Well Rounded Law School

[BuckeyeJD]

For anyone debating which law school to attend, I want to let you know just how great OSU is.  The professors are truly dedicated to teaching and are always there for students who need help academically or even personally.  Additionally, we continue to hire one prestigious professor after another.  The students are relatively nice for law students - not too hypercompetitive, and seem to really support each other.  At OSU, we value academic excellence, but there is a nice balance.  People are always going out for drinks or playing intramural sports or getting together to watch Friends.  And even though we are part of the largest university in the country, we get individualized attention.   We have our own admissions office, registrar's office, and placement office who go above and beyond every single day.  At the same time, we have all the great benefits of a huge university - endless recreation facilities, tons of student groups, and of course, Buckeye football.  So I know this was a little long, but I just wanted to convey how much we love our law school!

[TheArtist]

Thank you for sharing your experience with Ohio State Law!  I was wondering, however, how you might address the relatively low percentage of '01 grads who are employed at graduation, 70% (according to US News' Graduate School Issue 2004)?   

[Benjamin]

Thank you for sharing your experience with Ohio State Law!  I was wondering, however, how you might address the relatively low percentage of '01 grads who are employed at graduation, 70% (according to US News' Graduate School Issue 2004)?   

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Busted

In all seriousness, you make OSU Law sound nice.  I am from Columbus and went to OSU for undergrad.  I had a chance to use the library space a few times.  I wish someone had indicated to me that the law school treatment is so different from the pitiful undergraduate treatment.  My roomate dated Dean Rodgers' daughter at our high school.  She always seemed like the most timid woman when I saw her, but then I didn't know her especially well.

[Carpe JDiem]

I have visited the law school and my impressions agreed with your description of the school.  The administrators, the professors, the students, everyone seems to emit a very satisfied vibe.  I think with the Moritz gift people are pretty excited about the school's direction, which is impressive considering the state budget cuts right now.  There are many great things about the law school, and I met some students there that would hold their own at any T14.

And now for the flip side.  The negatives of the school that are holding me back are as follows: 1) the place seemed like a high school both aesthetically and dynamically, right down to the room of lockers.  By dynamically I mean the way that students interacted and the number of couples I saw together, both at the law school and when I went to a law school bar, it seemed like everyone was saying "I'm Tom, I'm a 2L, and this is my girlfriend, she's also a 2L."  I don't know how I feel about this, but I think it speaks to the fact that the student body seems slightly immature to me, compared to Michigan, Northwestern, George Washington, etc.

2) Columbus seems overwhelmingly family-oriented and the students tend to drink and socialize at house parties or occasionally big, loud bars, but not laid-back lounges or clubs, which I prefer.  Outside of a few places in the arena district, Columbus nightlife seemed to take place in moldy frat houses and stripmalls.

3) I may want to practice out of state and perhaps focus on international law.  I think OSU has everything academically to prepare me for this, I was very impressed, but perhaps it lacks the name to get my foot in the door.

4) Limited Study Abroad options.

4) The town's obsession with the Buckeyes would get very annoying, real quick.  Case in point, I saw a huge billboard supporting their athletic director.  After all the scandals they've had that seemed odd to me that the university would publicly support him, and even stranger that they would rent out a billboard to make this point so brazenly, as if they needed to convince themselves and run a PR campaign on the whole town so that everyone's reality doesn't crumble.

OK, I'm reading too much into that, but the point is that I think the university is way too focused on athletics.

I welcome your comments, thanks so much!

[rapunzel]

People are always going out for drinks or playing intramural sports or getting together to watch Friends.

Or burning cars after football riots...

I'm from Columbus, I'm allowed to make fun. 

[Carpe JDiem]

Yep, agreed.  You have to perform well, no doubt.  I actually have decided to go to OSU since the time of that original post.

So to counter the negative tone in my original post, four positive points that have swayed me:

1)  Close to family.

2)  Save a bundle, they gave me a great scholarship.

3)  I like that I'll have the option to pursue a public interest career, possibly politics, after graduation.  OSU Law has great political connections in Ohio.

4) Buckeye JD said it best in the original post:  "The professors are truly dedicated to teaching and are always there for students who need help academically or even personally.  Additionally, we continue to hire one prestigious professor after another.  The students are relatively nice for law students - not too hypercompetitive, and seem to really support each other."

I would end this with a "Go Bucks!" but I'm just not ready for that yet.  I'll always be a Wildcat

[by extension]

4) The town's obsession with the Buckeyes would get very annoying, real quick.  Case in point, I saw a huge billboard supporting their athletic director.  After all the scandals they've had that seemed odd to me that the university would publicly support him, and even stranger that they would rent out a billboard to make this point so brazenly, as if they needed to convince themselves and run a PR campaign on the whole town so that everyone's reality doesn't crumble.

That's nothing! Have you not noticed public (state-funded) universities serving as mouthpieces for private companies, putting up their ads on their buildings?! Such universities and colleges are not by tradition or designation open for public communication, but are used for business, education or other devoted purposes. The State reserves such non-public property for its intended purpose; they are considered non-public forums and include courthouses, jails, government offices, city halls and public schools. While State property that is a non-public forum is required to be open for its devoted purposes, it is not required to be open to the public for other expressive purposes.

Remember that we're not talking here about a walkway from public street or sidewalk leading up to University building -- some open public forum sidewalk not so delineated as to put speaker on notice that s/he has entered some special enclave where speech is not protected -- a case that would be a "grey area" in this field of law -- we're talking the actual buildings of such universities.

[al so]

That's nothing! Have you not noticed public (state-funded) universities serving as mouthpieces for private companies, putting up their ads on their buildings?! Such universities and colleges are not by tradition or designation open for public communication, but are used for business, education or other devoted purposes. The State reserves such non-public property for its intended purpose; they are considered non-public forums and include courthouses, jails, government offices, city halls and public schools. While State property that is a non-public forum is required to be open for its devoted purposes, it is not required to be open to the public for other expressive purposes.

Remember that we're not talking here about a walkway from public street or sidewalk leading up to University building -- some open public forum sidewalk not so delineated as to put speaker on notice that s/he has entered some special enclave where speech is not protected -- a case that would be a "grey area" in this field of law -- we're talking the actual buildings of such universities.

Undoubtedly they are interfering in the game..

[gsh]

4) The town's obsession with the Buckeyes would get very annoying, real quick.  Case in point, I saw a huge billboard supporting their athletic director.  After all the scandals they've had that seemed odd to me that the university would publicly support him, and even stranger that they would rent out a billboard to make this point so brazenly, as if they needed to convince themselves and run a PR campaign on the whole town so that everyone's reality doesn't crumble.

That's nothing! Have you not noticed public (state-funded) universities serving as mouthpieces for private companies, putting up their ads on their buildings?! Such universities and colleges are not by tradition or designation open for public communication, but are used for business, education or other devoted purposes. The State reserves such non-public property for its intended purpose; they are considered non-public forums and include courthouses, jails, government offices, city halls and public schools. While State property that is a non-public forum is required to be open for its devoted purposes, it is not required to be open to the public for other expressive purposes.

Remember that we're not talking here about a walkway from public street or sidewalk leading up to University building -- some open public forum sidewalk not so delineated as to put speaker on notice that s/he has entered some special enclave where speech is not protected -- a case that would be a "grey area" in this field of law -- we're talking the actual buildings of such universities.

An interesting take on the issue indeed!

[aman49]

Wow, I'd just like to say its amazing that this thread:

1) averages about a post per year.
2) gave excellent information about OSU that I did not know

And I think the obsession with the Buckeyes is a good thing... my undergrad didn't have a football team and believe me, it had a HUGE negative impact on the school's social scene.