Syracuse Visit

[FSUGeoff]

Upon arrival at the Syracuse airport I’d have to say that while not large, it seemed to be sufficient for the area. Rented a car, and the only car available was a Towncar and I was upgraded over my economy car for like 10 bucks a day more, which was sweet. I stayed at the Genesse Grande and it was very nice for the price. The first day we arrived in town around 4:30 so there wasn’t much to do, so I walked around campus. The campus seemed very nice, and the architecture of some of the buildings was very striking, gothic in nature. ( though I’m no buff) The campus is very urban and in the middle of the downtown area. The students seemed very solemn and serious, at least compared to FSU where you see smiles and people socializing all the time. The cold obviously had something to do with it I’m sure.
   The city itself seemed old and dilapidated for the most part. The area known as Armory square seemed nice, and was obviously revitalized recently with many shops and bars.(more on it later) I ate the First night at the Dinosaur Bar-b-q, shocked doesn’t even describe my reaction. I heard it was good, but being form the South I was skeptical. I can say in all honesty it was the best Bar-b-q I have ever had, and would recommend it to anyone. After that I was exhausted and went to sleep.
         Breakfast at the Hotel was good, and then went for my tour of the Law School. The building from the outside seemed nice, but nothing much compared to some of the others on campus. There is however a parking structure across the street dedicated to 2 and 3 L’s which is great especially given the cold. 1L’s park just a bit further, but still much closer then the 1 mile I walk almost everyday to class at FSU.
   The tour guide was an older 1L student(25), but she told me that around 75% of the class starts right out of undergrad. The library seemed OK, nothing special, and the rest of the building was nice. The courtroom I saw was very nice, with cameras and good technology throughout. The entire complex is wireless internet ready, and there was a tech support office if you had problems. The classrooms I saw were nice, better then Miami’s in my opinion. There were lockers and changing rooms, as my guide said people were always doing interviews on campus. This is contrary to the NALP report of only 16 firms doing OCI. I sat in on a class, it was a 1L elective, Employment Law. I have nothing to compare it too, but the professor seemed interesting and the students had thoughtful comments to add. He knew everyone by name without referring to a chart. The student in the class were all very nice to me, and were glad to have me. It seemed a very supportive bunch of kids.
   After the class I talked to financial aid and the career center. All the support staff, including the admissions and everyone was very helpful and went out of there way to accommodate me. They had Mid-terms later in the week (some graded, some not) yet were still able to help me in every regard. The financial aid officer told me everything I needed to know, but not to expect much in grants, maybe a few thousand, but when I asked they encouraged me to appeal the scholarship decision. (I received none) The career lady was very honest, and told me that the TOP jobs go to the top students, but the reputation is strong, and if you work at a smaller firm for a few years and succeed, a lateral movement to a bigger firm is very doable.
   That night I went out to Armory square to se what the nightlife had to offer. It was quiet but it was also a Tuesday night. I found a local girl to talk to, and she showed me a very good time! . The bars were nice, for a smallish city, better then Tallahassee, at least in terms of quality, maybe not people.
   The next day I went to look at apartments, in a variety of locations, most of the ones in the city seemed old, and had not much to offer in terms of amenities. I found 1 place I really liked called Newbury which is 1 exit south on 81(5 mins away), and they told me it was mostly Graduate and Law students and it included utilities (a big deal as they can be 200+ a month). For about 675 you get a 2 bedroom thats 1000sqft+, that included full kitchen appliances(dishwasher!), and by far the nicest and newest ones. I’m looking for a roommate so if your thinking Syracuse go ahead and PM me. I could write a lot more but this is going on forever, if anybody has any questions I’ll try to answer them as best as I can.
         To close, Being from Florida, Syracuse is a huge adjustment, but I could see myself there. It is not the best school, but I think its can provide you with all your looking for, if you are willing to put in the extra effort and legwork

[chonralda]

Thanks for the great insight! My friend was there last week and basically had the exact same comments. As of now, both of us are headed to syracuse on deans scholarships. We've done a lot of leg work on apartment looking, so if you're interested I can send you our .doc file--i also actually plotted all of the places on google earth, as when i am in town i want to drop by (i'll have a car) and take a good look at them all.

hope to maybe see you in 'cuse someday...

PS - syracuse over uconn! maybe oneday in a game that matters to both teams!

[FSUGeoff]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm pretty sure Newbury is for me. It had the nicest apartments, all 2 bedrooms had a balcony. They had the nicest and newest bathrooms, and biggest closets and bedrooms. Very large for the price. It was just south of downtown, but a very quick trip to the Law school, maybe 5 minutes. they have bus service to campus, and Utilities are included in the rent.

I saw about 6 complexes in all. I'll do a little write up of each I visited.

Rugby Square was nice, and in maybe the best area, nice residential. The apartments were older though, and they had no dishwasher. I don’t have one now, and maybe I am spoiled but I have always had one, and it’s a huge deal to me. They were also relatively smaller then the other i checked out. No utilities.

Cheasnut Crossing is nice, newly redone. They only have 1 bedrooms though and I live alone now and I am not a huge fan. Plus money is going to be an issue since I don't have a scholarship(but am appealing)and will be taking out massive loans. they included utilities and cable and internet, but it was expensive.

Skyline, I walked into the lobby, and walked right out, it’s a retirement home.

The James, downtown historic building, no available space.

Clarendon heights, much like Newbury, right next to it actually. The apartments weren't quite as nice, but the second best overall. It had laundry in each building, but outdoor hallways. Also had a huge hill I could just see my car skidding down to its death on a icy day.

Hope this helps, and yeah baring anything too drastic I’ll probably be seeing you in the fall up there. I need to check out MSU just to be sure though.

[chonralda]

Thanks for the heads up! I had alot of those places also on my list and got a good recommendation for rugby. I'll drop into this place when I visit, though did it seem like by april it would be touch pickings?

[chonralda]

MSU, as in Michigan State Uni ls? I'd have to say syracuse over MSU, unless you wanted to practice in the state of michigan...if its another msu, well, then...

[AH]

*baff*

Thanks so much Geoff!!!!

[FSUGeoff]

MSU, as in Michigan State Uni ls? I'd have to say syracuse over MSU, unless you wanted to practice in the state of michigan...if its another msu, well, then...

Yeah its Mich State, and I knew as a wolverine you'd disapprove, lol. But it IS 30K cheaper over the three years, and its something I just need to consider.

*baff*

Thanks so much Geoff!!!!

No Problem, any other questions you might have I could probally throw a little more in there on that topic.

[AH]

Thanks!  The only thing off the top of my head is about placement.  I got into FP which is lower ranked (I am hoping I can talk them into more money based on the Cuse offer), but from the stats it seems like starting salary is way higher.

Were you into IP, do you know anything about that program at Cuse?

[matts720]

Thanks for the review Geoff. I'm probably going to visit if I hopefully get admitted within the next couple of weeks.

[FSUGeoff]

OK, maybe I don't have much to add, lol. The lady at career placement told me the numbers they put on the web are accurate, so the average staring salary for a private firm is 60K. The top 10% or so can get jobs for about 100K. I don't know much about IP since my Ugrad degree isn't a hard science, so I couldn't enter these programs even if I wanted to.

P.S. What is "baff"?