BU 1Ls & 2Ls Taking Questions Forum

[LSATNightmares]

What's the best guess for the percentage of students at BU that use/used tls?

A lot, but no one talks about it. People can also figure out your identity if you post too much info about yourself.

[thesandlot]

Can someone speak generally about job prospects and what it takes to land a biglaw job (class rank, journals, etc?) I am a native New Yorker, but BU just gave me some money which is making me re-think my options. How easy would it be for me to come back to New York if I want biglaw?

[LSATNightmares]

Can someone speak generally about job prospects and what it takes to land a biglaw job (class rank, journals, etc?) I am a native New Yorker, but BU just gave me some money which is making me re-think my options. How easy would it be for me to come back to New York if I want biglaw?

I speak only as a 1L. Generally, I think you have good prospects coming out of BU to work in New York (though it will certainly be easier working in Boston through BU). You have to be in the top 30% of your class to be offered a big law job. Getting on Law Review of course helps, and there's about a 9-10% chance you'll make it. We haven't had the competition yet, but if you're smart and very hardworking, you have a shot of getting on Law Review. But there are many people who get big law jobs without being on Law Review because of their great interviewing skills, prior work history, etc., so don't treat that as your only hope.

Now, I have heard that our Career Development Office, when it comes to OCI, informs students of opportunities to work for big law jobs in other major cities, including New York. The school definitely wants to maintain a national presence. There are many students in my class from New York, and I believe many of them will be heading back there. BU is close enough to NY for you to make that happen (it wouldn't be so difficult to go down there for interviews). Many of my classmates this year are heading down to NY for the summer to intern, so not everyone stays in Boston.

[Cupidity]

For Vault firms, it's probably about 20% placement, placement might go as high as 30% if you count non-vault firms, OCI has about a dozen or so midlaw firms from around New England who consistently hire at least one BU student.

My experience is that journals are strongly influential. I know people (me included) who were around top 10% who struck out OCI and weren't on journals. I also know several people that are on Law Review and secondary journals who landed BigLaw jobs with grades hovering around the 1/3 mark. Moral of the story, take your writing competition seriously.

[Blindmelon]

The Vault rankings are pretty worthless in New England btw - its more of a NY corporate thing. As for market paying jobs (anything from 145k-160k starting I consider market) its probably around 30% now from my anecdotal experience. Outside of that some people landed ADA positions, some clerkships, some federal government, some people will also graduate unemployed.

[Cupidity]

The Vault rankings are pretty worthless in New England btw - its more of a NY corporate thing. As for market paying jobs (anything from 145k-160k starting I consider market) its probably around 30% now from my anecdotal experience. Outside of that some people landed ADA positions, some clerkships, some federal government, some people will also graduate unemployed.

I don't know if I'd say 30% for that market, most of Boston midlaw pays 85k-120k, and I don't think you can get to 30% without including Boston Midlaw.

As for clerks, I think the number for last year was 7 or 8 including state and federal.

[Blindmelon]

The Vault rankings are pretty worthless in New England btw - its more of a NY corporate thing. As for market paying jobs (anything from 145k-160k starting I consider market) its probably around 30% now from my anecdotal experience. Outside of that some people landed ADA positions, some clerkships, some federal government, some people will also graduate unemployed.

I don't know if I'd say 30% for that market, most of Boston midlaw pays 85k-120k, and I don't think you can get to 30% without including Boston Midlaw.

As for clerks, I think the number for last year was 7 or 8 including state and federal.

Yea, the graduating class this year has 2 Circuit clerks, and at least 6 federal district. I haven't heard of any state, but I don't know everyone. It really does seem like 30%, and thats not counting the Boston midsized (many of whom do not hire straight out).

[Cupidity]

The Vault rankings are pretty worthless in New England btw - its more of a NY corporate thing. As for market paying jobs (anything from 145k-160k starting I consider market) its probably around 30% now from my anecdotal experience. Outside of that some people landed ADA positions, some clerkships, some federal government, some people will also graduate unemployed.

I don't know if I'd say 30% for that market, most of Boston midlaw pays 85k-120k, and I don't think you can get to 30% without including Boston Midlaw.

As for clerks, I think the number for last year was 7 or 8 including state and federal.

Yea, the graduating class this year has 2 Circuit clerks, and at least 6 federal district. I haven't heard of any state, but I don't know everyone. It really does seem like 30%, and thats not counting the Boston midsized (many of whom do not hire straight out).

OCI for 2Ls this year was pretty brutal.

[ThreeRivers]

So... Things don't appear to be getting better? 2011 numbers were scary

[TLS_noobie]

So... Things don't appear to be getting better? 2011 numbers were scary

Agreed, this was a pretty big drop in comparison to 2010. Granted that would have been 2009 OCI, but does it seem that since then it has gotten much better?

[cinephile]

If you're admitted students, you can access the JD central pages, right? Check out the info under Career Development, Recruiting, OCI. They have the stats from last year. Like for each firm 200 people bid, and 30 got interviews. Also, the off-campus interviewing wasn't that impressive, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected much.

[freaknroll]

Thats a big bummer if OCI hasn't picked up a bit. Any other students have information on this?

Yal are a big help, thanks for the info.

[Cupidity]

If you're admitted students, you can access the JD central pages, right? Check out the info under Career Development, Recruiting, OCI. They have the stats from last year. Like for each firm 200 people bid, and 30 got interviews. Also, the off-campus interviewing wasn't that impressive, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected much.

The interviews weren't the problem, it was offer yield. I know plenty of people who had 10-20 and even call backs who left without an offer.

I still think BU is a great investment if you've got 10-25k/yr scholarship, and the CDO does decent placement into state clerkships, midlaw, and government, but I don't know if it's a good idea to drop sticker with the expectation that top 1/3 grades will secure you a BigLaw job.

[Blindmelon]

So... Things don't appear to be getting better? 2011 numbers were scary

2011 was absolutely horrid - many people on LR graduated with no job. It is definitely a lot better now.

[LSATNightmares]

Also, extra info: they told us that there is a consortium that BU is a part of where they do OCI in a few major other cities, such as NYC or SF. I believe you actually interview with firms in those cities, kind of like how you would with OCI on campus. It's in mid August right before your 2L year. I imagine that could get you a 2L SA in NY.

[kaiser]

Also, extra info: they told us that there is a consortium that BU is a part of where they do OCI in a few major other cities, such as NYC or SF. I believe you actually interview with firms in those cities, kind of like how you would with OCI on campus. It's in mid August right before your 2L year. I imagine that could get you a 2L SA in NY.

Based on the limited anecdotal evidence I have, it sounds like the BU/BC joint NY job fair was not quite as strong as people would have liked. I only know of a few people in NY, but perhaps my circle of knowledge is limited.

[Blindmelon]

Also, extra info: they told us that there is a consortium that BU is a part of where they do OCI in a few major other cities, such as NYC or SF. I believe you actually interview with firms in those cities, kind of like how you would with OCI on campus. It's in mid August right before your 2L year. I imagine that could get you a 2L SA in NY.

Based on the limited anecdotal evidence I have, it sounds like the BU/BC joint NY job fair was not quite as strong as people would have liked. I only know of a few people in NY, but perhaps my circle of knowledge is limited.

Off of the top of my head, the current graduating class has people working at Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, Cleary, Paul Weiss, Shearman, Cadwalader, Allen & Overy, Weil, and White & Case. I'm sure theres others, but the NY fair tends to go pretty well unless for some weird reason the 2Ls are worse off now than the 3Ls were. I do know of a decent amount of people with NY SA offers that are 2Ls.

The other city recruiting fairs are pretty tough, but people do have success. I know a few people that got LA, Philly, DC and even San Fran offers. BU tends to do well in farther cities but typically don't place in the "premier" firms in those distant cities. For example, we have a few people working in DC at graduation, but none are at W+C/Cov/Wilmer/A+P.

[LSATNightmares]

Hmm, that's really interesting to hear (1L here). I had been hoping to go to SF after graduation, and I really don't want to stay in Boston long term. I had been secretly worried that I, as a BU student, wouldn't be able to compete as well given BU's lower brand name compared to Boalt, Stanford, or some of the other major schools in the eyes of people on the West Coast.

[freaknroll]

I posted this in another forum but I though it would be nice to get some input from current students.

With deadlines approaching and my desire to squeeze some more cash out of BU I'm wondering which schools I should choose to deposit at to give myself the best chance for successful negotiation. So far my offers are:

BU: 10K (need based)
Emory: 20K
W&L: 20K
Illinois: 22K
(all amounts per year)

I can only afford the BU deposit and one more on top of it. Also, I've already tried negotiating with BU and they basically said that they are unable to offer me more money at this time but may reconsider at a later date. Thoughts?

[LSATNightmares]

I posted this in another forum but I though it would be nice to get some input from current students.

With deadlines approaching and my desire to squeeze some more cash out of BU I'm wondering which schools I should choose to deposit at to give myself the best chance for successful negotiation. So far my offers are:

BU: 10K (need based)
Emory: 20K
W&L: 20K
Illinois: 22K
(all amounts per year)

I can only afford the BU deposit and one more on top of it. Also, I've already tried negotiating with BU and they basically said that they are unable to offer me more money at this time but may reconsider at a later date. Thoughts?

I don't know much about negotiating with those schools. I think that perhaps a better approach would be to think where you really want to go to school, taking into account how much money they give you, what the cost of living is, and where you end up wanting to practice law. BU might be stingy compared to the rest, and the cost of living here is certainly high, but BU -- in my personal opinion -- is the most prestigious of those listed and will give you a bigger boost in major cities on the East Coast. You can always try to minimize costs over time by becoming a research assistant, becoming a resident assistant in dorms, winning scholarships for summer jobs, getting summer associateships even after your 1L year, etc. I think $10,000 is worth those extra benefits from BU.

[helloworld725]

I submitted my first deposit, however I am really nervous about financial aid. I did not receive any scholarships and am about to send in some other offers in hopes of negotiation. I toured BU and absolutely loved it, but I don't know if it is worth 160k+ in loans.

My other highest school is W&M with a scholarship of only 8k, but COA is also considerably less there. Any advice regarding how to make extra money during time at BU or if you think it is worth sticker/I can pay off loans after graduation?

[elm84dr]

I submitted my first deposit, however I am really nervous about financial aid. I did not receive any scholarships and am about to send in some other offers in hopes of negotiation. I toured BU and absolutely loved it, but I don't know if it is worth 160k+ in loans.

My other highest school is W&M with a scholarship of only 8k, but COA is also considerably less there. Any advice regarding how to make extra money during time at BU or if you think it is worth sticker/I can pay off loans after graduation?

You should have withheld your deposit, called them and said you would deposit if they upped your schools to be comparable with Emory or W&M. You can still try to do that, but you don't have the deposit hanging over them.

[Cupidity]

Also, extra info: they told us that there is a consortium that BU is a part of where they do OCI in a few major other cities, such as NYC or SF. I believe you actually interview with firms in those cities, kind of like how you would with OCI on campus. It's in mid August right before your 2L year. I imagine that could get you a 2L SA in NY.

Based on the limited anecdotal evidence I have, it sounds like the BU/BC joint NY job fair was not quite as strong as people would have liked. I only know of a few people in NY, but perhaps my circle of knowledge is limited.

Actually, I got 2 call-backs out of that. There was one major problem though, our Consortium was after the OCI had completed at all of the NY schools. I scheduled my interviews the day I got the call-back, and I was forced to interview in late September, and in once case, mid-October. One of the associates at the second call-back told me straight up that the spots were filled, and I was essentially a "wait and see if anyone drops" interviewee.

The DC consortium was a bit of a joke, only 4 or 5 firms if I recall. Same for all of them except for NYC.

[Cupidity]

I submitted my first deposit, however I am really nervous about financial aid. I did not receive any scholarships and am about to send in some other offers in hopes of negotiation. I toured BU and absolutely loved it, but I don't know if it is worth 160k+ in loans.

My other highest school is W&M with a scholarship of only 8k, but COA is also considerably less there. Any advice regarding how to make extra money during time at BU or if you think it is worth sticker/I can pay off loans after graduation?

You should have withheld your deposit, called them and said you would deposit if they upped your schools to be comparable with Emory or W&M. You can still try to do that, but you don't have the deposit hanging over them.

I negotiated well after my first and second deposits.

[ThreeRivers]

I submitted my first deposit, however I am really nervous about financial aid. I did not receive any scholarships and am about to send in some other offers in hopes of negotiation. I toured BU and absolutely loved it, but I don't know if it is worth 160k+ in loans.

My other highest school is W&M with a scholarship of only 8k, but COA is also considerably less there. Any advice regarding how to make extra money during time at BU or if you think it is worth sticker/I can pay off loans after graduation?

You should have withheld your deposit, called them and said you would deposit if they upped your schools to be comparable with Emory or W&M. You can still try to do that, but you don't have the deposit hanging over them.

Idk.. I tried everything to get $$$ from BU... stating my 23 k scholarships at W&L / Minn. Got nothing