3L in Midwest taking questions re: law schools & job market Forum

[lawschoofoo]

Stats: T2, top 2%, multiple CALI awards, Law Review, published, cited, NLJ250 summer position coming up, applied in MPL, CHI, and MKE job markets for 2L SA - multiple offers
Also interviewed for CoA clerkship, and have other interviews coming up for CoA and Fed Dist. Ct.

Also know a lot of people at other law schools in the area. If this is your wheelhouse, then fire away

[indriverseat]

I'm in the wheelhouse. How do you feel about Notre Dame getting me a job in the Midwest at a sizable firm?

[lawschoofoo]

I'm in the wheelhouse. How do you feel about Notre Dame getting me a job in the Midwest at a sizable firm?

For jobs within the midwest, ND will give you a pretty good shot. A lot of ND people were interviewing in MPL, MKE, and CHI. Very well respected in the area. Need to be top 25%, though

[table3]

Hey, thanks for doing this. You'll have to forgive me, I'm not familiar with all the acronyms. Correct me if I'm wrong:

MPL = Minneapolis
MKE = Milwaukee
CHI = Chicago

Also, I have the same question as indriverseat, but IUB instead of ND. Thoughts?

[romothesavior]

@ table and driverseat, check out the data on Law School Transparency, it is very good and should answer your questions. For ND, you'll need to be top 25% or so to have a good shot, and for IUB, you'll need to be 10-15% to have a good shot. Obviously some people strike out with grades in that range, and some people get biglaw with grades outside those ranges, but that's about the cutoff.

Both of you keep in mind that there are about 30-40 "biglaw" SA spots in Indianapolis every year (that's including most of the midlaw firms too). Those spots are divided up between IUB, IU-Indy, ND, UIUC, WUSTL, tOSU, a handful of T14, and maybe a couple of top 1-3%ers from Valpo. It's a small, brutal market.

[table3]

Thanks Romo. I've poured over the 2011 LST data. Trying to get some perspective on current trends.

[nouseforaname123]

Not the target audience, but you're a 3L with an upcoming "summer position"? This is not a permanent position, correct? Are you graduating this spring? Study for the bar?

[red8aron]

Which school is the best choice for me? I'm from Indy and would like to work in the Midwest. Indy would be great for me because it is close to my family.

IUI - full + stipend
IUB - just shy of full (I'm guessing since my GPA is below their 75th, they didn't give the full+)
WUSTL - 3/4 tuition
ND - 1/2 tuition
Vandy - about 1/3 tuition

Notes: I would like to grab a clerkship at graduation. I have connections with Partners at B&D in Indy, and SNR Denton in Kansas City, which may be my best bet at a good job. Though, I have a bit of a bleeding heart and would enjoy working for a non-profit that I believe in, or a Union (my family has a union tradition, plus from what I've seen, its a pretty good gig if you can get it)

[lawschoofoo]

Not the target audience, but you're a 3L with an upcoming "summer position"? This is not a permanent position, correct? Are you graduating this spring? Study for the bar?

I'm a part-timer, so my timeline is weird. I graduate at the end of the year. Hence, the summer associate position starting in June 2013 - no, not permanent, but should lead to an offer.

[romothesavior]

If you want Indy and are from Indy, IU-Indy for free by a landslide. Just make sure you're cool with no biglaw because odds are slim to none.

[lawschoofoo]

Which school is the best choice for me? I'm from Indy and would like to work in the Midwest. Indy would be great for me because it is close to my family.

IUI - full + stipend
IUB - just shy of full (I'm guessing since my GPA is below their 75th, they didn't give the full+)
WUSTL - 3/4 tuition
ND - 1/2 tuition
Vandy - about 1/3 tuition

Notes: I would like to grab a clerkship at graduation. I have connections with Partners at B&D in Indy, and SNR Denton in Kansas City, which may be my best bet at a good job. Though, I have a bit of a bleeding heart and would enjoy working for a non-profit that I believe in, or a Union (my family has a union tradition, plus from what I've seen, its a pretty good gig if you can get it)

If you want to clerk, I would take a look at this to help make a decision: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... -news.html
Rankings of schools landing clerkships.

If you already have connections, then I would go to school for free. And just be a big fish in a little pond, instead of vice versa.

[mb9113]

Anecdotally, what's your impression of the midwest market as a whole relative to other legal markets (provided you have sufficient exposure to make comparisons, of course)?

What about the prospects and reach for Iowa grads?

I realize that employment statstics could answer these questions, so in this post I'm mostly interested in hearing moods and perspectives.

[sinfiery]

What do you attribute to your being in the top 2% of your class?

[lawschoofoo]

Anecdotally, what's your impression of the midwest market as a whole relative to other legal markets (provided you have sufficient exposure to make comparisons, of course)?

What about the prospects and reach for Iowa grads?

I realize that employment statstics could answer these questions, so in this post I'm mostly interested in hearing moods and perspectives.

I believe the midwest market seems to be less volatile than the coasts. That being said, SA classes are shrinking just like everywhere else. If you are an Iowa grad, you have reach throughout the area because of the reputation of the school. However, the WI market is unique in that MU and UW have a pretty strong hold on the MKE/Madison job market.

[lawschoofoo]

What do you attribute to your being in the top 2% of your class?

To be quite honest, as a part-timer I was limited in the schools I could choose from, so I think I am just a big-ish fish in a small pond. I could have gone to a higher ranked school if I had applied elsewhere, but I stayed in the area because I already had a professional job. Also, I went to a top public in undergrad pre-med, so I was used to competition and rising to the occasion.

That being said, the key to doing well is not being lazy. That sounds trite and obvious, but for substantive classes I buy an extra book on the subject and read it as well. I like to always know more than I should. Law school isn't regurgitation for me, it is presenting an exam to a professor that shows them mastery of the material outside of the limited box they teach it in.

[jeffyl00b]

I was accepted to a mid-west school as a [PART TIMER STUDENT](don't know why I wrote undergrad, so sorry), but not the nice part of the midwest that I know(MN).
Does taking compressed classes that are once a week versus the typical twice a week or so feel more rushed or harder to get through? I've always noticed a difference between a 90 minute class and a 3 hour class.

Also, I assume you've had summer classes. How does being part time effect summer job prospects, interships, externships and such versus if you were full time? Does it hamper you versus if you were in the pool of all the full timers with a free summer, etc etc?

[lawschoofoo]

I was accepted to a mid-west school as an undergrad, but not the nice part of the midwest that I know(MN).
Do taking compressed classes that are once a week versus the typical twice a week or so feel more rushed or harder to get through? I've always noticed a difference between a 90 minute class and a 3 hour class.

Also, I assume you've had summer classes. How does being part time effect summer job prospects, interships, externships and such versus if you were full time? Does it hamper you versus if you were in the pool of all the full timers with a free summer, etc etc?

I don't think compressed classes really make much difference. It becomes a function of your attention span. But, having a single-day-a-week class frees up time to study for that class. And immersion in it for three hours has its benefits. That being said, my inattention often makes the 2nd half of the class tiresome.

Yes, I have had summer classes. Luckily for me, my employer has been very flexible with what times I can take classes, but more importantly, with allowing me to take a leave of absence to do a summer associate program. Does it hamper me - of course. But, it only hampers me to the extent that I am unwilling to shrug off the confines of the box I am supposedly in by attending part-time. I will say that I have seen no negative implications by attending part-time - and by that I mean I have not been excluded from consideration merely for that fact. One would think that future legal employers might see professional experience as a plus. To me, this has seemed to be a non-factor, for better or worse.