z Forum

[V811]

z

[jeremysen]

The median salary for about ~50% of the USC class (with 100% of the class reporting) who went into private practice for the class of 2010 was $160K (according to a pamphlet they handed out at preview day), which sounds like a solid shot at biglaw, whether or not they are NLJ 250 firms.

sounds like bull doogey. are you sure it's 100% of the class reporting salary figures? or 100% class reporting their location/sector/etc.

[V811]

Heres exactly what the employment data says for 97.6% of the class reporting

% of students in Law Firms - 61.7%
of the 61.7%:
25th = $60,000
Median = $160,000
75th = $160,000

Sounds pretty legit

[dood]

gw 2L here, i was interviewing with a big firm in LA last fall. a week after the CB i phoned the hiring partner, who i got along well with. he told me pretty bluntly: we're going to hire 2 SAs for our LA office, but due to our relationships with the area schools and their alums, we need to hire from them first. so basically: even though we want you because u are otherwise qualified and a cool dood - unless UCLA and USC fail us miserably, we cant offer you anything.

problem is a lot of firms are NY based and only have satellite offices in LA, which limits number of SA positions. what kind of law do u want to do, what firms/practice areas are u interested in? would u be ok with "settling" with big firm in DC? reason i ask is b/c one of my friends with big law eligible grades targeted only CA and failed but others (who were also big law eligible) that split their bids up between CA/NY/DC were ok.

also have u visited both schools? GW & DC is quite a different environmental from USC & LA.

[jeremysen]

Heres exactly what the employment data says for 97.6% of the class reporting

% of students in Law Firms - 61.7%
of the 61.7%:
25th = $60,000
Median = $160,000
75th = $160,000

Sounds pretty legit

hmm, it actually does sound legit. but this is odd because I heard from a USC student that about 30% gets biglaw...

Edit: and similar stories from 3 UCLA students

[justhockey31]

USC because it is where you want to be. If you really want to work in CA I don't see any reason going all the way across the country. It is not as if you are choosing between USC and a east coast t6. Easy choice of USC and have a great time! Being on the east coast and dealing with this miserable weather (snow?! seriously??? its freaking april!) so cal is sounding pretty promising to me.

[whuts4lunch]

Heres exactly what the employment data says for 97.6% of the class reporting

% of students in Law Firms - 61.7%
of the 61.7%:
25th = $60,000
Median = $160,000
75th = $160,000

Sounds pretty legit

hmm, it actually does sound legit. but this is odd because I heard from a USC student that about 30% gets biglaw...

Edit: and similar stories from 3 UCLA students

If half of the 61.7% of students in law firms work in Big Law, that means that roughly 30% of the students do Big Law

[Hannibal]

Heres exactly what the employment data says for 97.6% of the class reporting

% of students in Law Firms - 61.7%
of the 61.7%:
25th = $60,000
Median = $160,000
75th = $160,000

Sounds pretty legit

hmm, it actually does sound legit. but this is odd because I heard from a USC student that about 30% gets biglaw...

Edit: and similar stories from 3 UCLA students

I guarantee that the 97.6% only reported their employment, and the salary reporting was much smaller than that.

[V811]

gw 2L here, i was interviewing with a big firm in LA last fall. a week after the CB i phoned the hiring partner, who i got along well with. he told me pretty bluntly: we're going to hire 2 SAs for our LA office, but due to our relationships with the area schools and their alums, we need to hire from them first. so basically: even though we want you because u are otherwise qualified and a cool dood - unless UCLA and USC fail us miserably, we cant offer you anything.

problem is a lot of firms are NY based and only have satellite offices in LA, which limits number of SA positions. what kind of law do u want to do, what firms/practice areas are u interested in? would u be ok with "settling" with big firm in DC? reason i ask is b/c one of my friends with big law eligible grades targeted only CA and failed but others (who were also big law eligible) that split their bids up between CA/NY/DC were ok.

also have u visited both schools? GW & DC is quite a different environmental from USC & LA.

Thank you for the insight dood. I have not had the chance to visit GW because of work/cost, but I would be open to living in a new city for 3 years, and I only hear good things about DC. Your post is the genuinely good insight I was looking for.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what type of law but I guess something business/finance related, maybe tax, but definitely not IP.

I hear tax gives people the easiest best shot at guaranteed employment after IP...is this true?

]Thank you!

[dood]

Thank you for the insight dood. I have not had the chance to visit GW because of work/cost, but I would be open to living in a new city for 3 years, and I only hear good things about DC. Your post is the genuinely good insight I was looking for.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what type of law but I guess something business/finance related, maybe tax, but definitely not IP.

I hear tax gives people the easiest best shot at guaranteed employment after IP...is this true?

Thank you!

np at all. i lived in LA for 3 years prior to moving to DC; u wont miss the traffic thats for sure. but DC culture is different and not laid back as socal. i cant honestly tell u anything about tax - i was hoping u would answer IP so i could give u more info, lol.

i think the most important thing to remember is - do really well at either school and you'll be fine . . . but below median at either will be like a deathblow for big law. so IF u assume worst case scenario, having less debt from gw would be more attractive.