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Reviews, Visits, and Rankings / My Trip to Pittsburgh
« on: March 27, 2006, 07:19:32 PM »
So my trip to the University of Pittsburgh Law School exceded all expectations, here are a few notes that may be of interest:
The city is much more interesting and attractive then I expected. There are dozens of interesting coffee shops, book stores, and bars scattered throughout the city. I visited quite a few coffee shops and saw countless students with their laptops propped open. In addition, the coffee shops seem to stay open late (12am) which is nice. Many of the roads are a nice cobblestone and most of the buildings have a great deal of character. The city really didn’t seem at all “gray” to me.
The people were all friendly, this includes the citizens of Pittsburgh as well as the law students. Many students were gathered in the law school, joking and eating. All in all I got the impression that there was not the “cut-throat” attitude present at many schools.
On a related note: my guide said that rankings were not made available to students and that you only knew if you were in the top 20%. Also, she said that although the profs. Use the Socratic Method, they do not make you run out crying. She simply said if you don’t know the answer then it is no big deal, just make sure that you don’t say “I don’t know” constantly.
The Law facilities were impressive and I thought they were much better then Syracuse (the other school I visited). The library is quite nice and although there are no windows, most of the walls have flat screens on them. The flat screens display the daily activities and the local weather as well as the news-which runs along the bottom. (This is apparently new this year).
The library is four floors and there appears to be plenty of places to park yourself. In addition, the bottom floor has tables, chairs, and a Starbucks. I saw many students hanging out and conversing while I was there.
Across from the school stands the University of Pittsburgh, which is actually quite nice. The campus has many buildings, all very pleasing to look at. This is nice because although the law school is essentially in the middle of the city, it still has that campus-intellectual feel, with many students walking around and many events going on.
In terms of jobs, my guide said that the Pittsburgh job market was a bit tight at the moment (she is a 3L). She did say that many of her friends landed jobs in DC. She also noted that the school has some interesting summer opportunities in places like Sierra Leone.
My guide also said that when she started law school someone told her to go out and buy a really nice and expensive laptop because she will be using it so much. She said that she thought this was bad advice. She said that you will be using it 8 hours a day and that it will brake. She noted that students should always get the warranty and that many of her friends are on their second and third laptops.
All in all I was very impressed with my trip.
The city is much more interesting and attractive then I expected. There are dozens of interesting coffee shops, book stores, and bars scattered throughout the city. I visited quite a few coffee shops and saw countless students with their laptops propped open. In addition, the coffee shops seem to stay open late (12am) which is nice. Many of the roads are a nice cobblestone and most of the buildings have a great deal of character. The city really didn’t seem at all “gray” to me.
The people were all friendly, this includes the citizens of Pittsburgh as well as the law students. Many students were gathered in the law school, joking and eating. All in all I got the impression that there was not the “cut-throat” attitude present at many schools.
On a related note: my guide said that rankings were not made available to students and that you only knew if you were in the top 20%. Also, she said that although the profs. Use the Socratic Method, they do not make you run out crying. She simply said if you don’t know the answer then it is no big deal, just make sure that you don’t say “I don’t know” constantly.
The Law facilities were impressive and I thought they were much better then Syracuse (the other school I visited). The library is quite nice and although there are no windows, most of the walls have flat screens on them. The flat screens display the daily activities and the local weather as well as the news-which runs along the bottom. (This is apparently new this year).
The library is four floors and there appears to be plenty of places to park yourself. In addition, the bottom floor has tables, chairs, and a Starbucks. I saw many students hanging out and conversing while I was there.
Across from the school stands the University of Pittsburgh, which is actually quite nice. The campus has many buildings, all very pleasing to look at. This is nice because although the law school is essentially in the middle of the city, it still has that campus-intellectual feel, with many students walking around and many events going on.
In terms of jobs, my guide said that the Pittsburgh job market was a bit tight at the moment (she is a 3L). She did say that many of her friends landed jobs in DC. She also noted that the school has some interesting summer opportunities in places like Sierra Leone.
My guide also said that when she started law school someone told her to go out and buy a really nice and expensive laptop because she will be using it so much. She said that she thought this was bad advice. She said that you will be using it 8 hours a day and that it will brake. She noted that students should always get the warranty and that many of her friends are on their second and third laptops.
All in all I was very impressed with my trip.
(waitlisted).