<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I've done a lot of lurking in this forum (and in others), and was wondering if anyone could give a soon-to-be 1L any advice before starting. I'll be going to Georgetown Law next fall. Any help would be appreciated - I find myself at a loss and generally unsure of what to expect.</p>
<p>have you tried the georgetown forum on TLS?</p>
<p>Wait this year out and re-apply. You have no business going to GULC in ITE.</p>
<p>I heard something like 1/3 of GULC 2Ls place into BigLaw. If your goal is getting a firm job, you should probably study hard to hit comfortably above median.</p>
<p>Expect 200k in debt and three years of the prime of your life gone. Don’t expect employment.</p>
<p>loljk.</p>
<p>Consult TLS.</p>
<p>Way too much cynicism and snarky comments here. KWU, since you know nothing about wayward_trojan, your remarks are meaningless. He/she may be going to GWU on a full scholarship, or have savings that will pay for the degree without any debt. </p>
<p>So, to the OP, since you asked for advice, here is mine (I am not a law student, my DD is) which you can take or dismiss. </p>
<p>Get ready to enjoy fully the law school experience. Join a journal. Get involved in a legal clinic or some extra-curricular activity where you interact with actual clients. Make friends. You wouldn’t know it from this board, but there are a lot of nice, interesting, and intellectually curious people in law school. Of course, the grades are important, and you will study your @## off. Still, you’ll need to have some life outside of school because law students also seem to stress each other about grades and getting jobs. In a city like Washington, though, that shouldn’t be too hard. Go to museums, go to church, or drive out to the Shenandoah Park. In other words, have a life, and good luck with your studies!</p>
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He’s going to Gtown. Now whether that’s on scholarship, idk, but much of what has been said here has validity. If he wants BIGLAW, he needs to be significantly above median. </p>
<p>Your advice was good, but I think its important to address the fundamental problem first…choosing GULC in ITE.</p>
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<p>This is credited. Choosing a lower T14, especially Gtown, paying at sticker seems like a very risky financial gamble ITE if someone has sights on BigLaw. Worst comes worst, you can always drop out of law school and cut losses if OCI doesn’t work out and you are out for BigLaw.</p>
<p>XOXOshtick4lyfe: I have applied, been admitted, and intend to matriculate in the fall. These are the givens. Do you have any other advice?</p>
<p>I’d be graduating in 2014. I’ve heard that the legal job market will have improved significantly from the present - thoughts? </p>
<p>With regard to tuition, money is not an issue for me. Consequently, I am not necessarily seeking a job in biglaw - I have no frame of reference for legal jobs yet and am not sure what would be a good fit for me, but my hunch is that I would care little for the lifestyle of biglaw (though I admittedly base that solely off of what I’ve heard and read). Thoughts on the lifestyle of biglaw?</p>
<p>Hmmm…</p>
<p>Look, that’s great you have the money to go there. Let’s take that out of the equation. Gtown is a class size of like 700. Median is 350. There just aren’t jobs there to cater to that amount of kids. You could say you don’t want biglaw (which I guarantee will change…by the 3rd yr everyone wants biglaw), in which case you could go for non-profit or gov, right? WRONG! There’s still too many kids at gtown for that. So, lets assume you still want to make the terrible decision of going to gtown…</p>
<p>Stay focused. For exam prep, don’t go ape **** with commercial prep books. Focus on practicing exams. Some people go crazy with case law, which is fine. But you really need to learn how to issue spot, and case law is only going to help so much with that. Next, try to get your WPM up. It will help a ton while taking the exam.</p>
<p>The legal market will not have improved drastically. This is a terrible myth perpetuated by the TLS thinktank. The legal market is a lagging indicator. It is the last industry to improve in any market. Firms are over saturated, and even if the market were to improve (like you say), firms have learnt their lesson…not to over extend themselves at OCI. What does this mean? Future associate class sizes will be half the size of the 05-07 golden age. And still, for class of '14…the first people to feel the effects from the improved market will be at the top–and slowly trickle down. Harvard, NYU Chicago, and Columbia will have solid OCI results. Then the next few years, MVP will begin to start placing very well. Gtown will be the very last of the T14 to feel the effects. A ton of secondary markets are still not even taking summer associates–forget layoff pwnge. </p>
<p>You could do so much more with a Penn UG than with a gtown JD. I imagine your GPA is 3.5+. Just go tier 2 consulting->MBA. </p>
<p>I strongly recommend you to reconsider this decision. Don’t feel like your forced into it. 3 yrs is not worth the opportunity cost where you could’ve gained valuable work experience. Law school is an investment, and when you make a comment like " I’ve heard that the legal job market will have improved significantly from the present," it shows you haven’t done the research. If I gave you 250k would you just randomly put it into equity you know nothing about? No! You’d do your research. </p>
<p>This may seem harsh. And I’m not trying to be harsh at all. I’m trying to give you a different perspective.</p>
<p>“Money is not an issue for me.”</p>
<p>I wish I could say that…</p>
<p>XOXO, who exactly are you? Your profile says you’re 21 and all your posts seem to bash Georgetown Law. I’m confused.</p>
<p>If OP is independently wealthy then I think going to GULC is a perfectly reasonable decision.</p>
<p>OP: Your recruiting season will be August of 2012, even if you’re class of 2014. Legal markets have already improved quite a bit, but they’re unlikely to improve too much more within the next year and a half or so.</p>
<p>It’s unclear precisely what your career goals are. If you’re already wealthy and you happen to think GULC would be a fun place to spend a few years, then I don’t see any reason not to go.</p>
<p>Law school is a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE investment for almost everybody these days. Unless you get into HYS Law or full-pay at a T20, I would steer clear of law school and work anywhere and I mean almost anywhere. Take Tier 2 Consulting like Accenture/Deloitte if you can in a heartbeat.</p>
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<p>This is false.</p>
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This is the credited response.</p>
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This is not.</p>
<p>Test Hypo: Waiter in TGIF > CLS grad?</p>
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<p>Its a trick question. The CLS (Chapman Law School) grad is unemployed.</p>
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<p>“Unless you get into HYS Law or full-rude at Columbia, I would steer clear of law school and work anywhere and I mean almost anywhere.”</p>
<p>Fixed for posterity.</p>
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<p>LOL. Best response.</p>
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<p>Roughly 65-70% of my CCN class placed in big firms after 2L year (this was interviewing in 2009, the worst year). Even more obtained jobs through 3L OCI in 2010 (S&C, DPW, Simpson Thacher, K&E, and many others took loads of 3Ls).</p>
<p>I myself earned a job at a V5 with grades that traditionally are not in their range.</p>
<p>So, to be frank, this notion that “it’s HYS or bust” is just false. While I am hesitant about some T14s, I’m not at all worried about CCN. And I think, going forward, it has gotten and will get better.</p>