WUSTL Recent Grad (and others) Taking Questions Forum

[Fiero85]

Should have gotten a B.S. so IP would have been on the table.

[fl0w]

Corporate you are basically on-call. You will have to drop everything and then not sleep for the course of a "deal" and then when it's done you go do bottles and models and rest for a few days.

Fuck that

Litigation ebbs and flows. When it's busy you can't breathe. When it's slow you have anxiety that you aren't going to be making your hours. But it balances out. Until something goes to trial. Then you are slammed so hard that you take a week off after the trial is over because you are useless by the time it's over.

fuck that too

Should have gotten a B.S. so IP would have been on the table.

To be clear, I am a patent litigator. The above also applies to me. The additional perk is that I'm required to rapidly learn about new technologies because I'm one of a handful of associates with a technical background enabling me to understand the subject matter. The best part is that the rapid learning is usually involved in making pitches to clients to win new work... which IS NOT BILLABLE.

[DoveBodyWash]

Corporate you are basically on-call. You will have to drop everything and then not sleep for the course of a "deal" and then when it's done you go do bottles and models and rest for a few days.

Fuck that

Litigation ebbs and flows. When it's busy you can't breathe. When it's slow you have anxiety that you aren't going to be making your hours. But it balances out. Until something goes to trial. Then you are slammed so hard that you take a week off after the trial is over because you are useless by the time it's over.

fuck that too

Should have gotten a B.S. so IP would have been on the table.

To be clear, I am a patent litigator. The above also applies to me. The additional perk is that I'm required to rapidly learn about new technologies because I'm one of a handful of associates with a technical background enabling me to understand the subject matter. The best part is that the rapid learning is usually involved in making pitches to clients for new work which IS NOT BILLABLE.

meeting law students for dem informational interviews isn't billable either right? I feel kinda bad every time i schedule a meeting with an associate.

[fl0w]

meeting law students for dem informational interviews isn't billable either right? I feel kinda bad every time i schedule a meeting with an associate.

it's not, but the lunch can be charged in for most cases. also associates do generally like to help law students trying to find their way. we remember what it felt like. Just remember that we are making that hour up later on in the night, haha. You don't have to feel bad, just appreciate the time they are giving you.

[nachosrgood]

1L GPA Cutoffs via Dean Walsh email:

As of 6/17/2014, the cumulative GPA percentile cut-offs for your class are as follows:

1% = 4.02
5% = 3.88
10% = 3.84
15% = 3.79
20% = 3.75
25% = 3.73
33 1/3% = 3.68

[Spikedude]

Here is the old one for reference:

1% = 4.00
5% = 3.91
10% = 3.84
15% = 3.80
20% = 3.76
25% = 3.74
33 1/3% = 3.69

[Fiero85]

^Pardon my 0Lness:

How does that translate from the 70-100 class grades? Are those still used?

Does a "4" equal a 93, 95, or what? Obviously not 100 because a few people have over 4.0, so i'm just a bit confused on what that cut off table means.

[DoveBodyWash]

^Pardon my 0Lness:

How does that translate from the 70-100 class grades? Are those still used?

Does a "4" equal a 93, 95, or what? Obviously not 100 because a few people have over 4.0, so i'm just a bit confused on what that cut off table means.

There's a conversion chart somewhere on the registrar's page...too lazy to look for it

our grading is out of 4.3

4.3= 100

Every 0.06 is equal to 1 point on the 100-scale. So 4.24 would be 99, 4.18 is 98, 4.12 is 97 etc..

[Fiero85]

^Pardon my 0Lness:

How does that translate from the 70-100 class grades? Are those still used?

Does a "4" equal a 93, 95, or what? Obviously not 100 because a few people have over 4.0, so i'm just a bit confused on what that cut off table means.

There's a conversion chart somewhere on the registrar's page...too lazy to look for it

our grading is out of 4.3

4.3= 100

Every 0.06 is equal to 1 point on the 100-scale. So 4.24 would be 99, 4.18 is 98, 4.12 is 97 etc..

Intresante. Gracias, bro.

And lol at our grade inflation compared to some schools

[DoveBodyWash]

^Pardon my 0Lness:

How does that translate from the 70-100 class grades? Are those still used?

Does a "4" equal a 93, 95, or what? Obviously not 100 because a few people have over 4.0, so i'm just a bit confused on what that cut off table means.

There's a conversion chart somewhere on the registrar's page...too lazy to look for it

our grading is out of 4.3

4.3= 100

Every 0.06 is equal to 1 point on the 100-scale. So 4.24 would be 99, 4.18 is 98, 4.12 is 97 etc..

Intresante. Gracias, bro.

And lol at our grade inflation compared to some schools

lol the best part is that CSO prohibits anyone from putting a GPA higher than 4.0 on our resumes. So everyone with 4.0+ can only say they have 4.0

And our registrar refuses to release the median cutoff because then people would have to disclose that they are below it. Protecting the below medians at the expense of the kids between median and top third. Grade inflation is how i know WashU cares about me

[chuckbass]

Still intimidating that we need at least a 3.7 to be "good"

[DoveBodyWash]

Still intimidating that we need at least a 3.7 to be "good"

hahaha the grade inflation is meant to help you if you miss it. Top third at other schools could be like a 3.4, if you miss that, you'd be mass mailing with like a 3.2

If you miss 3.7 at WashU, you could still have like a 3.6, which is more impressive on a resume when u mass mail.

There are some TTT's out there that curve to like a 2.XX..which is insane.

[sublime]

..

[hoos89]

Did they adjust for transfers again? I wonder how the top 1% went up, unless perhaps they decided to uncap it.

[DoveBodyWash]

Did they adjust for transfers again? I wonder how the top 1% went up, unless perhaps they decided to uncap it.

I dunno. They didn't tell any of us that we couldn't use the new cutoff if we requested dean's cert..maybe a prof submitted wrong grade or something

[hoos89]

Did they adjust for transfers again? I wonder how the top 1% went up, unless perhaps they decided to uncap it.

I dunno. They didn't tell any of us that we couldn't use the new cutoff if we requested dean's cert..maybe a prof submitted wrong grade or something

Weird. So did they just throw .03 worth of people into the top 5%? That's a pretty major change.

[goldeneye]

It's not like firms are hiring a ton (if any) new associates for those types of practice areas. I would be very careful about expressing interest in Trusts & Estates in an interview.

They in fact do not hire for those positions. What happens is you start as general corporate, get your ass handed to you for a couple of years, then you might be able to specialize if there is need in the group, or lateral into another firm who is hiring for that group.

Also litigation vs corporate are different lives. You get slammed in both but in different ways.
Corporate you are basically on-call. You will have to drop everything and then not sleep for the course of a "deal" and then when it's done you go do bottles and models and rest for a few days.

Litigation ebbs and flows. When it's busy you can't breathe. When it's slow you have anxiety that you aren't going to be making your hours. But it balances out. Until something goes to trial. Then you are slammed so hard that you take a week off after the trial is over because you are useless by the time it's over.

If you manage to get into a niche group like employee benefits or something then you work 9-5 and you bitch anytime you work past 7pm. I still don't understand how they maintain this lifestyle and hit their billables. They may have a different payscale and billable target... that's all that makes sense to me.

Or just end up at a firm without mandatory billable requirements

[Ricky-Bobby]

Or just end up at a firm without mandatory billable requirements

How do you tell the ones that have no billable hour requirements from that have "no billable hour requirements"? Chambers has a bunch of firms that don't list a minimum but the associates know they have to hit X number.

[sublime]

..

[Dredd_2017]

Or just end up at a firm without mandatory billable requirements

How do you tell the ones that have no billable hour requirements from that have "no billable hour requirements"? Chambers has a bunch of firms that don't list a minimum but the associates know they have to hit X number.

This is the exact question I had, and I feel it extends to all sorts of areas. Which firms do cold offers, which firms are actually congenial and which aren't, which firms have good benefits (Health insurance, any type of 401k matching, free gym memberships) etc.

Because firms tend not to broadcast any of this outside of possibly interviews (From the few times I've actually visited a firm page they've been extraordinarily uninformative) the only place to get intel is either rumor and speculation or associates you know who work there.

It's one of the reasons I'm stoked WUSTL has such an outsized TLS presence, should actually lend itself to real information down the road.

[DoveBodyWash]

Or just end up at a firm without mandatory billable requirements

How do you tell the ones that have no billable hour requirements from that have "no billable hour requirements"? Chambers has a bunch of firms that don't list a minimum but the associates know they have to hit X number.

There's probably not much difference...even if there's no official billable requirement there's an "understood requirement" to be bonus eligible.

There are firms that don't pay bonuses so the billable count is only used to bill the client, and doesn't really factor into the associate's pay.

[chuckbass]

Bill until you pass out, then repeat?

[WheatThins]

Cuse, any more movement imminent with cutoffs? Or is this it for good?

[DoveBodyWash]

Cuse, any more movement imminent with cutoffs? Or is this it for good?

they dodged the question when I asked and offered to schedule an appointment with me...dunno why they couldn't just tell me or not tell me via email.

[TatteredDignity]

Cuse, any more movement imminent with cutoffs? Or is this it for good?

they dodged the question when I asked and offered to schedule an appointment with me...dunno why they couldn't just tell me or not tell me via email.

Probably because they're tired of you insta-posting everything they give you electronically :-

But seriously, you'd be surprised by how much they lurk on this board and how easy it is to tell who people are.