UW 1L taking questions Forum

[barrydukakis]

Whoa, quick correction on JCL's above post, I never get on TLS these days but this is important. It WAS easy to get in-state tuition through a waiver, however, that waiver program ended, effective for the incoming 1Ls. If you were counting on that, better talk to academic services quick, because I am 95% sure you will not be able to get in-state your 2nd, 3rd years.

[jcl2]

Whoa, quick correction on JCL's above post, I never get on TLS these days but this is important. It WAS easy to get in-state tuition through a waiver, however, that waiver program ended, effective for the incoming 1Ls. If you were counting on that, better talk to academic services quick, because I am 95% sure you will not be able to get in-state your 2nd, 3rd years.

You sure about that? The info is still the same on the website and I had not heard anything about a change.

[barrydukakis]

Not positive for the incoming class because of the suspension date, but if you're counting on this, I would strongly suggest contacting financial aid/uw law immediately to confirm. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... es18m.html

And it was suspended at the Regents meeting.

EDIT: I checked really quickly, it is in effect for the incoming class of 2014, last class to get it. Apologies for any confusion, it will NOT exist for the class of 2015/forward.

[DubP5]

Trying to revive this thread. If there are any current students out there, did any of you negotiate for aid? If so, who did you negotiate with and how (snail mail or email). I will be attending next fall.

Thanks!

[beautyistruth]

Do you know anybody considering/applying for/doing the 1L legal internship Microsoft offers? How about internships offered by the other tech companies in the area?

[cahwc12]

Do any UW students visit this forum?

The school seems intriguing, but the utter lack of aid offerings reported on LSN for the past several years is disheartening. Anyone know what's up?

[barrydukakis]

I'll bump this for anyone with questions. UW 3L. Working at Seattle firm post-graduation.

[beautyistruth]

How did you get that firm job? More specifically, what took place, whether smart planning, hard work, luck. etc. that made it possible for you to land that job and what advice would you pass along to incoming 1Ls?

[dproduct]

Hopefully a current student can elaborate on this, but I just checked in the ASW and looked at the scholarship situation. It took me to a separate application where I need to basically apply for various types of merit aid. But there also a section for current students where, it appears, they have to apply to continue their merit aid.

So does Washington not provide 3 year scholarships? Will I really have to sweat out each year and hope they continue to give me money?

[barrydukakis]

.

[dproduct]

TYFT Barry!

[beautyistruth]

I got into NYU. Assuming that neither UW nor NYU offers me a scholarship, would it make any sense whatsoever to choose UW over NYU on the basis of wanting to work for Seattle and UW offering a dramatically lower CoA?

My situation. If NYU, parents would unofficially cover the costs of law school, and I would pay them back. I get to avoid interest, which is no small thing at $200,000 worth of loans, but that's still $200,000 hanging over my head.

If UW, parents would still cover the costs of law school. I'd pay in-state (expecting increases, let's round up to $30,000 for $90,000). I'd stay at home and they'd generously offer free room and board. I'd keep my private tutoring students over the weekend for misc expenses (which brings in $200/week for 2 hours of work). I'm estimating probably 90 k to $100 k of unofficial debt.

Seattle is my first choice of market either way, but I'm obviously willing to work elsewhere. I would literally buy coffee on the Ave for any UW 3L who is willing to chime in on this.

[PDaddy]

I got into UW and chose Hastings despite their rankings. I find Seattle depressing and want to be in the Bay Area for schol and employment..hope I made the right decision.

You did, but only due to your desired employment.
UW is a better school.

[bellbane12]

So according to the UW Law website, the school doesn't really have a LRAP. It only accepts 3 people per year, which means I can't rely on that to help me pay back my loans.
Any thoughts from current students about this? How are you planning to pay back your loans? There seems to be a lot of PI oriented students at UW, so what are they gonna do?

[GM544]

So according to the UW Law website, the school doesn't really have a LRAP. It only accepts 3 people per year, which means I can't rely on that to help me pay back my loans.
Any thoughts from current students about this? How are you planning to pay back your loans? There seems to be a lot of PI oriented students at UW, so what are they gonna do?

I'm a 0L, but I recently visited and asked a current 3L this question. The answer I got was that he and others in his class had come in expecting to work PI but then changed their minds due to the job market. I understood him to mean that he changed his mind due to the ratio of debt to potential income, but I didn't ask him to clarify. I know that's second hand info, but I hope it helps a little.

I would also love to hear any additional responses on this from current students!

[bellbane12]

That's.....not very encouraging

[barrydukakis]

Can't really help with the PI stuff. But yes, a lot of students, a seemingly disproportionate number, seem to either come in to UW or at UW are focused on PI work. I will say, from the people I know, that it can be very difficult to get a PI job. Even with good grades and LR. And there are quite a few PI focused folks in the 3L class who aren't sure what they are doing yet (though quite a few are doing clerkships).

I will say that the 3L class seems to have done a really good job placing at prosecutor's offices, for people interested in that. You have to be pretty good in the court room, but there are opportunities to intern and rule 9 that seem to have a pretty good shot of landing something post graduation (there are at least five or six folks with these lined up already). Grades don't seem to be that big of a deal for those positions.

If you have anything more specific, I can try.

[bellbane12]

Thanks so much!

Do you happen to know about non profit organizations that employ UW grads? I should just email career services, but I was wondering if you knew anything anecdotally.

[barrydukakis]

Non-profit organizations.... I hesitate to even say anything, because it would be purely anecdotal. Seattle area non-profits, like the Gates Foundation, seem to require attorney experience before they take anyone. My guess is that most desirable non-profits would be similar. Regarding smaller non-profits, I have no idea, and want to say many of those positions would not even require a JD, though law students might end up in roles there. I want to say that "non-profits" do not make up a significant percentage of the post-graduation UW law employment statistics. Though again, I have almost no idea.

[bellbane12]

So besides private firms, what kind of positions do people have lined up so far?
Really appreciate you taking questions btw.

[barrydukakis]

Hmmm. http://www.law.washington.edu/Career/Em ... ry2012.pdf. Maybe, kind of helpful? I'm not sure what most people are doing outside of clerkships/firms/some PI stuff.

[simplycatalina]

UW is my dream school and I'm beyond happy that I just got in. But I'm just wondering--from your perspective, what are the 5 best and the 5 worst things about the school?? Thanks

[barrydukakis]

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[booksforxmas]

Current UW 3L taking questions.

[RLowry23]

Current UW 3L taking questions.

Same question anyone and everyone is going to ask you -

What are the job prospects for your class?

Also, do you generally find time to enjoy all that Seattle has to offer?