Wisconsin c/o 2018 Applicants (2014-2015 Cycle) Forum

[fisheatbananas]

deleted

[sometime82]

Can we hear from those who live or visited Madison, their impression about the school? What was special? Class formality (if they attended any)

Anything else that can be helpful.

[Serett]

Can we hear from those who live or visited Madison, their impression about the school? What was special? Class formality (if they attended any)

Anything else that can be helpful.

There's not going to be anything that "special" about it. Culturally, it's going to be similar to most non-T14 but non-shit law schools, and especially to comparable law schools in the Midwest. It's the best law school in Wisconsin, while it's inadvisable for people looking to work elsewhere.

[krspencer2]

Has anyone had any movement on the waitlist yet? I know they said they would start notifying people by mid-June so just curious.

[A.Taarabt7]

Has anyone had any movement on the waitlist yet? I know they said they would start notifying people by mid-June so just curious.

just withdrew last week so hope you get in

Also, here are my thoughts about UW for the poster above. It's a pretty darn good school, not a T14 but if you want to be a lawyer you can for sure do it from this school. There are only two law schools in Wisconsin and UW is the best, so you can fairly easily(depends on your goals) get a job in the state of Wisc or nearby in Illinois,Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. You just have to ties or establish ties there. Although, Minnesota and Illinois may be easier due to location and the strong history of UW students working in these states.

[Serett]

Nonono. Please no one without ties pay out-of-state sticker to attend Wisconsin. Nowhere turning only ~60% of its class into full-time, long-term attorneys within 9 months of graduation, with nearly 20% outright underemployed, is worth that. Opportunity cost, opportunity cost, opportunity cost. Don't go anywhere if that's your situation and you have no better option.

[A.Taarabt7]

Nonono. Please no one without ties pay out-of-state sticker to attend Wisconsin. Nowhere turning only ~60% of its class into full-time, long-term attorneys within 9 months of graduation, with nearly 20% outright underemployed, is worth that. Opportunity cost, opportunity cost, opportunity cost. Don't go anywhere if that's your situation and you have no better option.

well for a good chunk of 0Ls there is no opportunity cost because they aren't working or if they are its a part time hourly position. E.G. the countless liberal art majors that take a year or two off to improve their score.

This is something I can talk about for days bro. Don't get me started. I'll blow your world apart.

It's all dependent on the individual. A lot of people also have their family helping out as well fyi. Whether its paying for books, rent, food, parking, whatever, it's common to have some help from parents. Even some people have their parents pay for everything. I know a lot of people here in California that have their parents pay for their schooling(Loyola Law School, UCLA, USC Law even - 57k/yr tuition alone)

If you think it's bad at UW, you should check out Marquette or a California Law School or a school in DC/NYC. SO when you're in a easy state that only has two schools I wouldn't complain. Come to my state and I'll show you the true definition of saturation and competition.

[Serett]

well for a good chunk of 0Ls there is no opportunity cost because they aren't working or if they are its a part time hourly position. E.G. the countless liberal art majors that take a year or two off to improve their score.

Uh, there's certainly still opportunity cost there. First, they could be putting their time and money into another career and/or educational path. Second, even if they're making only $20k/yr. for all three years, they'd still be up $180k over the course of law school relative to at least the 20% of UW law students under-employed (and in actuality, a substantially larger proportion of the class).

This is something I can talk about for days bro. Don't get me started. I'll blow your world apart.

It's all dependent on the individual. A lot of people also have their family helping out as well fyi. Whether its paying for books, rent, food, parking, whatever, it's common to have some help from parents. Even some people have their parents pay for everything. I know a lot of people here in California that have their parents pay for their schooling(Loyola Law School, UCLA, USC Law even - 57k/yr tuition alone)

Great, and they could also be investing that money, using it to jump-start a more certain career, or blow more of it on not sucking at the LSAT. Regardless, those people are aware that cost is no barrier to them; that doesn't excuse shitty blanket advice.

If you think it's bad at UW, you should check out Marquette or a California Law School or a school in DC/NYC. SO when you're in a easy state that only has two schools I wouldn't complain. Come to my state and I'll show you the true definition of saturation and competition.

That some situation is worse does not justify recommending another bad situation, at least if one's goal is actually giving good advice.

[A.Taarabt7]

Uh, there's certainly still opportunity cost there. First, they could be putting their time and money into another career and/or educational path. Second, even if they're making only $20k/yr. for all three years, they'd still be up $180k over the course of law school relative to at least the 20% of UW law students under-employed (and in actuality, a substantially larger proportion of the class).

well if someone wants to be a lawyer I don't think your advice is correct in this situation. For someone whose goal it is to be an attorney, switching to another career or education path is not the right choice provided that they want to be an attorney. Not sure what you mean by them making 20k per year. I said that for a good chunk of students they aren't working, they're just studying full time and then maybe working a part time job at a restaurant or elsewhere. At least this has been my experience through meeting people from 7sage, TLS, and other lsat study groups. They're just living at home with their parents and studying full time. Their is no opportunity cost if they choose to attend law school because that is what they theoretically wanted to do. They never had a job to begin with. There was no money being lost when they decided to enroll in law school. And plus I just said most people at least that I know get some assistance from family. So they shouldn't incur 180k in loans, just 120ish for out of state tuition assuming family helps. Again, it depends on the individual that choose to attend Wisconsin as an out of state student. Depends where they come from. The Stats from UW are a million times better than stats from certain schools in this country(Numerous California schools, numerous New York schools, numerous DC schools, and etc). I'd feel a lot safer at UW being in a state with only TWO schools where UW is the best, then at Pace law school or Brooklyn Law School or Loyola Law School and even certain schools in Florida. It really depends on the individual and their choices. Whether they choose to attend Wisconsin, Minnesota, or UIllinois at out of state sticker. Could be a lot better than the alternatives that I just listed even if you are getting merit aid. Much safer bet at Minnesota or Wisconsin then at Brooklyn Law School.

I'll clarify my statement since it wasn't obvious to you. If you're not getting any help from family and you don't have any savings, and you expect to incur 180k in nondischargeable federal loans, then yeah I would not suggest Wisconsin. I would suggest retaking the lsat and apply again or choosing a more affordable school. Once again, if you think students at Wisconsin have it hard in a state with only two law schools(where government/pi actually hires entrylevel), then you should come to my state where there is 20+ law schools and then numerous other law schools out of state feeding into California. Where there are a crap ton of recent graduates that have passed the hardest bar exam in the country and been sworn in that are working as a volunteer attorney at DA/PD offices and City Attorney offices. With the rest working doc review or working a part time position for some shitlaw solo.

The rest of your points I'll address later.