Law School Discussion

We have Prof. Taylor from Cornell as a visiting prof this semester.  Anyone taken her before (she's from Cornell) and have some advice for us frantic students trying to figure out how to prep for her exam?

Thanks SO MUCH!

I am officially going to St. John's.  I'm quite excited as I will be moving from Seattle.  If anyone out there has a good appartment they are giving up... give me a heads up!  :-)  I'll be flying in to appartment hunt at the begining of July. 

1) With what frequency do BLS grads land jobs with the Federal government? Do people ever do internships with Federal offices in New York?
2)How much of an effort does the career center make to help people who are not necessarily looking for biglaw?
3) How high in the class do you need to finish to have a realistic shot of transferring to NYU or Columbia? (Sorry, I had to ask out of curiosity)

1) to be honest, I'm not really sure.  I think you can look up the % of government jobs people land on LSAC. 
2) A ton.  I am not looking for biglaw and I meet all the time with the career center.  There is a dedicated pubic interest adviser, and even the non dedicated adviser helps out all the time.  Basically, if you want assistance, it's there.  They don't care in the slightest if you are not going into big law.
3) From what I gather, it's top 15%.  But who really knows.  To be honest, if you want to go to those schools and you can't get in, you need to go to the highest rank school (with a +/- range of about 20) and do the best you can do in school and see where you fall.  NYC/Columbia don't care if you went to BLS or Cardozo (like 12 spaces different) above how well you actually did in those schools.  And, at the same token, a BLS grad is not going to have a big advantage above a St. John's grad when trying to get into those top schools.  Rather, they will look at your school ranking, your resume, what you did while in school and why you want to transfer. 

Quote from: Mpmav1 on February 12, 2008, 10:36:57 PM

I used this board fairly heavily last year when deciding where to go.  Time to give what little I have learned back.  If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

Debt load, summer work plans, student body competitiveness, housing situation?

I was lucky enough to get a full ride, so I can't speak too much regarding the cost.  I can say that they give money.  Note: they will actually tell you that they do not negotiate for scholarship money.  Well, they definitely can give you more money, you just have to be persistent and have good reasons (ie: scholarships from other schools).  I was told my financial offer was my offer, I respectfully rejected based on a higher offer at another school, and magically I was bumped up.  Also, make sure that you pay close attention to the retention requirements when deciding between schools.  BLS's retention is really good... not amazing, but good.  They require top half.  I will be retaining my money, but you've got to remember that law school is incredibly difficult, you will be surrounded by student's who, in one form or another, succeeded to get themselves into your school.  I could only imagine the pressure if you had to stay in top 1/3 or top 25%.  Yikes.

This summer I will be interning for a federal judge. 

Student body is, as a whole, not too compeditive.  It is Law School, the breading ground of insecurity and competition.  And of course there are those in my class who I would much prefer to not associate myself with, but you get that everywhere.  I really enjoy my colleges and feel as though they are supportive and encouraging. 

BLS has housing that, if you don't have a dog (which I do) is a really great option.  You get to live in an incredibly trendy neighborhood and pay really good rent.  You are guaranteed housing your first year, and you have to enter a lottery to retain it your second year.  If you loose your housing, I'm sure that sucks.  But, I would guess about half the class lives off campus in apartments.  I live in a cool neighborhood 4 subway stops away. 

I think that answered your questions. 

What are the best websites to buy used textbooks?  I really don't want to pay $700 for text books my first quarter.