USD 2007

[IONLYKNOWY]

So did everybody get the roommate survey from USD?

I've got a couple of more questions to keep the conversation going..

1. how many people do you plan on living with?
2. What are you expecting to pay for your portion of the rent?
3. Relationship status
4. What is or was your current job title
5. Fulltime program or part time program
6. What type of religion do you practice if any
7. Exactly how are you planning on moving your things for law school and how many miles will you be traveling
8. What excites you the most about going to USD law school?
9. height and weight?
10. are you tan yet, or will that have to wait until you get to sunny San Diego lol?

1. Probably 4 including me, maybe 3
2. Around 800-1200/month.
3. Engaged
4. Electrical Design Engineer
5. Part time program
6. Christian (raised Methodist, marrying a Baptist) But I don't really claim a denomination.
7. UHAUL trailer and maybe a car trailer.  It will be about 1360 miles... ugh!
8. The amazing faculty, and the location.  I am soooo excited   I am also tired of the restaurants here in Texas.. looking forward to exploring new places to eat:)
9. 6'4" and about 170 lbs.
10. White and pasty..    But looking forward to getting me some sun.. 

[cjenifer]

So did everybody get the roommate survey from USD?

I've got a couple of more questions to keep the conversation going..

1. how many people do you plan on living with?
2. What are you expecting to pay for your portion of the rent?
3. Relationship status
4. What is or was your current job title
5. Fulltime program or part time program
6. What type of religion do you practice if any
7. Exactly how are you planning on moving your things for law school and how many miles will you be traveling
8. What excites you the most about going to USD law school?
9. height and weight?
10. are you tan yet, or will that have to wait until you get to sunny San Diego lol?

Yay more questions! You're so fun Einstein, I'm sure you'll be easy to recognize at orientation as the guy breaking the ice for everyone!


1) I'm living with two, I'm extremely fortunate that my dear older brother is being kind enough to let me crash with him and his fiancee. Oh, and their very spoiled cat.

2) A lot of sweat and elbow grease. In lieu of cash payments, I've agreed to be their gardener and maid

3) Right now in a serious relationship, living together 3 years, but he is not coming with me back down to SD, so... we'll see. 

4) Currently: paralegal (oh, is that what I should be doing right now?)

5) Fulltime

6) None, I'm not too fond of any organized religion.. (going to a Catholic school is going to be very interesting!)

7) In my little Hyundai, thankfully only about 350 miles

The intellectual challenge, which is also the scariest part (what if I fail miserably?!), and being surrounded by intelligent diverse people (who still know how to party when it's appropriate!)

9) 5'5" and c'mon, you really expect an answer to this? lol

10) Tan but it's fake. Skin cancer is bad; I'm way too fair-skinned to mess around with it.

[dsnutter]

1. how many people do you plan on living with?
Myself
2. What are you expecting to pay for your portion of the rent?
$0 and 0 cents
3. Relationship status
Single
4. What is or was your current job title
Transportation Engineer
5. Fulltime program or part time program
Part Time
6. What type of religion do you practice if any
I go to a Prespaterian church, but I consider myself nondenominational
7. Exactly how are you planning on moving your things for law school and how many miles will you be traveling
With a trailer, will be movie 300 miles
8. What excites you the most about going to USD law school?
Knowing I have 4 more years of school...ohh yeah!!! Crap, I don't know. I am anxious and scared all at the same time.
9. height and weight?
5'6   160    yey for the short fat dood
10. are you tan yet, or will that have to wait until you get to sunny San Diego lol?
I worked on a surveying project this weekend and I got really burnt, I am hoping that will turn into my beginners tan.

[kaifactor]

1. how many people do you plan on living with?
Probably just me, putting my name on the housing list though.
2. What are you expecting to pay for your portion of the rent?
800-1000
3. Relationship status
Soon to be single.
4. What is or was your current job title
Legal Assistant (prison female dog)
5. Fulltime program or part time program
FT
6. What type of religion do you practice if any
I'm a free agent holding out for a max contract, but was a religion major in college so am not sure if I'll ever get there.
7. Exactly how are you planning on moving your things for law school and how many miles will you be traveling
Moving company, plane trips. 2,803.
8. What excites you the most about going to USD law school?
Being a student again and meeting the people that I'm going to practice with for the rest of my life (that would be you all)
9. height and weight?
5'10, 170lbs
10. are you tan yet, or will that have to wait until you get to sunny San Diego lol?
Clear, can't wait to get to San Diego.

[cjenifer]

Now I have some questions for everyone. 

1) What made you want to study law? (in a nutshell, no need for your whole admission statement )

2) How long have you known you wanted to go to law school/how long did you prepare?

3) How long did you study for the LSAT, did you take it more than once?

4) Do you have family in the law, or a mentor, supporting you through the process, if so what has been the most valuable advice so far?

5) Have you had any negative reactions from family/friends?

6) If you are in a relationship, how does your s.o. feel about the whole situation?

And my answers:

1) I always had the thought in the back of my mind, after graduating college I started doing Title and really enjoyed the legal part of that. When lay-offs started happening I started school for my paralegal certificate  and I really enjoyed that.

2) I've known since I attended an open house at a law school in January. Listening to the alumns speak I just felt the most certain I've felt about anything in a long time. So about 6 months ago. I got out my apps in March which means I prepared for about 2 and a half months. (Nothing like waiting til the last minute!)

3) 3 weeks, no

4) No, no mentor but I've been working with attorneys and for the most part they are very encouraging and the best advice was to go to USD rather than the local school.

5) My family is less than enthusiastic. My Dad and step-mother want me to stay here, get married, and start having grandkids for them (as my step-sisters are doing). My Mom worries I'll turn into a cut-throat female dog. The only person really supporting me 100% is my older brother and coincidentally he's the only person in our family to have gone to college (besides me) so he has a better understanding of how very much there is to gain, in addition to the education itself.

6) My S.O. is sad. He's glad I'm following my dreams but the whole getting married and having babies is put on hold indefinitely and he is dissapointed about that. It's going to be incredibly difficult to be apart but he can't leave his job so he's going to stay and hold down the fort...

In sum, I'm super excited about going (and meeting you all in person!) but it is very bittersweet.


p.s. Fortuita, your kitty is so cute! I have a big fluffy spoiled kitty, too. They're the best!

[Chippewa to Terero]

It's far from uncommon for people with little to zero education to be jealous and feel insecure about someone else actually going out and accomplishing something.  This usually manifests itself through downgrading the value of the "go-getter's" pursuit.  There's a reason the only person supporting you is the one that actually went college....he has an understanding of the uncomparable value to higher education.  My advice is that you should feel very lucky that you're leaving and surrounding yourself with motivated, intelligent people.....your s.o. should realize that there's plenty of time later for getting hitched and knocking out chillins, but I dare you to try it in reverse.....wouldn't happen....hence why they would prefer it that way.

That's got to be tough to deal with people taking what is a wonderful adventure that will put you in an elite class and perverting into something negative.  That's simply ingorance....if they didn't go to college, how could they possibly have ANY clue what law school is like, let alone the practice of law. 

I grew up in a pretty redneck area, and I long surpassed most of my family and friends' educations, but at least they're all proud of me, and cheering me on.

Bottom line....you're doing the right thing....don't let them shake your resolve for a second!

[Law9486]

Someone asked awhile ago about tips for 1L, so here are my thoughts.

Big picture things:
Never tell anyone your grades. It might not seem like a bad idea at the time, but there will always be issues.
 
Get to you know your classmates and lots of them. The first week of classes you will get to know a few people and think they will make excellent study mates. If you realize down the line that they dont have the same goals as you, you want to be able to have other friends as study mates.
 
Talk to you TAs. They had the professor before and (most of the time) will be able to tell you exactly what that professor wants.
 
Make friends with some 2L and 3L's. I spent a lot of time reinventing the wheel when I probably didnt have to. I mean this in reference to more then just outlines too. I spent a lot of time talking to others about what classes I should take, job interviews, ect.
 
Figure out how to relax. Seriously, dont work 7 days a week. Some people got really caught up in the law school game, and honestly, now they have no friends. Make sure you do something else every once in a while. Along those lines, make some non-law school friends. They can be great to keep things in check.
 
Do old exams. USD 1L professors have probably taught that class for the last 10 years and have lots of old exams on file.

This might sound silly, but figure out what you want from law school. I dont think too many people can balance being a club president and top 10%, so figure out what is important to you.

While lawyering skills isnt graded, its still important. The long, boring research assignments stink, but the paper writing is important. I have found that legal memos are really similar to have exams should be written. You also should probably have one writing sample from first semester for spring interviews.

Get a job for your 1L summer. Lots of people study abroad (and I am totally jealous) but if you dont have any legal experience, you should probably try to get a job. Surprisingly, a lot of the volunteer jobs through OCI are highly desired. If you want one of these jobs, you have to do some sort of legal volunteering during the school year. (I did the domestic violence shelter and VITA, ask questions if youve got em.)
 
And some silly things: Get there early on the Wednesday of Orientation if you want a locker. Jeans are appropriate for orientation. You dont have to actually go to all the things career services says are mandatory. Dont eat any pizza during the summer because you will get a ton once school starts. Go to the club fair and get involved in something. The library has a whole reading room of study guides for your classes (and flash cards), you dont have to buy them. Write your own outlines; they are useless otherwise. If your going to type your exams, learn to type fast. You have to be on campus before 8:15 to get parking in the law lot. Learn how to use the stupid blue book if you want to write-on to law review.

There is probably more to come in the future. Stay tuned.

[kaifactor]

1) Working on our deal teams as a paralegal.

2) About 9 months in. Was a big part of an IPO that we did for a small start up company. Really cool.

3) 6 months, took it twice.

4) I work with a bunch of attys, so have gotten a pretty good look at what the life involves. I think you really have to enjoy the work, be able to deal with high levels of bs and pay off your loans early so you always have the option of walking away.

5) No, although all my friends are sad I'm leaving NYC.

6) My sanity can't take the distance thing (more power to you CJ), so she and I are parting ways at the beginning of July. It's sad, but better this way for both of us. Let me just say good luck to anyone taking the same approach.   

[cjenifer]

Bottom line....you're doing the right thing....don't let them shake your resolve for a second!

Thank you SO much for such kind words! It really means a lot to hear such wonderful encouragement, even if it is from someone I don't know (yet)   


Law9486: Awesome advice- I'm printing out your post!  Thank you!

and finally, Kai: I'm not entirely sure my sanity can take it either.. we'll see how it plays out! I hope it goes smoothly for you 

[StevePirates]

my fiance is the only reason why I chose a school in San Diego.
Left to my own devises I would be at UC Hastings this fall.