A day in the life of...University of Washington

[armygoat08]

I'm out-of-state (PA, by way of Ohio). I can't wait to finally live in the PNW and enjoy Seattle. I'm definitely attending UW and my only remaining concern is living arrangements: where law students live, how to find roommates and a decent apartment that's close-by. any info would be great.

Things I'm excited about:
The gorgeous law facilities
Cheap(er) tuition
D-I and Pac-10 football (I come from a tiny liberal arts school)
60% women in the law school? large undergraduate campus? ...
Seattle reserve, good microbreweries, fresh seafood, eccentric people
Cascades, puget sound, pacific ocean, green winters, an amazing city
The non-competitive atmosphere, small classes, good job prospects in PNW
A university, law school, and city culture that I actually want to be a part of.

[OlderandWiser]

I'm out-of-state (PA, by way of Ohio). I can't wait to finally live in the PNW and enjoy Seattle. I'm definitely attending UW and my only remaining concern is living arrangements: where law students live, how to find roommates and a decent apartment that's close-by. any info would be great.

Things I'm excited about:
The gorgeous law facilities
Cheap(er) tuition
D-I and Pac-10 football (I come from a tiny liberal arts school)
60% women in the law school? large undergraduate campus? ...
Seattle reserve, good microbreweries, fresh seafood, eccentric people
Cascades, puget sound, pacific ocean, green winters, an amazing city
The non-competitive atmosphere, small classes, good job prospects in PNW
A university, law school, and city culture that I actually want to be a part of.

Nice, that all sounds great.  Except maybe the 60% female thing, is that true? I wonder why that is, most law schools seem to be 60% male.  Interesting.  I'm a NYC girl right now, but grew up in Michigan.  I've never lived in the PNW, but I've spent a lot of time since undergrad traveling and living all over.  I haven't moved in a few years and I'm beginning to feel a bit stagnant, so I'm excited for for the change.  I'm not for sure coming to Washington, but I would say I'm about 70/30 in favor.

[WildRichLord]

Nice, that all sounds great.  Except maybe the 60% female thing, is that true?

Not quite 60%; it's 56.8% women according to their profile in the LSAC Official Guide.  But it does seem to counter the general stereotype that law school = sausagefest.

And that is just fine with me.

[hbb]

Cascades, puget sound, pacific ocean, green gray winters, an amazing city

Fixed that for ya 

Although it was actually snowing here this past Saturday morning when I walked my dog, it is pretty spectacular when the weather co-operates. If you have an interest in any sort of outdoor activities, I think there are few cities that can compete with Seattle...   

[OlderandWiser]

Nice, that all sounds great.  Except maybe the 60% female thing, is that true?

Not quite 60%; it's 56.8% women according to their profile in the LSAC Official Guide.  But it does seem to counter the general stereotype that law school = sausagefest.

And that is just fine with me.

Damn.  well, my grad degree was in social work where the ratio was like 90/10.  so I guess I can look at it as an improvement.   

[SarahLouisa]

It will be interesting to see how the gender split goes next year, but this year it was more like 65% female.  Also, BLS is typically a two quarter class (Fall/Winter) and then in Spring you get to take a topical BLS (for example, I am in one that focuses on writing for a judicial externship).  And no finals in BLS!

[OlderandWiser]

So I have a couple of questions for Seattle-ites, not necesarily related to UW.  My younger brother is thinking of moving out there with me.  He's stuck in Michigan with no work right now and thinking of changing things up a bit.  What is the job market like in Seattle for a high school graduate?  He has some college, but never graduated.  I think he's pretty open to doing whatever.  He would like to go back to school too.  Are there good community colleges/universities (outside of UW of course) in Seattle?  I would love for him to come out for my own selfish reasons (help with rent, bills, etc), but I thought maybe I should help him do a little research on whether it would be worth it for him.  Any thoughts?

Okay, and a UW related question, any word on scholarships/financial aid?  It looks like only one person on LSN has reported a scholarship, but it doesn't mean there aren't more out there already.  I'm not really expecting one with my low GPA, but I'm curious. 

[WildRichLord]

Okay, and a UW related question, any word on scholarships/financial aid?  It looks like only one person on LSN has reported a scholarship, but it doesn't mean there aren't more out there already.  I'm not really expecting one with my low GPA, but I'm curious. 

I have pretty strong numbers for UW, but they didn't offer money; I'll be on federal loans.  I've turned down scholarships at other similarly-ranked schools to go there.  Yes, I probably should have my head examined, but that's another story.

I met with the financial aid coordinator when I was up there in January, and he said that funds are very limited for non-Washington residents.  There are two pools of money: university funds (which are relatively plentiful, but can only go to WA residents) and law school funds (which are not as restricted, but there isn't as much to go around).  So I get the impression that they're relatively stingy with scholarship aid, at least when it comes to non-residents.

The good news is that you should qualify for a waiver of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition in your 2L and 3L years, provided you remain a resident of the state for the whole year.  I need to contact their financial aid office to make sure that that doesn't include visiting my parents, etc.  And in-state tuition there is dirt-cheap as law schools go.

[SarahLouisa]

And there is really isn't a lot of money for residents either (as someone with decent numbers who didn't get any aid but loves in-state tuition)

[Yak Herder]

Attending!  Can't wait to live in the P-N-W as I've been a Mid-Atlantic boy all my life.  I loved the campus when I visited (it was no accident, I'm sure, that the cherry trees were in bloom with Mt. Rainier looming in the distance...)

I loved the facilities.  The natural light, building materials, overall design, library, all top-notch.  They have a for-real public service commitment with alumni who are in the trenches doing the unglamorous "public interest" jobs.  And a city that managed to win me over on my first visit.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was in session at UW Law when I visited, so it was an opportunity to sit in on some at times interesting oral arguments (are dogs "livestock?"  How much force is too much to get a tree-sitting protester to come down, already?  How much control can the government legitimately exercise over the attendance and agenda of its press conferences?)

I, too, have my hesitations about the quarter system, but will just be confident that I will figure it out like everyone else.  All in all, looking forward to moving to Washington and getting started.