DeltPreLaw wrote:Current 1L here. Thought I'd throw some commentary into the mix. This site didn't have much on U of R when I applied.
I am an out of state resident (East Coast Still). I have managed to get a Summer Associate position back in my home state for the summer so the school has some reach. Top 10% though, so Im sure my luck would be different if I slacked off.
Biggest complaint is that the size of class makes it feel like high school. The cliques are miserable, but I think that is any school. Competitiveness isn't as bad as I thought though. Very few gunners and the majority of the class seems to do things on the weekends as the library is quite empty.
Richmond is a great city, although I won't say it is in the top 3 markets (not even close) there are many legal jobs in the area still because of the state legislature (in addition to state lobbying agencies), proximity to DC, and the 4th circuit being located in Richmond. Problem is you are competing with UVa grads and W&M grads. [Richmond places a good number at Hunton & Williams and Troutman Sanders in RVa.)
Career development office is above average compared to my friends who attend other higher ranked schools (I think this is tied to the small class size.) New Staff this year, with a new dean, and they have been hauling ass. They didn't help me much with OOS applications but if you want a job in Richmond they have the connections for you.
Faculty is amazing. I think that is the school's strongest selling point. If you told 0L me that I would have said "Who Cares" but they have been the best group of individuals I have met in higher education (both parents are college professors). I have had legal lions of their fields as professors and they act like my visit to their office is much more important than the Washington Post interviewer on the phone.
Cost of Attending isn't absurd. However, most people here are paying sticker or close to it. You can spend 1200 a month on housing or you can spend 250 it all depends on how you want to live. U of R is in what I like to call the "white bubble" of Richmond. Very safe, and very nice area to live. The school is basically surrounded by a bunch of private schools and country clubs.
As an out of state kid I can say that I feel like this is the UVa reject school. A lot of UVa grads that had mediocore GPAs and great LSATS come here. My section alone (55 kids) has around 20 UVa kids. That being said, there are people from all over still ( CA, TX, NY, NJ, MD, MA, UT, NC, GA, SC, couple of Canadians).
Oh and there is no diversity. My class is 90% white...The remaining 10% are either international students or have the same economic background as the remaining 90%. (That sounds insensitive, sorry.)
This is awesome thanks for the advice ! Unlike the posts purely to promote the school this is really objective and good info. The diversity part catches me by surprise though given that it's in a fairly large city hah
