WUSTL Admitted Students Day

[LegallyAccepted]

Yea my flight got cancelled because of all the weather.

JDR, tell us about it!

[jdr145]

Yea my flight got cancelled because of all the weather.

JDR, tell us about it!

haha, ok, ok!

Well, for me personally, I wasn't so wow'd, to be honest.  On the one hand, the only other school I've visited so far is Georgetown, and they're very, very different schools.  But anyway, I got there and they had breakfast in the library.  People were a tad shy, it seemed like.  They had students there answering any questions for a bit.  Then the Dean spoke, and he was a cool guy.  I think he's new there.  He used to be at Vandy and also Michigan and now he's at WUSTL.  I'll definitely give them the fact that they really emphasize caring about their students and their ability to learn.  It seemed like a big priority.  Afterwards, they broke everyone up into groups and gave tours of the building.  The law school (named Anheiser-Busch, as in the school is sponsored by budweiser, AW SNAP!) is in one building.  So the library and classrooms are all sort of intermixed..I thought it was kind of odd the way it was all combined.  Truthfully, I just wasn't very impressed with the facilities (i.e. the library, classrooms, computer labs, etc).  I mean, considering you'll be there SOOOO much while you're in law school, I think it's important to be really comfortable with the place, and it just didn't do much for me.  I mean, my undergrad has nicer classrooms and computer labs.  Also, the students giving my tour seemed completely unprepared and didn't really know what they were talking about or what they should be talking about. And when someone asked something they'd be like 'ehh you don't need to worry about that as a 0L'.  It was a tad annoying...I'm there to learn about the school.  I just felt their lack of interest/preparation didn't reflect well on the school.  We also had a student panel, which semi reflected the same lack of preparation/professionalism.  At least in comparison to Georgetown (sorry, it's the only comparison I've got).  After that we had lunch at assigned tables of about 4-6 people each table with a professor.  I thought the professor we ate with was VERY nice and interested in getting to know everyone, which was lovely. 

After lunch, originally they said there was a choice b/w a bus tour of St. Louis and sitting in on a class, but for whatever reason, on the final itinerary, sitting in on a class was no longer an option and everyone went on the bus tour.  It was about 2 hours and students guided us around St. Louis.  Apparently, according to our guides, you really need a car at this school as most people are not in walking distance of the school or the downtown areas.  There is public transportation, but everyone I talked to that went there made it seem like it's not the most viable option.

After that, they dropped us off at this clubhouse kind of place where some alumni were there and they had free drinks (hey hey, alcoholic ones too) and cheese and crackers and etc.  It was very nice, very relaxed, and gave you a chance to get to know other admitted students, the admissions staff, and alumni.  Finally, if you wanted to, there was a happy hour in the commons area put on by a student organization. Like I said, the law school is sponsored by busweiser, so apparently they provide free alcohol a lot?  They had 4 kegs there, and the impression I got was this happens every friday.

Whew, sorry that's so long. In general, I wasn't terribly impressed, and even with a full ride, I'm 99% sure I'm going to turn it down.  Let me know if you have any other questions, hope that helped.

[madtownlawgirl]

Yea my flight got cancelled because of all the weather.

JDR, tell us about it!

haha, ok, ok!

Well, for me personally, I wasn't so wow'd, to be honest.  On the one hand, the only other school I've visited so far is Georgetown, and they're very, very different schools.  But anyway, I got there and they had breakfast in the library.  People were a tad shy, it seemed like.  They had students there answering any questions for a bit.  Then the Dean spoke, and he was a cool guy.  I think he's new there.  He used to be at Vandy and also Michigan and now he's at WUSTL.  I'll definitely give them the fact that they really emphasize caring about their students and their ability to learn.  It seemed like a big priority.  Afterwards, they broke everyone up into groups and gave tours of the building.  The law school (named Anheiser-Busch, as in the school is sponsored by budweiser, AW SNAP!) is in one building.  So the library and classrooms are all sort of intermixed..I thought it was kind of odd the way it was all combined.  Truthfully, I just wasn't very impressed with the facilities (i.e. the library, classrooms, computer labs, etc).  I mean, considering you'll be there SOOOO much while you're in law school, I think it's important to be really comfortable with the place, and it just didn't do much for me.  I mean, my undergrad has nicer classrooms and computer labs.  Also, the students giving my tour seemed completely unprepared and didn't really know what they were talking about or what they should be talking about. And when someone asked something they'd be like 'ehh you don't need to worry about that as a 0L'.  It was a tad annoying...I'm there to learn about the school.  I just felt their lack of interest/preparation didn't reflect well on the school.  We also had a student panel, which semi reflected the same lack of preparation/professionalism.  At least in comparison to Georgetown (sorry, it's the only comparison I've got).  After that we had lunch at assigned tables of about 4-6 people each table with a professor.  I thought the professor we ate with was VERY nice and interested in getting to know everyone, which was lovely. 

After lunch, originally they said there was a choice b/w a bus tour of St. Louis and sitting in on a class, but for whatever reason, on the final itinerary, sitting in on a class was no longer an option and everyone went on the bus tour.  It was about 2 hours and students guided us around St. Louis.  Apparently, according to our guides, you really need a car at this school as most people are not in walking distance of the school or the downtown areas.  There is public transportation, but everyone I talked to that went there made it seem like it's not the most viable option.

After that, they dropped us off at this clubhouse kind of place where some alumni were there and they had free drinks (hey hey, alcoholic ones too) and cheese and crackers and etc.  It was very nice, very relaxed, and gave you a chance to get to know other admitted students, the admissions staff, and alumni.  Finally, if you wanted to, there was a happy hour in the commons area put on by a student organization. Like I said, the law school is sponsored by busweiser, so apparently they provide free alcohol a lot?  They had 4 kegs there, and the impression I got was this happens every friday.

Whew, sorry that's so long. In general, I wasn't terribly impressed, and even with a full ride, I'm 99% sure I'm going to turn it down.  Let me know if you have any other questions, hope that helped.

This is all credited. For a day engineered to convince students to come to their school, they did a piss poor job.

My biggest concerns about WUSTL is job placement--and they confirmed those concerns on Friday.

1. Students alluded to the difficult job searches out of Wash U.
2. One student said that if you know, 100% you don't want to work in STL, don't attend WUSTL.
3. Other students made it clear that Wash U's name is unknown in most places.

I can't believe I might actually turn down a full ride scholarship, but WUSTL just isn't appealing enough.

[jdr145]

This is all credited. For a day engineered to convince students to come to their school, they did a piss poor job.

My biggest concerns about WUSTL is job placement--and they confirmed those concerns on Friday.

1. Students alluded to the difficult job searches out of Wash U.
2. One student said that if you know, 100% you don't want to work in STL, don't attend WUSTL.
3. Other students made it clear that Wash U's name is unknown in most places.

I can't believe I might actually turn down a full ride scholarship, but WUSTL just isn't appealing enough.

how could I forget--VERY true.  I heard that from several people as well.

[UFBoldAsLove]

This is all credited. For a day engineered to convince students to come to their school, they did a piss poor job.

My biggest concerns about WUSTL is job placement--and they confirmed those concerns on Friday.

1. Students alluded to the difficult job searches out of Wash U.
2. One student said that if you know, 100% you don't want to work in STL, don't attend WUSTL.
3. Other students made it clear that Wash U's name is unknown in most places.

I can't believe I might actually turn down a full ride scholarship, but WUSTL just isn't appealing enough.

I actually heard, repeatedly, that is is DIFFICULT to get a job in STL... unless you have significant ties to the city. Firms assume that you will leave for something better in a different market in just a few years.

[woeisme]

This is all credited. For a day engineered to convince students to come to their school, they did a piss poor job.

My biggest concerns about WUSTL is job placement--and they confirmed those concerns on Friday.

1. Students alluded to the difficult job searches out of Wash U.
2. One student said that if you know, 100% you don't want to work in STL, don't attend WUSTL.
3. Other students made it clear that Wash U's name is unknown in most places.

I can't believe I might actually turn down a full ride scholarship, but WUSTL just isn't appealing enough.

I actually heard, repeatedly, that is is DIFFICULT to get a job in STL... unless you have significant ties to the city. Firms assume that you will leave for something better in a different market in just a few years.

Well that certainly seems to be ironic.

[madtownlawgirl]

This is all credited. For a day engineered to convince students to come to their school, they did a piss poor job.

My biggest concerns about WUSTL is job placement--and they confirmed those concerns on Friday.

1. Students alluded to the difficult job searches out of Wash U.
2. One student said that if you know, 100% you don't want to work in STL, don't attend WUSTL.
3. Other students made it clear that Wash U's name is unknown in most places.

I can't believe I might actually turn down a full ride scholarship, but WUSTL just isn't appealing enough.

I actually heard, repeatedly, that is is DIFFICULT to get a job in STL... unless you have significant ties to the city. Firms assume that you will leave for something better in a different market in just a few years.

I've heard that too, which is why I felt that was a weird thing to say...but either way, I don't want to end up in St. Louis, and I don't think I could even spend three years there (not because it's in the midwest--I'm from the midwest).

[cisforcookie]

What do you mean by difficult job searches? I don't mean to be patronizing, but job searches in general are fairly difficult. Did they indicate that they were upset at not getting a job through OCI? Did you get the impression that any of these students had ever held full time employment? If, at most, 30-35 percent of the class there gets a job through OCI, which seems entirely reasonable to me, I would expect that maybe half of the student body will reach their final semester without full time employment secured. That doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me.

[upgrade]

Did you happen to ask the students with comments regarding job searches what their class ranking was and what kind of jobs they sought?  I know it is an awkward question, but that kind of perspective is not very useful without some background information.  For a student at or below median, their only firm options may be in Missouri, Kansas City or St. Louis.  Also, if someone is trying to work in a specific field, they may have a rough time with a more specific search.

[wustl3l]

The students' comments seem strange and contradictory to my experience at the school however there is a downturn in the markets in general which may be contributing to 1L-2L experiences. I know I've said this in other places but at least in my class, the only people who don't have jobs were those who had too narrow of a search (i.e., specific practice areas/geographic locales), didn't put forth much of an effort after striking out in OCI, were terrible interviewers, or had some combination of those factors. I will say this, though, that I do find the CSO to not be of much help if you don't get a job out of OCI, whether it be because of grades or maybe you're looking for a specific locale. Not that all is lost if you don't get something out of OCI, but don't expect the CSO to hold your hand through mass mailing, networking, etc.

-With regards to name recognition, I interviewed in the west, midwest, deep south, and the northeast with multiple offers.

-With regards to St. Louis, it is true that it is difficult to get a job here without ties or good grades. It is not impossible but you definitely have an uphill climb as they do view you as carpetbaggers.

-Cars are very helpful although it is not impossible to get around without one. You could easily live in the Central West End and be just fine. It would only be times when you wanted to go to Wal-Mart, Target, or the mall that not having a car would be a pain.

-Yes, there is a lot of free booze that floats around, including the Friday happy hours. Lots of student orgs will have open tabs at bars throughout the month as well. Rumour has it that the Dean is going to start curbing this, though, as he wants to get away from the animal house atmosphere.

-Facilities. I find them to be good although my basis for comparision is lower ranked schools. No one really complains about them. Not to mention that the new building is coming online soon as well.

I think addressed most of the points from this weekend. I hope my one data point helps.