Vermont Law School

[cviggy]

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[Saja]

Well, I'm certainly no expert on the academics at Vermont Law School, other than knowing that they have a very good environmental law program, but I have been to South Royalton and seen the school.  A little village it is, especially if you're used to bigger cities or the suburbs.  It's a cute town with a couple restaurants and maybe one bar.  The law school itself is quite pretty and composed of a few buildings (quaint, Vermont type buildings) on nice grounds.  The nearest big cities are Boston and Montreal, which are probably about 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 hours away, respectively.  Burlington, the biggest city in Vermont, is a bit over an hour away.  If you enjoy rural life, it would be a nice place to go to school.

[longman391]

I got accepted to VLS on Friday, and have been looking into going there for a while. Has anybody else on LSD gotten in? Anybody plan on attending?

[UncleLSAT]

I just wanted to add my 2c from a visit there, and what my friend, who finished his jd there 2 years ago, had to say about it.

I love the rural life and thought the town was wonderfully quiet. I went during the winter and it was very pretty. The one bar in town is actually a very nice bar, and well attended, with pool tables in a back room, open mic nights and inexpensive beer.

My friend was very positive about his experience there. He went to main and has been very successful starting up his own one-man firm in the Portland area; his girlfriend, who also graduated from vls, has a nice job working for a securities firm in Massachusetts; she does her work from home, with infrequent trips to the south. So of those that I know there is no employment troubles whatsoever. They're buying a house in Maine now, 2 years out of vls.

I think if I went there I would take up skiing as a hobby, do a couple of trips a month as relaxation.

[vt]

I live about an hour and a half from South Royalton and am going to VLS next year... It is rural, but some of us like it that way... It's only 30-40 minutes to Montpelier, which has a pretty cool scene, also 20-30 minutes to Lebanon/Hanover in case you want to hang out with Dartmouth students and compare polo shirts or something... 45-55 minutes to Burlington which is a huge city by VT standards, has all the amenities including traffic and urban malaise...

More importantly: great skiing on all sides, the real pain will be deciding which mountain to buy a season pass for. SR is a perfect place if you do any backcountry skiing as it is right between the best aspects of the Greens and the Whites, easy to go wherever the snow is. If you do any whitewater kayaking, yer in spitting distance to Hartland rapids which is consistant, year-round park-and-play and surrounded by a lot of the best steep water in New England... There's great rock climbing right near by (Rumney etc...) and world class ice climbing (Lake Whilloughby)...

As far as I'm concerned, it's kind of dumb to live anywhere besides northern Vermont, but I'm obviously biased...

I don't know a ton about the school, except that it's small, it's independant so there's no hordes of other grad students and undergrads everywhere, it has some pretty neat clinical/practical programs that I'm psyched for, it seems to have a good rep in environmental circles even way outside of vermont...

So if you have any questions re: the area ask away... Questions about the school would probably be better answered by someone who knows more than me, but I have read a lot about the place, and if I don't know what I'm talking about I'll just make up something that sounds believable...

[Rule of Reason]

I'm weary of the USN speciality rankings, HOWEVER, Vermont's env. law curriculum seems very different than most schools because it goes deep into the issues, way more than most "certificate" programs (look up some of the others - they might throw in a few levels of the same classes like contracts, torts, etc. that you can get anywhere and call it an env. law certificate. Look up Vermont's coursebook and there are like 4-5 classes on energy law alone!!!). 

So I believe it is great for the speciality, and it definitely gets the prestige. Another consideration though: Law degrees are broad by nature- you want to have your fundamentals down, and to be an individual who has some common sense. Besides Vermont being a T3, I'm also a little worried about the later w/ such a remote location and a far left ideology, and considering the reputation it seems to have  at the firm I'm at.

Thats my 2 cents, I wish I knew what my best bet was myself, heck I could even wind up there...

EDIT: TJ I noticed you were saying L&C / Vermont are both kind of "regional" schools --- I've heard they might have a national appeal in specifically just env. law (although my general skepticism over the speciality rankings stands, these two I am sold on... see above comment).

Actually I work at a big firm in Chicago in the environmental group and the last 2 people the group hired came out of Vermont and Lewis and Clark (the L&C guy also had a clerkship and about a year's worth of experience practicing).

Another note: L&C is really much better in terms of standardized test scores, and I would assume overall legal education, than Vermont. If you go to the Leiter? rankings, which groups schools  by their LSAT scores, L&C might be in the top 50 or higher - they also shot me down quickly .

 

[longman391]

I live about an hour and a half from South Royalton and am going to VLS next year...

So if you have any questions re: the area ask away... Questions about the school would probably be better answered by someone who knows more than me, but I have read a lot about the place, and if I don't know what I'm talking about I'll just make up something that sounds believable...

I think my fiancé and I are probably about 85% set on going to VLS, so it's good to know that there are others from LSD that plan to attend. We're a little nervous about such a big move (we're coming from Seattle), but the adventure is half the fun! Since I got waitlisted at Seattle U, and Gonzaga is a bit too conservative for me, VLS sounds like a place where we could be content and studious.

We just bought plane tickets for the April 2nd open house- do you plan on attending that?

[Butters Stotch]

The LSAC estimate for living expenses for singles is $16,630.  Is that accurate?  That seems really high for such a small town.  Or is it simply that the COL is pretty much expensive everywhere you go in New England?

[longman391]

The LSAC estimate for living expenses for singles is $16,630.  Is that accurate?  That seems really high for such a small town.  Or is it simply that the COL is pretty much expensive everywhere you go in New England?

I think $12,000 of that is for snow plowing fees... 

Just based on the research I've done thus far on hoursing, it doesn't seem to be too different from any affordable metropolitan area. It is certainly more than other rural areas, however.

[longman391]

Not only is the COL cheaper than DC, but students can actually rent houses as well- for under $3k/month! 

Does anybody have any suggestions for full time employment in the area? The info sheet that VLS sends with the admit letter seemed pretty weak. Surely there are job opportunities if you're willing to drive 20 mins?