UC Hastings Students Taking Questions Forum

[Mick Haller]

What's going on at Hastings these days? I graduated 3 years ago and have not kept up. Heard rumors at work that they are trying to sell the school to UCSF or Santa Clara. Any truth to that?

Looked at the 08-09 admissions chart on LSN (my admissions year) and compared it to 14-15. Lulz. Apparently 3.5/153 is Hastings material these days. You'd have needed 10 more points 5 years ago. Are big firms even coming to Hastings OCI anymore?

[a male human]

What's going on at Hastings these days? I graduated 3 years ago and have not kept up. Heard rumors at work that they are trying to sell the school to UCSF or Santa Clara. Any truth to that?

Looked at the 08-09 admissions chart on LSN (my admissions year) and compared it to 14-15. Lulz. Apparently 3.5/153 is Hastings material these days. You'd have needed 10 more points 5 years ago. Are big firms even coming to Hastings OCI anymore?

I wanna die

[kapital98]

Looked at the 08-09 admissions chart on LSN (my admissions year) and compared it to 14-15. Lulz. Apparently 3.5/153 is Hastings material these days. You'd have needed 10 more points 5 years ago. Are big firms even coming to Hastings OCI anymore?

This makes me so happy I transferred.

[Mick Haller]

Oh and last time I checked the acceptance rate is now over 50%. I believe it was around 25% when I was applying.

Out of respect for what it once was, they need to close this school. This long, sad descent into ignominy devalues the efforts of those of us who worked hard to gain acceptance, and then to achieve good grades amongst a talented student body. Here's hoping Hastings' newfound taint doesn't attach to those of us in classes 2000-2013.

[A.Taarabt7]

.

[Mick Haller]

Taraabt I thought you were attending elsewhere?

You should join us in the Futbol thread.

[a male human]

I love how a Hastings 0Ls is trashing his own school already.

It reminds me of my undergrad orientation at UCLA in 2004. People were guffawing and giggling at orientation slideshows making fun of USC before we ever even saw a rivalry football game. Just because we identified as UCLA students.

Except this time, trashing Hastings is justified.

[a male human]

At least there's this:

This year, 746 UC Hastings alumni were named on the 2015 Northern California Super Lawyers and 2015 Northern California Rising Stars lists.

[meliketoparty]

UCH is the worst. I transferred, and every single day I am so glad I did. UCH really should close - it’s far too expensive and has few positive things to offer. I definitely do not miss the limited class offerings, the dysfunctional administration, its shitty buildings, its lack of a bookstore, the hyper-competitive 1L atmosphere because everyone is trying to abandon ship. . .

[a male human]

UCH is the worst. I transferred, and every single day I am so glad I did. UCH really should close - it’s far too expensive and has few positive things to offer. I definitely do not miss the limited class offerings, the dysfunctional administration, its shitty buildings, its lack of a bookstore, the hyper-competitive 1L atmosphere because everyone is trying to abandon ship. . .

I cannot think of a worse mistake that I've ever made in my life for the reasons you stated and other reasons including personal ones. Partly I blame myself and partly I blame TLS for misleading me as well. But at least it built ~character~ and taught me how to find a job without relying on my alma mater. Truthfully I hope talented students will join Hastings to salvage what's left of the school's reputation, for my own sake, but for prospective students, I hope these last few pages of the topic can convince them to stay away and go to Davis or something instead. Davis used to be on par in terms of rankings back in 2009.

[A.Taarabt7]

.

[a male human]

Are they literally letting in people with low 150s now.

I think his/her original point was that 1Ls try to abandon ship after they realize they want to go to better facilities, programs, etc.

[Mick Haller]

Are they literally letting in people with low 150s now.

I think his/her original point was that 1Ls try to abandon ship after they realize they want to go to better facilities, programs, etc.

check the law school numbers page for hastings. There's 2 people that got in this last cycle with 3.5/153. 160 used to be the minimum LSAT (with a high GPA) for a non-URM to have a chance. I remember thinking I was 50/50 with 3.9/162 back in 2009.

[JonTheMandamus]

Well it must be expensive running the school in the middle of SF. I think they would be more attractive to applicants if their schollys were in line with peer schools, but funds are understandably difficult to get.

[NorCalLaw]

What's going on at Hastings these days? I graduated 3 years ago and have not kept up. Heard rumors at work that they are trying to sell the school to UCSF or Santa Clara. Any truth to that?

Looked at the 08-09 admissions chart on LSN (my admissions year) and compared it to 14-15. Lulz. Apparently 3.5/153 is Hastings material these days. You'd have needed 10 more points 5 years ago. Are big firms even coming to Hastings OCI anymore?

They aren't selling the school, but they have been playing up partnerships with other institutions and such.

Talk is that they're going to ratchet up the curve difficulty shortly so they can fail out bad students and improve their bar pass rate. They started hiding grade distributions by class sometime last year (but failed; they're still accessible via the right search.)

OCI is basically for the top 10-20% of the class, everyone else has no shot at biglaw. OCI doesn't seem to be dying yet, still a lot of firms involved (as of a year or two ago).

LSAT average is way down due to lack of scholarship offers. However, the school seems to be making a lot more competitive offers this year. Might be anecdotal, but it's something. Probably way too late to staunch the bleeding.

Dean Wu is a huge embarrassment and his LinkedIn posts are a full two steps beyond parody. Of course they just renewed his contract (over a dissent by the student rep). He keeps hiring more tenured faculty for some reason, despite cutting the class size a few years back.

Most of my friends got jobs, but we might not be a representative sample. People outside the top half without some special niche are basically toast until proven otherwise.

The school is physically falling apart. They are constantly doing renovations, but the 198 building is down for the count. They are going to do some huge relocation thing, unsure of details. Elevators broken about half the time. Someone was recently trapped in one for hours. They have been firing a lot of the guards and bumping down their presence despite the prevalence of violence in the locality. They just threw out a ton of books from the library. I think they're going to rent the space out.

2015 grad.

[a male human]

Hastings is like a boot camp that teaches you to survive on your own. At the end you get a certificate saying you survived.

The upshot is that you become more resourceful. I graduated in the bottom 11% but got a job (with a pay above the class of 2013 median) through an unconventional approach. It was a niche, like you (NorCalLaw) said.

So if you're creative or have some kind of edge, you can make do. But if you plan to have one goal or are motivated by fear (e.g., biglaw or bust, procrastinating on the real world by going to law school, thinking you need credentials to survive, thinking a job is the only source of income...) + end up below median during your first year, I would not suggest continuing to attend Hastings.

If you choose to continue, here's where you can get support and help:
- classmates
- alumni
- professors you trust
- non-law people you trust (preferably high achievers who know how to study and get jobs)
- bar prep tutor or used material (like barbri outlines)
- commercial aids, outlines

Notice the career office is missing. It was OK when the alumni mentorship program was there (is it still gone?), but now it's literally the worst career office in the country.

[NorCalLaw]

The career office isn't something you should skip; just don't expect too much.

I think there is still an active mentorship program. I know people in the class of 2015 who participated.

Lots of connections/opportunities in the moot court and law review (HLJ) communities too, but they're quite competitive and tend to overlap with the high achievers anyway. The other journals don't seem to have much in the way of connections.

[a male human]

Are the Hastings Science and Tech Journal and Hastings Intellectual Property Association still active?

[a male human]

https://www.change.org/p/uc-hastings-co ... ansparency

[Mick Haller]

https://www.change.org/p/uc-hastings-co ... ansparency

The author of that petition must have been one of the mid-150s admits.

[NorCalLaw]

Are the Hastings Science and Tech Journal and Hastings Intellectual Property Association still active?

Looks like it. There were so many journals that it's tough to recall them all. HLJ, CLQ, Women's Law Journal, Race and Poverty, International, Business, and apparently Science and Technology.

Lots of people seemed to think that CLQ was the best option if you miss making HLJ. IMO, it's best to just pick whichever one is closest to your interests (if you can't get into HLJ,). CLQ people seemed pretty unhappy with it.

[a male human]

Are the Hastings Science and Tech Journal and Hastings Intellectual Property Association still active?

Looks like it. There were so many journals that it's tough to recall them all. HLJ, CLQ, Women's Law Journal, Race and Poverty, International, Business, and apparently Science and Technology.

Lots of people seemed to think that CLQ was the best option if you miss making HLJ. IMO, it's best to just pick whichever one is closest to your interests (if you can't get into HLJ,). CLQ people seemed pretty unhappy with it.

I agree. I got into CLQ and STLJ and had a hard time deciding. Went with STLJ and even held an executive position and it was seen as a positive when I applied to IP jobs.

[meliketoparty]

UCH is the worst. I transferred, and every single day I am so glad I did. UCH really should close - it’s far too expensive and has few positive things to offer. I definitely do not miss the limited class offerings, the dysfunctional administration, its shitty buildings, its lack of a bookstore, the hyper-competitive 1L atmosphere because everyone is trying to abandon ship. . .

I cannot think of a worse mistake that I've ever made in my life for the reasons you stated and other reasons including personal ones. Partly I blame myself and partly I blame TLS for misleading me as well. But at least it built ~character~ and taught me how to find a job without relying on my alma mater. Truthfully I hope talented students will join Hastings to salvage what's left of the school's reputation, for my own sake, but for prospective students, I hope these last few pages of the topic can convince them to stay away and go to Davis or something instead. Davis used to be on par in terms of rankings back in 2009.

You are really right about the character building. One of my friends remained at UCH, and he has nerves of iron now. I just wish the school had more to offer its students because there are some really great people there.

[Mick Haller]

Have any other alumni received multiple copies of the NALP salary survey from Dean Wu?

I entered my mid-six figure salary the first time I got the survey, and now I've gotten 2 or 3 follow up emails asking me to take the survey again. I figured it might lock me out from doing it multiple times, but it doesn't. I wonder if UCH is targeting certain respondents for multiple survey responses to inflate its performance.

[a male human]

Have any other alumni received multiple copies of the NALP salary survey from Dean Wu?

I entered my mid-six figure salary the first time I got the survey, and now I've gotten 2 or 3 follow up emails asking me to take the survey again. I figured it might lock me out from doing it multiple times, but it doesn't. I wonder if UCH is targeting certain respondents for multiple survey responses to inflate its performance.

I didn't get one at all. (Mid-six meaning like $400-600k or $100-200k)?