CaptAdams wrote:barrydukakis wrote:Current 2L. Anything in particular you are curious about?
I got in and am probably going. What's the school like? Neighborhood? Competition? Job scene?
Don't have a ton of time, atm, apologies for imperfect grammar/typos.
School: I really like UW to be honest. It's right in the heart of the Ave, which has all sorts of cheap food and dives to go for a beer or two. Yeah, it can be a little undergrad heavy, but you'll be with law students anyways. And to be honest, having undergrads around is kind of a stress reliever. The school itself is very nice. Library is great, classrooms are great. Very comfortable place to get work done. One ding here: your options for hanging out with other students at the law school itself are not that great... there's a small cafe and an occasional nook with a chair or two, but that's about it. I actually don't mind this: it's because UW Law really prides itself on serving the public, which means the library gets a pretty steady stream of underprivileged individuals... having a ton of comfortable easy to access seating would actually probably make it a little TOO appealing. And not to worry, there is plenty of student-only study space if you're worried about that. Faculty and administration are great. There's always going to be issues, but they are working to correct them.
Neighborhood: I think I touched on that above, but on the whole, it's great. You definitely have to be a little more careful around certain times in terms of being aware of your surroundings and what you say to people, because there's not only undergrads and undeprivileged, but also some sketchier types. Not at the law school itself, but definitely in surrounding streets. And yes, undergrads tend to be everywhere, but to be honest, if you move farther north in the U-District there's a much more relaxed vibe and quite a few people live within a 15-20 minute walk in that area.
Competition: I think this is what really sets UW Law apart. The competitive level is very relaxed compared to most schools. People collaborate, work together, grab beers/coffee, you name it. There's still a strict curve 1L year, but it's actually pegged at a much higher level than most schools, meaning a C is really exceptional and anything lower than a B is rare. Also, there is no class ranking until AFTER your 2L year, which is rare. This means an employer only sees your individual grades, and combined with the lenient curve, this is an overall good thing for you. It was so good for UW Law students, in fact, that Seattle U had to change their curve this year to mirror ours: outside of the rankings and placement, I think a lot of the students that should have been competitive from a class-rank perspective were losing out to UW Law students because of a lower GPA. I think part of it is the Seattle vibe, but the library is often empty, even at high-stress times. This means if you're willing to put in the work, there's a significant chance you'll do well in your classes, especially vis-a-vis gunner schools. Everyone is pretty friendly, the SBA is very active with social gatherings and the like. It's law school, so of course you'll be stressed, but I feel like less so at UW than other schools where some of my friends are.
Job Scene: Someone asked about going out of Seattle. First, not a ton do that... most want to stay in the PNW. That being said, people do leave and are pretty successful in doing so. Non LR people go to vault firms, if they have great grades. The lenient curve and lack of class rank helps with this, I think. XYZ firm in NY may not realize how great our curve is, treating a 3.7 here like a 3.7 from anywhere else, which is a good thing. But, for the record, you're probably better off at a school in the particular market you're looking at. Just realize that at UW you'll have a higher GPA than you otherwise would, class rank being equal, than at other schools. Not a bad thing.
One thing that surprised me a little is that Portland can be very hard to get to from UW. Conventional knowledge=UW dominates PNW. Truth, not so much Portland. You'll need significant ties to get into that market from UW, most likely. Looking at firm summers will support this: mostly from top of class at Lewis and Clark and Oregon with occasional UW and T14. I think this is partly because Portland's legal market is TINY.
Outside of that, you'll need, ballpark, top 10% for a interview with opportunity to land job at the biggest Seattle firms, and probably top 33% for smaller firms (Seattle has a very strong mid-law market, imho, which is really nice). Just realize there are only 16 true big law spots (Perkins, K&L, and Davis Wright Tremaine) total (plus satellites, if you count that, 10 more spots), and probably half total end up being UW Law students, couple Seattle U students, rest T14, or superstar at peer UW school. I do feel like there's a little bit more pressure from T14 graduates coming in to Seattle's banner firms. Incredible places to work, with great pay, in a beautiful location, with more of a focus on work/life balance, where you can live on Bainbridge in an incredible house and take the ferry to work every day for a 40 minute commute. Go figure. Plus, very healthy corporate side exit options: Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and more.
Other random thoughts/answers
UW has a pretty heavy focus on public interest and serving the global common good. This plays out in our scholarship programs (Gates PSL), courses, and graduation requirements. I'm doing firm work (barring a collapse this summer), but I enjoy the public service aspect. Because of this emphasis, I feel like a higher proportion of students than usual are pursuing public interest/not firm work, which helps curve/placement wise if you're interested in firm work: quite a few students self select out, guessing more than at peer schools.
Seattle has a great live music/artist/microbrew scene. If you're big into life outside of school, Capitol Hill is where to live. But, honestly, this my one recommendation: live close to school the first year, that should be your priority.
Several neighborhoods are great and have very reasonable commute times. Some people live way far out, as in Tacoma or across the Sound. So a few ferry commuters (UW is harder to get to from a ferry than the downtown firms), if you want to live someplace incredible... understanding it will take you a little longer to get to school.
Hopefully that touches on most everything. I'll try and check in to update if there's anything else.