Iowa - thoughts? Forum

[Chriz]

It is not my first choice but I was recently accepted with a full scholarship. Is there any chance of getting back to Wisconsin after attending Iowa or are the job prospects mostly confined to Iowa? Initially this was the lowest school on my list but the full scholarship has definitely bumped it up and with it being my only acceptance so far I must consider it the frontrunner.

[sublime]

..

[Nova]

firm cutoffs will be about the same as they are for UW grads... but networking will be a bitch. Youll be far away + not part of the largest alum network.

Obviously, ignore USNWR and pick UW over Iowa, assuming you get in and the costs are similar.

If Iowa ends up being much cheaper, its a judgment call how much the networking disadvantage is worth to you.

[hawkeye10]

Don't know about placement in Wisconsin, but University of Iowa (both for law school and undergrad) has a large presence in Chicago. Talked with a rep at the LSAC Fair, and they said that it also places well in D.C. I would talk to career services about that issue, they are willing to talk/email prospective students if they have questions - and the university is pretty honest about stuff.

Iowa City's also great to be a student in.

[californiauser]

Don't know about placement in Wisconsin, but University of Iowa (both for law school and undergrad) has a large presence in Chicago. Talked with a rep at the LSAC Fair, and they said that it also places well in D.C. I would talk to career services about that issue, they are willing to talk/email prospective students if they have questions - and the university is pretty honest about stuff.

Iowa City's also great to be a student in.

[hawkeye10]

Don't know about placement in Wisconsin, but University of Iowa (both for law school and undergrad) has a large presence in Chicago. Talked with a rep at the LSAC Fair, and they said that it also places well in D.C. I would talk to career services about that issue, they are willing to talk/email prospective students if they have questions - and the university is pretty honest about stuff.

Iowa City's also great to be a student in.

Ok - it was a former alumni. The Chi-Town stuff I can confirm, since I went there for undergrad.

[sublime]

..

[sublime]

..

[hawkeye10]

Don't know about placement in Wisconsin, but University of Iowa (both for law school and undergrad) has a large presence in Chicago. Talked with a rep at the LSAC Fair, and they said that it also places well in D.C. I would talk to career services about that issue, they are willing to talk/email prospective students if they have questions - and the university is pretty honest about stuff.

Iowa City's also great to be a student in.

They seem to be full of shit, especially about DC - http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location

There is a poster here graduating this year, but I forgot his name, who usually pops in to provide his view. I would not call it rosy.

You certainly should NOT go to Iowa to get a job in Chicago, and especially not DC, or any other city.

Ok. Will concede DC, but the alumni presence in Chicago is massive.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Anecdotal evidence about job placement is absolutely worthless--people have no idea what they're talking about, and they are talking about data that's not representative bc its too small of a sample size.

Look at the jobs report for Iowa. The conventional wisdom is do not go to a non-T14 in a state where you don't want to stay. My experience (as a 2L at a non-T14) is that it is much harder to network/find jobs out of state. I can count on one hand the number of my classmates with summer positions out of state.

edit: it looks like at best a 7% chance of big law (no idea if that matters to you)

more importantly: about a 10% chance of illinois (probably the majority of this is chicago). Obviously some Iowa people aren't trying to get to Chicago or another major market, but even with that I wouldn't count on being able to make it to Chicago.

[deadpanic]

Don't know about placement in Wisconsin, but University of Iowa (both for law school and undergrad) has a large presence in Chicago. Talked with a rep at the LSAC Fair, and they said that it also places well in D.C. I would talk to career services about that issue, they are willing to talk/email prospective students if they have questions - and the university is pretty honest about stuff.

Iowa City's also great to be a student in.

They seem to be full of shit, especially about DC - http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... b=location

There is a poster here graduating this year, but I forgot his name, who usually pops in to provide his view. I would not call it rosy.

You certainly should NOT go to Iowa to get a job in Chicago, and especially not DC, or any other city.

Ok. Will concede DC, but the alumni presence in Chicago is massive.

It's probably not that more massive than any other Big 10 school (outside of Illinois, of course). The main way you can get to Chicago from Iowa is if you land a BigLaw job through OCI, i.e. you better be top 10%. About 7% of their class gets big firm jobs. Your odds are not very good.

Anyways, the bottom line is don't go to Iowa and expect to be employed anywhere but Iowa.

[Puffin]

T-5 for BIGFARM. But seriously,

Anecdotal evidence about job placement is absolutely worthless--people have no idea what they're talking about, and they are talking about data that's not representative bc its too small of a sample size.

Look at the jobs report for Iowa. The conventional wisdom is do not go to a non-T14 in a state where you don't want to stay. My experience (as a 2L at a non-T14) is that it is much harder to network/find jobs out of state. I can count on one hand the number of my classmates with summer positions out of state.

edit: it looks like at best a 7% chance of big law (no idea if that matters to you)

more importantly: about a 10% chance of illinois (probably the majority of this is chicago). Obviously some Iowa people aren't trying to get to Chicago or another major market, but even with that I wouldn't count on being able to make it to Chicago.

[HYSenberg]

Iowa girls are hot.

[sublime]

..

[HYSenberg]

Haha I lived there for a few years as a kid. I thought so.

[sublime]

..

[guinness1547]

.

[hawkeye10]

Haha I lived there for a few years as a kid. I thought so.

Word, I mean, I would imagine it would be about the same as almost any big college town, with a few more midwestern looking girls, but I really have no idea.

I heard it has a pretty awesome LGBT community though if anyone is into that.

My credibility is probably shot in this thread, but the LGBT community is great there.

[DportIA]

2L here.

Hard numbers, 25 2Ls have SAs that pay 6-figures or plus. There are 150 2Ls, so that is 16%. Markets: DC, SV, Chi, TX, Mil, MSP, Phoenix, KC, Pittsburgh, St. Louis.

(The Des Moines firms pay 80-90, with exception of 1 that pays 140).

[BigZuck]

2L here.

Hard numbers, 25 2Ls have SAs that pay 6-figures or plus. There are 150 2Ls, so that is 16%. Markets: DC, SV, Chi, TX, Mil, MSP, Phoenix, KC, Pittsburgh, St. Louis.

(The Des Moines firms pay 80-90, with exception of 1 that pays 140).

140 in Des Moines dollars has got to be, what? A billion in NY dollars?

I'm surprised BIG DES MOINES pays DES BIG MONIES

OP, don't go to Iowa unless you're from there and want to live and work there long term. Definitely try to use the scholarship as leverage in negotiations though if you can.

[Nova]

140 in Des Moines dollars has got to be, what? A billion in NY dollars?

I'm surprised BIG DES MOINES pays DES BIG MONIES

[Chriz]

2L here.

Hard numbers, 25 2Ls have SAs that pay 6-figures or plus. There are 150 2Ls, so that is 16%. Markets: DC, SV, Chi, TX, Mil, MSP, Phoenix, KC, Pittsburgh, St. Louis.

(The Des Moines firms pay 80-90, with exception of 1 that pays 140).

140 in Des Moines dollars has got to be, what? A billion in NY dollars?

I'm surprised BIG DES MOINES pays DES BIG MONIES

OP, don't go to Iowa unless you're from there and want to live and work there long term. Definitely try to use the scholarship as leverage in negotiations though if you can.

I really hope that I can. I am from Wisconsin and really want to go to UW with a full scholarship but I've heard they are a lot tighter with money than other schools. I definitely plan on mentioning it in scholarship negotiations though since Iowa and Wisconsin are pretty much peer schools.

[Nova]

Iowa and Wisconsin are pretty much peer schools.

[midnight_circus]

140 in Des Moines dollars has got to be, what? A billion in NY dollars?

I'm surprised BIG DES MOINES pays DES BIG MONIES

I like this.

[HYSenberg]

Iowa girls are hot. have low standards

When you live in the middle of nowhere, sex is just something you do .