I graduated May 2000 so much of this still fresh in my memory.

The faculty is very accessible and of course there are a few professors to truly avoid (but that's true for any law school). With the exception for ONE PROFESSOR I had in Evidence Law (shall remain nameless), the faculty is NOT out to humiliate you or degrade you. The Wisconsin Law goal is to mold you into a great lawyer without destroying your fragile ego.

The facilities are top notch. The Law Building is very new and it's main library is incredibly stylish and attractive. Many undergrads especially during finals come to use the law school library-- which has RESTRICTED ACCESS during exam periods (meaning only law students/faculty can use the facilities for study).

The computer lab is awesome, decked with very new computers and great monitors. I recommend getting a portable with Ethernet access because much of the law library is/will be networked. You can surf the web in any study carousel.

Administration is very friendly. I did not have any problems with them during my three years. When I went on conferences on behalf of my student organization Administration reimbursed expeditiously!

UW is well respected in the mid-west. It's consistently a top 50 school. My only negative opinion is that while I was there Career Services gets a "B" grade. If you plan or expect to work out of state all I can say is good luck. Not surprisingly UW caters to the local market. A few non-WI law firms and corporations do come to UW to recruit, but they expect the upper-crust of the grading curve (true for all law schools). I pretty much found my clerkships and landed my job on my own efforts. I used the Career Services Office to proofread my resume and cover letters and for that they did an excellent job.

The curriculum tends to learn more toward business while I was there. Unfortunately UW's curriculum seems to be 75% core requirements and 25% free electives. So from 3 years of law school I really didn't have that much freedom in choosing what I wanted. HOWEVER, if you do not want the diploma privilege you need not follow the curriculum. (DIPLOMA PRIVILEGE = simply graduated from UW and you are LICENSED to practice in WI. NO BAR EXAM REQUIREMENT!!!!).

I wished there were more courses in civil rights work, public interest area of law.

UW does a SUPERB JOB of providing its student with clerkships and internships. This school gets an "A". You can intern with the WI Department of Justice, WI Supreme Court, other state and even federal agencies during the summer or while in school. This is EXCELLENT RESUME building. The Clinical Offerings at UW are absolutely SUPERB, and for you grade-fearing souls, many of these clinicals are NOT based on academic performance.

Student population is fairly diverse. A large percentage now coming in from CA and the east coast. Minority enrollments are on an increase but the minority groups tend to be somewhat segregated (at least while I was there). But there's no tension about the different ethnicities and everyone is very cordial at all times..even during finals week.

In short...great school..great bargain for in-state tuition and those offered with scholarships.

I was an out of state resident paying in state tuition (by scholarship). I paid only $5k a year..living expense required an additional $10k/yr.




GO BADGER!!!

Recommended: Yes