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Hey guys, I got into Wake Forest with a full ride late last week. I have family that will take care of COL since I graduated debt free from undergrad. I don't have ties to the area, but being without debt is my biggest deal. In theory, I don't have an issue living and practicing in the south.

How is WF for free? It is one of the three schools that I have a full ride to that I'm considering.

Also, if anyone goes there, I'll be visiting there soon. I couldn't find any threads about the school/area culture. Can someone give me an overview of how it is?

Thanks all.

Where are you from

What are your other options

I wouldn't go there without pre-existing ties to NC and a burning desire to work in a small firm in NC.

Without too much personal information, I'm from the northeast, about 45 mins from nyc. Most of my family is from the south (FL, some in NC) though.

Other options I'm seriously considering: full ride at Indiana-Bloomington, ~7k per year at W&M, ~12-15k at UNC.
I have multiple others, but not that I'm definitely looking into as seriously (like full at LSU/Baylor)

Goals are modest; I'm ok without big law. I prefer not owing any money.

Well since you will likely be doing small firm work from any of these school, pick whatever market you're most interested in

james.bungles wrote:Well since you will likely be doing small firm work from any of these school, pick whatever market you're most interested in

Agreed. Although, these are some pretty solidly parochial markets so lack of ties will likely hurt.

Why not any schools in the northeast, OP?

Maybe ask wake to put you in touch with some non NC native alums

Do you see the lack of ties as too problematic? I'm looking to leave the northeast. It's too cold, cost of living is too high, and my values and preferences do not align with the region.

My undergrad was in public policy/political and I've done internships at the legislature of my current state. I'd like to think I could use that as a fall back worst comes to worst.

..

So other than the opportunity cost, is there any clear reasons not to go to a decent T1 school if there is no cost to you?

sublime wrote:

craigdowney wrote:Do you see the lack of ties as too problematic? I'm looking to leave the northeast. It's too cold, cost of living is too high, and my values and preferences do not align with the region.

My undergrad was in public policy/political and I've done internships at the legislature of my current state. I'd like to think I could use that as a fall back worst comes to worst.

How important ties are will depend on the market. Some care, others not so much. NC apparently cares.

I go to school in TX, which is a state that supposedly isn't super ties conscious (especially in Houston). It gets brought up in firm interviews all the time and they obviously really care. From what I understand most places in the south are even more ties conscious.

I would expect NC firms to give you crap for being a fancy-pants New Englander. I think it will be a hurdle to overcome to some extent.

Southern markets are obsessed with ties (Charlotte is also a very popular market). Make sure that you take this into consideration as you choose your school. I have a classmate near top 10% who received very few interviews (really smart, sharp girl w/ a master degree from a school in our market, conventionally attractive, no obvious interview problems) and no CBs because of the lack of ties. She went to school up north and is from New England. It was a huge surprise because she loves it here and does not want to go back up north. Her family even migrated this way too prior to law school.

Likewise, another classmate from another Southern state struck out at OCI because his background was "too [state he is from]." I have countless similar stories, particularly the lower you go on the class rankings. I knew from TLS about ties, but I never realized how particular Southern firms are.

craigdowney wrote:Without too much personal information, I'm from the northeast, about 45 mins from nyc. Most of my family is from the south (FL, some in NC) though.

Other options I'm seriously considering: full ride at Indiana-Bloomington, ~7k per year at W&M, ~12-15k at UNC.
I have multiple others, but not that I'm definitely looking into as seriously (like full at LSU/Baylor)

Goals are modest; I'm ok without big law. I prefer not owing any money.

My daughter (from PA) WF 2011 grad works for the fed gov in DC. Her husband WF 2011 from VA works in an IP boutique in VA. 5 of her friends from her class also work in DC. (4 did the Metropolitan externship semester with her). The other one is doing contact work in a DC firm. One friend is in JAG in GA. He was from Michigan. Several work in big law in NC, one was from AZ, one from CA. Another friend returned to CA and works for a legal publication. One from DE works in construction law in Atlanta. A guy returned to WA. 2 work in TX. One returned to Syracuse and works in insurance defense. These are the ones I know about.