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In review as of 11/16..dun dun dunnnnnn!

i'm " Pending LSDAS report"

"CAS Report" received on 10/15

No way? I submitted my app on Oct. 19 and am already in review....i can't remember if it went to complete before it went to "in review" though...

gokickrocks wrote:"CAS Report" received on 10/15

Did anyone happen to receive a phone call from them?

Nope. Did they call you? If so, mind me asking what they called about?

Yeah, I got a call. I'm not sure what it was about thought since they called my house while I was at school. I'm gonna give them a call back today and check. I'm not sure if it was a mistake or not, since they didn't leave a message. But if it's anything interesting I'll update.

Update: It turned out not to be anything interesting or note-worthy.

I'm currently at Southwestern and I love it. Had a tough time deciding between Loyola at sticker and SWL with $$, but I don't regret my decision at all.

Anyway, if you have any questions that I could answer, feel free...at least, until I get swamped by finals in a couple weeks.

Awesome!
If, by chance, you are interested in entertainment law could you tell me how southwestern compares to Loyola in terms of job placement in the field?

Does the school offer scholarships to current students who meet a certain, set class rank or criteria? (i.e top 10% gets a $10,000 scholly) or something of the sort?

Thank you!

lalalawya wrote:Awesome!
If, by chance, you are interested in entertainment law could you tell me how southwestern compares to Loyola in terms of job placement in the field?

Does the school offer scholarships to current students who meet a certain, set class rank or criteria? (i.e top 10% gets a $10,000 scholly) or something of the sort?

Thank you!

Southwestern has a fantastic entertainment law externship program. My hunch is that it certainly rivals Loyola, but I don't have any data off hand to support the hunch. I'd email them for the specifics: externoffice@swlaw.edu and/or look at this:

http://www.swlaw.edu/academics/extern/generalinfo

http://www.swlaw.edu/academics/extern/externresources


As for job placement AFTER graduation, the conventional wisdom is that Entertainment Law is a very, very difficult field to break into. Again, just spitballing here, but my hunch is that the higher ranked the school, the better your odds of placement. But for specific information on Soutwestern's Entertainment Law program, go here:

http://www.swlaw.edu/academics/entertainmentlaw and/or email them at institute@swlaw.edu


As for scholarships for current students, there are many writing competitions I see advertised on campus, generally in the range of $1,000 to $2,000.

But in terms of something more substantial, this is what they awarded last year, on top of whatever scholarship people already had going in (up to full tuition)

1%: Full tuition
2-5%: $22,500
6-10%: $18,000
11-15%: $12,500
16-20%: $9,000
20-30%: $4,500

chango wrote:I'm currently at Southwestern and I love it. Had a tough time deciding between Loyola at sticker and SWL with $$, but I don't regret my decision at all.

Anyway, if you have any questions that I could answer, feel free...at least, until I get swamped by finals in a couple weeks.

How's the overall feel of the student body? Is everyone looking out for themselves or are students willing to help each other out?

Also, with the other law schools in LA, how do Southwestern students feel about job prospects upon graduation?

gokickrocks wrote:

chango wrote:I'm currently at Southwestern and I love it. Had a tough time deciding between Loyola at sticker and SWL with $$, but I don't regret my decision at all.

Anyway, if you have any questions that I could answer, feel free...at least, until I get swamped by finals in a couple weeks.

How's the overall feel of the student body? Is everyone looking out for themselves or are students willing to help each other out?

Also, with the other law schools in LA, how do Southwestern students feel about job prospects upon graduation?

I have friends at UCLA, USC and Loyola and I can safely say that there's lots more camaraderie among Southwestern students than at the other LA schools. Part of the advantage of being at a Third Tier school, I imagine. The desire to compete is there, of course, but it's not the pressure cooker environment that's part and parcel of a top tier school.

How do we feel about our job prospects? Probably better than the higher ranked schools, because we (should) know that we really don't have a realistic shot at big law. Sure, there are some misguided folks who think they'll land the 160K job right out of school. But for the most part, SWL students realize that we'll be lucky to land a 60-80K government or public interest job, and we're fine with that.

Given that, should you take sticker at SWL? No. There's very little chance that you'll land a job that will warrant your debt load. But if you're looking at a half ride at SWL vs. sticker at Loyola or Pepperdine, then I think the cost/benefit analysis would indicate that you should take the half ride at SWL.

If you want biglaw but can only get into SWL, retake the LSAT and aim for UCLA or USC, otherwise I think SWL is a great choice.

"CAS report has been recieved" 12/1 how long did it take to go in review for anyone else with that status?

I went into review like a week after that status, stayed in review for two weeks, got pulled out of it a few days ago, now I'm back at CAS received...

MrMisiu wrote:I went into review like a week after that status, stayed in review for two weeks, got pulled out of it a few days ago, now I'm back at CAS received...

I was at CAS Received, went into review today.

in review as of today! anyone hear back yet?

In review as well. If last year is a good indication, we should hear of some decisions by the end of this week or next week.

adonai wrote:In review as well. If last year is a good indication, we should hear of some decisions by the end of this week or next week.

o_O that soon?! yikes!

I'm sure there's other threads about this, but I have to ask....even if you pull a half ride to Southwestern...how does everyone plan to pay the cost of living out there?

I wouldn't mind going third-tier at all to a California school where I'd be plenty comfortable starting a career, I just don't know how I'd pay rent while in school. (already in 40k undergrad debt).

meh3884 wrote:I'm sure there's other threads about this, but I have to ask....even if you pull a half ride to Southwestern...how does everyone plan to pay the cost of living out there?

I wouldn't mind going third-tier at all to a California school where I'd be plenty comfortable starting a career, I just don't know how I'd pay rent while in school. (already in 40k undergrad debt).

Loans also cover estimated cost of living. LA rent has gotten significantly cheaper compared to other places like Santa Clara where a run down studio would easily run you over 1k per month. Some of the new apartment buildings around Koreatown go for about $800 for a nice studio. It would be cheaper if you were willing to compromise quality and/or live with a roommate. Living anywhere in California is just plain expensive so I wouldn't expect cheap living costs, especially in LA.

You are going to have to take out another 24k to cover rent and living expenses.
I live in LA and split a 2 bedroom for 1600 in west la which is a safe area. U can
Definitely find a decent place to share with someone for 700-800
Or get a nice studio for 1000. I think LA is a decent priced major city.

meh3884 wrote:I'm sure there's other threads about this, but I have to ask....even if you pull a half ride to Southwestern...how does everyone plan to pay the cost of living out there?

I wouldn't mind going third-tier at all to a California school where I'd be plenty comfortable starting a career, I just don't know how I'd pay rent while in school. (already in 40k undergrad debt).

Finally in review! Hopefully some good news will follow, I'd love to go back to LA for school.

Anyone have any luck getting a fee waiver from Southwestern? I gave them a call and she just said they give out LSAC fee waivers, otherwise the admissions director takes 5-7 days to respond to email requests.

meh3884 wrote:Anyone have any luck getting a fee waiver from Southwestern? I gave them a call and she just said they give out LSAC fee waivers, otherwise the admissions director takes 5-7 days to respond to email requests.

I got one. Asked on 11/5 via email, received one on 11/8 via email.

I went into "Review" yesterday, crossing my fingers.