NYU 1L taking questions

[zpops]

Hey guys.  I'm just finishing up my 1L year at NYU, so if anyone is still trying to decide between NYU and another school I'd be happy to give you any hands on info that could help your decisions.

BTW, I know finances play a HUGE role in school choice, so here was my situation (for context).  I turned down full scholarship + stipend at georgetown and large chunks of money at other schools to come here w/ a 1/3rd scholarship, and am very happy w/ my decision.

[faultytowers]

nyu or boalt? help me out.

[zpops]

Ha Ha.  I'm gonna say NYU, but I'm obviously biased.  If you want to work anywhere but CA then it's probably a no brainer to go NYU, but if you do want to work in CA, then I'm really not sure.  There are a LOT of people from CA here btw, and most of them are going back to CA after school.

[HippieLawChick]

I have a more general question:

What was the thing about law school that surprised you the most?  What disappointed you the most?

[zpops]

I'd written out a long reply to this, then I lost it when the browser locked up

Basically, the biggest surprises have also been my biggest dissapointments for the most part.  I'm shocked by how intellectually bereft the classroom experience is.  In undergrad I was one of those people that talked in class discussion, and even spent a lot of time dicussing profs research w/ them in their offices.  Here, I can't stand people who talk in class, and I can't even IMAGINE being able to intelligently evaluate a profs work.  It's literally like learning a foreign langage.  They're writing novels and debating politics, metaphysics and art, while we're learning to say table and airplane.

I've also been surprised / dissapointed by a lot of the students.  I've made great friends, and everyone here is really smart, but there are so many knee jerk reactionaries.  I used to self identify as a liberal, but now I'd say I'm firmly a moderate, with some liberal and some conservative views.  I can't believe some of the terrible arguments people make sometimes.  And for all the people who are afraid of being a gunner, I have three words of advice.  Don't do it.  Everyone will hate you, the profs won't even like you, it won't help your grade, and you'll have destroyed any relationships with future colleagues.  One of the top kids in our class is also the most hated, just because he won't shut up. . .

The work load was also a surprise.  I knew it would be a lot, but I didn't realize how much.  I remember the first time we were assigned 80 pages for one night in torts, and everyone was complaining about it.  Now we know that upo to 100 pages in one night is totally normal. . .

[fizloki]

Hey guys.  I'm just finishing up my 1L year at NYU, so if anyone is still trying to decide between NYU and another school I'd be happy to give you any hands on info that could help your decisions.

BTW, I know finances play a HUGE role in school choice, so here was my situation (for context).  I turned down full scholarship + stipend at georgetown and large chunks of money at other schools to come here w/ a 1/3rd scholarship, and am very happy w/ my decision.

Hey Zpops. Can you check out my post: http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,62130.0.htm

?
If you can, please send your response to fizloki@gmail.com - thnx.

[Dr. Miles]

I'd written out a long reply to this, then I lost it when the browser locked up

Basically, the biggest surprises have also been my biggest dissapointments for the most part.  I'm shocked by how intellectually bereft the classroom experience is.  In undergrad I was one of those people that talked in class discussion, and even spent a lot of time dicussing profs research w/ them in their offices.  Here, I can't stand people who talk in class, and I can't even IMAGINE being able to intelligently evaluate a profs work.  It's literally like learning a foreign langage.  They're writing novels and debating politics, metaphysics and art, while we're learning to say table and airplane.

hey zpops. congrats on finishing 1L here at nyu. i remember you from a few years back when you were 1st applying to school, before you had to defer. anyway, congrats again, and it's cool that you wound up going to nyu, this school is great.

i have to disagree w/you though about not being able to imagine critiquing/evaluating a prof's work. if you take seminar courses and read law review articles you will see that there are some pretty wobbly arguments being made, especially by profs at non-elite schools. of course, here at nyu the profs are, for the most part, leaders in their fields, but still, they make mistakes and use self-serving data.

also, wrt the work...well, i recommend not reading the casebook, that ought to lighten the load a bit.

[MindTheGap76]

The work load was also a surprise.  I knew it would be a lot, but I didn't realize how much.  I remember the first time we were assigned 80 pages for one night in torts, and everyone was complaining about it.  Now we know that upo to 100 pages in one night is totally normal. . .

Are you freaking kidding?! I thought Chicago was supposed to be the "rigorous" school. I consider a 25 page assignment pretty long.

[J D]

BU apparently isn't that much different from Chicago in terms of reading load. 

80 pages in one night?  I'm glad I didn't have THAT professor for Torts.

[Towlie]

25 pages a night at Chicago? That's freakin sweet!