city i.e NYC/DC/Chicago of be in small town.

To balance that anecdote out, one of my neighbors from WA is currently living in St. Louis with her husband (also a WA native), who is doing his residency at Wash U after going to SLU for med school. They said they've been loving it there. Again, I think barring unusual circumstances (e.g. gay in the rural south, wheelchair in a hilly town, etc.), one can learn to enjoy any city for the couple years that you're there for school.

[JayJones78]

What parts are you skeptical about? Since I am from there, I can try to answer any questions/doubts you might have.

Just the whole living there. Idk. Haha I just have no idea what I'd be getting myself into. And I assume that the lack of portability of a WUSTL degree will keep me living there much longer than the 3 yrs for law school. :/

Just on the flip side one of my best friends is doing a surgical residency in STL and after a year there he has a lot of mixed feelings about the city. Since he works basically all day he can pe pretty much compared to a law student. He's not very content with the city (came from the PNW as well) or the social scene. I don't think one person is a true testiment but my issue with STL is that it's not here or there in regards of being a real big city. In some ways I would rather either be in a big city i.e NYC/DC/Chicago of be in small town.

To balance that anecdote out, one of my neighbors from WA is currently living in St. Louis with her husband (also a WA native), who is doing his residency at Wash U after going to SLU for med school. They said they've been loving it there. Again, I think barring unusual circumstances (e.g. gay in the rural south, wheelchair in a hilly town, etc.), one can learn to enjoy any city for the couple years that you're there for school.

I agree. Oh and Andy I hope we're not developing a freidly rivalry due to my discontent from seattle at the moment. It's been great to me for 5 years and I think it's a good place to live. I just mentally kid of checked out of it when I decided I'm not staying for law school. My remarks about the seattle chill are still there but I still think it's a good city wi great quality of life. People just need to get a little more northeast attitude

Edit: as I said earlier, my friend's feeling is one of one guy. Just giving a perspective.

[uconjak]

From what I've heard, and someone please correct me if you know something contrary to be true, Wash U has an odd amount of name recognition on the east coast. I'm not sure why, but from what I can tell it seems to be the case. Anyone else have perspective on this?

But, yeah, Wash U won't be a ticket to NYC Biglaw below median, but no degree really is these days. But trust me, I sympathize with your hesitations about what happens at/below median.

Among lawyers WUSTL is a national school. Sure it won't cause mass panty-dropping, it's not HYS, but it's considered a top school and people will acknowledge students who do well there. Most lawyers aren't gonna doubt the general competency/intelligence of a student who did well at Vandy, USC, UCLA, GW, WUSTL, Texas. Or even the T-30..but once you start getting lower than that, there might be some skepticism.

WUSTL and Vandy are somewhat unique as far as portability because a large part of their national placement is probably due to self-selection. Both schools attract students from all over, so if and when those students go back home, it becomes "national placement." Is this completely because of self-selection? No, I'm sure the quality of both schools has something to do with it. There are plenty of students at T-1 schools that can't make it back home.

re: WUSTL on East Coast. I think we mentioned this earlier, but WUSTL's lay prestige is very good around here. Most non-lawyers will just assume the law school of a prestigious/elite university is an elite school. Your average person will be impressed with Harvard Law, it wouldn't matter if it was ranked 1st or 20th. It's Harvard. This is a boost to some schools (Emory) and it "hurts" the lay prestige of others (like NYU). WUSTL as a university is just extremely well-regarded in the East Coast, this translates into respect for the law school among people who aren't familiar with law school rankings.

I believe that WUSTL, like most of the schools mentioned above are what I refer to as SUPER-REGIONALS. they have a certain level of National Cache and are portable to the whole country. But are most well know and Respected in their Regions. I believe it would also depend on what you want to do, Big Law, Govt service, ect.

[icanbeohyes]

Thanks for all the replies! All of this information will help my decision!

[soccerfreak]

Again, I think barring unusual circumstances (e.g. gay in the rural south, wheelchair in a hilly town, etc.), one can learn to enjoy any city for the couple years that you're there for school.

TITCR. Honestly, whether you enjoy your time here or not will depend on the friends you make and the attitude you bring into it.

[DoveBodyWash]

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... urist.html

LOL

Poor Chicago...didn't even make it into the top 50 of the Cooley 2.0 Rankings.

And Yale at #13?? Blasphemy!

[Unoriginalist]

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... urist.html

LOL

Poor Chicago...didn't even make it into the top 50 of the Cooley 2.0 Rankings.

And Yale at #13?? Blasphemy!

Haha, we outrank NYU! CCNW, anyone?

[Xs20]

RateMyProfessors.com: 20%

LOL'd hard

[DoveBodyWash]

RateMyProfessors.com: 20%

LOL'd hard

Bar Passage: 5%

[wannabelawstudent]

RateMyProfessors.com: 20%

LOL'd hard

Bar Passage: 5%

Hmm 200k in debt? But it has 4.5 stars on RateMyProfessor.com!

[howardgirl]

Can someone tell me if I should put "Washington University in St. Louis School of Law" on my business cards, or just "Washington University School of Law"? I am afraid of WUSTL getting confused with GW or U Washington.

Just so you know, I'm going to a networking event in a couple of weeks and I want to print up a few business cards to hand out.

[andy261]

I agree. Oh and Andy I hope we're not developing a freidly rivalry due to my discontent from seattle at the moment. It's been great to me for 5 years and I think it's a good place to live. I just mentally kid of checked out of it when I decided I'm not staying for law school. My remarks about the seattle chill are still there but I still think it's a good city wi great quality of life. People just need to get a little more northeast attitude

Edit: as I said earlier, my friend's feeling is one of one guy. Just giving a perspective.

No hard feelings, I just thought it was fair to toss in my positive anecdote since our examples were in an analogous situation.

I would have to disagree about your attitude comment though, why don't we discuss it over coffee... never! (just kidding)

[JayJones78]

Can someone tell me if I should put "Washington University in St. Louis School of Law" on my business cards, or just "Washington University School of Law"? I am afraid of WUSTL getting confused with GW or U Washington.

Just so you know, I'm going to a networking event in a couple of weeks and I want to print up a few business cards to hand out.

I'd put the STL. You also have AU's wash college of law....

[andy261]

Can someone tell me if I should put "Washington University in St. Louis School of Law" on my business cards, or just "Washington University School of Law"? I am afraid of WUSTL getting confused with GW or U Washington.

Just so you know, I'm going to a networking event in a couple of weeks and I want to print up a few business cards to hand out.

Not sure why you'd be putting the name of a school that you're not attending yet on a business card, but I would add the St. Louis personally.

[howardgirl]

Can someone tell me if I should put "Washington University in St. Louis School of Law" on my business cards, or just "Washington University School of Law"? I am afraid of WUSTL getting confused with GW or U Washington.

Just so you know, I'm going to a networking event in a couple of weeks and I want to print up a few business cards to hand out.

I'd put the STL. You also have AU's wash college of law....

Ugh.... that too. Thanks.

[DoveBodyWash]

Can someone tell me if I should put "Washington University in St. Louis School of Law" on my business cards, or just "Washington University School of Law"? I am afraid of WUSTL getting confused with GW or U Washington.

Just so you know, I'm going to a networking event in a couple of weeks and I want to print up a few business cards to hand out.

Not sure why you'd be putting the name of a school that you're not attending yet on a business card, but I would add the St. Louis personally.

+1

I'm confused as well...Even after you pay deposits, you're not officially a student until classes begin

[JayJones78]

So it's mid day Tuesday. Even under NU perspectives we have yet to see any decisions.
Sad