I agree with this for the most part. By no means is WS the safest city in the world, but I came from a small town with relatively little crime and feel perfectly safe here. In the admitted students thread, it looks like some sour-puss who transferred to Notre Dame really just wants to give the school and the city a bad (and mostly undeserved) reputation. Don't let that kid scare you away. In any city of this size, there will be some amount of crime, but you just have to take steps to protect yourself and your stuff.SteelyDan wrote:1. After reading the Wake Acceptances, Denials and Waitlists thread, I am concerned regarding safety in Winston-Salem. It seems as though there is an unusually high crime rate. I come from a town in Florida of similar population and I have definitely never felt unsafe. Are the Crowne Apartments/campus safe enough?
That's nonsense... I'm not sure how people who have just been accepted would know such things. W-S is very safe. The Crownes are gated, but like any apartment complex with a bunch of college students, there will inevitably be a few cars broken into and the like. As long you act with common sense, you won't have any problems.
2. How would you describe the culture of the law school? Political leanings, personalities, competitiveness, etc.
Politically all over the map. Coming from a super-Liberal undergrad institution, I was pleased to find some Conservatives to commiserate with. Competitiveness really isn't a problem, it's a small enough school that people generally get along.
3. How is the alumni network? Do they seem to be supportive of current students/recent grads?
Small-ish alumni network, but very dedicated and extremely helpful if you ask for anything.
4. What type of networking opportunities are available for students?
Tons. There's something going on practically every day, and most of them offer free pizza.
5. What are your most favorite and least favorite qualities of the school?
Most - small classes. It makes a huge difference to get all the personal attention you want from profs and TAs.
Least - Research and writing. The profs I have (and some, but not all of the others) really don't give a damn.
6. How does Career Services help students find jobs? Do they have any workshops, seminars, etc to help with the process?
They do what they can, but ultimately finding a job is your responsibility. They put a lot of opportunities in front of us, but the market being the way it is, there just aren't enough jobs to go around. If you put the legwork in, you won't have trouble finding a job, but you certainly can't expect CS to do it for you.
7. How hard is it participate in clinics? The DC program?
I'll defer to a 2L or 3L on that.
As for the writing professors, I don't think it's that they don't care; It's just that some are able to connect with students better than others. I've had four different writing professors for different classes and really liked all of them. However, I know that there are a couple who were universally disliked by every student I've ever heard from who had them. It's just one of those things where it's the luck of the draw for 1L, but you should be able to find someone you like for 2L and 3L.
Clinics are pretty easy to get into for the most part. There are enough of them that, even if you don't get into the particular one you want, you should be able to get into one of the others. Since you can begin taking most of the clinics during the fall of 2L (I think one requires you to be a spring-semester 2L, but I'm not sure which one), you shouldn't have too much trouble getting the one you want by the time you graduate. I'm not too familiar with the DC program (other than that most people who've gone seemed to enjoy it), so I'll leave that for others. For the most part, Dan is pretty spot-on though.
