SLU Or WashU?

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I scored a large firm job this summer as a 1L in St. Louis, and there are, as has been alluded to, about equal SLU, Wash U, and Mizzou students

If you don't mind telling us, how many 1Ls are working at the firm as SAs?

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Rage, how many 1Ls are at your firm as SAs?

[big - fat - box]

What are the terms of the scholarship at SLU?

The question to ask yourself is: if I lose my scholarship at SLU after first year, will I wish that I had gone to WashU?

What I'm getting at is don't count on X class rank @ SLU if you go there just b/c your grades and LSAT were good enough to get you into WashU.

To the guy that made top 5%, congrats. The reality is that schools like SLU are flooded with kids that went for scholarships and didn't make the cut after 1L. They thought they were going to be king at the local school and it didn't work out.

Honestly, if I were an MO resident and wanted to stay in MO and concerned about debt and such, I would just go to one of the Missouri state schools. Even if you got a scholly and lost it, you'd still get in-state tuition.

[upgrade]

What are the terms of the scholarship at SLU?

The question to ask yourself is: if I lose my scholarship at SLU after first year, will I wish that I had gone to WashU?

Last year, the requirement at SLU was just remaining in good standing.

If he loses his scholarship at SLU (even assuming it requires top 50%) he would likely have been in the bottom half at WUSTL.  Bottom half at WUSTL probably doesn't give substantially better options than bottom half at SLU.  At least he avoided one year's tuition at WUSTL ($40,000) and had a shot at continuing for free. 

I think the "loss" from choosing SLU is more pronounced if he finishes at the top of his class at SLU.  Then he will wonder if he could have been at the top of the class at WUSTL and the options he would have had in that scenario.  Of course being at the top of the class seems to be more about luck than anything else.

[RageLaw]

There are 6 or 7 1L's at my firm as SA's.

Just to clarify, too, what I was saying earlier:

If you want to stay in St. Louis, yes, SLU is not going to cause you any problems just of its being SLU.

However, I'll take that a step further and say, I still think a very high class rank at SLU can give you at least a foundation to work with for finding desirable employment in markets other than St. Louis, if you're willing to put in the legwork of making contacts, selling yourself, etc.

This may be the point that my Wash U colleagues disagree with me on.

[linquest]

I would take SLU unless the scholarship had a high class rank requirement like top 25% or something.  I remember from when I applied years ago that SLU had a high mandatory attrition rate--that they auto fail out something like the bottom 15% of the 1L class--but I don't know if that's still true or not. 

Also, usually the specialty rankings mean jack, but SLU's rank in Health Law is actually well-deserved.  I first heard of SLU Law when I was working in healthcare in NYC.  SLU's industry connections allow them to place some graduates directly in-house within the region, whereas in most other industries, you'd need to practice in a different setting for several years first.  A few months ago, I talked to an attorney (who also graduated from my LS, so obviously not trolling for SLU) high up in the Dept. of Health in DC who told me that SLU students really have a leg up on getting internships and post-grad jobs there as well. 

I think the hefty scholarship, your desire to stay local, and your intended focus on health law are sufficient to justify turning down the higher-ranked school.  JMHO though.

[yongsoo]

yongsoo, how's the legal market in St. Louis though?  Do most St. Luis grads get attorney jobs or are they just like any other tier 3/2 graduates who are struggling to find attorney jobs? 

I couldn't speak for the class itself as I am not familiar with SLU"s OCI statistics. I have simply observed and briefly researched that many of the law firms in STL have SLU alum with very few WUSTL. The BigLaw and National firms probably employ about as many Wash U as SLU, but all the other law firms lean significantly to SLU.

If it makes any difference though, anyone can enter the Write on competition at Wash U, whereas SLU only allows the top 50%