The overall architecture and layout of the WUSTL campus is pretty beautiful, I have to say. It definitely gives the feeling of a great institution and looks like an old-school ivy league place, as opposed to some places I've been that look more like a series of plain, cube-like, brick buildings. The WUSTL law school is primarily housed on an amazing building called Anheuser-Busch Hall (named after the beer company headquartered in St. Louis, obv.) The building has something like 5 stories, with the main level of class rooms going around the perimeter of a circular hall and in the middle is an enclosed courtyard with lots of tables and couches, clearly the prime hangout for law students to eat, hang out, etc. The entire building is very modern inside, despite it's old-world appearance outside. I really did love it.
In that same building is the law library which encompassed all or part of three different levels. Lots of desks, tables, study rooms, etc. They also have a large reading room with high ceilings, wood arches, looking like something out of Harry Potter (in the best way possible).
The faculty and students I spoke with were incredibly enthusiastic about the school, which of course is to be expected. We were able to sit in on a class which I found to be really great, and it used a mix of cold-calling and voluntary hand-raising as they went through a couple Civ Pro cases. I was especially impressed though with their trial advocacy/moot court/mock trial programs. We were split into small groups based on interest and speaking to the professor who led that program, he told us how they regularly win multiple national competitions, have local judges help coach, and how much of an asset it is in the marketplace when other schools offer little real-world prep.
We also had panels with some students and Alumni, and it really kind of changed my previous conception of WUSTL as a regional rather than national school. Some of their alumni flew in from as far as California just for the one hour panel; I was really impressed.
At the end, they had an awesome reception with wine and a lot of current students to mingle with. They were all VERY engaging, incredibly nice, and sincerely tried to connect with me and offer advice, so that was really refreshing. Overall, I would say that the students seemed very happy.
This all isn't to say I'm dead set on WUSTL; I'm not. I still have a really hard decision between a place like WUSTL or Vandy and some other acceptances like Chicago. But that seriously is my honest assessment, and the main thing I walked away thinking was, "I could be very happy here." Happy to take questions and I'll answer them as I check in.
(Not a picture of the AB building, but of a typical WUSTL building)
