Anyone accepted for Fall 2005

[Ladybuglaw05]

I'll be in C-bus on April 16th for Scholar's day, and I'd like to meet as many of my fall classmates as possible 

[BarryDingle]

I work in @ a law firm downtown, half of the attorneys here graduated from Cap.. They say it doesn't matter where you go as long as you do well. I may be biased because my brother is a former valedictorian at Cap.. I have been in Cbus for 6 years, and I really like it. I may go to Cap. too, depending on how much dough they give me.

[alkiremays]

I work in @ a law firm downtown, half of the attorneys here graduated from Cap.. They say it doesn't matter where you go as long as you do well. I may be biased because my brother is a former valedictorian at Cap.. I have been in Cbus for 6 years, and I really like it. I may go to Cap. too, depending on how much dough they give me.

May I ask what firm?

[Paperback Writer]

Hello all,

I've been accepted to Capital, and I am very much considering it.  It's a toss-up between Capital, Toledo, and IU-Indy.

I know that C-bus is a great town for a legal career, but Capital has not offered me any money.  IU-Indy gave me some, and Toledo won't because they are already very cheap.

Thoughts on why I should take Capital - w/no money - over these other two schools?  I've asked them to reconsider the no money thing, and I am still awaiting their reply.  I know there are people with lower or equivalent numbers who have received $$$.  My numbers are 153 / 3.0 UGPA / 3.30 GGPA.

[BarryDingle]

Here's what I say: Capital's biggest strength is their location.  If you do well(top 10) you will get a great job.  If you do pretty well you will get a decent job.  After that you might as well be a lobbyist or a sole practitioner.  This could be said about any school in Ohio besides OSU.  The deal breaker for me is the fact that Capital took so long to get back to me, and when I asked why they were very rude.  Even though I got a full ride from Akron, Toledo, and Arkansas, I was still leaning towards Capital.  But their unprofessionalism was ridiculous.  When I would email Toledo, they would get back to me within the hour. The dean from each of the other schools even called to let me know I was accepted. I have another brother that currently goes there and he said they completely screwed up everyone's scheduling this year. That place needs some work.  I'm not bashing it, Columbus is a fun place to live, and Capital has produced some great lawyers, but this new dean needs to clean the place up.

[JD_MSA]

I have another brother that currently goes there and he said they completely screwed up everyone's scheduling this year.

I'm a 2L at Cap, and no one screwed up my schedule. 

[Paperback Writer]

Please give us your insights on Capital.

[JD_MSA]

Anything specific you'd like to know?

[Paperback Writer]

Anything specific you'd like to know?

Professors.
Work load.
Are you PT or FT?

[JD_MSA]

I'm a full-time student, but I was a part-time student my first year so I can tell you about both programs.  In my opinion, there are only two added benefits to the full-time program.  The first is the obvious one: you're finished in three years as opposed to four.  Second, full-time day students get more exposure to events at the law school.  I think that the administration does a good job of scheduling either dual events or scheduling important events at the most convenient time possible, but some student-run organizations (clubs, etc.) tend to forget about the evening students.  Anything else is fairly equal--students in both programs have access to law review, moot court teams, externships, etc. 

I haven't had a professor here who wasn't genuinely interested in helping students learn the law.  Just like every school, there are favorite professors and "less-preferred" professors, but first-year students don't get to pick their professsors anyway.  By your second year, you'll know everyone's reputation.  All I can say is be careful to how much weight you give to other students' recommendations.  Ask them WHY they do or don't like a specific professor.  I've found that it's usually just a case of "the grass is greener on the other side"--as in, Professor B is better for Civil Procedure just because I'm taking Professor A and he grilled me in class today so now I hate him.  That being said, once you're enrolled in a particular class, I do think it's good to seek advice about that particular professor or class from upperclass students.

The workload will probably be like nothing you've ever experienced before (no matter where you decide to go to school).  The quicker you can get adjusted to it, the better.  Time management is key.  I think the biggest surprise for me was how long it took to prepare for each class.  At first, it took me about 8 hours to prepare for each 3-hour class.  (FYI, the first-year evening classes are now meet for 90 minutes, 2 classes per night, 3 nights a week; when I started we had one 3-hour class per night, 3 nights a week.)  I know it's cliche, but law school really is like learning a new language.  One you get the basics down, preparation time gets shorter because you don't have to stop every other work to look up something in a law dictionary.  At first, it's daunting, but you just have to stick with it and believe the 2Ls and 3Ls when they tell you that it will get better. 

Here's a tip: Learn to love the reference librarians.  They are invaluable.