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any updates on negotiations? has anybody tried leveraging a GULC offer?

Checking in - accepted today to PT program. Whether I go will depend entirely on $$ - I'm assuming this late that most of the $ have already been handed out, and they don't seem to have given much to PTers in the past.

supersplittysplitter wrote:any updates on negotiations? has anybody tried leveraging a GULC offer?

I posted about this in the applicants thread, but I got a response from the Admissions Office along the lines of: we're reviewing scholarships mid-April. Kind of a bummer.

Then again, see (from earlier in the thread):

flawschoolkid wrote:

giantswan wrote:Not planning on it just yet (also waiting on scholarship decisions) but it's definitely in the mix.

Anyone know how GW is with negotiating? If I could get them to play ball with my WUSTL offer than GW would be an incredibly attractive option.

GW more than trippled my scholarship after I said the word georgetown.

commandercup wrote:

supersplittysplitter wrote:any updates on negotiations? has anybody tried leveraging a GULC offer?

I posted about this in the applicants thread, but I got a response from the Admissions Office along the lines of: we're reviewing scholarships mid-April. Kind of a bummer.

Then again, see (from earlier in the thread):

flawschoolkid wrote:

giantswan wrote:Not planning on it just yet (also waiting on scholarship decisions) but it's definitely in the mix.

Anyone know how GW is with negotiating? If I could get them to play ball with my WUSTL offer than GW would be an incredibly attractive option.

GW more than trippled my scholarship after I said the word georgetown.

Pretty sure that was a joke lol

niplomo wrote:

commandercup wrote:

supersplittysplitter wrote:any updates on negotiations? has anybody tried leveraging a GULC offer?

I posted about this in the applicants thread, but I got a response from the Admissions Office along the lines of: we're reviewing scholarships mid-April. Kind of a bummer.

Then again, see (from earlier in the thread):

flawschoolkid wrote:

giantswan wrote:Not planning on it just yet (also waiting on scholarship decisions) but it's definitely in the mix.

Anyone know how GW is with negotiating? If I could get them to play ball with my WUSTL offer than GW would be an incredibly attractive option.

GW more than trippled my scholarship after I said the word georgetown.

Pretty sure that was a joke lol

Not gonna lie I couldn't tell if that guy was being serious or not haha
I mean it does make sense that GW would try to steal a few students from GULC with big $$$

I'm not gonna give details, that would out me. Not a joke though.

To the person asking about the Aston - I lived there my 1L year. The apartments are okay. They're DC-sized studios, with a serviceable (but not awesome) kitchen with a breakfast bar. There's a walk through closet to the bathroom. My bathroom had some broken tiles and stuff in it (and this was 2010-2011), I have no idea if they fixed that kind of stuff in the interim. Standard dorm-room type furniture. All utilities are included. It's about what you'd expect for the area, in terms of size for price. Not high-end or anything, but not a complete hell-hole.

I liked living there just fine - it's near school, and because lots of other 1Ls are there there were plenty of people to hang out with, if I felt like it. Flipside is that it's a building of 1Ls, who tend to be high-stress anyway, so during finals people can get a little bit overwhelmed by that much anxiety in one place.

All that said, having lived in DC/NoVA for law school, and now looking at apartments for when I come back to start my next job, you can get a better value further from the school. West End is one of the pricier neighborhoods in DC, so if you look beyond that, you'll definitely have cheaper options.

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buckiguy_sucks wrote:Mi-chan, where did you graduate in your class and what kind of opportunities did you have coming out?

I did well in law school. If you want more specific class-rank info than that, feel free to PM me. I had opportunities out of OCI to go biglaw, which I turned down in favor of going the government route. As a 3L, I snagged a good number of interviews for honors attorney jobs and judicial clerkships. I'm currently clerking in federal district court. Coming off my clerkship, I generally had a lot of options available to me. Most of my predecessor clerks went to biglaw firms, some went into various types of government service, and a few went on to do second clerkships before going to their firms. I had a number of interviews with government agencies (who, when you're applying from a clerkship, generally hire before firms do), and ended up accepting an offer to return to DC to work for the feds.

Sorry for the long response, c/o 2018, I don't mean to derail your thread or anything.

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buckiguy_sucks wrote:Would you say the opportunity to intern/network while you are in law school is a significant advantage? Say I went to school in a different city, but intended to live in DC so I summered in DC both summers, would I be at a significant disadvantage?

For government, I personally think the ability to network in DC is huge. I got interviews for jobs because someone in the office knew someone I'd interned with during the school year and they put in a word for me, etc. Location also made a difference, at least in my case, because the location meant I had more intern/extern opportunities because I could work year-round. More government internships made it easy to show dedication to public service and familiarity with the practice of law in a federal context. This is anecdata, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I have no idea how this plays in the private sector context. If I had to guess, I'd say it makes less of a difference if you're gunning for DC biglaw, which takes people from all over the country if their credentials are good enough. If you're looking at DC private sector/non-biglaw, then networking is going to be necessary, so I suspect it matters more in that context than even in government hiring.

It is definitely possible to go to school elsewhere and get to DC, if you do well enough. People end up there from all over. But I do believe there is a tangible benefit to being in DC during the year if you want to work there. How much that benefit is worth will vary by person, and depends on what the other options are.

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Fellow 2013 graduate (hi Mi-chan!) checking in. With regards to the Aston, I basically second everything Mi-chan said. For my 2L and 3L years I lived at HOVA - graduate student housing on Virginia Ave. Like Mi-Chan, I went to work in government service (California State Government), feel free to PM me with any questions.

buckiguy_sucks wrote:Is there an appreciable difference between GW and GULC graduates in the city not going for big law? Do Fed Gov/local gov/ PI positions care about being at one or the other or exclusively about class rank?

I think there is a small edge to GULC graduates, but class rank and history of public service are going to be much more important for Gov/PI.

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buckiguy_sucks wrote:Is the huge transfer class a concern? Do they become competitive for jobs? If you're at median before the transfer, could you get pushed down below median after it?

I'd say for the students who came in expecting their class size not to suddenly increase by 100 people, it's probably a concern. It can be a job-competition issue. I don't think it's a major issue during OCI, because transfers won't have any GW grades or rank yet when it happens, and they rarely do well at GW OCI (unless maybe they're IP people). In terms of applying for jobs later than that, though, they could be more competition. They'll have GW grades then, and access to the same sorts of things you do.

In terms of them "pushing you below median," no, I wouldn't worry about that. No one below the top 35% is given a percentile ranking. So, since your GPA won't change based on the inclusion of transfer students, employers will just see what your GPA is and estimate where you are in the class. So, so long as it's median-ish, your perceived ranking won't change. I guess they could conceivably push you out of the top-15% or top-35% (the only ranking current students are given).

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buckiguy_sucks wrote: Is that typical? I assumed schools ranked everybody.

I think most schools technically do rank everybody - and GW actually ranks everyone too - but where schools differ is whether and how they disclose rankings. I can't speak for other schools, but GW doesn't give anyone's exact rank until they graduate. Before then you're either top 15%, top 35%, or unranked.

buckiguy_sucks wrote:Anything you guys absolutely hated about GW?

Their incessant need to continually raise tuition? Other than that, not really. The school can get a little crowded sometimes, it wasn't really built for 1500 people to be there all at once, but that's a minor annoyance. I really enjoyed my experience at GW.

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buckiguy_sucks wrote:

mi-chan17 wrote: In terms of them "pushing you below median," no, I wouldn't worry about that. No one below the top 35% is given a percentile ranking. So, since your GPA won't change based on the inclusion of transfer students, employers will just see what your GPA is and estimate where you are in the class. So, so long as it's median-ish, your perceived ranking won't change. I guess they could conceivably push you out of the top-15% or top-35% (the only ranking current students are given).

Is that typical? I assumed schools ranked everybody.

Also Teoeo, what were your outcomes/first job/career path?

Anything you guys absolutely hated about GW?

I was not a great student but I had very strong PI resume. I got a job doing labor law for the California State Government. PM me if you want more detailed info.

Edit: I didn't dislike anything about GW. It was actually a nice atmosphere.

BU and BC gave me the same amount of money. do you think there is anyway to play them against each other?
GW also gave me the same amount and would be a lower COL because I could commute from home but that did not cause BU to raise my offer.

if i double deposited at BU and BC do you think my scholly would increase?

or is BC/BU and GW a better double deposit?

ideally i want to end up in boston but with more scholly money

thanks in advance!

Hey guys! Anyone know if there's a class of 2018 FB group yet? Or another website where we can connect? Looking for a roomie for a 2-bedroom in Capital Hill/Eastern Market area. I have a good number of friends in DC but would prefer to live with another law student for 1L.

buckiguy_sucks wrote:Someone else come up with questions!!

If you personally/anyone you know well rank below the median - how is that going now?

For 1L... how do you get assigned classes? do you have any say whatsoever as to who your professors will be? Is that kind of thing just automatically assigned to you when you are assigned your section? If you do have a choice in the matter, are there any professors for the 1L required classes to avoid?

tealeaves12 wrote:

buckiguy_sucks wrote:Someone else come up with questions!!

If you personally/anyone you know well rank below the median - how is that going now?

For 1L... how do you get assigned classes? do you have any say whatsoever as to who your professors will be? Is that kind of thing just automatically assigned to you when you are assigned your section? If you do have a choice in the matter, are there any professors for the 1L required classes to avoid?

I know a couple of people who ended up well below median, and both are gainfully employed as attorneys. It wasn't immediate - both were on pathways fellowships for the first half year or so after we graduated - but both are very happy with where they've ended up afterwards. (They're both in state government jobs, albeit in different states doing very different things.)

1Ls will be assigned to a section (except for the evening section, unless things have changed, which is opt-in). Classes are assigned by section. You don't have any say in who your professors will be, or what classes you'll take, so there's really no reason to scare you now by telling you which 1L professors *I'd* want to avoid.