Law School Discussion

I think the correlation between school's rankings and the graduate's prospects are like a staircase. HYS is at the top of the stairs. Then you progress through the rest of the top tier schools with maybe every 3-5 schools ranked similar sharing a step. Like, I would put Vandy, Texas, and UCLA on one step out of the t14. Obviously the t14 is going to have better prospects but there is only a marginal difference between t25 and the tails of the t14s. And this staircase is of course contingent on being in the top 25% or 50% of your class.

The lower you are in your rank, you move down a few steps in the staircase and you will be competing with students in the top 25% at lower ranked schools.

And the next big thing that could affect things is of course geographic location. If you are in Texas and go to UT, that gives you a boost up the staircase. If you are going to be practicing in Wisconsin or something and you went to UT, that forces you to go down the stairs.

This also gives hope to t4 students I think. Like if they have everything working for them, they could move up the staircase just enough to grab a good job. For example, lets say a student from South Texas College of Law graduates in the top 5% of his class. He is going to practice in Houston (even more localized than the state of Texas itself). This will greatly go a long way in boosting his prospects. He may even be in the same footing as someone who went to like Univ of Washington (a tier 1 school) or something similar and is in the bottom 10% of his class and trying to come to Houston for a job. I would actually take the STCOL grad over the Wash grad.

I don't know if any of this made sense to anyone else but this seems like a perfect way of explaining (in my head at least) the correlation between school rankings and job prospects.

Anybody else get this e-mail this afternoon?

Dear xxx,

As you may have already learned, we have had a record breaking number of second deposits this year.  Unfortunately for us, we will be unable to offer you a seat in this year’s class.

Several candidates have asked us about our transfer program.  Because we are not dealing with the size constraints of first year required classes, we typically do admit transfer applicants each year, based on their first year performance.  Transfer students are eligible to participate in the write-on competitions for the school’s journals and law review, the moot court competition, and fall on-campus interviewing.  If you would like more information or have any questions about the transfer process, please feel free to contact me at bolin@wulaw.wustl.edu.

We greatly appreciate your interest in our school and wish you all the best.
 

Janet Bolin
Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Services
Washington University School of Law
314-935-4526
bolin@wulaw.wustl.edu

Yup I got it but I was kinda expecting a rejection with my numbers. I have no clue why they strung me along and waitlisted me in the first place.

i got the email too and i was a little disappointed. oh well. and i talked to dean wixon and i think he is a really old dude or at least thats what i imagined him to be when i was talking to him on the phone. he wasn't very helpful at all. i am probably going to remove myself off the WL. good luck to the rest of yall.

hey i know there are 4 groups like Buster mentioned. i heard that there are 80 people in the first group... but is it 80 in each group? and i really hope they go deep in the WL, emory is my top choice and i'd be very disappointed if its a no-go for me

i called yesterday and there was an answering machine saying they are not taking calls to make sure they get everything done. i am glad they haven't put me to a decision yet. with my numbers, i am a super long shot so the longer this drags on, the better my chances. yay!