Opinions on Lewis & Clark?

[summerisnear]

hello jobigot

Did Lewis and Clark let u know when you will receive a decision?
thanks

Not exactly.  They said an offer of admission could be made as early as next week or as late as August.  I assume the same is true for a rejection/waitlist. 

[just Trev]

okay, so i went and toured L+C yesterday.

first, the good:
1. the campus is amazing! that's right, amazing.  the architecture (which can be mostly seen from the website) is stunning.  think: frank lloyd wright on steroids in the middle of the woods.  very cool.  all of the study spaces seemed very cozy, and it because of our weather here in p'town, seemed like it would be a good place to be productive.

2. the students and staff i saw and met were very friendly, and seemed pretty cool and laid back.  there's a ping pong table there in the common area and people were just kickin' it and hanging out.  looked like fun.

3. the "cafeteria" serves vegan, vegetarian, sushi, and all kinds of other good Northwest food.  looked really delicious!
4. the clinical offerings sounded really cool and exciting (esp. small-buisness law clinic)

second, the bad:
1. according to the student who was my tour guide, the curve is pretty difficult, and very few of the students keep their scholarships (from the few that get them). she estimated only the top 1/3 or better kept scholarships.
2. seems like jobs MIGHT be hard to come by.  two students i talked to (i realize this is hardly a sufficient sample size to make a generalization about the employment prospects, but i thought i'd just share everything i was introduced to on the tour.) said that it was difficult to find summer jobs. (granted, they were 1Ls, and neither seemed particularly brilliant, but both were charismatic.)

third, the other stuff (read: undecided if it's good or bad)
1. i didn't get the indication from talking to the admissions woman, or the student who gave me my tour, that L+C benefitted significantly over UofO or Williamette by being the only school in Portland.  seemed like they were hesitant to say there are a bunch more opportunities for L+C grads in Portland than there are for the other schools.
2. admissions confirmed you're gonna have to be top 10-15% to see any biglaw interviews.
3. enviro law course offerings are extremely competitive (as could be expected) but the rest are not nearly so.

so that's about all. i'll also answer any questions anyone may have about what i saw or experienced on the tour.

-trev

[BigLulz]

okay, so i went and toured L+C yesterday.

[...]

so that's about all. i'll also answer any questions anyone may have about what i saw or experienced on the tour.

Thanks a lot for this! So after your visit and reflections, what is your overall opinion of the place? Is it one of your top choices?

[El_Che]

Thanks Trev, very interesting to read your of your experience there. The stuff about the curve is interesting; I know when I talked to them they said the curve was at about a 2.97 and my scholarship ( I guess I don't know what others are tied to) is tied to a 2.95 gpa. So there's roughly a 50% chance that I will pull that off; maybe there are other scholarships with higher retention gpa's though.

Also interesting to hear about the job situation, as that is what I am most concerned about. Maybe not surprising that the 1L's couldn't find a job, as I thought that 1L's typically have to volunteer or intern their first summer (often without pay), and they don't land the paying gigs until the summer after 2L....but I could be wrong on that one.

Good to hear about the students and staff and facilities though. Can't wait till I can get out there to see it firsthand.

Thanks again!

[beaverfuzz]

so, i've been reading this thread for the last couple of months and thought i'd chip in a few things:

1. Portland is a great place to live! I'll finish my undergrad here next year, and will be taking the june LSAT. i have been here for two years (moved with my wife from s. carolina) and absolutely love it.  Portland has a way of working into your blood.  the city just changes you somehow.  the people are engaging, the coffee (esp. Stumptown) is amazing, and the local pubs everywhere make this place truly special.  I love p'town so much, that even though both me and my wife's family live back east, we're considering passing up on better law schools there to stay here and go to L+C. (assuming i get accepted).

2. i'm going to tour L+C tomorrow, so i hope to be able to share more of my thoughts of the campus when i return.

3. I live in the NE part of town, so i can comment on a lot of the east side neighborhoods, and the general living conditions around here. 

Thanks for posting I have been unable to visit the campus thus far, so any thoughts you can give on your tour tomorrow would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

no prob...any questions you might want answered??

hmmm let's see.....

1.)How far the campus is from downtown, or se portland, in terms of driving or in terms of public transport
2.) Are the "bunker" classrooms really as awful as people say?
3.) Is the library really as nice as people say?
4.) Is there anywhere within reasonable distance to grab lunch or coffeeshops if you're on campus all day or is everyone stuck with the campus cafeteria (if there is one? I haven't heard either way)
5.) Since you'll be there not during an ASW weekend and they might not have their full tour-guide mode on, how do you see the student body? Laid back, cutthroat, scared to death of not finding a job, mix of everything?
6.) Anything else you care to tell us about Portland or the campus, since you are already a Portlandian? (If that's even what you guys go by, I'll have to learn the lingo in a few months!)

Thanks again!

Portlander. 

[El_Che]

lol, thanks

Good to get that out of the way before I get out there and make a complete ass of myself!

[Jihad_Jesus]

I would just like to say a few words as a 1L taking environmental law (we get a first year elective at our school). I came to law school interested in environmental law. Let me tell you this. Environmental law is terrible. It is the most boring, tedious, bureaucratic, and pointless type of law that exists. I am not alone on this and there are many others who graduated before me who went through the same thing. Don't choose a school simply for its environmental law program because there's a good chance you won't want to practice environmental law once you actually see what it's all about. 

[t...]

Wait until they take Administrative Law.

I've heard that same complaint, though...

---

I really liked L&C the few times I've toured it, and everyone there was really friendly. I just think it's too expensive and their scholarships are a bit bunk (in terms of keeping them).

[L+C]

I keep trying to go cold turkey on LSD, finals are 3 weeks away.  Oh well...  I'll throw in the old 2 cents and try to let it go at that.

For those of you who aren't following this entire thread... I'm a 3L transfer (T4-T2) at L+C.  I've been FT and PT here, after this semester I will have completed all of the "required" coursework and will just need to fill some electives to graduate in the next year or so.  I've kept up on the thread in order to not only dispel inaccuracies, but to also help me procrastinate my own studies.  So these are just some observations...

Scholarships-  I gave up a full ride to be here, so I do sympathize with many of the concerns surrounding them.  However, I really do feel that what gets lost in the whole thing is this whole idea of 0Ls somehow thinking they deserve these financial enticements.  Maybe all the posting about how "I got money at school X, if school Y expects me to even return their calls they better pony up some cash" threads just have too much influence on these boards.  The truth is that if (in general) you don't attend a top 30 or so school, most of the scholarship money you are offered is NOT GUARANTEED, it is just a teaser rate to get you to enroll.  It is very intelligent to consider total financial costs of your education, but guaranteed lucrative offers go only to the best students at the best schools.  The obvious idea being they will one day leave a pile of dough to their alma mater, the rest of us are just getting a first year discount with a slim hope for it to continue to the following year.  If you would sustain a financial hardship that would cripple you if your scholarship is lost, you have no business enrolling at any school under those circumstances.  Its important to know the odds going in, but the reality is that one bad grade can make you a full paying tuition student in a snap.  I apologize for the parenting...

Work-  there is work here.  Problem is that very little of it is high paying.  Everybody wants to live in Portland, most of the environmental issues and related work are in less desirable areas of the state.  Fed jobs are plum jobs for those who really have political and policy aspirations on a national level.  If you even browse the website here a little you will see the related programs consistently trounce "national" schools in mock trial and debate in national competition.  If you want Environmental/Animal law experience you will get one of the best educations in the country here as well as the ability to acquire national job prospects if you do well.  If you have other professional aspirations, plan to take on six figure debt, not in the top 10-15% of the class, and plan to remain in Oregon, your finances will be tight for quite a long time.  THIS IS TRUE OF ANY SECONDARY LEGAL MARKET FOR GRADUATES OF NON T-14 SCHOOLS.  This is precisely why many students work during their second and third years in order to defray costs.

Expensive? - if you think a school that offers PT tuition at 11K a semester (12 units, essentially 7 semesters) total of about 75K for tuition is overpriced, I don't know what to tell ya.  Few private schools in desirable living areas in this country will be cheaper.  Just so many of us can attend public schools with in state tuition....

Environmental Law- those students who actually know what Environmental Law is before they actually take a class, aren't disappointed here.  Those who think it would be fun to save trees/puppies whatever, are usually floored with how code intensive the introductory work truly is in class.  As previous posters have mentioned... it really sucks.  Environmental Law here is Admin law on steroids... that won't mean much to you now, let's just say very little of class is dedicated to brave new young lawyers saving old growth redwoods from the evil lumber companies etc.

The facilities- I always laugh when E-friendly types whine about the older classrooms here.  The campus is in a beautiful setting, library is gorgeous.  However, the whole place is concrete.  The main classrooms have no windows.  How come?  These buildings are E-friendly and energy efficient (recycled materials etc.).  Windows and expensive materials are bad for the environment and waste energy.  It always cracks me up that tree hugger environmental types visit here and are disappointed that the classrooms aren't constructed with old growth redwood or other materials that albeit attractive, are harmful to the environment. 

Admissions- this school does its best to be honest and not make a lot of false claims.  I think because there is no real "hard sell" that applicants think we're not interested in them.  The environment here just isn't like that period.  Free t-shirts, huge scholarships, bumper stickers etc. will never be a substantial part of the program here.  Don't expect a lot of used car salesman stuff out of admissions, they aren't looking to cut deals to get you to buy the school.  I've read a bunch of really idiotic stuff about how well qualified applicants call admissions here and are utterly shocked how whoever answers the phone isn't kissing their ass because they got a 170 on their LSAT, have other "better" offers, and want a decision or scholarship immediately.  The applicant then goes and posts something stupid like, "L+C better pony up some money and fast or I'll withdraw."  Seriously, if these attitudes describe you, you will hate the PNW and L+C.  Things just don't work that way here.  I've lived in S.F., Chicago, and New York... the pushy self entitled stuff flies there, it just kind of confuses people here.  Oregonians just aren't really ever in a huge hurry ever compared to many places, being rude or pushy here just doesn't get results. 

Once again the post is too long.  I've supported this thread because there is very little good info about L+C on this site... and a lot of misinformation.  I'm not picking any fights with anyone, so please if anything i've written seems like a directed attack at your posts, know that it isn't.  The reality is I probably need to spend more time studying and less time worrying about why people choose school X or school Y, good luck to you guys.

[BigLulz]

Wow, thanks for that! Great info as always. Could any of the current students maybe elaborate a little more on how Enviro. Law is much different/ more intense than some might expect? What makes it more tedious than any other concentration? I'm curious because I don't expect rainbows and butterflies out of it, but I would like some satisfaction from an intro to enviro. law class that it seems those who have already taken it didn't get.