U Washington 2L taking questions Forum

[WestCoastGuru]

All those seeking info or advice from a UW 2L is free to ask. I've got the week off for spring break and was wondering if anyone had any questions.

[predent/prelaw]

All those seeking info or advice from a UW 2L is free to ask. I've got the week off for spring break and was wondering if anyone had any questions.

What plans do you have for this summer. Have you heard anything about 3L hires? If you wanted to only practice in the NW if you had to do it over again would you go to UW or Top 13/14/15?

[apaint]

Thanks so much for answering questions!! I've been looking through the forums for a UW student I am deciding between two law schools but UW is my top choice. I will be visiting the first weekend of April so I am sure I will get a lot of my questions answered then but I do have a few about living in Seattle.

I have a dog and am a little worried about moving to Seattle with her so finding a place is probably going to be a challenge. Do law students typically live alone, roommates? What are some of the neighborhoods that are good to look into for housing? How much is parking at UW for law students?

Are you originally from the PNW?

[Cavalier]

Why do the NCAA refs hate UW?

[apaint]

Why do the NCAA refs hate UW?

+1

[predent/prelaw]

vagina

[jcl2]

I'm a current 1L at UW and would be happy to answer questions as well, though OP as a 2L is probably in a better position to answer some questions than I am.

[jcl2]

Thanks so much for answering questions!! I've been looking through the forums for a UW student I am deciding between two law schools but UW is my top choice. I will be visiting the first weekend of April so I am sure I will get a lot of my questions answered then but I do have a few about living in Seattle.

I have a dog and am a little worried about moving to Seattle with her so finding a place is probably going to be a challenge. Do law students typically live alone, roommates? What are some of the neighborhoods that are good to look into for housing? How much is parking at UW for law students?

Are you originally from the PNW?

I don't think you will have trouble finding a place where you can have a dog, lots of places allow dogs. I would suggest that you will have more options if you can look for places a little earlier in the summer, much more of a renters market in June and July than August and September (when every college student is looking for an apartment). As for living arrangements, there seems to be quite a bit of variety; some people live alone, some have roommates that are law students, some have roommates that are not law students.

Neighborhoods: the majority of law students I know live in the neighborhoods adjacent to the U District or in the U District, though quite a few live in the Capital Hill, and some live in neighborhoods a little farther away. Personally, I live in Wallingford, as do quite a few other law students, and I highly recommend it. Wallingford is just west of the U District and, depending on where in the neighborhood you are, it is a 15 to 30 minute walk or a 10-15 minute bike ride to the law building. It's very close to the U District but much nicer than the U District, which has relatively high crime, lots of homelessness, and lots of drunk college kids. It also has pretty easy access to downtown by bus, or to just about anywhere by bike via the Burk-Gillman trail. Ravenna is also a pretty good option, it is just north of the U District and has a lot of the same qualities I like about Wallingford. If you are looking for a little more of the hip big city lifestyle, Capital Hill is a good option; it isn't too far and there is really easy bus access to UW and the law building.

[WestCoastGuru]

All those seeking info or advice from a UW 2L is free to ask. I've got the week off for spring break and was wondering if anyone had any questions.

What plans do you have for this summer. Have you heard anything about 3L hires? If you wanted to only practice in the NW if you had to do it over again would you go to UW or Top 13/14/15?

Haven't heard anything about 3L hires really. I don't want to get too specific into what I will be doing this summer (it's a very small school), but I will be getting paid and I'm very excited and looking forward to it.

Last one is a tough question and I think the answer will be different for everyone. I had to make that decision and I decided to go with UW (it worked for me). For me it came down to the fact that I wanted to stay in the PNW and I would also be coming out with much much less debt than my other options. One thing you need to consider is that Seattle is a very small legal community and while UW is top dog in the area there is nothing that say that you will get 100K plus coming out. Keep in mind though that just because you go to a top-10 or so school does not guarantee you that either. There are just a limited number of those jobs here. My take is that UW is equal to those school here and gives you just as much of a fighting chance for the top jobs, just be aware that regardless of where you go there aren't many of those "biglaw" jobs in the city.

I would also not be afraid to give a shout out to the financial services department via e-mail if you have some type of financial aid offer from another top school. They are not going to go out there and match the offer you have out on the table as they don't have that much financial aid to give out, but I was able to get some financial assistance by telling them flat out that I wanted to go to UW but I had this great financial offer on the table from X and was wondering if there was anything that they could do. (P.S I was going to go to UW anyways)

[WestCoastGuru]

Thanks so much for answering questions!! I've been looking through the forums for a UW student I am deciding between two law schools but UW is my top choice. I will be visiting the first weekend of April so I am sure I will get a lot of my questions answered then but I do have a few about living in Seattle.

I have a dog and am a little worried about moving to Seattle with her so finding a place is probably going to be a challenge. Do law students typically live alone, roommates? What are some of the neighborhoods that are good to look into for housing? How much is parking at UW for law students?

Are you originally from the PNW?

I don't think you will have trouble finding a place where you can have a dog, lots of places allow dogs. I would suggest that you will have more options if you can look for places a little earlier in the summer, much more of a renters market in June and July than August and September (when every college student is looking for an apartment). As for living arrangements, there seems to be quite a bit of variety; some people live alone, some have roommates that are law students, some have roommates that are not law students.

Neighborhoods: the majority of law students I know live in the neighborhoods adjacent to the U District or in the U District, though quite a few live in the Capital Hill, and some live in neighborhoods a little farther away. Personally, I live in Wallingford, as do quite a few other law students, and I highly recommend it. Wallingford is just west of the U District and, depending on where in the neighborhood you are, it is a 15 to 30 minute walk or a 10-15 minute bike ride to the law building. It's very close to the U District but much nicer than the U District, which has relatively high crime, lots of homelessness, and lots of drunk college kids. It also has pretty easy access to downtown by bus, or to just about anywhere by bike via the Burk-Gillman trail. Ravenna is also a pretty good option, it is just north of the U District and has a lot of the same qualities I like about Wallingford. If you are looking for a little more of the hip big city lifestyle, Capital Hill is a good option; it isn't too far and there is really easy bus access to UW and the law building.

Agree about the dog, this is a very pet friendly city and there will be lots of places that will allow pets. Wallingford and Capitol Hill are two great options, but they are very very different neighborhoods.

Boo for parking, it costs a fortune. I think it's like 15-20 for a day. On the bright side, the public buses here are very user friendly and the UW has lots of bus access.

I did grow up in the PNW, I grew up in the area and have been in Seattle for the last seven years.

[goingforgold2]

I am wondering what the atmosphere is like among the law students. Do people help each other/share notes, or is it more of a competitive environment where everyone looks out for themselves? Also, what is the community like? Is it more of a commuter law school where people don't hang out outside of class, or more close-knit?

[deja]

All those seeking info or advice from a UW 2L is free to ask. I've got the week off for spring break and was wondering if anyone had any questions.

What are my chances of getting off the waitlist?

But really, though, similar to the previous question, is it hard to get involved in legal extra-curriculars? I know it's becoming increasingly important to not only have good grades, but to get good experience while in school. Is it tough to get involved with and gain useful experience prior to leaving school?

[WestCoastGuru]

I am wondering what the atmosphere is like among the law students. Do people help each other/share notes, or is it more of a competitive environment where everyone looks out for themselves? Also, what is the community like? Is it more of a commuter law school where people don't hang out outside of class, or more close-knit?

While people are serious about their academics, the school is really anti-competitive. I'm not one to miss class, but I know that if I did there would probably be at least three people who would send along their notes for the day without even asking. Also I feel like you would be forever black balled if someone found out that you were hding supplements or tearing out pages. That stuff just doesn't fly here.

I would say that the school is very close knit. I ended up very close to my section and we frequently did things together outside of class. For example, people often go to lunch together, there are great crowds for TGITs (Thank God its Thursday), and other form intramural sports teams etc.

[mat2013]

jcl2, how has your 1L been? How is the job market looking from your perspective? Are you happy with UW and law school in general? Big questions, I know. Thanks.

[MNHockey09]

How important is GPA compared to LSAT in the admission process? I noticed the median GPA for admitted students i currently 3.72, seemed very high to me and I don't think I will be near that mark, but I would love to go to UW