University of Washington c/o 2015 Forum

[No13baby]

I don't know to what extent the law school is self-supporting, but the discrepancy between in-state and out-of-state tuition is MUCH smaller for law students than for undergrads.

This is not a degree that travels really well. Don't expect Biglaw $160,000 even if you are top 10%. The top students from the class will be lucky to make $100,000. More typical is $60,000.

I certainly don't believe all the "99% employment" stats the schools themselves release, but even LST has 30% of 2009 grads making $90k or more in private practice, as well as an additional 15% or so in clerkships. Obviously not everyone is getting a job, but that's almost half of the class right there.

Also, most people ITT seem like they're local and would likely stay in the area after graduating (myself included). I don't see anyone here claiming they're going to aim for NYC.

[No13baby]

Back to topic: is anyone "under review" yet?

[fltanglab]

Negative.

[Campagnolo]

Checking in from Portland. "Ready to Review" for status. Submitted after October LSAT release. UW actually doesn't place very well in Portland, but we'll see what happens.

[eeknay]

Any news about what that email meant? I got it too and am well below their numbers. Did they send it to every applicant?

[No13baby]

I applied a couple days after their app opened and didn't get the email.

[Lilberkie]

I too applied a couple days after their app opened, and I got the email. I was all excited/anxious/nervous to see an email from admissions in my inbox, and then disappointed to see it was just a mass "hello" email. I also did not take the October LSAT; I took the test three years ago! One thing I *did* do, however, was recently update my profile on LSAT, so perhaps that is why I got the email....

Just a warning to you all, this election was bad for those of us looking at the UW. Voters passed Initiative 1183, which in addition to cutting hundreds of good, benefits/living-wage-paying union jobs, also will cost the state a ton of revenue from liquor sales. Thus, you can expect the already-substantial tuition hikes to increase even further while you're there. It'll be worse for undergrads, but still will be likely to be bad for law students too.

[No13baby]

Just a warning to you all, this election was bad for those of us looking at the UW. Voters passed Initiative 1183, which in addition to cutting hundreds of good, benefits/living-wage-paying union jobs, also will cost the state a ton of revenue from liquor sales. Thus, you can expect the already-substantial tuition hikes to increase even further while you're there. It'll be worse for undergrads, but still will be likely to be bad for law students too.

Really? The state budget office projected an $80 million increase in taxes from 1183 (for out-of-staters: we voted yesterday to privatize liquor sales.) WA will keep its high liquor taxes; consumers will just be able to buy alcohol at the grocery store like normal people instead of from a handful of inconveniently located stores which close at 6 p.m.

[tjddk]

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[Lilberkie]

The budget office is not the only or the most accurate study. There is a reason that Costco used Citizens United to inject a record amount of contributions to our supposedly democratic initiative process, and it wasn't that it was concerned about money for the state. I hope you're right, but history (other states), reputable studies (numerous), and common sense all bode poorly for future UW students. So yeah I hope buying liquor at 11pm was worth the costs I mentioned previously - I know it isn't worth it to me. I'm done with this topic - not trying to start a debate, just an honest warning to those who may not have known. I won't respond to any further comments.

[nickjive]

Checking in from Portland. "Ready to Review" for status. Submitted after October LSAT release. UW actually doesn't place very well in Portland, but we'll see what happens.

This is surprising. Is it just L&C and UO (I guess maybe Willamette) that place well in PDX? I grew up in the Portland area and went to UO for UG, so I'm quite curious.

[cattleprod]

Checking in from Portland. "Ready to Review" for status. Submitted after October LSAT release. UW actually doesn't place very well in Portland, but we'll see what happens.

This is surprising. Is it just L&C and UO (I guess maybe Willamette) that place well in PDX? I grew up in the Portland area and went to UO for UG, so I'm quite curious.

The only law degrees that place well outside of their local area are T14. And even some of T14 are less useful.
Only Yale, Harvard and Stanford really place well everywhere in the USA.
Everything else is really local. There is always going to be some Oregon vs Washington bias in something like that.

I would not do UW if I lived in Portland and planned to practice in Oregon.
Yeah, Univ of Oregon law school is #79 and Univ of Washington is #30 and that sounds good to a 0L.
In the real world #30 is not that amazing. It is only worth leaving your local area if you are going for T14.
Even T14 is not all it used to be.

[Campagnolo]

I would not do UW if I lived in Portland and planned to practice in Oregon.
Yeah, Univ of Oregon law school is #79 and Univ of Washington is #30 and that sounds good to a 0L.
In the real world #30 is not that amazing. It is only worth leaving your local area if you are going for T14.
Even T14 is not all it used to be.

There are just a couple of UW Law folks I know in Portland practicing law. Everyone at the firm I'm working at as an assistant went to UO or L & C, with UO being the overwhelming majority. Think about it this way: the legal market is much, much larger in Seattle than in Portland. In Oregon there are three schools, pumping out just over 500 JDs a year. For the 16 NALP firms in Oregon (all of which are in Portland) paying market (about $100,000), there were 19 summer associates. Just 13 of those 19 were given offers. It's tough to get information on who the summer associates are, but looking through the list of attorneys on the firm webpages and picking out the youngest associates, it looks like they're coming from Stanford, Berkeley, and Harvard. If not, they graduated #1 from Oregon or L & C.

It really doesn't make sense for someone to go to Washington and expect to find work in Portland. It's crazy how saturated the market is here. The only feasible way I can see is if you work for a firm like Perkins Coie or K & L Gates in Seattle, then transfer to their Portland offices later.

The other thing I would say is not to underestimate the importance of football in hiring decisions. Walking into a firm full of Oregon Duck fans sporting a resume with a big W on the top is not going to get you far. It's stupid, but true.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer. I keep trying to make the math work, but I'm afraid it just doesn't work.

[cattleprod]

The other thing I would say is not to underestimate the importance of football in hiring decisions. Walking into a firm full of Oregon Duck fans sporting a resume with a big W on the top is not going to get you far. It's stupid, but true.

This is 100% accurate. Nobody from Oregon should be going to UW unless you plan on staying in Washington.
It is a worthless degree back in Oregon.

Heck, a UW law degree ain't worth much in Washington these days.
Every market is saturated with too many lawyers and not enough jobs.
It is tough to even find a volunteer job to make your resume look good.

I feel sorry for the people at Seattle University School of Law.
Those people really have almost no shot in this market. That school ought to be shut down.

[tjddk]

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[Campagnolo]

On a semi-brighter note... over/under on how long before the first batch of decisions are sent/emailed/telephoned/delivered by courier pigeons?

Sorry to bring everyone down. I put in my app to UW in October. No movement yet.

[DubP5]

Just a heads up, on their admissions page they are tweeting that the admissions committee is meeting next Tuesday the 15th of November FWIW...

[skirkland]

Yahoo! Crossing my fingers for this one!

[JoeMo]

Application submitted

[Lilberkie]

Hi, is anyone In Review yet? Mine is still Ready to Review.... hoping that doesn't mean they're not looking at mine today.

[JoeMo]

Just a heads up, on their admissions page they are tweeting that the admissions committee is meeting next Tuesday the 15th of November FWIW...

What's the twitter handle?

[tennisking88]

Just a heads up, on their admissions page they are tweeting that the admissions committee is meeting next Tuesday the 15th of November FWIW...

What's the twitter handle?

@UWLawAdmissions

[JoeMo]

Just a heads up, on their admissions page they are tweeting that the admissions committee is meeting next Tuesday the 15th of November FWIW...

What's the twitter handle?

@UWLawAdmissions

Nice, I just saw the tweet. Looks like last year decisions didn't start going out until after Christmas.

[Lilberkie]

They changed to rolling admissions this year, which is why they're making decisions earlier. Mine still says ready to review, even now. Anyone else in review? Hear any news yet?

[No13baby]

Still "ready to review" as of...a month ago.