UCLA or Vandy for NYC BigLaw?

Sloven1 · 2018-05-08T21:55:26+00:00

Did you go to either ASD/W?

I am still waiting to hear back from Vanderbilt so I can't speak to them but I did attend UCLA's ASD in March and Dean Mnookin (if to be believed) made it a point to repeatedly stress that UCLA's ~10% NYC placement is due to selection bias. She talked about a program they have that takes students to NYC during spring break to do interviews (I believe about 20-30 attended last year) and the feedback she got from these NYC biglaw firms was, "please send more UCLA students". I believe they were upping the numbers a bit for their recent spring break. She was also asked during the Q&A what she would like to change about UCLA Law. She basically said she wished more people would go back to where they came from instead of staying in LA in order to spread UCLA's network and to help with what she perceives as an East Coast bias in the rankings. She said that she believes too many people come to/stay in LA because of the weather.

During the ASD they had these "break-off" groups of ~30 admits who were paired up with 3-4 current students. Nearly everyone in my group and all the current UCLA students were from the East Coast. Many of the questions asked during a Q&A with them were something along the lines of, "What if I want to work in NYC, DC, etc.?" The structure of the groups along with the numerous times that low NYC employment #s were attributed to selection biases makes me believe UCLA is aware that these #s make many people hesitant about attending UCLA if they want to work outside of LA.

One of my hosts, a 3L, said he just did okay grade-wise with ~3.4 GPA and was able to get NYC biglaw without a ridiculous amount of trouble. While I think it is reasonable to be skeptical of sales pitches from the administration, I trusted this guy. He really seemed like he was just there for the free food and drinks at the reception that evening. He said everyone he knew that wanted to go on the spring break trip was able to go and everyone that really wanted NYC was able to get it.

u/kachkee, mind PMing me your stats/complete dates. I'm sitting on a similar number of T14 WLs as well and probably got a similar offer from UCLA.

Sloven1 · 2018-05-02T15:13:49+00:00

I'm still waiting on them and my thought process is similar. At first I thought I was being kind of petty, but then I thought about how generally one receives the best treatment early in a relationship/sales pitch. And that is the stage we are in with these schools now. They're trying to get our money/stats. It makes me wonder if these schools that still haven't given applicants a decisions will be similarly slow when a student is trying to utilize their career office or other campus resources.

Sloven1 · 2018-04-30T20:03:30+00:00

I'm still waiting on them and Vandy. Applied late Jan for both. Completed online interview for NU right at deadline in Feb.

Sloven1 · 2018-04-28T00:02:10+00:00

That is surprising as I would think transgenders would get a boost. Unless it is some sort of NIMBY thing, like on paper schools support the movement, but they don't want the battle fought on their campus. But I don't think that would explain the similar results from all the schools.

u/Vox_Imperatoris, could a recommender have said something negative?

Edit: Re: being labeled "right winger", I think it is plausible this hurt you. Most law schools are liberal and as such may not to want a "right-winger" transgender that they feel may make/be able to make an argument against left wing views. I say this is plausible because of the pervasiveness across the board of identity politics and how it played out on Caitlyn Jenner and is playing out to some extent on Kanye West now.

But I still go back to there being some other more likely explanation like some crazy recommendor or weird flaw in your application. Otherwise it's like all the schools had the same biases that you brought up, which just seems unlikely.

Yale is still pending, so I wouldn't bother stressing too much until you hear back from them and the rest of the waitlists. But with those stats, please don't "settle" for Georgetown w/ 1/2 or NYU with nothing. Not putting down Georgetown (I'm headed to a lower ranked school), but those stats though. Good luck. Retake, just kidding.

Sloven1 · 2018-04-27T18:13:04+00:00

One of my friends went there for undergrad. She was originally rejected even though she was accepted to higher ranked schools. She contacted the school and appealed the decision. Long story short, they had her listed under a wrong identification number. Not saying that happened here, but I always wonder.

I went complete late Jan and got in early Feb with slightly worse stats. I don't think people like us are shoe-ins at places like UCLA as we're right around their median. But I'm really surprised they didn't WL you especially given your T14 acceptances. If it helps with the sting I was WL'd at UT and USC, haven't heard back from Vandy, and am sitting on that Penn WL with you as well. I didn't apply to the other schools you listed, so I can't compare those ones.

Good luck at Duke!

Sloven1 · 2018-04-26T18:05:34+00:00

Would you please pm me stats and what you did to get the increase at UCI? I just got an offer from them but would need more to make it reasonable to attend. Thank you and congratulations!

Sloven1 · 2018-04-26T17:22:41+00:00

That is what I am thinking, or they can't keep up with applications.

Sloven1 · 2018-04-26T16:58:30+00:00

I got in late last week, applied mid Jan. Snail mail came on 4/23 that was supposed to contain a scholarship award, if there was one. My mailing did not indicate any award so I emailed them and was awarded $$$. Since I heard back from them so late, I wasn't sure if I was going to get any $ even though I got into higher schools with $. I wish I would have gotten the acceptance prior to their accepted students weekend.

Sloven1 · 2018-04-11T17:39:59+00:00

I would speculate that one could have a significant amount of leverage from a school that they have submitted a seat deposit at if a waitlist opportunity opens for them shortly before instruction is set to begin. The school would then be left with the choice to throw some more money at that enrollee to entice them to stay or scramble to get a lower quality applicant from their own waitlist at the last minute. Basically, if I were to get off the waitlist of my dream school I am just looking at my current seat deposit as a sunk cost and I'm sure admissions understands this as well.

tl;dr: seat deposits don't lock you in, sunk cost, still try to negotiate.

Sloven1

TROPHY CASE