WashU Forum

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

I was offered an interview as well.
How good is WASHU with FLorida employment? Im on a T4 and so far just heard back from WASHU and American.

Im not sure I would want to live in St Louis but it looks like the school offers a lot of opportunities. I also have a full scholarship at my T4 but I wouldnt be able to do big law out of my school.

Advise!

[hoos89]

I doubt either is going to get you what you want. Pretty much don't go to a T4 unless you have guaranteed employment upon graduation. American is a total trap school, and I wouldn't go there with even a full ride in most circumstances. WUSTL doesn't place a ton of people in Florida. Part of that is probably self-selection, but it seems like a weird place to go if you want Florida, and regardless I wouldn't pay sticker to go there.

Correct answer for you is probably retake the LSAT and reapply next year.

[LET'S GET IT]

I'm assuming since this is a transfer thread, OP is already at the T4 so it's a little late for the retake advice.

OP, I'm a rising 2L here. I wouldn't transfer here at sticker with your goals. Wash U does not place well in Flordia. I think we literally have one Florida firm coming to OCI, so finding a job would be entirely on you. I think you'd be much better off going to Florida/Fla. St./Maimi, but those schools at sticker aren't a good place to be either. You are not in a great spot here tbh. I have heard wash u is offering fairly substantial scholarships to some transfers this year. I wouldn't consider coming here unless they offer you money, and you are fine not getting biglaw.

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks for the advice! I wouldnt transfer unless I get more than 50% and thats rare.

Hows the job market for federal agencies or gov jobs? That also interests me...

In addition, how is living in st louis? Would I need a car even if I lived close to campus?

Thanks a lot!

[hoos89]

I'm assuming since this is a transfer thread, OP is already at the T4 so it's a little late for the retake advice.

OP, I'm a rising 2L here. I wouldn't transfer here at sticker with your goals. Wash U does not place well in Flordia. I think we literally have one Florida firm coming to OCI, so finding a job would be entirely on you. I think you'd be much better off going to Florida/Fla. St./Maimi, but those schools at sticker aren't a good place to be either. You are not in a great spot here tbh. I have heard wash u is offering fairly substantial scholarships to some transfers this year. I wouldn't consider coming here unless they offer you money, and you are fine not getting biglaw.

Ah good call, misread the OP/forgot what forum this was in.

And yeah, OP pretty much this. From what I've been able to glean, transfers into WUSTL generally do not perform very well at all, and I wouldn't expect you to do better than average coming from a T4 unless maybe you are #1 in your class or something. Did you at least apply to Florida/FSU?

Thanks for the advice! I wouldnt transfer unless I get more than 50% and thats rare.

Hows the job market for federal agencies or gov jobs? That also interests me...

In addition, how is living in st louis? Would I need a car even if I lived close to campus?

Thanks a lot!

The job market for federal agencies is very tough. If you mean like state/local then I can't really tell you much.

[mint199]

Can confirm the scholly info, they offered me $30k guaranteed divided over the two years. I think last year they were offering $20K. Not accepting - transferring is about getting a job, and the tuition premium (even with the $$) doesn't appear to be justified at Wash U.

[hoos89]

Can confirm the scholly info, they offered me $30k guaranteed divided over the two years. I think last year they were offering $20K. Not accepting - transferring is about getting a job, and the tuition premium (even with the $$) doesn't appear to be justified at Wash U.

Yeah if you're going to transfer, you should go somewhere with a lottery.

[felinafelina]

If your goal is working in FL, you either need to be at a top school or at a Florida school (or have some really great connections). See if it's not too late for you to apply to transfer to UF/FSU/Miami law.

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks so much everyone!

I haven't applied to any FLA schools but would you guys change any FLA schools ranked on the 50+ for WASHU even though WashU is #18? I either want Miami or DC.

[Jmart082]

Thanks so much everyone!

I haven't applied to any FLA schools but would you guys change any FLA schools ranked on the 50+ for WASHU even though WashU is #18? I either want Miami or DC.

If you're set on Florida, then yes, ignore the rankings and go to FLA STATE, UF or Miami (that being the preferred order in terms of clout).

[lavarman84]

Thanks so much everyone!

I haven't applied to any FLA schools but would you guys change any FLA schools ranked on the 50+ for WASHU even though WashU is #18? I either want Miami or DC.

If you're set on Florida, then yes, ignore the rankings and go to FLA STATE, UF or Miami (that being the preferred order in terms of clout).

That list tends to depend on the outcome you seek. Florida State is better for government jobs while UF is better for biglaw. Although, Miami is going to be the best for biglaw in Miami.(that all said, biglaw in Miami is a tough nut to crack so I wouldn't go to Miami solely because that's what you're aiming for)

Of course, if you want to work in DC, none of these schools make much sense.

[Jmart082]

Thanks so much everyone!

I haven't applied to any FLA schools but would you guys change any FLA schools ranked on the 50+ for WASHU even though WashU is #18? I either want Miami or DC.

If you're set on Florida, then yes, ignore the rankings and go to FLA STATE, UF or Miami (that being the preferred order in terms of clout).

That list tends to depend on the outcome you seek. Florida State is better for government jobs while UF is better for biglaw. Although, Miami is going to be the best for biglaw in Miami.(that all said, biglaw in Miami is a tough nut to crack so I wouldn't go to Miami solely because that's what you're aiming for)

Of course, if you want to work in DC, none of these schools make much sense.

Yeah, I tend to agree. Miami is quite a challenge. Don't expect to work there unless you're fluent in Spanish, either.

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

[PourMeTea]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

[lowenjo]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

Just for clarification, no transfers get big law or no transfers get big law through OCI?

[Jmart082]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

Just for clarification, no transfers get big law or no transfers get big law through OCI?

Interesting. I wonder what transfers end up doing. Is there any info on this?

[LET'S GET IT]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

Just for clarification, no transfers get big law or no transfers get big law through OCI?

The thing is, transferring up is about getting more screeners. It's not about rank because you will still be judged by your grades at your old school. But since WashU has 100% pre-select, transferring here does not get you more screeners like it would at a NU, GULU, UChi, who have a lottery system. You aren't paying for the higher rank, you're paying for more screeners and access to screeners at better firms. That's why transferring doesn't normally make sense unless you are transferring to a T14.

Also, WashU places pretty poorly into DC, which is generally the toughest legal market in the country. Of course, some transfers will get biglaw, but it's an uphill battle to be sure.

[Jmart082]

Thanks!
How is washu with DC big law?

Also do any transfers get big law?

bad and no

Just for clarification, no transfers get big law or no transfers get big law through OCI?

The thing is, transferring up is about getting more screeners. It's not about rank because you will still be judged by your grades at your old school. But since WashU has 100% pre-select, transferring here does not get you more screeners like it would at a NU, GULU, UChi, who have a lottery system. You aren't paying for the higher rank, you're paying for more screeners and access to screeners at better firms. That's why transferring doesn't normally make sense unless you are transferring to a T14.

Also, WashU places pretty poorly into DC, which is generally the toughest legal market in the country. Of course, some transfers will get biglaw, but it's an uphill battle to be sure.

PREACH

[Johann]

I wouldn't leave significant money on the table to transfer up unless transferring up to a T14. But, if you are paying a lot of money at a shitty school, I don't know why you wouldn't transfer up the rankings at that point. If you are going into 100k+ of debt at some toilet, might as well make it 200k from WashU, because once you hit 100k, it's the same as 200k given loan programs and bimodal salary distribution.
All of this WUSTL people hate the school because they are leaving to go T14, but lets not pretend like WUSTL is not a significant upgrade from a Washburn or something.

[Jmart082]

I wouldn't leave significant money on the table to transfer up unless transferring up to a T14. But, if you are paying a lot of money at a shitty school, I don't know why you wouldn't transfer up the rankings at that point. If you are going into 100k+ of debt at some toilet, might as well make it 200k from WashU, because once you hit 100k, it's the same as 200k given loan programs and bimodal salary distribution.
All of this WUSTL people hate the school because they are leaving to go T14, but lets not pretend like WUSTL is not a significant upgrade from a Washburn or something.

True, but there are certain expectations that have been expressed here that need to be tempered realistically. By all means transfer if you're going to a toilet bowl with that much debt (at least WUSTL has a repayment program in place that you can use to offset the financial burden should you want to/have to do PI work). That being said, you're going to have your work cut out for you if you're biglaw or bust. That's especially the case when you're talking DC and FLA, which are notoriously difficult to land.

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks so much everyone. We will see what happens but seems like the school is also super generous with scholarships!

[Jmart082]

Thanks so much everyone. We will see what happens but seems like the school is also super generous with scholarships!

That they are. They're generally very good with those sorts of things, and will match competing offers, but then again, as a transfer it's very unlikely that any school will offer any money. I think it's very generous that they put money on the table at all.

[Wouldliketotransfer2]

Thanks so much everyone. We will see what happens but seems like the school is also super generous with scholarships!

That they are. They're generally very good with those sorts of things, and will match competing offers, but then again, as a transfer it's very unlikely that any school will offer any money. I think it's very generous that they put money on the table at all.

Very true! Not many schools offer money to transfers so the fact they're doing it its great. Thanks so much for all your help!