Washington & Lee Admit Day (3/19)

[ronin3782]

Also, can anyone help me from a CA perspective. Cause i plan on coming back here to work. They kept saying how this guy Klinedinst can hook you up easy with a job. But the guy has a starting salary of 80K! Here in LA, thats less than out of work homeless beggars make. I made almost that much working just out of college!!!

Will i be able to compete against SC and UCLA kids for the standard 125K jobs out here.

Well, I am also from CA and am a little concerned with the options available if I wanted to come back. When I met with director of Admissions and brought up my concerns, the only thing she really told me was that there was an attorney in San Diego who only hired W&L grads. Not too reassuring. Also, I have many close family friends who are partners in major firms in SoCal, and they don't know much about W&L. When I asked them to compare W&L to schools like BC and BU, I have heard numerous times that you would have a much better chance finding something in CA than with a degree from W&L. Although I love W&L, I am wondering if it would be a better career move to go somewhere a little more well known nationally. I like having options. Any thoughts

Ya, that person in SD is Klinedinst. He has offices in SD, LA, OC, and Sac. BUT 80K to start is not nearly par with what most attorneys in big law make around here. I know kids who make almost double that coming out, and at least 120K is standard. 80K...comon! Unless he has you on a partner track in 4 years, I don't think its funny at all.

Right now, if I get in at USC, I will go for sure over schools even like Georgetown and Cornell. The Hastings option right now would be a tossup if i had to choose between that and W&L. The whole crowd and people at Hastings is too much like my alma mater of UCLA, the big public school red tape and cutthroat nature is so anti 'what i liked at W&L'.

[bobo21]

Klinedisnst doesn't ONLY hire from W&L, but he does hire a lot.  I talked to him and asked him to compare the W&L grads to other recent hires, such as Loyola, USC and San Diego.  I didn't realize he only paid $80K, that does kind of suck.  But at the same time, recruiting managers at all the big firms are aware of the rankings, and are aware of W&L.  I don't think it would be more difficult than say Emory, or Wash U.

Go to Martindale.com and look for attorneys from Washington & Lee in your particular state.  That should give you an idea.

[kg201]

Also, can anyone help me from a CA perspective. Cause i plan on coming back here to work. They kept saying how this guy Klinedinst can hook you up easy with a job. But the guy has a starting salary of 80K! Here in LA, thats less than out of work homeless beggars make. I made almost that much working just out of college!!!

Will i be able to compete against SC and UCLA kids for the standard 125K jobs out here.

Well, I am also from CA and am a little concerned with the options available if I wanted to come back. When I met with director of Admissions and brought up my concerns, the only thing she really told me was that there was an attorney in San Diego who only hired W&L grads. Not too reassuring. Also, I have many close family friends who are partners in major firms in SoCal, and they don't know much about W&L. When I asked them to compare W&L to schools like BC and BU, I have heard numerous times that you would have a much better chance finding something in CA than with a degree from W&L. Although I love W&L, I am wondering if it would be a better career move to go somewhere a little more well known nationally. I like having options. Any thoughts

Ya, that person in SD is Klinedinst. He has offices in SD, LA, OC, and Sac. BUT 80K to start is not nearly par with what most attorneys in big law make around here. I know kids who make almost double that coming out, and at least 120K is standard. 80K...comon! Unless he has you on a partner track in 4 years, I don't think its funny at all.

Right now, if I get in at USC, I will go for sure over schools even like Georgetown and Cornell. The Hastings option right now would be a tossup if i had to choose between that and W&L. The whole crowd and people at Hastings is too much like my alma mater of UCLA, the big public school red tape and cutthroat nature is so anti 'what i liked at W&L'.

Yeah, 80K kinda stinks in comparison to other starting salaries at most top 25 law schools.   I know graduates of Hastings who started at 130K and even Loyola grads that started well over 100K.  To be honest, I don't want to rely on only one or even several connections when beginning my career.  I want to have a broader range of opportunities.  I guess W&L's biggest positive aspect(small school) is also it's biggest negative (small alumni base).  I just need to figure out if the benefits of a small law school education is worth the career drawbacks after I graduate.

[Fred Hits]

thast kind of my worry too- except philly area instead of cal (i want to stay in the northeast after school)

If you want to stay in the NE, I'd definitely go to either BC or GW.  Those are two great schools and both degrees offer a lot of opportunities in the NE. 

that is exactly why i was 85% set on BC last week- but then i got  my financial aid back and BC would cost me 60k more over the 3 years---so im not sure anymore what the best move would be

[kg201]

thast kind of my worry too- except philly area instead of cal (i want to stay in the northeast after school)

If you want to stay in the NE, I'd definitely go to either BC or GW.  Those are two great schools and both degrees offer a lot of opportunities in the NE. 

that is exactly why i was 85% set on BC last week- but then i got  my financial aid back and BC would cost me 60k more over the 3 years---so im not sure anymore what the best move would be

Well, if you look at it in the long term, you'll probably end up paying off that extra 60K rather quickly since you'd probably be making 20-25K more per year if you went to BC and worked in the NE.  Plus, you'd have a better chance at landing a high paying job with BC's strong alumni base.  Although money is a very big motivating factor for me, I realize that all(most) law students have large amounts of loans to pay off.  In comparison to the amount of money you will earn over the course of your career, 60K will seem like a drop in the bucket...and also the best 60K investment you ever made. 

[Fred Hits]

rite but then i can also make good money getting out of WL and pay that debt off even faster- bc seems like i would def get a good paying job and have a bunch of debt- WL i would get a good job, and a chance for a good high paying job--- i guess the real thing is 'can i get just as good of a high paying job out of WL as i can out of BC'---the intuitive answer would seem to be 'no' but im not sure if that is really the answer--maybe WL grads just dont tend to try and get those jobs

[bobo21]

rite but then i can also make good money getting out of WL and pay that debt off even faster- bc seems like i would def get a good paying job and have a bunch of debt- WL i would get a good job, and a chance for a good high paying job--- i guess the real thing is 'can i get just as good of a high paying job out of WL as i can out of BC'---the intuitive answer would seem to be 'no' but im not sure if that is really the answer--maybe WL grads just dont tend to try and get those jobs

I think they have a lot of people who clerk, and do other stuff that doesn't pay as well.  Accordingly, the average salary could be lower than a school that sends most of its grads to the private sector.

[Fred Hits]

the salary figures they list tho are for the private sector

[bobo21]

the salary figures they list tho are for the private sector

Oops.  Maybe it's just that cheap southern living then...

[stuvxyz]

W&L places mostly in the southeast which is substantially less expensive than New England or NYC.

$80,000 per year in Charlotte, North Carolina is nearly economically identical to $130,000 in New York City.  When it is all said and done, you will be able to save virtually exactly the same amount of money every month for the future and to pay off loans. 

Don't let inflated cost of living fool you--the ONLY cities that pay $125,000 starting are New York City, parts of downtown Los Angeles & San Fran., D.C. and downtown Chicago--and there's a reason: It's EXPENSIVE TO LIVE THERE.

Even Atlanta doesn't start any higher than $100,000 per year.  It's all relative to cost of living.  You shouldn't have to take an economics class to realize this.