Anyone attending Stetson out there??

[kvdubb]

 I am glad you had such a great weekend.  Thanks for the input. I'll be down in early May to look for a place to live!

[rpniner36]

ndiver - are you from Georgia? I think you might have been one of the people I met during the open house. My name is Ross, I remember meeting someone who was visiting with his wife and baby boy.

Anyway - for those of you who could not make it to the open house, Stetson is very different from other law schools. I for one, had visited a handful of law campuses and I can say that Stetson is above and beyond the others. The students, including those at the open house, were extremely friendly and out of all the schools I have visited, Stetson did really seem like "one big family" (as corny as it sounds). The campus itself is leaps and bounds above any of the ones Ive visited, in terms of appearance and facilities. Stetson seems like a great choice if they are one of your options =)

[cam108]

For those of you who visited, how were the academic facilities? wireless connections in the classroom? How was the library? Was there relatively easy parking available?

thx for the info

[gusrip98]

For those of you who visited, how were the academic facilities? wireless connections in the classroom? How was the library? Was there relatively easy parking available?

thx for the info

Parking looked pretty good when I was there (an amazing feat for any college).  The library was remarkable.  Tons of study rooms, library staff seemed nice.  Huge printing rooms,etc.  Couldn't tell you about the books except that there were lots of them.  If I remember right, there was wireless in all of the classrooms.  There were data ports at each seat in the classrooms as well so you can just plug in.  As long as the classrooms are air conditioned and the seats are comfortable (but not too much....no sleeping), I am pretty happy.  It seemed like Stetson had this nailed down.

[ndiver]

ndiver - are you from Georgia? I think you might have been one of the people I met during the open house. My name is Ross, I remember meeting someone who was visiting with his wife and baby boy.

Ross -- Yeah... that was me! I was wondering if I would meet anyone that uses this board. You were outside when we started talking, right? My name is Jason.

Yes, the rooms are A/C and comfortable... they have two (or three) courtrooms at the Gulfport campus, as well as, the 2nd district court in Tampa. I was VERY impressed with their facilities.

For those of you who like to work out, there are two swimming pools, a nice gym, and they have intramural sports (flag football, dodgeball, basketball, etc.).

Something else worth mentioning is their fellowship programs. I'm sure every school has something like this, but at Stetson it's like this... they have Dean's Fellows and Teaching Fellows. The Dean's fellows are selected bc of GPA and there to help with the substantive law classes. The Teaching Fellows are selected based upon their Writing and Research grades adn are used to provde assistance to students with their R & W classes. This program is a plus for everyone... if you're smart enough to become one, then it is a great resume boost, if not, then you will benifit from their help.

Anyway, I thought that was significant, and they are located in the library adjacent to the study rooms and computer labs. I don't know what other schools have for library hours, except Mercer (24 hours/day, 7 days/week), but I was some what disappointed when they said that the library closed at 11:00pm or 12:00am (one of the two). BUt, they did mention that they were considerng changing the hours to ALWAYS OPEN!

Let me know if you have any specific questions... there is a lot I can dig out if I have a specific topic in mind, plus I was able to meet some REALLY nice 1Ls and I will be in touch with them again soon.

HTH

[rpniner36]

Ross -- Yeah... that was me! I was wondering if I would meet anyone that uses this board. You were outside when we started talking, right? My name is Jason.

Hey Jason! I had a feeling that would be you. When you were there on Monday, did you get a chance to sit in on a class? And did you start looking for any type of housing yet? We looked around the immediate area around Stetson and it seemed quite expensive to rent. I think i'll probably make a separate trip up there to find a place to call home.

[scrubs8]

I was at the open house this past weekend and plan to attend in the fall.

Regarding housing, if you're looking for an apartment, students and administrators told me that many of the students live up by the Gandy Blvd. area, which is just a short ride up I-75 from the school and is where most of the well-kept complexes are. I looked up there, and I would advise you to do the same. You won't find many options closer to Stetson because the area is comprised mostly of houses. I did find one apartment complex about five minutes from the school, but the leasing rep. told me the complex was sold and the new owner plans to convert the complex to condos. Given the number of condos. already in the area, I would be reluctant to rent an apartment in that area for fear that it could also end up becoming a condo. I wouldn't want to worry about moving mid-semester.

I didn't secure a place yet because I was inquiring so far in advance: most complexes aren't sure what they'll have available in July and August.

HTH

[slp]

If you want to live close to the Gulfport campus, stay in St. Petersburg.  There are nice areas southeast of the area.  A lot of folks who live there can be vey ingnorant to the areas.  That area is hit or miss.  Some ares are very nice and then you go a block and it is seedy.  If you have any specific questions about areas, I can help.  Also, get in touch with Caldwell Realty in Gulfport, they can give u a renter's list.  Living up on Gandy is almost 30 min away but it is a good central place if u want to get to Tampa. 

Some nice areas include the West St. Pete area by the mall, the Pinellas Point area in south St. Pete-a lot of folks are unaware of this area...very nice.

HTH

[RUSewCrazy]

I have some info about a new condo for rent across the street from the Gulfport condo if anyone is interested.

[stetson p/t blues]

Here is the scoop about Stetson's part-time program.  Many part-time students are having severe problems with getting classes to fit into their schedule.  So many problems that the dean scheduled meetings next week with the part-time classes to explain why they are not offering many evening classes.  Many part-time students are being forced to take classes that do not interest them, but have to because the class fits their schedule. 
Also, Stetson likes to brag about its new downtown Tampa campus but dont buy into it.  Stetson will only allow a student, part-time or full-time, to take a maximum of 15 credits hours at the Tampu campus.  The rest of your 88 credits hours is in Gulfport.  Not to mention the administration has no respect for the students.  During the reading period for exams in May, the Tampa campus was rented out to the public for a loud, drunken party with a live band on a Friday night.  The library was full with students studying for an exam the next morning.  Imagine attending a law school that allows drunken parties during final exams just outside the library.  Also, if you are conducting a visit check out the binder on the counter in the registar office.  It is the wait-list for the fall semester.  You will see the list of students who are having problems getting the classes they want.