Boalt student taking questions about Boalt, law school in general, work, etc.

[LittleRussianPrincess, Esq.]

obviously she was a strong "soft factors" applicant

This is true, but I am not certain that it has any relevance today.

[snikrep]

Ahh, your statement sounded a little weird like you were saying you would end up *this summer* at the firm you will work at this summer - it makes more sense when I realize you were talking about after graduation (my bad, lol).

That's crazy that your first job is largely determined from your 2L job - does that freak anybody else out?

[LittleRussianPrincess, Esq.]

Ahh, your statement sounded a little weird like you were saying you would end up *this summer* at the firm you will work at this summer - it makes more sense when I realize you were talking about after graduation (my bad, lol).

That's crazy that your first job is largely determined from your 2L job - does that freak anybody else out?

It is a bit scary, which is why you should think very seriously about where you accept clerkship offers for 2L summer.  If it's possible, split, so that you can see two firms and compare.  Hopefully you can get offers from both and then you don't feel as trapped as you would otherwise.

[Gary Glitter]

the berkeley admin office said that the transfer students they typically accept are in the 5-10% range of their 1L class. like i mentioned previously, i'm not in that rnage, i'm in the 16-35% percentile [my LS does not release informatin beyond this unfortunately - so potentially i'm top 20% and wouldn't know it - but either way i still receive a "scholar" designation for being within this subset]. also, however, i'm at  t20 LS. you mentioned that a friend of yours transferred who was #6 in his class - which school did he transfer from? i can't imagine that they apply this top %5 rule across all law schools. it wouldn't make any sense to do so. for example, at my LS the median LSAT coming in was a 168. obviously its going to be more competitive than someone coming from a bottom of tier one LS with a 160 median LSAT (or at least they would lead us to believe so). know anyone who transferred from a T20 school to berkeley? anyone transfer from UCLA to berkeley? any idea on class rank?

any information / tips will be appreciated as i'm attempting to gauge whether or not a transfer application would be worth my time ...

thanks

[Gary Glitter]

Ahh, your statement sounded a little weird like you were saying you would end up *this summer* at the firm you will work at this summer - it makes more sense when I realize you were talking about after graduation (my bad, lol).

That's crazy that your first job is largely determined from your 2L job - does that freak anybody else out?

yeah man this is precisely why 1L is so stress inducing. your 1L grades determine which 2L jobs may or may not be accessible to you. your 2L summer job basically (though not absolutely) establishes the path upon which your career will travel. for example, end up in the bottom half of the class (which is a very real possibility given that your surrounded by people who are more or less clones of you academically - those who did slightly better went to a better school, those who did slightly worse went to a lesser school - welcome to the 1L crap shoot [and yes, it's almost eerie how similar eveyone is in terms of mental ability / capacity]) then you can more of less write off big law, clerkships, etc.

it's funny. our professors tell us bi-weekly that class rank isn't all that important, and that it is only necessary to do "well" in terms of ranking if we want to do big law, etc. but that no one in their right mind wouldn't not to do big law and then there are 8 billion reasons as to why we shouldn't do it(citing their own experience and the experiences of others) and yet all of this seems to go in one ear and out the collective other for the entire 1L class (myself inclusive). all i can think about is the 100g (+) i will owe in student loans and how nice that 125g/yr to start will be. but then again, i WILL be working 60, 70 hours a week but naaahhh don't want to think about that... i won't happen to ME .. my firm will be cool!

[snikrep]

I have been toying with ditching the whole law scene and heading straight into engineering - the pay isn't as good, but the QOL is great, 40 hours a week is fairly regular, and the people are normal.

After giving it some more thought, however, I'm not going to completely discount the law scene.  I was looking at some firms in Phoenix, and while even the biggest ones "only" pay around $100k/year, they also only expect around 1800/1900 hours a year, people seem to be really happy there, and it seems like a pretty good life.  $100k is still a lot of money, I won't have to be worried about getting burned out, and I could actually have time to go golfing every week .

That's what I've been thinking about lately.

[LittleRussianPrincess, Esq.]

the berkeley admin office said that the transfer students they typically accept are in the 5-10% range of their 1L class. like i mentioned previously, i'm not in that rnage, i'm in the 16-35% percentile [my LS does not release informatin beyond this unfortunately - so potentially i'm top 20% and wouldn't know it - but either way i still receive a "scholar" designation for being within this subset]. also, however, i'm at  t20 LS. you mentioned that a friend of yours transferred who was #6 in his class - which school did he transfer from? i can't imagine that they apply this top %5 rule across all law schools. it wouldn't make any sense to do so. for example, at my LS the median LSAT coming in was a 168. obviously its going to be more competitive than someone coming from a bottom of tier one LS with a 160 median LSAT (or at least they would lead us to believe so). know anyone who transferred from a T20 school to berkeley? anyone transfer from UCLA to berkeley? any idea on class rank?

any information / tips will be appreciated as i'm attempting to gauge whether or not a transfer application would be worth my time ...

thanks

Honestly, I don't know a thing about this so I really don't want to advise you on it.  The person who was ranked in the top 6 transferred from a T40-50 school.  I don't want to say anything more so as to keep his identity private.

[LittleRussianPrincess, Esq.]

I have been toying with ditching the whole law scene and heading straight into engineering - the pay isn't as good, but the QOL is great, 40 hours a week is fairly regular, and the people are normal.

After giving it some more thought, however, I'm not going to completely discount the law scene.  I was looking at some firms in Phoenix, and while even the biggest ones "only" pay around $100k/year, they also only expect around 1800/1900 hours a year, people seem to be really happy there, and it seems like a pretty good life.  $100k is still a lot of money, I won't have to be worried about getting burned out, and I could actually have time to go golfing every week .

That's what I've been thinking about lately.

Yes, this is information most people either miss completely or disregaard because they are so smitten with the idea of prestige at a NYC firm.  Both of my firms are in secondary markets.  One pays 110, the other 115.  One state doesn't have state income tax.  Neither firm expects you to bill above 2000 hours and the mins. are between 1750 and 1850.  It's going to be hard work, but at least I know I can have *some* time to enjoy my money.  I had the option of going to a primary market, but I turned it down because it was too far from my family and because the 135 they were offering to pay was not going to be enough to live how I want to live in that city.  Plus, the billables were going to be hell. 

[LittleRussianPrincess, Esq.]

Ahh, your statement sounded a little weird like you were saying you would end up *this summer* at the firm you will work at this summer - it makes more sense when I realize you were talking about after graduation (my bad, lol).

That's crazy that your first job is largely determined from your 2L job - does that freak anybody else out?

yeah man this is precisely why 1L is so stress inducing. your 1L grades determine which 2L jobs may or may not be accessible to you. your 2L summer job basically (though not absolutely) establishes the path upon which your career will travel. for example, end up in the bottom half of the class (which is a very real possibility given that your surrounded by people who are more or less clones of you academically - those who did slightly better went to a better school, those who did slightly worse went to a lesser school - welcome to the 1L crap shoot [and yes, it's almost eerie how similar eveyone is in terms of mental ability / capacity]) then you can more of less write off big law, clerkships, etc.

it's funny. our professors tell us bi-weekly that class rank isn't all that important, and that it is only necessary to do "well" in terms of ranking if we want to do big law, etc. but that no one in their right mind wouldn't not to do big law and then there are 8 billion reasons as to why we shouldn't do it(citing their own experience and the experiences of others) and yet all of this seems to go in one ear and out the collective other for the entire 1L class (myself inclusive). all i can think about is the 100g (+) i will owe in student loans and how nice that 125g/yr to start will be. but then again, i WILL be working 60, 70 hours a week but naaahhh don't want to think about that... i won't happen to ME .. my firm will be cool!

This is not nearly as true at Boalt.  Everyone who has a decent personality, regardless of his or her grades gets a job.  A BIGLAW job if they want it.  In a primary market if that's their cup of tea.  I know of many people who had mostly Passes who are going to top 20 firms in DC, NYC, SF, Chi, and LA.  I even know of a person who got a sub-P who got a sweet gig in a primary market, making 135 plus bonus. 

[Brod]

Hey Ruskie (and/or other Boalties who have responded),

So personally I'm leaning towards Boalt right now and all i can see are the pros of going there, but i'm hoping you can give me some of the cons so I have a more realistic idea of what i'll be getting myself into. For instance, what do you (or fellow students) perceive as some of the drawbacks of Boalt? Or at least what are the areas where Boalt could improve? Are there any general complaints students have?

Also, what do you know about graduate student housing? If I do go to Boalt I'm considering living in housing for at least the first semester while i get my bearings, but I'm wondering if it's better to just come in june to try and set up a place then?

I'm sure i'm going to go to Boalt no matter what though, but i'm trying to quell that 10% of me that is considering other options.

Thanks in advance.