Top Law Schools

it looks like if Cornell (deferred) and Vandy (waitlist) don't pan out (which I think will be the case), I will be ending up at either SMU or WUSTL. I'm fine with living/going to school/working in various locations in the south and the midwest.

I feel that I am aware of the opportunity afforded by SMU in regards to their students' ability to do a good job of networking while seeking employment in dallas, however I am having a hard time placing a finger on WUSTL's job placement and assets available to students while job hunting. For instance, SMU seems to do well in providing avenues for their students to easily network and place into dallas small or mid-sized law firms which I am hearing have been prospering in Texas as of late. However, for WUSTL it seems like their grads who are not from the midwest (i'm from NC) are seen as a flight risk to st. louis employers (and maybe employers in other midwest markets outside of Chicago?), so I don't know whether those grads for the most part are limited to gaining employment in the region they are originally from or if WUSTL gives students access to a primary market like Chicago where applicants with strong ties isn't as important.

Also would it even be worth it to apply to Notre Dame in terms of my chances of getting in and job prospects afforded compared to SMU and Wustl?

my stats and link to LSN cycle in profile.

bump

I think it's a myth that firms in st louis see wustl grads as flight risk. Wustl has a strong ties with st louis firms but it appears that wustl grads leave for whatever reasons.

As much as I love SMU, ITE it'd be hard for me to argue that you should attend a lower ranked and strictly regional school over a top law school like WUSTL.

redginseng wrote:I think it's a myth that firms in st louis see wustl grads as flight risk. Wustl has a strong ties with st louis firms but it appears that wustl grads leave for whatever reasons.

so coming out of WUSTL it wouldn't be incredibly hard for me to become employed in st. louis (or the midwest in general) if i wanted?

Agree with myth about STL law firms viewing WUSTL grads as a flight risk:
1) If a top WUSTL grad wanted to work in NYC/Chicago/DC, they would go there immediately and not spend a year or two slumming it in STL
2) It's a hassle to study and take bar exams in many states, and Missouri to my knoweldge doesn't have the best reciprocity.

WUSTL law has a surprisingly national reach if you go to their Law Career Services website and look where their graduates go.

this section of their website surprises me the most: http://law.wustl.edu/career_services/index.asp?id=7128
I've not seen ANY law school that has such tailored efforts to law firms in individual cities around the country -- this shows an incredbile effort being made on the school's part to send their graduates anywhere in the country. Look at the links for Chicago and Kansas City for midwestern markets - lots of alumni there. DC is a popular and growing area. 2/3 of students accept jobs outside of the STL area.

whoa! there were more native americans than hispanics in the class of 2011?!

No man I don't think its exceptionally hard r anything to get a good job in STL from WashU if your outta town. I know a guy from TX who went to WashU and now works for the biggest law firm in STL. He said at first alot of out of towners come across as a flight risks but you just have to make sure that you convince the firm that you really wanna practice here and you have a desire to practice/live in the midwest. If anything, WashU grads who wanna actually practice in STL are in high demand.

jockinjay-z wrote:No man I don't think its exceptionally hard r anything to get a good job in STL from WashU if your outta town. I know a guy from TX who went to WashU and now works for the biggest law firm in STL. He said at first alot of out of towners come across as a flight risks but you just have to make sure that you convince the firm that you really wanna practice here and you have a desire to practice/live in the midwest. If anything, WashU grads who wanna actually practice in STL are in high demand.

pretty interesting info

to answer the OP's question, I think the WUSTL CSO seems to be doing good things, im pretty confident in them. im going to dinner with a guy who graduated from WUSTL last year and is now working at a firm in nyc. let me know if you have anything you would like me to ask him. fwiw, hes one of my sister's best friends so im pretty sure nothing is off limits

Im not sure who else is going to St. Louis other than wustl grads and people with local ties, so id imagine the wustl name is real strong and gives you good opportunities in the city. This is def something i will ask him about

nyyankees wrote:to answer the OP's question, I think the WUSTL CSO seems to be doing good things, im pretty confident in them. im going to dinner with a guy who graduated from WUSTL last year and is now working at a firm in nyc. let me know if you have anything you would like me to ask him. fwiw, hes one of my sister's best friends so im pretty sure nothing is off limits

Im not sure who else is going to St. Louis other than wustl grads and people with local ties, so id imagine the wustl name is real strong and gives you good opportunities in the city. This is def something i will ask him about

thanks

Does SMU place out of state at all?

marshalltucker wrote:Does SMU place out of state at all?

No.

I can't really comment on the "home court" effect for WUSTL, but this is a tough choice otherwise ITE. I have no first hand knowledge, but the purveying thought on this site seems to be that 2L's at the just outside of t14 midwest schools (WUSTL, ND, UIUC, MINN) got hammered even more disproportianately this year than other schools. I've seen claims in some threads that less than 15% have a gig lined up for the summer. I think I saw an SMU student somewhere say that 20% of their 2L's have something lined up. Considering MVPBDN is supposedly at 50ish%, that would be decent. Again, I'm just passing on hearsay.

SMU, but only if you wish to remain in Dallas or receive a sizable scholarship over WUSTL. Otherwise, WUSTL!

I thought I would revive this thread since now I am under the same dilemma, however I have no interest in staying in St. Louis. I think my problem is that I could really end up anywhere but since I grew up in Texas, Dallas seems safe. Which would be the better decision?

WUSTL. SMU isn't worth sticker.

Something I found interesting -

THE GO-TO SCHOOLS

Law schools with the highest percentages of graduates hired by NLJ 250 firms.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1


WUSTL is 24, SMU is 28.

kalvano wrote:Something I found interesting -

THE GO-TO SCHOOLS

Law schools with the highest percentages of graduates hired by NLJ 250 firms.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1


WUSTL is 24, SMU is 28.

Yea, that's interesting that there's such a small gap between the two when WUSTL supposed to be the much more highly ranked school. But I guess what boggles me is where exactly does WUSTL place grads? I mean it seems to be sort of Chicago but doesn't UIUC out-place WUSTL there?

I'm regretting not applying to SMU...if it wasn't going to flush my money down the drain, I'd apply late (they accept late apps). But I think it'd already be a slight reach (160/3.62, genuinely decent softs).

Blah.

OP, I'm trying to make this same decision. Visiting Wash this weekend.

Stephanie13 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Something I found interesting -

THE GO-TO SCHOOLS

Law schools with the highest percentages of graduates hired by NLJ 250 firms.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1


WUSTL is 24, SMU is 28.

Yea, that's interesting that there's such a small gap between the two when WUSTL supposed to be the much more highly ranked school. But I guess what boggles me is where exactly does WUSTL place grads? I mean it seems to be sort of Chicago but doesn't UIUC out-place WUSTL there?

According to http://law.wustl.edu/career_services/index.asp?ID=459, they place in Chicago, DC, and NYC, and less than 1/3 stay in STL.

ec2xs wrote:OP, I'm trying to make this same decision. Visiting Wash this weekend.

Let us know how it is!

im_blue wrote:

Stephanie13 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Something I found interesting -

THE GO-TO SCHOOLS

Law schools with the highest percentages of graduates hired by NLJ 250 firms.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1


WUSTL is 24, SMU is 28.

Yea, that's interesting that there's such a small gap between the two when WUSTL supposed to be the much more highly ranked school. But I guess what boggles me is where exactly does WUSTL place grads? I mean it seems to be sort of Chicago but doesn't UIUC out-place WUSTL there?

According to http://law.wustl.edu/career_services/index.asp?ID=459, they place in Chicago, DC, and NYC, and less than 1/3 stay in STL.

I'm wondering how much of that has changed in this economy though..

Great Satchmo wrote:I'm regretting not applying to SMU...if it wasn't going to flush my money down the drain, I'd apply late (they accept late apps). But I think it'd already be a slight reach (160/3.62, genuinely decent softs).

Blah.

Check out SMU's part time stats.