Hastings Class of 2009?

[dbgirl]

I guess straight Bs is average, perhaps better than average in some classes. But most students work hard for their grades, so goofing off and getting Bs is pretty good.  I think some people can get away with that - but I couldn't. Of course if I could get Bs w/out trying, I'd probably try a little harder and get straight As.
From what I have seen the students that tend to do well w/out trying are those w/photographic memories.

[laundromatt]

While we wait for hastings1L to post her experience...

I checked out the school and the tower again a few days ago. 

From what I could tell, the majority of the rooms face Hyde (west), Leavenworth (east), or McAllister (south).  There weren't too many rooms facing north.  To the west, you can see the civic center, and a nice view of the the city as it goes up a hill.  To the east, you can see out towards the bay (if you're up high enough).  There wasn't much to see facing south, just another view of the city, though not as nice as the view to the west.  I don't know which view is the best.  I preferred an eastern exposure, as I like to wake up to sunlight. 

The views were okay from my floor (12), so anything higher than that would be fine.  Because of the buildings around the tower, I'd say that you'd have close to no view if you're around the 7th floor or lower.

As expected, the rent varies according to the size and floor.  I looked at several studios, and each one had a different layout (and square footage).  In each of the rooms, the kitchen consists of a mini fridge, a two-element electric stove, a small oven, and a sink.  The bathrooms that I saw were actually pretty nice - it looked as though the tubs had been recently refinished, and there were new toilets.  Though, I couldn't tell you if the bathrooms we saw were the norm, or the exceptions. 

A couple of other things - the windows don't have any sort of guard or screen on them.  You could easily drop things (or yourself) over onto the street.  They should do something about this - it's pretty dangerous for the tenants, and for the people walking on the street below.  Also, some of the rooms I saw had enormous closets.  As someone trying to move there with as little stuff as possible, I wish that the closets were smaller, and the living area bigger. 

Overall, I think the rent that they've quoted for my room is high.  If you don't mind living with other people in an apartment, you can find a room of comparable size for much less, in a nicer neighborhood to boot.  I'll probably end up in the tower, but I'm going to think about it for a few more days.   

[SteeevO]

Sent in my deposit and called to schedule my move in date today. I'll be moving my stuff into a 407 sq ft studio on July 22nd, and fly up from SoCal first week of Aug.

When date do you all have planned?

[teddiursa]

I'm planning to move in second week of August.  This is all happening so soon!

I'll be coming up from SoCal as well- if you don't mind me asking, SteeevO where in SoCal are you from? 

[SteeevO]

Orange County, I went to UCI. I agree this is happening fast we still have a little over a month, but thats just around the corner..

How about yourself?

[teddiursa]

Went to UCLA and from the San Gabriel Valley.  Surprisingly, I think I'll miss LA...

Orange County, I went to UCI. I agree this is happening fast we still have a little over a month, but thats just around the corner..

How about yourself?

[gumby]

Hey incoming 1L's

I am going to be a 2L at Hastings this Fall.  I am working in the admissions office for the summer.  You probably wouldn't believe it but one of my duties is to surf the internet to learn more about incoming student perceptions and discussions.  As I have been watching this thread I have noticed a few misperceptions about Hastings and how it works.  Maybe I can be of some help with a few of these issues:

1.  Section Assignments - Section assignments are not random.  Neither are they assigned in a fashion that makes one section academically stronger or weaker.  Sections are carefully assigned by ensuring that there is a balanced and diverse set of people in each one so that they are all equal.  There is no LEOP ONLY section.  Section 1 does not mean everyone there had the highest scores of all applicants.  You find out what section you are in and meet the professors assigned to your section on the first day of orientation.  Yes, there is a strategy for assigning sections.  No, none of the sections are stronger or weaker than the others.

2.  Grades - And I quote "I guess B's are average and I guess that's pretty good if you're goofing off but if I could do that I would just work harder and get A's."  My response:  Hastings has a mandatory curve.  Out of a class of 80 students, each professor is only allowed to give out 8-12 A's, 20-25 B's and the rest are C's or D's.  To be in the top 30 students in your section by getting a B is not average, it is really good.  If only 10 percent of a class of 80 gets A's, how much extra work do you think it takes to attain that A?  From my experience, the students who consistently got A's in every class sacrificed their lives to law school, shut themselves in a room in August and never came out until finals were over.  Personally, I would have slit my wrists if I gave that much time to law school.  Yes, it is my number one priority, but yes, I also have a life and I need to maintain that life to be happy.  I am unwilling to be unhappy so that I can get an arbitrary mark on my transcript that no one cares about after I graduate anyway.  I know many other students feel that way.  It is important to prioritize what is important to you and make sure that you maintain that in law school.  Letting it consume your life is unhealthy and depressing, even if you get the A in the end. 

3.  Competitiveness - I have no freaking clue where this myth came from.  Students do not rip pages out of books so you can't find the case you are looking for.  The people who spread that rumor must not have been sophisticated enough to do the research and must have created this myth as a scapegoat.  Yes, there is an unspoken competitive atmosphere at every law school because of the mandatory curve or weeding out the lowest percent of the class.  No, students do not become rivals and jerks over their assignments.  Students should help each other enhance their lawyer skills and build bridges with them instead of furthering rumors and myths about being sabotaged.

4.  And lastly, The Tower - The Tower is a nice place.  I wanted to live there when I came to Hastings but I was too far down on the waitlist and didn't make it in.  Now I am very glad I never lived there because there are so many other awesome places in this city.  I did, however, live in a building right next to the Tower.  It very much has a dorm type environment because there are many people crowded into a single building with little space.  The sense of community is great and it is a perfect place to hang out with other students.  On the other hand, the tenderloin is not the perfect place to live while in law school.  As a 22 year old Male, it upset me that I lived in a neighborhood where girls my age never walked around outside for fear of harassment or other sketchy behavior.  Seeing people pee on the side of the street and smoke crack behind the Tower is not the most exciting neighborhood to explore.  The tower is a fun place to live and the amenities are plentiful, but it is no panacea. 

This is just my two cents about a variety of topics discussed in this forum over the past couple weeks.  I hope the information I have provided is useful.  If you have any other questions, I will be lurking on this thread for a while so feel free to ask!

[laundromatt]

Hey gumby, welcome to the thread, and thanks for the insights.  I'm sure we'll have plenty of questions in the weeks ahead. 

[dbgirl]

Hi gumby, I'm glad you're surfing the board ... I suggest you also surf the PRE-law section of the board, because that's where a lot of misperceptions come from. See, for example, the waitlist section.

Anyway, I am a Hastings student. I understand about the forced curve (believe me I have gone through the hazing). However, you misqouted me. This is what I said.

"I guess straight Bs is average, perhaps better than average in some classes. But most students work hard for their grades, so goofing off and getting Bs is pretty good.  I think some people can get away with that - but I couldn't. Of course if I could get Bs w/out trying, I'd probably try a little harder and get straight As.
From what I have seen the students that tend to do well w/out trying are those w/photographic memories."

I still believe that people who can get Bs w/out trying can get As if they actually did try, because I think people who can get Bs w/out trying are naturally good at law school.

As for the competition thing, that vibe is most definitely present. Some people are better at ignoring it than others. No, no one rips out pages of books, but that doesn't mean they're not aware of and concerned with the competition.

[credo_pirata]

Whoa whoa whoa whats all this stuff about the curve?  Were we mislead at the admitted students day?

One of the professors explained that the curve is structured so the top 20% get As, next 40% get Bs, and the bottom 40% get Cs with no mandatory Ds.  I understood this to mean that 60% of students in a class scored over a C.

Now Im hearing that 50%+ of students get a C of some sort?

This kind of perturbs me.