The Howard Law/HBCU Law Schools Thread

[lalalagirl007]

Something else I'm curious to hear opinions on is I hear that a lot of firms just do OCIs at Howard to say they did. But not really to take any students.

Does anyone have information/experience on this??

Something to keep in mind about OCI, firms do not fill their rosters from any one school during OCI.  The true measure of a successful OCI is if the firm even shows up to your school.   For example, I had friends and nearby law schools who told me that they only had, say, 30 firms visit their school whereas we had somewhere around 50 or 60 at my school.  And then within the numbers you have to also see which firms are coming to the school.   For example, we had good representation from the Vault 100 firms, but my friends at NYU had all the Vault 10 firms at their school.

With Howard, you're going to have a strong showing of firms, many of which will be the top of the Vault 100.  I know somebody who is class of 2006 from Howard who works for biglaw in NYC and she said that a significant % of her class (as in, not just the top 10%) had offers with Vault 100 firms in NY and DC.

And as a last word on OCI - F*CK OCI!!!  Two times.  I didn't get my job through OCI.  And just about everybody I can think of off the top of my head who is working biglaw in NYC also did not get their jobs through OCI.  I think I probably know 3 or 4 cats personally who actually got jobs through OCI.  All of that to say, take OCI with a grain of salt.  Connections are everything in the law.  Some connects come from the school you go to, some from former employers, some from professors, some from judges, some from BLSA or other groups.  Use your connects no matter where you end up at.

Thanks for dropping that wisdom...I may have been putting more stock than I need to in the # of firms that OCI at schools.

[pikey]

Something else I'm curious to hear opinions on is I hear that a lot of firms just do OCIs at Howard to say they did. But not really to take any students.

Does anyone have information/experience on this??

Something to keep in mind about OCI, firms do not fill their rosters from any one school during OCI.  The true measure of a successful OCI is if the firm even shows up to your school.   For example, I had friends and nearby law schools who told me that they only had, say, 30 firms visit their school whereas we had somewhere around 50 or 60 at my school.  And then within the numbers you have to also see which firms are coming to the school.   For example, we had good representation from the Vault 100 firms, but my friends at NYU had all the Vault 10 firms at their school.

With Howard, you're going to have a strong showing of firms, many of which will be the top of the Vault 100.  I know somebody who is class of 2006 from Howard who works for biglaw in NYC and she said that a significant % of her class (as in, not just the top 10%) had offers with Vault 100 firms in NY and DC.

And as a last word on OCI - F*CK OCI!!!  Two times.  I didn't get my job through OCI.  And just about everybody I can think of off the top of my head who is working biglaw in NYC also did not get their jobs through OCI.  I think I probably know 3 or 4 cats personally who actually got jobs through OCI.  All of that to say, take OCI with a grain of salt.  Connections are everything in the law.  Some connects come from the school you go to, some from former employers, some from professors, some from judges, some from BLSA or other groups.  Use your connects no matter where you end up at.

Thanks for dropping that wisdom...I may have been putting more stock than I need to in the # of firms that OCI at schools.

Otoh, it also depends on the school that you attend.  Most of the 2Ls that I know did get their jobs for this summer through OCI.  I'm not sure about 3Ls, since I don't know that many, but I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of them also got their permanent jobs through 2L OCI.  The higher ranked your school is, the more likely it is that you'll get your job through OCI.

[shayee053]

Ok so this may be a wierd question but if you are not interested in big law do rankings really matter? Also, I've heard that if you are interested in academia you need to go to a top school. Is that true and what would your chances be of entering the field of academia after graduating from Howard?

[Kirk Lazarus]

Ok so this may be a wierd question but if you are not interested in big law do rankings really matter? Also, I've heard that if you are interested in academia you need to go to a top school. Is that true and what would your chances be of entering the field of academia after graduating from Howard?

It is incredibly difficult to break into academia coming from HUSL.

[2009 UG]

Just finished my first semseter of Junior year.  Not a good one.  Just a lot of stress.

I dropped from a 2.91 to 2.67.  There are two courses that I need to take over (received d's).  HopefullyI can bring my GPA back up to at least a 2.8 over the next year.

What would my chances be of getting into HU's Law school.  I am currently an undergrad there?

I will be taking both the GMAT and LSAT.

Any help would be appreciated.

Not exactly what area of Law I would be studying.  Looking at all options.

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Something else I'm curious to hear opinions on is I hear that a lot of firms just do OCIs at Howard to say they did. But not really to take any students.

Does anyone have information/experience on this??

Something to keep in mind about OCI, firms do not fill their rosters from any one school during OCI.  The true measure of a successful OCI is if the firm even shows up to your school.   For example, I had friends and nearby law schools who told me that they only had, say, 30 firms visit their school whereas we had somewhere around 50 or 60 at my school.  And then within the numbers you have to also see which firms are coming to the school.   For example, we had good representation from the Vault 100 firms, but my friends at NYU had all the Vault 10 firms at their school.

With Howard, you're going to have a strong showing of firms, many of which will be the top of the Vault 100.  I know somebody who is class of 2006 from Howard who works for biglaw in NYC and she said that a significant % of her class (as in, not just the top 10%) had offers with Vault 100 firms in NY and DC.

And as a last word on OCI - F*CK OCI!!!  Two times.  I didn't get my job through OCI.  And just about everybody I can think of off the top of my head who is working biglaw in NYC also did not get their jobs through OCI.  I think I probably know 3 or 4 cats personally who actually got jobs through OCI.  All of that to say, take OCI with a grain of salt.  Connections are everything in the law.  Some connects come from the school you go to, some from former employers, some from professors, some from judges, some from BLSA or other groups.  Use your connects no matter where you end up at.

Thanks for dropping that wisdom...I may have been putting more stock than I need to in the # of firms that OCI at schools.

Otoh, it also depends on the school that you attend.  Most of the 2Ls that I know did get their jobs for this summer through OCI.  I'm not sure about 3Ls, since I don't know that many, but I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of them also got their permanent jobs through 2L OCI.  The higher ranked your school is, the more likely it is that you'll get your job through OCI.

This is true.  I was just rapping with one of my fellow co-workers from Columbia here at the firm and she did get this job through OCI at Columbia.  And she said many of her classmates got their jobs during their 2L year from 2L OCI at Columbia.  Of course, this is one of the T14 we're talking about, which as I understand it, W&L is not.  Even though Howard is not technically a "T14," it still draws in the strong OCI base, which I'm sure everybody has mentioned on here about 100 times already.

3L year is a different ball game.  As a general rule, many firms do not interview 3L's period, no matter what school they attend.

[youngsal]

If I attend Howard, how good will my job prospects be coming out of there, also, how portable is the Howard degree?

[Kirk Lazarus]

If I attend Howard, how good will my job prospects be coming out of there, also, how portable is the Howard degree?

If you graduate at the top of the class, you'll have lower top 14 job prospects. If you graduate in the middle or bottom, you'll be unemployed.

Howard degree is very portable.

Lawyer: Hey Galt, where'd you go to school?

Galt: Howard

Lawyer: That's a great school. A damn fine school.


I'm sure its the same.

[lalalagirl007]

If I attend Howard, how good will my job prospects be coming out of there, also, how portable is the Howard degree?

If you graduate at the top of the class, you'll have lower top 14 job prospects. If you graduate in the middle or bottom, you'll be unemployed.

Howard degree is very portable.

Lawyer: Hey Galt, where'd you go to school?

Galt: Howard

Lawyer: That's a great school. A damn fine school.


I'm sure its the same.

Unemployed at the middle of the class? for real? damn. Also, could you define "top"? Top 20%, 10%, top third?

THANKS.

[BlackJack21]

HULS does get a lot of clout for being the "Harvard of the HBCU's" plus its prime location. Anyone that is able to attend has an oppurtunity to fill firms quotas provided you excel academically at HULS. I think its a nice alternative to those minorities who are not able to get into the top 14,25, or whatever you want to call it.