University of Wisconsin, Class of '11

[OlderandWiser]

really excited to be going to Sconnie...anyone going to the ASW this weekend? 

Not this weekend.  But I am hoping to make it to the April ASW.  I second nikos's thought, I would love to hear about it when folks get back. 

[wheretogo13]

I went to UW for undergrad and thought I would say something about the housing. The one thing that is really annoying is that everyone signs leases really early in the year...like November. That doesn't mean there are no good apts left, but it will be harder to find good ones that are close to campus. Mifflin, State Street, Langdon, University Ave. downtown are all dominated by undergrad, but they can still be good experiences. There are lots of one BR and studios above State Street that people really like because it's close to everything, though a bit loud on the weekends. I have several friends that are 1Ls here right now, and almost all of them live really far from campus because they didn't figure out apartments until the fall. They do fine with buses or just walking 30 min. to get to class, but I would suggest that if you are planning to go here and being close to campus is really important (esp. in winter), you might want to look for an apartment sooner than later.

[HippieLawChick]

The campus: Madison's campus can be extremely daunting if you haven't been to it before. It is one of these places that can have 5-8 blocks between different campus buildings, kind of sprawled through the downtown Madison area. That said, all of the Law classes are in the same building, and that buiding is very easy to find (It is on the top of Bascom Hill, and is a pretty large glass structure. Very hard to miss.)

As for the top Milwaukee jobs only being for the top third of Madison's class: You need to consider that a very large portion of the people who go to UW Madison are interested in PI jobs and Clerkships (the fact that Madison is the state capitol gives people a lot of clerkship options that the school's rating may not indicate, otherwise. Madison has actually produced 2 or 3 SCOTUS clerks in the past 10 years.)

I am under the impression that many of the Milwaukee firms look to Madison first, even before the bottom halves of the Chicago/Northwestern classes that consider coming up to Milwaukee. However, there aren't that many biglaw jobs to be had in Milwaukee; I think 3 firms? Could be wrong on that number. Since the top 20% or so have honestly legit shots at Chicago, Milwaukee goes deeper in to Madison's class than you might expect otherwise.

Also, you would think that Marquette would dillute the market a bit, but it really doesn't. Marquette and Madison aren't in the same league, everyone knows it, and I have heard that a few of the bigger Wisconsin firms don't even do OCI at Marquette. I've never known a single person who got accepted at Madison who didn't immediatly withdraw their Marquette applications... you're looking at a 60 spot ranking difference, and Madison is more than $20k a year cheaper.

Edit: Odd thing to keep in mind about Madison that I just found out: grades don't affect who gets on Law Review or Moot Court at all. The top 10 people in the class for 1L(not 10%, top 10) do get preferance for Law Review, in that if their writing samples land in the top 1/3 of those submitted, they get on. I assume, in most schools, the top 10 people would basically automatically be on Law Review if they wanted to be.

Some of this information is inaccurate.  Wisconsin has produced 1 SCOTUS clerk (Cecilia Klingle) that I have found.  If you know of more, please post their names. 

In Milwaukee, Marquette and Wisconsin ARE considered in the same league by many.  This is because there are literally thousands of Marquette alumni in the area, and many are in positions of power.  It is strange, but those who went to Marquette still hold their grads in high regard, though Wisconsin is much more competitive.  As for your contention that "a very large" portion of students here are interested in Public Interest (PI is NOT used as an acronym for public interest in the legal field, it is usually reserved for Personal Injury lawyers by the way):  while many wanna be law students list that they want to do pubic interest law on their applications, most don't go into it after graduation, or even pursue this part of the profession much in law school.  NALP and LSAC both have good statistics on this. 

[Vietnow]

Some of this information is inaccurate.  Wisconsin has produced 1 SCOTUS clerk (Cecilia Klingle) that I have found.  If you know of more, please post their names. 

In Milwaukee, Marquette and Wisconsin ARE considered in the same league by many.  This is because there are literally thousands of Marquette alumni in the area, and many are in positions of power.  It is strange, but those who went to Marquette still hold their grads in high regard, though Wisconsin is much more competitive.  As for your contention that "a very large" portion of students here are interested in Public Interest (PI is NOT used as an acronym for public interest in the legal field, it is usually reserved for Personal Injury lawyers by the way):  while many wanna be law students list that they want to do pubic interest law on their applications, most don't go into it after graduation, or even pursue this part of the profession much in law school.  NALP and LSAC both have good statistics on this. 

titcr
I've been stalking this thread for awhile, and as a UW undergrad and probable (barring a miracle) law student I thought I'd jump in here. I'm from Milwaukee and many lay people in the area definitely consider Marquette and UW as peer schools (unjustifiably so IMHO). But I know for a fact that big firms in Milwaukee will recruit deeper into the class than at Marquette. Legal professionals know that UW is the better school, but Marquette alumni still hold their graduates in high regard. I guess I didn't really add anything new to this discussion, just a vent because I constantly get asked "Oh, did you apply to Marquette too?" And I've gotten sick of trying to tactfully say that I wouldn't go there even if they gave me a full ride. Just my .02

That being said, if you are coming to UW you should be very excited. It's a great place to go to school and a great place to live. I've already lived there for four years and am excited about coming back for another three. I know there are a couple of other UW undergrads here but if there are any more questions I'll jump in with any answers that I can give.

PS-
Get your football tickets ASAP, game days are ridiculous. *uck'em Bucky!

[Bucky1L]

I figured I'd chime in...

The post about Marquette and UW being in the same league is way off... I'm quite familiar with many of the mid/large-sized firms in Milwaukee and know it's not true.  Certainly Marquette is respected more than in other places in the country, but as someone else stated, firms go much deeper into the UW class.  There's no question that students from UW tend to be "smarter" than those from Marquette (evidenced by higher LSAT scores and GPA's).  The quality of education is likely similar (I'd be willing to say many T4 schools have and excellent QOE's too), but the difference in students is large enough that almost no one considers the schools "equals".  The same could be said about students at UW Law (me) compared to those at the University of Chicago or Northwestern - we aren't as smart as them (and less likely to be recruited, even in Madison).  I'm certainly not dumb, but have the humility to realize there are a ton of people who are much more intelligent than I.

About football tickets - don't worry, it's a lottery and it doesn't matter when you sign up as long as you meet the deadline.  That's why I really don't believe "HippieLawChick" knows what she's talking about with respect to UW.  You'll likely get some as a grad student, if not, you can buy them for about $250 (well worth it).  I went to every game last fall and it was a blast... I mean, unlike any other Big 10 school.  The students are crazy fun.  Nothing like doing a 30 foot beer bong at 9:30 in the morning off a second floor patio for $1.

[Vietnow]

That would be for the whole season, don't worry. The most I ever sold a single ticket for a game was like $120, and that was for Michigan. I got way too wasted before and couldn't even walk to the game so I had to sell it... oops.

Anyway, I agree with Bucky 1Ls comments, but stand by my statement that UW and Marquette are often seen as peers by lay people. Which gets annoying, because most people aren't lawyers.

[lawduuude]

i was at the ASW this weekend, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask here or PM me. 

the dinner friday night was fun.  had the chance to eat with a few current students who were very nice and seemed like they'd be good classmates. 
the dean was there, as was the dean of admissions who basically ran the entire weekend, mike hall.  mike hall was hilarious. 
then saturday basically consisted of mike hall, a few faculty members, a lady from career services, and a panel of students each talking about a different aspect of the school.  again, they all seemed like great, smart people. 
then there was a lunch and finally law school tours.  i really liked the law building, and could definitely see myself studying there.
not really sure what else to write about here.  seemed to be a fair # of cute girls amongst the admitted students...
like i said, any questions feel free to ask.

[Bucky1L]

$250 for the entire season, right?

No... I think it's $150 for the entire season.  I meant that if you don't get tickets in the lottery (which shouldn't be a problem as a grad student), you can buy season tickets on craigslist for about $250 or so.

It's very reasonably priced - especially if you're willing to miss the "big game" of the season, you can sell one of your tickets and basically go to the rest of the games for next to nothing.

[Bucky1L]

Anyway, I agree with Bucky 1Ls comments, but stand by my statement that UW and Marquette are often seen as peers by lay people. Which gets annoying, because most people aren't lawyers.

Like my mother --- 

My sister got a Ph.D from Marquette in the sciences about five years ago (I was an "accident/surprise", hence the age difference) and I have had to hear for months that turning down a near full ride scholarship to Marquette to pay full price at Wisconsin is a horrible decision because Marquette is one of the best schools in the country... I'm sure that goes for people in many states who have parents that think a very regional private school is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Seriously, Marquette is in the ghetto.  Maybe if it had a campus like Bloomington or something I'd "consider" it, but the fact that it's a borderline T3 and that my probability of getting mugged isn't terribly low (or, at a minimum, offered a blow job by a crack whore) seals the deal.

But I feel your pain - most non-lawyers and those without degrees consider the two schools essentially the same.  UW is really taken for granted (not just in law) and many people here can't imagine that it's actually one of the top public universities in the country.

[El_Che]

Anyone who went to the ASW wanna give their thoughts on the whole thing? How was the building? As much of a maze as I have heard? Get a chance to talk to any students about how they like it, how they feel their career prospects are, etc? Anything else worth mentioning? Thanks!



Also, this is interesting:

http://law.wisc.edu/career/oci_firms.htm

Looks like OCI firms might not go as deep into the class as some have said on here....