University of Washington 2012 Forum

(housing, friendships, future exams, all things 2012)
BenjaminAlan

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:38 pm

HuskyLaw wrote:
BenjaminAlan wrote:
I am also making a choice between the UW and UIUC. I am living in seattle but both schools are great options for me. I have a 20K scholarship to UIUC per year, just fyi.

The point about summer employment is significant I think... My impression is that the chances of getting summer paid work would be better from UIUC (I could be wrong about this, but I THINK I heard someone from Illinois say that "most" of their students get paid work--however I dont remember if it was specifically asked about the 1L summer).

I know that is a vague recollection, but its also true that Seattle is one of the smaller legal markets and is very far away from the largest legal markets of NY, Chicago, and DC. UIUC being much closer and more intimate with one of hte largest legal markets in the country it would make sense (to me, from where I stand), that your chances of obtaining a paid summer position would be higher.

Thats just one of many things that could tip the scale. My decision seems to have come down to a litany of such pros/cons on either side. Its gonna be a tough one...
Honestly, I would suggest looking at things from a long-term rather than short-term perspective. This is just my opinion, obviously, but I think the issue of whether or not you are likely to get paid for 2.5 months in summer 2010 shouldn't cloud your judgment one way or another about the rest of your 40-year career. If you want to live and work in Chicago after you get your JD, it obviously makes more sense to go to UIUC. If you want to work in the PacNW, choosing UIUC because of the possibility of paid summer employment as a 1L doesn't really pass muster. And look at it this way too -- regardless of whether you're getting paid, what's really important are the networks you're forming withing the professional community, not your 1L summer paycheck or lack thereof. I turned down two (highly) paying jobs in my home state in favor of an unpaid federal judicial externship. Not because I didn't need the money (I do), but because in the long run, federal judicial experience opens more doors.

Seattle *is* a smaller market than Chicago or DC, obviously, but that can work in your favor as well. People know people, and if you're a halfway decent person, they'll be willing to pass your name along. And you have *no idea* how important backdoor-connections are. Like I said before, with the exception of my judicial externship, all of my other job offers (one with the Attorney General's office, one in oil & gas law, and another with a city attorney's office) came through back doors that were opened by my professional mentor, his contacts, or friends-of-friends of someone I met.

Also one thing worth taking into consideration is the prestige of the school in comparison to the other "feeder" schools in that particular legal market. UW is the top law school in the PacNW. That means that all other factors being equal, an employer is more likely to pick a UW student before they pick an equally-qualified, equally-personable student from Seattle, Lewis & Clark, U of O, or Gonzaga. UIUC will trump Loyola, John Marshal, Chicago-Kent, Depaul, NIU, SIU, etc., but you will still fall beneath students at the U of C, Michigan, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. Just something to keep in mind as well.

These are such tough decisions to make -- do you want a Lexus, Mercedes or BMW? Regardless, you're gonna be happy with what you wind up with!

Hope this was helpful!
Very Helpful! I like that you are non-traditional, you say, in your goals in that you are not seeking 6-figure job right out of school as your only measure of successor vs. failure and that you dont want to work more than 50 hours a week. This is me too. And actually this is one of the things that has drawn me the to UW. but I dont know if that makes any sense based on fact....

Basically Illinois has told me that the top 3rd of their class goes to BigLaw and they just released their employment stats from 2008 class which says that 43% of their graduates ended up either directly from law school or after a year clerkship, ending up in one of the top 250 biggest law firms. To me this is a great statistic. It impresses me, it encourages me, and it sells me. But then I step back and remind myself, "dude, you dont want one of those jobs anyway." Now as far as I know, as far as I have read or heard about such jobs, I really dont want one--same reasons you point out, its just not worth the cost. However, I have also been thinking about the fact that, if that many people get those jobs, and those are some of the most sought after, then surely being competitive for such jobs would make me more competitive for whatever job I may want. Now, maybe the UW is the same as this, I dont know. But since they haven't presented me with such numbers, and since the legal market is smaller and farther away from the highest concentration of those larger firms, and because of how much the UW talks about public interest, I have it in my head that a larger percentage of their students will be less concerned with seeking prestige, the cars you mentioned, and 6-figures, and more will just be open to living a "balanced" life. This could just be in my head I dont know. And, I'm not necessarily intersted in public interest, but I think I would be more interested in it than in biglaw, I'm with you though, working much more than 50 hours a week on a regular basis is not just a huge sacrifice for me, considering other life goals I have.

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:03 pm

I have been meaning to call the Financial Aid office for some time to inquire as to when I might hear about scholarship and other financial aid awards, but I have been at work, and haven't told my boss I will be leaving yet, so I just have not gotten a chance to. I did, however, email them on Monday, and I was informed that they would have award notifications out around the middle of the month.

Just thought that y'all might be interested in that info.

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:30 pm

BenjaminAlan wrote:
HuskyLaw wrote:
BenjaminAlan wrote:
I am also making a choice between the UW and UIUC. I am living in seattle but both schools are great options for me. I have a 20K scholarship to UIUC per year, just fyi.

The point about summer employment is significant I think... My impression is that the chances of getting summer paid work would be better from UIUC (I could be wrong about this, but I THINK I heard someone from Illinois say that "most" of their students get paid work--however I dont remember if it was specifically asked about the 1L summer).

I know that is a vague recollection, but its also true that Seattle is one of the smaller legal markets and is very far away from the largest legal markets of NY, Chicago, and DC. UIUC being much closer and more intimate with one of hte largest legal markets in the country it would make sense (to me, from where I stand), that your chances of obtaining a paid summer position would be higher.

Thats just one of many things that could tip the scale. My decision seems to have come down to a litany of such pros/cons on either side. Its gonna be a tough one...
Honestly, I would suggest looking at things from a long-term rather than short-term perspective. This is just my opinion, obviously, but I think the issue of whether or not you are likely to get paid for 2.5 months in summer 2010 shouldn't cloud your judgment one way or another about the rest of your 40-year career. If you want to live and work in Chicago after you get your JD, it obviously makes more sense to go to UIUC. If you want to work in the PacNW, choosing UIUC because of the possibility of paid summer employment as a 1L doesn't really pass muster. And look at it this way too -- regardless of whether you're getting paid, what's really important are the networks you're forming withing the professional community, not your 1L summer paycheck or lack thereof. I turned down two (highly) paying jobs in my home state in favor of an unpaid federal judicial externship. Not because I didn't need the money (I do), but because in the long run, federal judicial experience opens more doors.

Seattle *is* a smaller market than Chicago or DC, obviously, but that can work in your favor as well. People know people, and if you're a halfway decent person, they'll be willing to pass your name along. And you have *no idea* how important backdoor-connections are. Like I said before, with the exception of my judicial externship, all of my other job offers (one with the Attorney General's office, one in oil & gas law, and another with a city attorney's office) came through back doors that were opened by my professional mentor, his contacts, or friends-of-friends of someone I met.

Also one thing worth taking into consideration is the prestige of the school in comparison to the other "feeder" schools in that particular legal market. UW is the top law school in the PacNW. That means that all other factors being equal, an employer is more likely to pick a UW student before they pick an equally-qualified, equally-personable student from Seattle, Lewis & Clark, U of O, or Gonzaga. UIUC will trump Loyola, John Marshal, Chicago-Kent, Depaul, NIU, SIU, etc., but you will still fall beneath students at the U of C, Michigan, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. Just something to keep in mind as well.

These are such tough decisions to make -- do you want a Lexus, Mercedes or BMW? Regardless, you're gonna be happy with what you wind up with!

Hope this was helpful!
Very Helpful! I like that you are non-traditional, you say, in your goals in that you are not seeking 6-figure job right out of school as your only measure of successor vs. failure and that you dont want to work more than 50 hours a week. This is me too. And actually this is one of the things that has drawn me the to UW. but I dont know if that makes any sense based on fact....

Basically Illinois has told me that the top 3rd of their class goes to BigLaw and they just released their employment stats from 2008 class which says that 43% of their graduates ended up either directly from law school or after a year clerkship, ending up in one of the top 250 biggest law firms. To me this is a great statistic. It impresses me, it encourages me, and it sells me. But then I step back and remind myself, "dude, you dont want one of those jobs anyway." Now as far as I know, as far as I have read or heard about such jobs, I really dont want one--same reasons you point out, its just not worth the cost. However, I have also been thinking about the fact that, if that many people get those jobs, and those are some of the most sought after, then surely being competitive for such jobs would make me more competitive for whatever job I may want. Now, maybe the UW is the same as this, I dont know. But since they haven't presented me with such numbers, and since the legal market is smaller and farther away from the highest concentration of those larger firms, and because of how much the UW talks about public interest, I have it in my head that a larger percentage of their students will be less concerned with seeking prestige, the cars you mentioned, and 6-figures, and more will just be open to living a "balanced" life. This could just be in my head I dont know. And, I'm not necessarily intersted in public interest, but I think I would be more interested in it than in biglaw, I'm with you though, working much more than 50 hours a week on a regular basis is not just a huge sacrifice for me, considering other life goals I have.
Have you checked out UW's employment statistics, they are kind of hard to find, here is the link: http://www.law.washington.edu/Career/profiles.aspx.

The statistics are really comprehensive and they claim 100% reporting. The private sector (59% of the class) 25th % is 92,000 the median is 110,000 and the 75th % is 135,000, that is from 2007 when the market was much better, but it is still pretty reassuring. So, of the 105 graduates who found employment in the private sector, 76 of them made better than 92,000 their first year, that is not bad at all given that the Seattle market is a bit lower than the major legal markets; I,ll take those odds, 92,000 is almost three times what I make now. The Public sector salary range is, of course, much lower, but many of those people presumably took lower paying public sector jobs by choice and would have been able to find higher paying private sector work if they chose.

BenjaminAlan

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:45 pm

jcl2 wrote:
BenjaminAlan wrote:
HuskyLaw wrote:
BenjaminAlan wrote:
I am also making a choice between the UW and UIUC. I am living in seattle but both schools are great options for me. I have a 20K scholarship to UIUC per year, just fyi.

The point about summer employment is significant I think... My impression is that the chances of getting summer paid work would be better from UIUC (I could be wrong about this, but I THINK I heard someone from Illinois say that "most" of their students get paid work--however I dont remember if it was specifically asked about the 1L summer).

I know that is a vague recollection, but its also true that Seattle is one of the smaller legal markets and is very far away from the largest legal markets of NY, Chicago, and DC. UIUC being much closer and more intimate with one of hte largest legal markets in the country it would make sense (to me, from where I stand), that your chances of obtaining a paid summer position would be higher.

Thats just one of many things that could tip the scale. My decision seems to have come down to a litany of such pros/cons on either side. Its gonna be a tough one...
Honestly, I would suggest looking at things from a long-term rather than short-term perspective. This is just my opinion, obviously, but I think the issue of whether or not you are likely to get paid for 2.5 months in summer 2010 shouldn't cloud your judgment one way or another about the rest of your 40-year career. If you want to live and work in Chicago after you get your JD, it obviously makes more sense to go to UIUC. If you want to work in the PacNW, choosing UIUC because of the possibility of paid summer employment as a 1L doesn't really pass muster. And look at it this way too -- regardless of whether you're getting paid, what's really important are the networks you're forming withing the professional community, not your 1L summer paycheck or lack thereof. I turned down two (highly) paying jobs in my home state in favor of an unpaid federal judicial externship. Not because I didn't need the money (I do), but because in the long run, federal judicial experience opens more doors.

Seattle *is* a smaller market than Chicago or DC, obviously, but that can work in your favor as well. People know people, and if you're a halfway decent person, they'll be willing to pass your name along. And you have *no idea* how important backdoor-connections are. Like I said before, with the exception of my judicial externship, all of my other job offers (one with the Attorney General's office, one in oil & gas law, and another with a city attorney's office) came through back doors that were opened by my professional mentor, his contacts, or friends-of-friends of someone I met.

Also one thing worth taking into consideration is the prestige of the school in comparison to the other "feeder" schools in that particular legal market. UW is the top law school in the PacNW. That means that all other factors being equal, an employer is more likely to pick a UW student before they pick an equally-qualified, equally-personable student from Seattle, Lewis & Clark, U of O, or Gonzaga. UIUC will trump Loyola, John Marshal, Chicago-Kent, Depaul, NIU, SIU, etc., but you will still fall beneath students at the U of C, Michigan, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. Just something to keep in mind as well.

These are such tough decisions to make -- do you want a Lexus, Mercedes or BMW? Regardless, you're gonna be happy with what you wind up with!

Hope this was helpful!
Very Helpful! I like that you are non-traditional, you say, in your goals in that you are not seeking 6-figure job right out of school as your only measure of successor vs. failure and that you dont want to work more than 50 hours a week. This is me too. And actually this is one of the things that has drawn me the to UW. but I dont know if that makes any sense based on fact....

Basically Illinois has told me that the top 3rd of their class goes to BigLaw and they just released their employment stats from 2008 class which says that 43% of their graduates ended up either directly from law school or after a year clerkship, ending up in one of the top 250 biggest law firms. To me this is a great statistic. It impresses me, it encourages me, and it sells me. But then I step back and remind myself, "dude, you dont want one of those jobs anyway." Now as far as I know, as far as I have read or heard about such jobs, I really dont want one--same reasons you point out, its just not worth the cost. However, I have also been thinking about the fact that, if that many people get those jobs, and those are some of the most sought after, then surely being competitive for such jobs would make me more competitive for whatever job I may want. Now, maybe the UW is the same as this, I dont know. But since they haven't presented me with such numbers, and since the legal market is smaller and farther away from the highest concentration of those larger firms, and because of how much the UW talks about public interest, I have it in my head that a larger percentage of their students will be less concerned with seeking prestige, the cars you mentioned, and 6-figures, and more will just be open to living a "balanced" life. This could just be in my head I dont know. And, I'm not necessarily intersted in public interest, but I think I would be more interested in it than in biglaw, I'm with you though, working much more than 50 hours a week on a regular basis is not just a huge sacrifice for me, considering other life goals I have.
Have you checked out UW's employment statistics, they are kind of hard to find, here is the link: http://www.law.washington.edu/Career/profiles.aspx.

The statistics are really comprehensive and they claim 100% reporting. The private sector (59% of the class) 25th % is 92,000 the median is 110,000 and the 75th % is 135,000, that is from 2007 when the market was much better, but it is still pretty reassuring. So, of the 105 graduates who found employment in the private sector, 76 of them made better than 92,000 their first year, that is not bad at all given that the Seattle market is a bit lower than the major legal markets; I,ll take those odds, 92,000 is almost three times what I make now. The Public sector salary range is, of course, much lower, but many of those people presumably took lower paying public sector jobs by choice and would have been able to find higher paying private sector work if they chose.
Yea, thanks. That is reassuring, also FYI, I emailed UW the other day and asked them how many of their 2008 graduates were employed at the time of graduation and it was 89%. That too, was reassuring to me. If they have nearly all who get employed w/in 9 months thats one thing, but having the large majority of those employed at graduation---you haven't even passed the bar yet at that time---thats great to me.

I have "bugged them" a lot about scholarships. They just told me that if they aren't gonig to offer me any money I will not get notice of this. They want you to keep hoping that you will. Some schools will offer out more money than they have, knowing that some people will decline the offer. But I think UW only offers what htey have, then when someone reject an offer, then they re-offer that money to someone else down the line. So basically I was told that even into may you have a CHANCE of getting some money, and they wont really tell you what that chance is. However, if you haven't been offered any by now (I have not) then that means that you are not a first choice ( I am pretty certain of this but could be wrong) and that you will only get an offer if you are high on the list and if someone above you reject the offer. Its like a wait list for scholarships basically only they dont tell you any details about it.

thats just my sense of things, for what its worth.

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:16 pm

However, if you haven't been offered any by now (I have not) then that means that you are not a first choice ( I am pretty certain of this but could be wrong) and that you will only get an offer if you are high on the list and if someone above you reject the offer. Its like a wait list for scholarships basically only they dont tell you any details about it.
Are you sure that they have actually sent out award offers to anyone yet? It seems reasonable that they would have, but I have not heard of anyone actually getting an offer yet, and it seems that a few of us have been told that offers will be out in mid April. Who knows, the financial aid office does not seem to be great at communicating.

edit: fixed

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kalydscopeeyes

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by kalydscopeeyes » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:52 pm

HuskyLaw wrote: The issue of whether you could leave the state was contentious -- the requirement is to "maintain 12 consecutive months of legal residency" before you qualify for the waiver. As you'll learn in CivPro, legal residency is not the same thing as domicile, nor is it the same thing as physical presence. For a while, the policy was that you could work in any state except the one you came to the UW from. But they just relaxed the standard so that as long as you maintain legal residency in Washington (i.e. keep your drivers license, keep your stuff stored in WA while you're gone, don't register to vote elsewhere, etc.) you will qualify for the waiver. When I mentioned moving up in June if you could, that was in order for you to get your 12-consecutive-months-of-legal-residency clock ticking. If you move in August and take externship credits during your 1L summer, you will not have been here 12 months prior to the start of summer term, and will have to pay nonresident tuition during the summer. If you establish residency here before summer quarter 2009 starts, your 12-month-clock will run out before summer 2010 quarter, thus making you eligible. Make sense?

As far as summer legal employment goes, paid work in the legal field is hard to come by unless you land a "diversity fellowship" at the big firms, or you have prior connections. This is the case at almost all but the very top law schools. Because face it, you won't have much to offer in terms of legal experience, and you'll be jousting with ~500 other 1Ls applying for the same gig with the same skill set. That should change during your 2L summer -- you have a much better chance of getting a paying job then. But as a 1L, you will most likely not be getting paid if you want to gain legal experience. So the workaround for this is doing a "public service externship." Basically, during your nine quarters as a UW student, you can earn up to one full quarter's worth of credit doing an unpaid externship. This can be for a judge, a government office, prosecutor/PD, non-profit, etc. Then you have the opportunity to graduate in March 2012 instead of June 2012. You don't have to do this during your 1L summer, but many people do. Others save it and do an externship during the academic year.

The downside, obviously, is that you are paying tuition to work for free. The upside if you do it during your 1L summer is that you'll be paying for four quarter's worth of tuition at the 2009-10 rates rather than 3 quarters each year with annual tuition increases. You can get financial aid (i.e. more loans) over the summer to offset not being paid.

Of course, you don't *have* to do this -- you can do whatever you want during your summers. Most everyone you'll ask will recommend spending the summer gaining legal experience to add to your resume, though. And nothing's stopping you from working a weekend job or picking up some evening shifts. Or you could spend half the summer doing an externship (earning 6 credits), and the other half working, and then use the other 6 of your available externship credits doing something else during your 2L or 3L years. But if I had to wager a guess, I'd say that some 60-70% of the 1L class are using externship credits this summer, myself included.

Hope this helps!
Thanks again HuskyLaw, your post was helpful. I currently work for a lawyer helping him manage his practice/as a legal assistant. I could always work here, in Portland, if I couldn't find another paying job next summer, but your description of the externship actually makes it sound really appealing to me. I don't know if my current legal experience will formally qualify me as any more "experienced" than another 1L's during their first summer, or set me apart in any way, but I certainly know my experience here is very valuable to me, and it's not like I went straight from undergrad to law school and have no experience whatsoever.

Anyway, I guess my next step will be trying to determine the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for summer 2010. Is the summer quarter the same as the other quarters? I know during UG, summer quarter was cheaper to begin with, but who knows. I will have to weigh the costs between moving to WA in June, earlier than I expected and not being able to save money this summer, or moving in August and paying out of state tuition (potentially) next summer. Financially, I am not sure if I can swing a sooner than expected move to WA, times are tough these days ;/

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:10 pm

Are you sure that they have actually sent out award offers to anyone yet? [/quote]

Yes. Well, I think their exact words were "we have made some offers." I got the distinct impression that by now they have made most of their initial offers and that if you haven't gotten anything then your chance will come only if someone higher on the list turns them down. I could be wrong about this, but that quotation is basically verbatim.

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madootz

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by madootz » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:48 pm

Does anyone know if there are any upcoming admitted students activities? I am having trouble finding this info amongst all my law school-related paperwork/emails. Also, has anyone else visited and what were your impressions? Thanks!

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by kalydscopeeyes » Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:53 pm

madootz wrote: Does anyone know if there are any upcoming admitted students activities? I am having trouble finding this info amongst all my law school-related paperwork/emails. Also, has anyone else visited and what were your impressions? Thanks!
I'll be up for a 2 day SBA thing for admitted students this Fri/Sat..

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BenjaminAlan

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:43 pm

madootz wrote:Does anyone know if there are any upcoming admitted students activities? I am having trouble finding this info amongst all my law school-related paperwork/emails. Also, has anyone else visited and what were your impressions? Thanks!

My impressions..... faculty and students and building I really liked, found impressive. Other staff, administration, seemed to not be quite as on the ball as at other schools. not that they were bad or anything like that, but just to say I could be critical of that aspect but not of faculty, students and building. for example, they mentioned several times they were hurting for money--I felt that was honest, but needed to only be said once. they seemed to not be completely forthright about future funding for certain programs with their current students.....seemed strange to me.

very relaxed atmosphere in and out of the classroom. surprisingly laid back in the classroom. awesome building, great architecture, comfortable, sweet technology.

and, of course, the large UW campus is excellent. the students seemed very friendly although I didn't talk to that many of them. the school as a whole seemed like it was used to having visitors come and go, prospective students, people from the community, students outside the law school, etc. so they were very naturally welcoming.

they mentioned several times they were hurting for money--I felt that was honest, but needed to only be said once.

they seem to be a unique school in many ways. most of those ways I think are really positive.

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by thea77 » Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:14 pm

This thread has the most thoughtful and substantive discussions! So refreshing (and encouraging) compared to much of TLS.

A note on state residency. I am WA born and raised, left for college, returned the minute I graduated, and in May will have been living in Seattle for two continuous years. I vote here and I have a WA drivers license, and they still categorized me as non-resident! Back in February I submitted documentation to prove I am a resident, but now the residency office says they won't even get to my paperwork until summer, which puts me in a pretty uncomfortable position when it comes to choosing a school.

Just a word of warning for those trying to get resident status.

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madootz

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by madootz » Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:50 pm

BenjaminAlan wrote:
madootz wrote:Does anyone know if there are any upcoming admitted students activities? I am having trouble finding this info amongst all my law school-related paperwork/emails. Also, has anyone else visited and what were your impressions? Thanks!

My impressions..... faculty and students and building I really liked, found impressive. Other staff, administration, seemed to not be quite as on the ball as at other schools. not that they were bad or anything like that, but just to say I could be critical of that aspect but not of faculty, students and building. for example, they mentioned several times they were hurting for money--I felt that was honest, but needed to only be said once. they seemed to not be completely forthright about future funding for certain programs with their current students.....seemed strange to me.

very relaxed atmosphere in and out of the classroom. surprisingly laid back in the classroom. awesome building, great architecture, comfortable, sweet technology.

and, of course, the large UW campus is excellent. the students seemed very friendly although I didn't talk to that many of them. the school as a whole seemed like it was used to having visitors come and go, prospective students, people from the community, students outside the law school, etc. so they were very naturally welcoming.

they mentioned several times they were hurting for money--I felt that was honest, but needed to only be said once.

they seem to be a unique school in many ways. most of those ways I think are really positive.
Thanks for your response. The admissions people talked A LOT about the "budget crisis" with me too - even in response to questions of mine that didn't reference money. I was prepared to love UW (my whole life is in Seattle) but I had a terrible first impression. I will be attending the SBA events this weekend (if I can locate my info!) and really work on changing my mind. On a positive note, I loved the building, and my student ambassador has been super helpful. Most alum I have spoken with have had positive overall experiences. Hopefully my visit was an anomaly!

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:40 pm

thea77 wrote:This thread has the most thoughtful and substantive discussions! So refreshing (and encouraging) compared to much of TLS.

A note on state residency. I am WA born and raised, left for college, returned the minute I graduated, and in May will have been living in Seattle for two continuous years. I vote here and I have a WA drivers license, and they still categorized me as non-resident! Back in February I submitted documentation to prove I am a resident, but now the residency office says they won't even get to my paperwork until summer, which puts me in a pretty uncomfortable position when it comes to choosing a school.

Just a word of warning for those trying to get resident status.
Gulp. The only thing that is different for me is that I will have been here for 3 consecutive years in may. I hope thats not why you are designated as non-resident? Surely you could try and look into the statutes or whatever on what the requirements are and I would think you would be able to pin SOMEONE down and be like "if I meet xyz criteria, can I trust I will get in-state?" and then rely on that? but I agree, thats not where you want to be.

My assessment of UW is that its perhaps more bureaucratic than a lot of schools, state schools included. My hope is that if you get past this, its a great school.

Good luck!

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tvaddicted

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by tvaddicted » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:55 am

Just visited the school and fell in love with it. Heavily leaning towards UW now.

natelaw

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by natelaw » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:39 am

I will also be attending the admitted students day this weekend (Only the Saturday Events).

Got a hilarious email today about the event. There is a mock class on Saturday morning. They emailed out a 8 page case to read in prep for the mock class! Only in law school do you have to prep for an admitted students day. I bet the prof will do the whole Socratic method and all.

Looking forward to the event, all of us TLSers should say hello to each other. My real name is Nathan. See you there

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by kalydscopeeyes » Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:52 am

natelaw wrote:Got a hilarious email today about the event. There is a mock class on Saturday morning. They emailed out a 8 page case to read in prep for the mock class! Only in law school do you have to prep for an admitted students day. I bet the prof will do the whole Socratic method and all.
Hahaha I know. I wish I got the email sooner, I am heading up Thursday (tomorrow) night right after work so I have to try to find time to read it on the way up or something?? My name is Linda, I'll be there both days!

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:01 pm

I'll be there both days. My name is Jeremy.

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newcritic

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by newcritic » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:18 am

Anybody hear anything regarding financial aid?

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by BenjaminAlan » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:27 pm

newcritic wrote:Anybody hear anything regarding financial aid?
No....

wanderingpie

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by wanderingpie » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:29 pm

I spoke to Financial Aid this morning and offers are going out today and tomorrow. I called regarding some other paperwork, and the FinAid admin told me the offers were going into the mail. I mentioned that I was going to be at the admitted students events and wouldn't be getting to my mailbox until next week, and he told me my package numbers right over the phone.

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:19 pm

wanderingpie wrote:I spoke to Financial Aid this morning and offers are going out today and tomorrow. I called regarding some other paperwork, and the FinAid admin told me the offers were going into the mail. I mentioned that I was going to be at the admitted students events and wouldn't be getting to my mailbox until next week, and he told me my package numbers right over the phone.
Thanks. That is good to know. I'm tempted to call and ask them now, but maybe I'll wait till I get home Saturday night.

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by rwong11 » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:02 pm

I'm freaking out a bit. I was accepted only a couple weeks ago and was so preocupied with planning my visit this last weekend that I didn't realize my scholarship application was due tomorrow, April 17. Anyone know if this is a hard deadline? My application is done --- I can fax it or email it, but I'm worried they'll be unyielding on the rules.

And I know this has been discussed a bit, but how much in scholarships does UW typically offer? I get the sense it's not much, so hopefully I'm not screwing myself over by blowing the deadline...

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by newcritic » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:19 am

wanderingpie wrote:I spoke to Financial Aid this morning and offers are going out today and tomorrow. I called regarding some other paperwork, and the FinAid admin told me the offers were going into the mail. I mentioned that I was going to be at the admitted students events and wouldn't be getting to my mailbox until next week, and he told me my package numbers right over the phone.
Great, so now I get return to obsessively checking my mail everyday at lunch.

On another note, anyone happy/surprised/saddened by UW staying at #30 in the rankings?

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jcl2

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by jcl2 » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:27 am

newcritic wrote:
wanderingpie wrote:I spoke to Financial Aid this morning and offers are going out today and tomorrow. I called regarding some other paperwork, and the FinAid admin told me the offers were going into the mail. I mentioned that I was going to be at the admitted students events and wouldn't be getting to my mailbox until next week, and he told me my package numbers right over the phone.
Great, so now I get return to obsessively checking my mail everyday at lunch.

On another note, anyone happy/surprised/saddened by UW staying at #30 in the rankings?
Call them, apparently they are giving out info over the phone.

I'm glad UW didn't fall in the rankings, hopefully someday they will get back to the T25, which is where they were a decade ago, but it seems like the last few years have been pretty stable right around 30.

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Re: University of Washington 2012

Post by newcritic » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:32 am

jcl2 wrote:
newcritic wrote:
wanderingpie wrote:I spoke to Financial Aid this morning and offers are going out today and tomorrow. I called regarding some other paperwork, and the FinAid admin told me the offers were going into the mail. I mentioned that I was going to be at the admitted students events and wouldn't be getting to my mailbox until next week, and he told me my package numbers right over the phone.
Great, so now I get return to obsessively checking my mail everyday at lunch.

On another note, anyone happy/surprised/saddened by UW staying at #30 in the rankings?
Call them, apparently they are giving out info over the phone.

I'm glad UW didn't fall in the rankings, hopefully someday they will get back to the T25, which is where they were a decade ago, but it seems like the last few years have been pretty stable right around 30.
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