Anyone from Knoxville at or applying to NSL?

[Robeastpierre]

Greetings.

I just found this forum yesterday. I'm glad.

I'm seriously considering applying to NSL for 2005 admission. I'm married, have two kids, a fulltime job, and all the attendant responsibilities.

I live in Knoxville, but I don't think I could get into UT. Even if I could, I am not sure I could swing it and still support my family. It's much more expensive and the pace is faster.

I have a pretty good LSAT score and an abysmal GPA, but I have a high enough index that I think I might be a viable candidate for admission to NSL.

All that leads to my question: do any of you commute from Knoxville? Or anyplace else that is of an equivalent distance from Nashville? If so, I would like to gain insight from your experience. (Also, perhaps, someone with whom to carpool, assuming I get in.)

My job is flexible enough that I could fit it around just about any conceivable schedule. My wife would miss me on the nights I was gone, and so would the boys, but I think we could all adjust to that. I sure hope so, because one way or another, I intend to go to law school. I'd just prefer not to have to uproot everyone and move them somewhere away from grandparents, friends, church, and all that sort of thing.

So, in your opinion(s), is this much of a commute an overwhelmingly negative factor? Or, is it feasible if the desire is present?

I would really appreciate hearing from any of you who have dealt with this, or are thinking about it. Thanks.

R

[jeffjoe]

I'm a 1L so my knowledge is limited.  We have a classmate who was commuting from Knoxville, but he moved to Nashville.  I talked to another classmate who commutes, but she drives to Nashville for Wednesday classes, spends the night and drives back after Thursday classes.

Those are the only two I know of that live(d) in Knoxville.

Others drive from Chattanooga and Jackson.  I drive a lot, but not that much to school.  I drive 18 hours a week between school and work and it takes a good junk out of my time to study.

I have been able to barely manage the assignments, but I have been a little careless by taking time for my grandkids, etc. 

If you can devote almost all your free time to school and your family can bear it, you have a chance.

Take this with a big grain of salt since it is only one person's opinion and experience.

To get a better perspective, you probably call the school and ask to talk to others who might have commuted from Knoxville.

[ruskiegirl]

Greetings.

I just found this forum yesterday. I'm glad.

I'm seriously considering applying to NSL for 2005 admission. I'm married, have two kids, a fulltime job, and all the attendant responsibilities.

I live in Knoxville, but I don't think I could get into UT. Even if I could, I am not sure I could swing it and still support my family. It's much more expensive and the pace is faster.

I have a pretty good LSAT score and an abysmal GPA, but I have a high enough index that I think I might be a viable candidate for admission to NSL.

All that leads to my question: do any of you commute from Knoxville? Or anyplace else that is of an equivalent distance from Nashville? If so, I would like to gain insight from your experience. (Also, perhaps, someone with whom to carpool, assuming I get in.)

My job is flexible enough that I could fit it around just about any conceivable schedule. My wife would miss me on the nights I was gone, and so would the boys, but I think we could all adjust to that. I sure hope so, because one way or another, I intend to go to law school. I'd just prefer not to have to uproot everyone and move them somewhere away from grandparents, friends, church, and all that sort of thing.

So, in your opinion(s), is this much of a commute an overwhelmingly negative factor? Or, is it feasible if the desire is present?

I would really appreciate hearing from any of you who have dealt with this, or are thinking about it. Thanks.

R

Welcome to the board.  I am certain that you will find it at least somewhat helpful, as you seem to be an older applicant who no longer has access to pre-law resources available to applicants who are still in college.

I went to UT for undergrad (GO VOLS!) and am now in law school at Berkeley. 

My advice to you is to apply to both NSL and UT.  If your LSAT score is solid, you ought to be able to get some slack for the dismal GPA, because you have work experience and have been out of school for some time.  Admissions committees tend to give less wieght to GPA if you have significant work experience.   After all, it seems silly to hold you accountable for something that happened years ago, especially if they have other means to evaluate your fitness for law school.

Commuting from Knoxville to Nashville seems somewhat masochistic.  It seems that you would be better served if you stayed in the Knoxville area, assuming that you get into UT Law.  I am not sure how much NSL is, but UT's in-state tuition is a steal and you can always apply for need-based and aid if you think you would not be able to pay tuition and provide for your family.

Things -- financially and logistically -- ought to be more clear after you receive your admissions decisions.  Let me reiterate that you should not simply assume that you could not get into UT Law.  If that would be a more convenient solution -- which it appears to me that it is -- you should apply and see what happens.

I don't know anything about NSL, but I am a 1L who got into a school that was a significant reach for me with my numbers.  If you have any questions about UT (I have a number of friends who attend) or the application process in general, feel free to email me.  ksusha@utk.edu

[urwrong]

I'm a 1L at NSL and I commute approximately 115 miles each way.  Knoxville is 75 miles past where I live so you'd have a total commute of almost 200 miles.  There are quite a few students who make this commute (from Knoxville).  I personally know of about 6 students in my class who come from there. 

I looked at UT prior to coming to NSL and would have loved to have gone there.  However my LSAT was weak and if I remember correctly freshman were required to go full time days (I'm not positive but I believe that's how it is).  While I don't have a full time job, I do have a family and that wouldn't work.

There is also a substantial tuition difference.  UT used to be around $10k a year....NSL is around $4k  NSL DOES NOT have financial aid, so student loans from the federal government are not available.  However, there are private agencies that make loans to students and most students take advantage of the monthly tuition plan.....($390 a month).

Major financial expenses in addition tuition to plan for are gas (it takes me about a tank a week and will take you more), wear and tear on the car (I bought a new small car with great gas mileage to save my "good car"............and it'll not have any value by the time I get finished!).  Overall it cost me about $200 more a month for the extras (not counting the car payment).

There are carpools available and I hoped to have found one this year.  Unfortunately when you register as a 1L they don't group the people together geographically.  By the time I found the people from my area they'd already registered for classes on different days than I go on.  I hope next year to be part one if I can arrange it.

Speaking of class schedules.  Pick that according to your needs and personality.  You have to pick two days.  One must be Monday or Wednesday and one must be Tuesday or Thursday.  Classes run from approximately 6:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.  (Remember we're CST up here and you're EST in Knoxville).  Some people with long commutes prefer to get it over with and take Monday/Tuesday classes. They usually stay overnight in a hotel in Nashville.  I on the other hand prefer to give myself a break between classes.  I take a Monday/Thursday combination. 

I think NSL fits your needs, your commute is possible.  I have classmates from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and all over Tennessee.  They all make the commute because NSL fits their needs. 

Good luck to you.

[jeffjoe]

If I lived in Knoxville, I would think long and hard before giving up on UT.

[ruskiegirl]

If I lived in Knoxville, I would think long and hard before giving up on UT.

Amen to that!

[Robeastpierre]

Wow. You guys have collectively got me thinking long and hard about giving up on UT.

Thanks.

Actually, my wife and I had a very fruitful discussion about this yesterday. We've decided to take another year so that I can really crunch down on LSAT prep, retake the test in Oct, and reapply to UT for '06.

Yes. Reapply. I tried last year to get in with my good LSAT and my poor UGPA. I got jammed, and my confidence was a little shaken by that experience. I had given up on the idea that I'd crack the barrier here in Knoxville. It's amazing the kinds of thinking I can rationalize when that sort of thing happens, the most reasonable bit of which probably was trying at NSL. I have no doubt that I would do very well once I got going, but the admissions hurdle seems an awfully high one. As arbitrary as it may be, UT will still consider one's UGPA as one of the top two admissions factors, even if one "achieved" said UGPA thirteen years ago.

My wife pointed out that if I prep for the LSAT with a great deal of discipline, I should be able to push my score up close to, or even past, 170, which doesn't guarantee anything, but which would enhance my odds. It would also give us a little more time to get our financial ducks in a row.

So, thanks strangers. You have helped me in our very brief time together to make a little more sense out of this puzzle. ruskiegirl and jeffjoe, I won't give up on UT just yet. And urwrong, after all that, I may still meet up with you in Nashville one day. It just probably won't be next year.

[lawgroupie]

Yes, I wouldn't give up on UT either. I went there as an undergrad. Go Vols! And would love to go there, but can't give up my job and move there.

I think you have to go to UT full time, even though the husband of a friend of mine started law school in Ohio (he was a pharmacist) and was transferred to Knoxville, and he finished at UT, taking classes on his lunch hour. But that was about 10 years ago, so don't know if this kind of arrangement is still possible.

There is a man in my classes who commutes from Knoxville. He takes classes on Tues-Wed. and spends the night. He arranges to work in the Nashville office of his company on Wednesdays.

[ruskiegirl]

Yes, I wouldn't give up on UT either. I went there as an undergrad. Go Vols! And would love to go there, but can't give up my job and move there.

I think you have to go to UT full time, even though the husband of a friend of mine started law school in Ohio (he was a pharmacist) and was transferred to Knoxville, and he finished at UT, taking classes on his lunch hour. But that was about 10 years ago, so don't know if this kind of arrangement is still possible.

There is a man in my classes who commutes from Knoxville. He takes classes on Tues-Wed. and spends the night. He arranges to work in the Nashville office of his company on Wednesdays.

Yay for fellow UT alums! I'm Class of 2004.  What about you?

[dgatl]

Go GATORS ( to Ruskie)