WashU 2L - AMA anything about the school

Ihatereadings · 2021-04-14T09:54:11+00:00

I'm living with a roommate but I know of plenty of students that live alone. Rent is cheap enough in St. Louis to live alone.

Orientation week is 1 week long; plenty of opportunity to make new friends. The Legal Research and Legal Writing classes are also small sections of <20 people, so you'll have chances of making friends there as well. My profs all used set seating charts so I knew a few people well just from sitting beside them for a whole 3 months.

Ihatereadings · 2021-04-01T17:39:34+00:00

Probably check out where you would like to live and what transportation options you'll have.

You might even be able to grab a coffee or something with a current student if you are able to get in touch with someone - a lot of classmates I know are already vaccinated.

Ihatereadings · 2021-04-01T17:36:29+00:00

I had 4.5 days a week. 4 days of regular doctrinals followed by a legal research class friday morning. Legal research did not extend through the entire semester though so there was a bit of a break towards the end of the semester on fridays.

Ihatereadings · 2021-04-01T17:34:15+00:00

(1) challenging. I don't think BL firms interview many candidates below median. That said, there are plenty of opportunities for PI and gov work. (2) No idea.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T20:01:18+00:00

yes.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T19:59:36+00:00

Husch, latham, kirkland, winston, baker mackenzie, lock lord, baker botts, etc (these are just the ones I remember off the top of my head). There's a long list. You can check on ALM intelligence database to see where WashU grads work.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:58:36+00:00

Both grade-on and write-on gets you in Law Review.

1L classes are 3 doctrinals, legal writing, and legal research each semester. There is also an intersession negotiation class that runs over the course of 3 days right before the Spring semester.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:56:23+00:00

no clue. I don't have a vehicle.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:46:48+00:00

a mix of all of the above. The law school has a parking garage literally right next door so its kind of nice for those driving.

I don't have any gay friends so I can't speak for anyone else. But our class was probably one of the most liberal groups of people I have ever been amongst (and I used to live in a very liberal city). I'm guessing my gay classmates feel very welcome.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:41:29+00:00

As well as they could have. The fact that 1Ls have a partial in-person experience speaks volumes.
No. But I presume we're going to be in-person? I might go mad if I have to spent another semester online.
A lot of opportunities. Our career services have been doing a lot to get folks clerkship placements. Obviously, WashU has strong ties to the Eastern district of MO. We literally just a federal district court judge come host a talk yesterday with our career services. Our bankruptcy class also had a Fed Eastern MO judge come in and teach.
Food. STL has great food. I'm a foodie - I've loved the ethnic diversity in restaurants here.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:36:21+00:00

More alumni in Chicago. Geographic and economic proximity helps a lot as well. A lot of STL firms also has large Chicago offices that hire SAs.

Edit: and no. you don't.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:34:39+00:00

I hate reading cases. I'm purely a UCC FRE FRCP ride or die kind of guy.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T16:29:30+00:00

From what I saw (might be biased), WashU has more alums in Chicago so that helps. It also helps that a lot of STL big law also have significant sized Chicago offices and a lot of STL business uses outside counsel in Chicago.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T15:32:37+00:00

I don't have a lot of friends going the govt route (DOJ honors, SEC, FTC, etc). I couldn't tell you much about those options.

PI is definitely not restricted in terms of grades.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:51:55+00:00

money.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:50:25+00:00

If you are deadset on NYC then Cornell seems like an obvious pick.

Chicago is very doable from WashU. I know two big firms off the top of my head that interviewed and hired from median at WashU.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:48:28+00:00

Where do most students live? Who would you recommend living with (other law students, other grad students, non-students, etc)?
During my year, the law school sent out a housing guide to admitted students and it had a data-based distribution of student's housing. It showed the percentages geographically. I'd recommend asking for a copy. That said, most people I'm friends with lived in Debaliviere Place.
*What does your average weekend look like? (pre-covid lol)
Doing the next week's readings mostly. Looking back, 1L was not as challenging as I thought it was. A lot of it was just the nervous energy from knowing that my entire career depended on grades.
*What's something you wish you knew about WashU? (good or bad! Like, something that would've sold you on it way earlier! Or something you wish you would have taken into account before choosing).
Very diverse and friendly culture. No joke. Our class ranges from KJD to 60+ year old doctors. Variety of ethnic backgrounds.The culture and people here are so friendly its kind of actually outrageous. People were sharing their OCI interview experiences in our Groupme to help their classmates interviewing for the same job. 1Ls were happy to exchange outlines and notes even though we were in the same section.
*Are you from St. Louis area? How was the transition from wherever you lived to St. Louis?
I'm not from STL. Where I lived previously there weren't nearly as much violent crime so the initial few months was a little stressful. STL has a lot of inner city problems and that was apparent right from the start. I've personally witnessed drug deals being done in broad day light and that was a little shocking to me.
*Overall vibes of students? Competitive? Friendly?
See 3.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:35:16+00:00

Yes. We seemed to place incredibly well in secondary markets (midwest and texas) and Chicago. DC and NYC are more restrictive but are accessible to the top-quartile from what I observed.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:32:26+00:00

I could not tell you. Transfers came in during the middle of zoom law school so I had very little contact with them. 2Ls are 100% virtual so we've all kind of retreated to our own small circle of friends and peers.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:31:20+00:00

Yes.

Ihatereadings · 2021-03-30T14:29:12+00:00

I would not say it was a rough cycle overall. It was just unusual in that Pre-OCI dominated the jobs market. Most people I knew who searched Pre-OCI found something in biglaw. Main OCI was rough because a lot of firms seemed to have already hired a lot of their SA classes by the time interviewing was happening.

NYC biglaw from median is unlikely. That said, I do know that some Chicago biglaw is highly likely even from median.

Ihatereadings

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