Emory People Generally Talking Amongst Ourselves

[gowi]

A couple of questions for the Emory folk...

Sounds like you all really enjoy your classmates (for the most part).  How diverse is the student body in terms of age?  Are most students under 25?  How much company would I have as a 30 yr old?

Also - how many students at Emory are married?  How many are parents?

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I've lived in ATL for most of the past 10 years, and more or less expect to stay here.  I'm married, and have two kids under the age of 5... so we're pretty settled in.  My decision essentially comes down to Emory vs. GSU (though to be honest, I haven't heard back from Emory yet, so this could be an easier decision than I think!)

Anyway.  There are a several factors related to having a family that sort of incline me toward GSU.  But I thought I'd interrupt Those Talking Amongst Themselves long enough to get some info on the social scene.  Any thoughts?

You want brutal honesty? They call us "marrieds" and generally are shocked when we do anything but stay home and go to school (your social life ends when you get married, right?) No, there aren't many married people and, yes, there is a stigma attached in the eyes of the under 25 crowd. Also, no less than 5 people have made pretty rude comments to my husband. The very first time we hung out with 1L's, a woman asked him "Did you even go to college." On the other hand, we get along great with 3L's, so maybe it's just a few aholes in the 1L class. In general, we don't socialize with law students anymore.

[psychfrog]

You want brutal honesty? They call us "marrieds" and generally are shocked when we do anything but stay home and go to school (your social life ends when you get married, right?) No, there aren't many married people and, yes, there is a stigma attached in the eyes of the under 25 crowd. Also, no less than 5 people have made pretty rude comments to my husband. The very first time we hung out with 1L's, a woman asked him "Did you even go to college." On the other hand, we get along great with 3L's, so maybe it's just a few aholes in the 1L class. In general, we don't socialize with law students anymore.

Brutal honesty is great.  In fact, what you described is pretty much what I'd expect - especially from a student body whose median age is so young.  I've been to graduate/professional school once already, and while there I found one's life stage / family status (i.e. single, married, parents...) was far and away the best predictor of social grouping.  Nothing else even came close - politics, race, religion, socio-economic background, professional goals... whatever.

[psychfrog]

By the way, what are the chances that the Admissions office might have lost an application? 

I applied in mid January, but have never received official notification that my file was considered complete.  This in spite of having contacted the office once in mid-late February, and once again a couple of weeks ago to inquire as to my status.  In February, I was told that processing an application could take a while, and that I could expect to be notified by email once my file was complete.  Two weeks ago I spoke to a woman on the phone (never was clear on who exactly she was) who looked at my file, said it looked complete to her, and told me I might still get that notification at some point along the way, who knows.  Having heard nothing since then, I called again on Friday (two days ago) and left a message for Arnita asking her to confirm that my app was under consideration.

I've talked to one other applicant who seems to be in the same situation. 

On the one hand, almost all of the most recent updates on LawSchoolNumbers have been rejections, with a sprinkling of waitlisteds thrown in - so in that respect, I'm sort of glad Emory hasn't called in the last two weeks or so.

On the other hand, I find this frustrating because my numbers (167/3.84) and interests/experience (went to seminary, and have an M.Div) seem like ideal fits for Emory's program.  I do think I could have written a better personal statement, but for the most part I'd expect to be an attractive applicant.  As things stand, I haven't had one communication from Emory that I didn't initiate myself.
 
It's hard not to feel like my application's been lost in the shuffle.  Anyone have any alternative explanations for this radio silence?

[Refused Party Program]

A couple of questions for the Emory folk...

Sounds like you all really enjoy your classmates (for the most part).  How diverse is the student body in terms of age?  Are most students under 25?  How much company would I have as a 30 yr old?

Also - how many students at Emory are married?  How many are parents?

To answer your general question, I tend to think of Emory as a "younger" school, however, being an older student myself (30+), I don't find too much of a problem making friends based solely on my age. I tend to find that I don't have much in common with my fellow students, however, I would have had that same problem 10 years ago. That being said, I don't feel ostracized or out of place. I might feel more at home with my classmates than I would with the population at large, mostly because everyone is smart and at least somewhat interesting.

I will say that I feel sometimes like my age gives me a different perspective on life and school in general. I don't study more than younger students, but I might study more efficiently (in a quiet area, no music, no facebook, etc.) I tend not to get as nervous for interviews. If things don't turn out perfectly, I don't think its the end of the world. There is more to life than law school. Being older will give you a different perspective. However, if you are decent human being to people, they will be decent back. If someone is a jerk because you are older/married/a parent, let them be a jerk and just ignore them.

I think here, as with most law schools, most of the planned social activities revolve around going to bars. Going to bars is generally a single person's activity. If you are married with kids, family tends to take priority over hanging out getting blasted in a smokey room.

GSU is older than here. Part of that is they have a night program which attracts more older/2d career types. Very few people here at Emory are on a 2d career. (they might have work experience, but not career experience, there is a difference).

[Captain]

Is anyone here coming to ASW next month?

OOh! I'll be there!

are you actually going to be there or are you going to be sitting in your apartment, ignoring people who knock on your door...?

Dude

1) I SAID I wasn't going to play poker
2) I was alll the way on the other side of the apartment, in the bathroom.
2b) I was busy.

[Captain]

I believe the median age is 23

It's 24, actually. Or has been in the past.

[psychfrog]

I believe the median age is 23

It's 24, actually. Or has been in the past.

I guess it's going up all the time, eh?   

[gowi]

For Fall 2008 1L's, median age was 23. Not that 1 year really makes difference...

http://www.law.emory.edu/admission/at-a-glance.html

[psychfrog]

Well, my fears have been confirmed.  Emory lost my application. 

It took four separate phone calls, but I finally got someone to look closely enough at my file to notice that several significant pieces of my application had been misplaced.  Fortunately it took just another few minutes of digging around before they turned up again, and were returned to my file.

Very frustrating. 

[Captain]

Well, my fears have been confirmed.  Emory lost my application. 

It took four separate phone calls, but I finally got someone to look closely enough at my file to notice that several significant pieces of my application had been misplaced.  Fortunately it took just another few minutes of digging around before they turned up again, and were returned to my file.

Very frustrating. 

Sorry to hear that dude. Expect a quick response. Hopefully positive.

It was bound to happen to someone, applications (everywhere, actually) have been way up this year.