Top Law Schools

So, I got into Washington & Lee the other day, and I was pretty stoked on it because it seems like a really interesting, totally different from my undergrad type school.

However, I noticed that their ranking has been dropping steadily for the last three or so years. What's up with that? Is this just a temporary slip? Is something larger going on? Not summoning enough good juju from Stonewall Jackson's grave these days?

Anyway, scholarship info won't come out for a few more months, so I'm not fully considering W&L yet, but if I do go there I want to make sure I'm not making a bad decision. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

NorCalBruin wrote:So, I got into Washington & Lee the other day, and I was pretty stoked on it because it seems like a really interesting, totally different from my undergrad type school.

However, I noticed that their ranking has been dropping steadily for the last three or so years. What's up with that? Is this just a temporary slip? Is something larger going on? Not summoning enough good juju from Stonewall Jackson's grave these days?

Anyway, scholarship info won't come out for a few more months, so I'm not fully considering W&L yet, but if I do go there I want to make sure I'm not making a bad decision. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

It might be more of a consequence of other schools upping their games than W&L doing something wrong. W&L still has a very solid rep and from everything I've seen and heard you'll get a good legal education. Job prospects seem to be pretty good too.

NorCal, Im in at W&L too. Do you know when we get our scholarship $s?

BlakcMajikc wrote:NorCal, Im in at W&L too. Do you know when we get our scholarship $s?

Scholarship information goes out in January. It was included in the admissions email, I believe.

Can you guys tell me how long did it take from your application being completed to accepted?

1 week for me.

W&L is a very good school, obviously does best in VA. But, look into W&L's third year program, I have heard that it has struggled and been somewhat of a flop

Can you share some details about the third year program ?

Story from the Washington Post about W&L 3rd Year
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... -education


Link from W&L website
http://law.wlu.edu/thirdyear

Press release from W&L
http://law.wlu.edu/news/storydetail.asp?id=614

Does anyone have any thoughts, anecdotal or otherwise, on how the 3rd year program is going so far? I don't really care if W&L moves up to 30 or drops to 36, but I do care how employers view this as opposed to a traditional third year curriculum.

I am curious about this as well. W&L is appealing to me for a variety of reasons, but I am a bit hesitant about the 3rd year idea.

WVUCelticFan wrote:I am curious about this as well. W&L is appealing to me for a variety of reasons, but I am a bit hesitant about the 3rd year idea.

Pros: the traditional third year is basically worthless, why not spend it gaining true-esque experience? And, no finals, which is killer. It can be a small soft when applying to firms.

Cons: Hours can sometimes be brutal (i.e. get a big assignment last minute on friday due monday, much like real practice). The scope of classes has also narrowed as a result (bigger problem for some). Going against the grain can sometimes be looked poorly upon (see Berkeley, and the shit they got for going gradeless, and they're a fucking t10 school). The program is also new, which means they're still working out the kinks.

Next year (c/o 2012) is also the first year everyone is REQUIRED to do the third year program. So many 3Ls this year, and last year opted out. So employment wise it's still hard to tell.

pokerlaw wrote:1 week for me.

So, does that mean I shouldn't be freaking out about getting a message saying that my decision would be rendered today, exactly 1 week after it went complete?

Nailjohnj wrote:

pokerlaw wrote:1 week for me.

So, does that mean I shouldn't be freaking out about getting a message saying that my decision would be rendered today, exactly 1 week after it went complete?

I wouldn't think so. W&L reviews and gives decisions quite regularly. Each batch seems to have admits, rejects and WLs, the quick time frame is not indicative of anything in particular. Good luck!

I applied two days ago with somewhat competitive numbers and got an email this morning saying I'd have a decision by 5:00 today. Wow

And the school is ballin' so I'm hoping they say yes!!!

I would worry more about what employers think about the school itself rather than its 3rd year program. Many won't have any inkling about the 3rd year program. Of course if you do not have classes on your transcript then yeah, they'll want some kind of explanation.