Law School Discussion

Northern Liberties is coming up, but you can still go from one block to the next and be in somewhere completely safe to somewhere kind of dangerous. I bought my place right off the Broad street line so I could limit the amount of time it is going to take me to get to school.  How do you like Manayunk, DividedSky?

very true, n lib is nowhere near as safe as anywhere in center city.  i've even read a few articles insinuating that a certain crime element is actually attracted to the area because of its recent gentrification coupled with its proximity to some of philly's worst hoods... i read this about a year ago so i would imagine/hope that the police presence has been increased in the area and that as more development goes on and more money comes in it will only get safer (hey why not), but its no garuntee. 

if i had ended up going to temple, i probably would have tried to either rent in old city, or be as close to the orange line as possible.  the new packard motor building and the river north building coming up along broad street in the area just north of the vine are good steps for the area.  as you can tell, i'm the kind of person who is more attracted to an urban area, which is why i chose to live in Manayunk (instead of closer to Villanova).  to answer your question, i love it here so far -- the building i'm in is full of people fresh out of college, either working their first "real job" or off to grad school.  just in this complex there are students from penn, temple, and 'nova law, drexel med (fka hahnemann), and PCOM.  my roomate is in grad film at temple, and there are others around -- i dont know alot of the people yet, i'm basing my statements mostly on license plate frames in the parking lot, and the fact that everyone i've seen looks to be under the age of 25...  i'm 2 blocks from main street, which is great.  this place is pretty quiet on the weekdays, but fun on the weekends.  seems like a good balance for anyone who still wants to have a social life in law school (but was worried that being in too much of a social area would infringe on their studies during the week).  i dont think i'd want to be right on main street, i did the whole living next to a bar thing at tulane and, well, you see what it did to my GPA.  so all things considered, i'd have to say this is a great place for anybody who is worried they're going to miss college (i know i will), but also plans to take grad school more seriously.  (again, see UGPA)

i can throw out a few building recommendations if anyone needs them, but i think for Temple students, living somewhere more downtown would be much more convenient (even though the R6 does run right from manayunk to temple, according to my roomate).   manayunk and roxborough are certainly safer than north philly, but dont have quite the same urban conveniences as center city (though its certainly better than living in suburbia...)

thanks to the random chaos of the rolling admissions cycle, i had a deposit due at a good option (depaul w/ $$) before i had even heard back from several other schools i was interested in.  i decided i wasnt about to take the risk, so after a visit to depaul (and deciding i wouldnt be completely miserable in chicago) i put down a deposit.  sure enough, mere days after the deadline, acceptance came from villanova, brooklyn shortly after, and then w/l at temple with the same letter alot of people got where basically if you tell then what they want to hear (that you will go there) then you will get in.  yield protection i guess.  anyway needless to say, i made my decision, and it wasn't depaul.

so i called the admissions office to tell them, thinking it was the right thing to do.  i was nervous and basically had a whole story prepared (villanova is closer to home, blah blah blah) but the guy i talked to was cordial and acted like he heard this sort of thing all the time.  not a big deal at all.  their only request was that i follow up the call with an email (gave me his personal address) so that they'd have some record of my change.  the letter requesting my second deposit still came in the mail, but I did not respond...

Quote from: KODIAK on June 08, 2005, 08:07:45 AM

Are there any special 'school supplies' that we should plan on bringing to law school besides the standard fare that we went out and purchased at the beginning of each year of high school/undergrad?

condoms and a bong, if that's your thing

i never have more than one notebook and i never write in it after the first two days of class, nor do i bring it.  f* notes and the laptop, im just going to wing it. 

i like your style

Depends. You need to be wary about dating, and dont look at your law class the same way you looked at your undergrad.  Its much smaller, and you will likely practice with MANY of your classmates after you graduate. Friendships and reputations that you make during law school will follow you the rest of your life.

Take it slow with dating, dont date early in the year, or you risk cutting yourself off socially.  Get to know people first, beware of one night stands, drunken sex, dont lie to get anyone in bed, dont cheat, etc.  If you're to date within your class, do it discretely, profesionally, maturely, etc.

discretely, professionally, and maturely?  man, you take the fun outta livin 

that all depends on if the expressway is moving.  its only 6 miles, which can fly by at highway speeds, but we all know on the schuylkill you cant count on that always being the case.  the good thing is that when leaving manayunk, you can see if the expressway is jammed or not... and if it is, you can go up rock hill road to rt 23, which will take you 15-20 minutes, but is a nice drive.  i feel like going to class in the morning i will have to leave early, but coming back won't be so bad.  the good news is that both going to and from school one is going against the masses rushing to work, but suburban sprawl has made this pretty unpredictable -- know any good philly traffic reports online?

Thanks for the update, those apartments look great.  How far are you from the law school?  20 min or so?