Thanks, WildCat.The reason I'm so obsessed with USD (despite the fact that I applied in October and didn't hear crap all from them until June) is that my brother goes there for undergrad. I'm not sure if I'll apply again, but I like the thought.Do you work part-time, or are you just doing the part-time program and studying a lot? Do you know if you can still defer your student loans from undergrad if you're only going part-time? All these questions.
But a lot of being a lawyer is working with others, and they want to employ people that they themselves want to work with. They all agreed that a secretary who worked at their firm, who was well liked, and did reasonably well at USD (top 40% or so) would be more than competitive against a top 10% Harvard grad.
Quote from: AZWildcat on December 24, 2005, 08:17:05 PM But a lot of being a lawyer is working with others, and they want to employ people that they themselves want to work with. They all agreed that a secretary who worked at their firm, who was well liked, and did reasonably well at USD (top 40% or so) would be more than competitive against a top 10% Harvard grad.As a 2L, I agree w/ the fact that going to a regional school only makes it more difficult to get a job somewhere else, but certainly not impossible. However, I disagree w/ the idea that firms are looking for someone that they'd like to work w/. It's all based on grades. Having gone through OCI and observing who got callbacks, I find it hard to believe that the ppl ranked in the top ten (as in ppl, not percent), have that much better of a personality than most of the ppl outside of the top ten. Yet, they got 90% of the callbacks.
I think you're missing the point of that particular post. The OP was stating basically that if you have a repore with someone in a firm, then it can compensate for attending a lower ranked school, or having lower class rankings....Think of it as a strong sense of justice compensating for weaker minimum contacts...(Da_n you Burger King!!!!!!!!!!)This is right, Devil Dawg missed the point. Networking can put you ahead, BUT it is obviously only good for the area networked. You can only be an intern at one place at one time... that Harvard grad has the advantage every other time. So your anaolgy to callbacks really is erroneous. Callbacks are based on volume, my particular example illustrated a specific case.Quote from: giraffe205 on December 26, 2005, 04:30:16 PMQuote from: AZWildcat on December 24, 2005, 08:17:05 PM But a lot of being a lawyer is working with others, and they want to employ people that they themselves want to work with. They all agreed that a secretary who worked at their firm, who was well liked, and did reasonably well at USD (top 40% or so) would be more than competitive against a top 10% Harvard grad.As a 2L, I agree w/ the fact that going to a regional school only makes it more difficult to get a job somewhere else, but certainly not impossible. However, I disagree w/ the idea that firms are looking for someone that they'd like to work w/. It's all based on grades. Having gone through OCI and observing who got callbacks, I find it hard to believe that the ppl ranked in the top ten (as in ppl, not percent), have that much better of a personality than most of the ppl outside of the top ten. Yet, they got 90% of the callbacks.
It takes a lot to build a rapport w/ a firm. I'm sorry to break it to you guys, but as 1Ls you won't be invited to private, swanky cocktail parties where laywers and judges hang out. Even if you were, do you think these attys are going to remember who you are. If they do, chances are they'll just tell you "Talk to Cindy. She handles all of our recruiting." Also, what makes you think that they'll call in a favor for some 1L or 2L that they don't know that well. Once you guys go through OCI, you'll see that no one gets their jobs based of their networking abilities. Sure some will get jobs b/c of family ties but not b/c of some stranger.
Its far smaller than major markets like NYC and LA. USD is the strongest school in the 'region' but its not like people from UCLA/USC/national schools stay away from here. I realize you're probably set in your decision and you may even do well here but be prepared for the risk of losing scholarship and having to pay off some mighty large loans for the next 10-20 years. Its certainly not as dire as cal western or TJ, but there are quite a lot of people who end up getting screwed. As far as the great 'new' career services department;http://usdlaw.blogspot.com/2005/08/load-of-crap-or-law-school-career.htmlYou have an excellent LSAT/GPA. I would absolutely not go here with those numbers unless they offered a full scholarship with no GPA requirements and you did not intend biglaw.
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Topic: USD 1L Happy to take questions (Read 8374 times)
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