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AppraisalWaisal

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GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Wed Oct 18, 2017 3:01 pm

Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.

AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:25 am

No questions, eh? :lol: :D

jacketyellow

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by jacketyellow » Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:45 pm

AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
Why is GW so damn expensive? Why did it drop in rankings? Are you a minority? What was your class rank? (These questions shouldn't disclose your identity.)

AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:47 pm

jacketyellow wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
Why is GW so damn expensive? Why did it drop in rankings? Are you a minority? What was your class rank? (These questions shouldn't disclose your identity.)
No idea exactly why its expensive but most big city/major market private law schools are expensive. GW undergrad is also known for having a lot of rich kids so I think that plays some role in the law school's pricing too. There was a popular instagram blog when I was there about student cars at GW, basically various pics of luxury exotic cars being driving by 19 yearolds.

the TLDR of why we dropped in the rankings (from my understanding) is because the faculty are greedy and they won't cut class sizes to coincide with decreasing law school applicants. The former dean actually did do this, but they ousted him because they didn't want smaller class sizes (less tuition).
https://www.gwhatchet.com/2013/02/25/la ... oust-dean/

Not a minority.
Graduated around top 1/3.

AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW student former and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:53 pm

AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.

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AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:53 pm

delete

CBlaw

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by CBlaw » Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:27 pm

Do you know what the average GPA for a graduate (3L)(50 percentile)

CBlaw

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by CBlaw » Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:28 pm

Whats the average GPA for a 3L?

MaxMcMann

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by MaxMcMann » Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:56 am

AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
I got one: I just put down my first deposit for GWU where I received a good amount of aid ($105k).

My hometown first choice, Fordham, waitlisted me in what I in retrospect consider a blessing in disguise. At this point, I probably wouldn't go there even if I got in for the personal reason that I always regretted staying in New York City for undergrad and Washington is a city I loved visiting back when I was hustling for hill staffer/issue advocacy jobs after college.

I wrote a LOCI to Georgetown (also waitlisted) which would be my dream school and my GPA in college is a meager 3.1 (no excuse - I partied instead of studying with predictable consequences). If I get in there, I'll go. I also have three outstanding T14 apps and another several waitlists (UMich, UVa, Northwestern).

The conventional wisdom of this board is all about prestige and that dovetails with my goal: while I'm not 100% set on what I want to do, I'll likely pursue biglaw (NY is my hometown - DC is perhaps a place I could fall in love with) or aim for a job at one of the higher tier federal agencies.

My question is, say Georgetown rejects me but UVA/Umich/Northwestern/Duke come through - presumably with zero or token merit aid. Would it be foolish for me to take GWU in your opinion?

The fact that it looks like 1/3 of the class gets the jobs I'm aiming for is worrying (as is the persistent rumor that those numbers are juked by patent bar eligible students), but my gut feeling is to take GWU unless a compelling offer is made elsewhere.

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AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:13 pm

MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
I got one: I just put down my first deposit for GWU where I received a good amount of aid ($105k).

My hometown first choice, Fordham, waitlisted me in what I in retrospect consider a blessing in disguise. At this point, I probably wouldn't go there even if I got in for the personal reason that I always regretted staying in New York City for undergrad and Washington is a city I loved visiting back when I was hustling for hill staffer/issue advocacy jobs after college.

I wrote a LOCI to Georgetown (also waitlisted) which would be my dream school and my GPA in college is a meager 3.1 (no excuse - I partied instead of studying with predictable consequences). If I get in there, I'll go. I also have three outstanding T14 apps and another several waitlists (UMich, UVa, Northwestern).

The conventional wisdom of this board is all about prestige and that dovetails with my goal: while I'm not 100% set on what I want to do, I'll likely pursue biglaw (NY is my hometown - DC is perhaps a place I could fall in love with) or aim for a job at one of the higher tier federal agencies.

My question is, say Georgetown rejects me but UVA/Umich/Northwestern/Duke come through - presumably with zero or token merit aid. Would it be foolish for me to take GWU in your opinion?

The fact that it looks like 1/3 of the class gets the jobs I'm aiming for is worrying (as is the persistent rumor that those numbers are juked by patent bar eligible students), but my gut feeling is to take GWU unless a compelling offer is made elsewhere.
Great question and honestly tough to answer. What are your goals? Both short and long term?

Short term I obv get you wnat to do big law, but what about in 10 years?

AppraisalWaisal

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:21 pm

CBlaw wrote:Do you know what the average GPA for a graduate (3L)(50 percentile)
It changes every year (obv). But usally somehwere between 3.35 and 3.4.

MaxMcMann

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by MaxMcMann » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:28 pm

AppraisalWaisal wrote:
MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
I got one: I just put down my first deposit for GWU where I received a good amount of aid ($105k).

My hometown first choice, Fordham, waitlisted me in what I in retrospect consider a blessing in disguise. At this point, I probably wouldn't go there even if I got in for the personal reason that I always regretted staying in New York City for undergrad and Washington is a city I loved visiting back when I was hustling for hill staffer/issue advocacy jobs after college.

I wrote a LOCI to Georgetown (also waitlisted) which would be my dream school and my GPA in college is a meager 3.1 (no excuse - I partied instead of studying with predictable consequences). If I get in there, I'll go. I also have three outstanding T14 apps and another several waitlists (UMich, UVa, Northwestern).

The conventional wisdom of this board is all about prestige and that dovetails with my goal: while I'm not 100% set on what I want to do, I'll likely pursue biglaw (NY is my hometown - DC is perhaps a place I could fall in love with) or aim for a job at one of the higher tier federal agencies.

My question is, say Georgetown rejects me but UVA/Umich/Northwestern/Duke come through - presumably with zero or token merit aid. Would it be foolish for me to take GWU in your opinion?

The fact that it looks like 1/3 of the class gets the jobs I'm aiming for is worrying (as is the persistent rumor that those numbers are juked by patent bar eligible students), but my gut feeling is to take GWU unless a compelling offer is made elsewhere.
Great question and honestly tough to answer. What are your goals? Both short and long term?

Short term I obv get you wnat to do big law, but what about in 10 years?
Honestly, I'm hoping I figure that out while in school. My placeholder ambition is "make partner" but I'm aware of the inherent challenges, the luck/politics factor, the state of the economy and any number of other events I can't plan for (beyond being generally well prepared and hard working) which would make that an impossibility.

My two directions are either go for M&A or tech transactions, so that I have in-house options open to me or general litigation and feel it out. Obviously the former is an NY centric route. I know some people who took fairly unconventional paths/got really unlucky in 2008 who managed to achieve very good outcomes. Basically, I figure a few years doing M&A will show me 1) I have what it takes to make partner and have whatever combination of drive/sales skills/masochism required to want it or 2) I can likely go do something relatively comfortable with a middle class salary.

However, out of the three firms I worked for as a paralegal I only did litigation in one. Unfortunately, it's a poor point of comparison as after two years of unrelated experience the big firms took a pass on me and I work in a small insurance defense shop, as I wanted litigation experience at any cost to make a more informed choice. Nonetheless, the hunches I got based on my previous experiences working with litigators were confirmed: something about it is inherently appealing to me in a way corporate isn't despite my narrow scope of experience, especially when it comes to lit. In case my biglaw litigation career comes to an end, I always wondered what former litigators do. Going to municipal or state level government forever doesn't seem all that appealing and Fed positions seem to be either pointless bureaucracy or insanely competitive. Also, I've seen a 60 year old associate (you read that right - not counsel) who gradually lateralled his way down over the decades get told to pack his things at a midlaw firm I worked at and it was a brutal preview of my potential Christmas future - which makes me look at corporate work.

Basically same dilemma as everybody: corporate seems to offer more optionality, litigation fulfills my Jack McCoy dreams in some vague theoretical way. I think I could be equally happy (note: equally is strictly relative and does not imply absolute happiness) in either one, and a V5 partner I spoke to recently confirmed that suspicion when she told that me a lawyer who would be great at M&A would likely be a great litigator and vice versa, with some exceptions.

As another thing to consider: I all but have a standing offer to come back to this insurance defense firm when I get my degree so I figure total unemployment is unlikely, and it's my gut feeling that my old midlaw firm would at least give me a shot as well. I did good work, am amiable and have kept in touch.

Honestly, I have a chip on my shoulder as I was a lifelong overachiever until college when I decided to prioritize my social life at the expense of school (to put it charitably), and am looking to get back to studying my ass off, doing student org stuff and working. DC seems especially appealing for that reason give the wide range of opportunities to work for free and hope to make it big - basically like the fashion people do in New York or the entertainment people do in LA, but with politics.

Does that help at all? I'm aware that it's incredibly wordy and I don't know that it offers anything for you to grab on to.

AppraisalWaisal

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Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:57 pm

Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by AppraisalWaisal » Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:48 pm

MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:
MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
I got one: I just put down my first deposit for GWU where I received a good amount of aid ($105k).

My hometown first choice, Fordham, waitlisted me in what I in retrospect consider a blessing in disguise. At this point, I probably wouldn't go there even if I got in for the personal reason that I always regretted staying in New York City for undergrad and Washington is a city I loved visiting back when I was hustling for hill staffer/issue advocacy jobs after college.

I wrote a LOCI to Georgetown (also waitlisted) which would be my dream school and my GPA in college is a meager 3.1 (no excuse - I partied instead of studying with predictable consequences). If I get in there, I'll go. I also have three outstanding T14 apps and another several waitlists (UMich, UVa, Northwestern).

The conventional wisdom of this board is all about prestige and that dovetails with my goal: while I'm not 100% set on what I want to do, I'll likely pursue biglaw (NY is my hometown - DC is perhaps a place I could fall in love with) or aim for a job at one of the higher tier federal agencies.

My question is, say Georgetown rejects me but UVA/Umich/Northwestern/Duke come through - presumably with zero or token merit aid. Would it be foolish for me to take GWU in your opinion?

The fact that it looks like 1/3 of the class gets the jobs I'm aiming for is worrying (as is the persistent rumor that those numbers are juked by patent bar eligible students), but my gut feeling is to take GWU unless a compelling offer is made elsewhere.
Great question and honestly tough to answer. What are your goals? Both short and long term?

Short term I obv get you wnat to do big law, but what about in 10 years?
Honestly, I'm hoping I figure that out while in school. My placeholder ambition is "make partner" but I'm aware of the inherent challenges, the luck/politics factor, the state of the economy and any number of other events I can't plan for (beyond being generally well prepared and hard working) which would make that an impossibility.

My two directions are either go for M&A or tech transactions, so that I have in-house options open to me or general litigation and feel it out. Obviously the former is an NY centric route. I know some people who took fairly unconventional paths/got really unlucky in 2008 who managed to achieve very good outcomes. Basically, I figure a few years doing M&A will show me 1) I have what it takes to make partner and have whatever combination of drive/sales skills/masochism required to want it or 2) I can likely go do something relatively comfortable with a middle class salary.

However, out of the three firms I worked for as a paralegal I only did litigation in one. Unfortunately, it's a poor point of comparison as after two years of unrelated experience the big firms took a pass on me and I work in a small insurance defense shop, as I wanted litigation experience at any cost to make a more informed choice. Nonetheless, the hunches I got based on my previous experiences working with litigators were confirmed: something about it is inherently appealing to me in a way corporate isn't despite my narrow scope of experience, especially when it comes to lit. In case my biglaw litigation career comes to an end, I always wondered what former litigators do. Going to municipal or state level government forever doesn't seem all that appealing and Fed positions seem to be either pointless bureaucracy or insanely competitive. Also, I've seen a 60 year old associate (you read that right - not counsel) who gradually lateralled his way down over the decades get told to pack his things at a midlaw firm I worked at and it was a brutal preview of my potential Christmas future - which makes me look at corporate work.

Basically same dilemma as everybody: corporate seems to offer more optionality, litigation fulfills my Jack McCoy dreams in some vague theoretical way. I think I could be equally happy (note: equally is strictly relative and does not imply absolute happiness) in either one, and a V5 partner I spoke to recently confirmed that suspicion when she told that me a lawyer who would be great at M&A would likely be a great litigator and vice versa, with some exceptions.

As another thing to consider: I all but have a standing offer to come back to this insurance defense firm when I get my degree so I figure total unemployment is unlikely, and it's my gut feeling that my old midlaw firm would at least give me a shot as well. I did good work, am amiable and have kept in touch.

Honestly, I have a chip on my shoulder as I was a lifelong overachiever until college when I decided to prioritize my social life at the expense of school (to put it charitably), and am looking to get back to studying my ass off, doing student org stuff and working. DC seems especially appealing for that reason give the wide range of opportunities to work for free and hope to make it big - basically like the fashion people do in New York or the entertainment people do in LA, but with politics.

Does that help at all? I'm aware that it's incredibly wordy and I don't know that it offers anything for you to grab on to.
I'm going to PM you on this.

MaxMcMann

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Re: GW grad and current Biglaw associate. Ask me Qs

Post by MaxMcMann » Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:33 pm

AppraisalWaisal wrote:
MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:
MaxMcMann wrote:
AppraisalWaisal wrote:Feel like procrastinating. If you have questions about GW, I will answer them here. If I don't get to it, I promise to check in on this thread periodically.

Edit: I'll add that I won't answer anything that would give away my identity but I'll try to answer to the max extent that I feel comfortable with.
I got one: I just put down my first deposit for GWU where I received a good amount of aid ($105k).

My hometown first choice, Fordham, waitlisted me in what I in retrospect consider a blessing in disguise. At this point, I probably wouldn't go there even if I got in for the personal reason that I always regretted staying in New York City for undergrad and Washington is a city I loved visiting back when I was hustling for hill staffer/issue advocacy jobs after college.

I wrote a LOCI to Georgetown (also waitlisted) which would be my dream school and my GPA in college is a meager 3.1 (no excuse - I partied instead of studying with predictable consequences). If I get in there, I'll go. I also have three outstanding T14 apps and another several waitlists (UMich, UVa, Northwestern).

The conventional wisdom of this board is all about prestige and that dovetails with my goal: while I'm not 100% set on what I want to do, I'll likely pursue biglaw (NY is my hometown - DC is perhaps a place I could fall in love with) or aim for a job at one of the higher tier federal agencies.

My question is, say Georgetown rejects me but UVA/Umich/Northwestern/Duke come through - presumably with zero or token merit aid. Would it be foolish for me to take GWU in your opinion?

The fact that it looks like 1/3 of the class gets the jobs I'm aiming for is worrying (as is the persistent rumor that those numbers are juked by patent bar eligible students), but my gut feeling is to take GWU unless a compelling offer is made elsewhere.
Great question and honestly tough to answer. What are your goals? Both short and long term?

Short term I obv get you wnat to do big law, but what about in 10 years?
Honestly, I'm hoping I figure that out while in school. My placeholder ambition is "make partner" but I'm aware of the inherent challenges, the luck/politics factor, the state of the economy and any number of other events I can't plan for (beyond being generally well prepared and hard working) which would make that an impossibility.

My two directions are either go for M&A or tech transactions, so that I have in-house options open to me or general litigation and feel it out. Obviously the former is an NY centric route. I know some people who took fairly unconventional paths/got really unlucky in 2008 who managed to achieve very good outcomes. Basically, I figure a few years doing M&A will show me 1) I have what it takes to make partner and have whatever combination of drive/sales skills/masochism required to want it or 2) I can likely go do something relatively comfortable with a middle class salary.

However, out of the three firms I worked for as a paralegal I only did litigation in one. Unfortunately, it's a poor point of comparison as after two years of unrelated experience the big firms took a pass on me and I work in a small insurance defense shop, as I wanted litigation experience at any cost to make a more informed choice. Nonetheless, the hunches I got based on my previous experiences working with litigators were confirmed: something about it is inherently appealing to me in a way corporate isn't despite my narrow scope of experience, especially when it comes to lit. In case my biglaw litigation career comes to an end, I always wondered what former litigators do. Going to municipal or state level government forever doesn't seem all that appealing and Fed positions seem to be either pointless bureaucracy or insanely competitive. Also, I've seen a 60 year old associate (you read that right - not counsel) who gradually lateralled his way down over the decades get told to pack his things at a midlaw firm I worked at and it was a brutal preview of my potential Christmas future - which makes me look at corporate work.

Basically same dilemma as everybody: corporate seems to offer more optionality, litigation fulfills my Jack McCoy dreams in some vague theoretical way. I think I could be equally happy (note: equally is strictly relative and does not imply absolute happiness) in either one, and a V5 partner I spoke to recently confirmed that suspicion when she told that me a lawyer who would be great at M&A would likely be a great litigator and vice versa, with some exceptions.

As another thing to consider: I all but have a standing offer to come back to this insurance defense firm when I get my degree so I figure total unemployment is unlikely, and it's my gut feeling that my old midlaw firm would at least give me a shot as well. I did good work, am amiable and have kept in touch.

Honestly, I have a chip on my shoulder as I was a lifelong overachiever until college when I decided to prioritize my social life at the expense of school (to put it charitably), and am looking to get back to studying my ass off, doing student org stuff and working. DC seems especially appealing for that reason give the wide range of opportunities to work for free and hope to make it big - basically like the fashion people do in New York or the entertainment people do in LA, but with politics.

Does that help at all? I'm aware that it's incredibly wordy and I don't know that it offers anything for you to grab on to.
I'm going to PM you on this.
Sorry, was out of the country for a week. I'd love some advice but I don't think PMs are a thing anymore. I would really appreciate if you send an email to maxmcmann69@gmail.com, a throwaway account I just created for this purpose.

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