Practicing in CA with a Seattle University degree. Forum

[LearnedFeet]

I'm a student of Seattle University School of Law, class of 2012. I wanted to ask SU graduates, and those who practice in CA, about how far the SU degree reaches, and if it has any presence in CA. A professor assured me that a Seattle University degree would be "fine" anywhere on the west coast including CA, but the ranking of the school plus the sheer amount of competition in the state makes me skeptical.

I have a fairly big decision to make upon graduation -- whether to take the CA bar and try to make it there right away, or to work in Seattle a few years to establish myself first. If it helps decide things, I'm an average student at the 50th percentile.

Thanks in advance.

[BarbellDreams]

Without insane connections, extreme luck or at minimum top 20% I would say you don't have a very good chance.

[AnyRandChangedmylife]

I would think pretty good, as you only have to cross Oregon to get to California. And once you are past Oregon, you are in the Golden State. The west coast is pretty tight, you know.

I scratched your back, now you scratch mine: Do you know what it takes to transfer into SeattleU? Would a T4 student with a top 22% grade have a shot at SeattleU? It's one of my dream schools.

[LearnedFeet]

Without insane connections, extreme luck or at minimum top 20% I would say you don't have a very good chance.

Thanks for the honesty. That's what I was thinking as well.

[LearnedFeet]

I would think pretty good, as you only have to cross Oregon to get to California. And once you are past Oregon, you are in the Golden State. The west coast is pretty tight, you know.

I scratched your back, now you scratch mine: Do you know what it takes to transfer into SeattleU? Would a T4 student with a top 22% grade have a shot at SeattleU? It's one of my dream schools.

Sorry but I do not have the slightest idea about what it takes to transfer to SU.

[jarofsoup]

I think I tried to search for lawyers coming from Seattle U to CA when I was thinking about going there and found like 3 in SF on law.com or some sight like that.

I think either need to be in a national ranked school or a Cali school. I think GGU grads place better in cali than SU grads.

[ndirish2010]

Without insane connections, extreme luck or at minimum top 20% I would say you don't have a very good chance.

Top 20% is optimistic

[boalt2l]

There are people at my school (Boalt) and even Stanford on the job hunt who are median. When employers get a resume from Stanford, Boalt, Davis, LA Hastings SC, Loyola, and some other better law school who have the same or better grades than you at a much more prestigious school, how do you think its going to go?

I actually worked in a legal office with a recent Seattle-area law school grad... she was replacing the receptionist who was leaving the firm.

I would honestly say prob less than 20% chance of finding paid legal work, even in Seattle.