Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond Forum

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claytondelaney

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Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by claytondelaney » Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:24 pm

Hey folks! I've been accepted to and am trying to choose between UNC, Wake Forest, and Richmond. I've had no problem finding employment data and researching career paths, the cities themselves, and a lot of other helpful info. Obviously that information, plus the cost of the schools, is really important, but I'm curious for info on a smaller but still important factor.

I'm wondering if anyone who is going to any of the three or has graduated from there can comment on their day to day experience of the school. I went to a top-ten liberal arts college for undergrad and got used to the fact that everything there was geared toward making students comfortable and happy. There was little red tape to go through to get things done (add/drop classes, register into full classes, change housing/parking/meal plans and the like) and every single person - faculty and staff - was generally approachable and ready to help. I'm wondering if anyone with experience of these three law schools can comment on those types of things.

Thanks in advance!

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cavalier1138

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Re: Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by cavalier1138 » Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:57 pm

Ask admissions to put you in touch with current students. But I can save you a bit of investigative work:
claytondelaney wrote:I went to a top-ten liberal arts college for undergrad and got used to the fact that everything there was geared toward making students comfortable and happy.
Stop being used to that. No law school is geared towards making you comfortable and happy. That's not to say that you won't enjoy the experience. But law school is professional school. You're not going to a second undergrad.

claytondelaney

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Re: Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by claytondelaney » Fri Feb 08, 2019 10:01 am

Sure, I think "happy and comfortable" were not the best words I could have used there. I just meant that I knew that if I had a problem or question - academic, administrative, or personal - there were resources readily available to me and plenty of people more than willing to help if asked. Obviously there's some truth to that everywhere, but I also think different schools make it more or less difficult to access what you need.

I'm reaching out to the schools to put me in touch with students, for sure, but imagine that they'll be putting me in touch with people that are likely to give me the most positive version possible of any answer about that school. I'm hoping for a wider sample here.

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coramnonjudice

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Re: Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by coramnonjudice » Fri Feb 08, 2019 11:03 am

Wake is a great school, but it is located in Winston-Salem. Nothing wrong with the city itself, but WS is fairly small and from my experience and that of a lateral friend currently trying to move there, the work available is focused more on banking/corporate and competition is fierce since it's such a small market. I found that you have to work a bit harder to find jobs in other cities. If I had a do-over I may have tried going to school in a city with more diverse practice areas and a larger number of potential job prospects. Even if you don't want to end up in WS, my friends from schools in larger cities were able to get more internships/clerkships/SA positions because there were a larger number of spots, which helped job prospects later on. Just my personal anecdotal experience - ymmv.

claytondelaney

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Re: Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by claytondelaney » Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:41 pm

coramnonjudice wrote:Wake is a great school, but it is located in Winston-Salem. Nothing wrong with the city itself, but WS is fairly small and from my experience and that of a lateral friend currently trying to move there, the work available is focused more on banking/corporate and competition is fierce since it's such a small market. I found that you have to work a bit harder to find jobs in other cities. If I had a do-over I may have tried going to school in a city with more diverse practice areas and a larger number of potential job prospects. Even if you don't want to end up in WS, my friends from schools in larger cities were able to get more internships/clerkships/SA positions because there were a larger number of spots, which helped job prospects later on. Just my personal anecdotal experience - ymmv.
Thanks!!

phwf20

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Re: Day to Day Experience at UNC / Wake / Richmond

Post by phwf20 » Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:44 pm

claytondelaney wrote:Hey folks! I've been accepted to and am trying to choose between UNC, Wake Forest, and Richmond. I've had no problem finding employment data and researching career paths, the cities themselves, and a lot of other helpful info. Obviously that information, plus the cost of the schools, is really important, but I'm curious for info on a smaller but still important factor.

I'm wondering if anyone who is going to any of the three or has graduated from there can comment on their day to day experience of the school. I went to a top-ten liberal arts college for undergrad and got used to the fact that everything there was geared toward making students comfortable and happy. There was little red tape to go through to get things done (add/drop classes, register into full classes, change housing/parking/meal plans and the like) and every single person - faculty and staff - was generally approachable and ready to help. I'm wondering if anyone with experience of these three law schools can comment on those types of things.

Thanks in advance!
Current Wake student. The school is on Wake’s main campus so you feel as though you’re involved in the undergrad but in reality you’re not. The law school building itself is tiny, 3 hallways, 3 floors, one library in the middle. You absolutely will know every person in your class and potentially in the school. Good and bad comes from this, you definitely establish a sense of friendship easily, but law school is like middle school. There is a lot of drama and tough personalities and everyone will be in your business. But if you stay clear of that, you’re in a good spot. The school administration is relatively flexible and does a good job of making law school as bearable as possible. Being candid, if I could do it over again I wouldn’t choose wake. Not because of the school but because I’ve decided I do not want to stay in North Carolina , and while wake does place out of state decently, it is not a guarantee by any means. If you have anymore specifics you can PM me

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