Why is Law School so Cliqueish?

[MahlerGrooves]

I have no clique.  I tend to hang out only with one or two people total, and then talk to everyone else equally.  I think Penn is an odd duck because they stress collegiality and friendship so much that it sort of enables self-selection for those only interested in that to come.  Then again, I do have only one or two friends 

[Private David Lewis]

I have no clique.  I tend to hang out only with one or two people total, and then talk to everyone else equally.  I think Penn is an odd duck because they stress collegiality and friendship so much that it sort of enables self-selection for those only interested in that to come.  Then again, I do have only one or two friends 

I've always been curious...how does a school "stress" collegiality and friendship? 

[MahlerGrooves]

I have no clique.  I tend to hang out only with one or two people total, and then talk to everyone else equally.  I think Penn is an odd duck because they stress collegiality and friendship so much that it sort of enables self-selection for those only interested in that to come.  Then again, I do have only one or two friends 

I've always been curious...how does a school "stress" collegiality and friendship? 

I think they do it in a few ways, really:

1 - They talk it up a lot, giving the impression that it's the case (even if it isn't), thereby making it likely that people will only attend if they agree with the philosophy.

2 - The legal writing sections are groups of 14-16 people and they schedule events for each one of these groups (dinners with faculty, etc).

3 - There is a HUGE public outline bank and people share everything.

4 - No GPA ever and no class rank until graduation (honors calculations).

So far, it seems to work!

[MahlerGrooves]

I have no clique.  I tend to hang out only with one or two people total, and then talk to everyone else equally.  I think Penn is an odd duck because they stress collegiality and friendship so much that it sort of enables self-selection for those only interested in that to come.  Then again, I do have only one or two friends 

I've always been curious...how does a school "stress" collegiality and friendship? 

I think they do it in a few ways, really:

1 - They talk it up a lot, giving the impression that it's the case (even if it isn't), thereby making it likely that people will only attend if they agree with the philosophy.

2 - The legal writing sections are groups of 14-16 people and they schedule events for each one of these groups (dinners with faculty, etc).

3 - There is a HUGE public outline bank and people share everything.

4 - No GPA ever and no class rank until graduation (honors calculations).

So far, it seems to work!

Do you find that there are still people who are crazy about their grades in the scary, Paper Chase kind of way? I mean, the no ranking was my main reason for Penn being #1 on my list, but I'm still a little worried about people going nuts over summer jobs (especially in this economy).

I mean, the economy sucks for everyone, so I think it may make things a bit more competitive, but nobody is that nuts.  We ALL share notes, briefs, outlines, and anything else.  We rescue each other using g-chat for those unprepared socratic moments.

It's not like paper chase.  Except for the day when you get to watch the first scene in class (Hawkins v. McGee day!).

[Private David Lewis]

I have no clique.  I tend to hang out only with one or two people total, and then talk to everyone else equally.  I think Penn is an odd duck because they stress collegiality and friendship so much that it sort of enables self-selection for those only interested in that to come.  Then again, I do have only one or two friends 

I've always been curious...how does a school "stress" collegiality and friendship? 

I think they do it in a few ways, really:

1 - They talk it up a lot, giving the impression that it's the case (even if it isn't), thereby making it likely that people will only attend if they agree with the philosophy.

2 - The legal writing sections are groups of 14-16 people and they schedule events for each one of these groups (dinners with faculty, etc).

3 - There is a HUGE public outline bank and people share everything.

4 - No GPA ever and no class rank until graduation (honors calculations).

So far, it seems to work!

I mean, 1-4 are also true of Columbia, and I imagine it's the same for most top-ranked schools.  I just have this weird perception of Penn as some sort of cult where everyone goes around smiling all the time.  People can be friendly and still have cliques, is my ultimate point.  As someone else said, cliques are a natural thing for people to fall into--whether the people are "friendly" or not. 

[MahlerGrooves]

You and everyone in your class has NO excuse for unprepared socratic.  Your profs dont do real socratic, you know when you're on call :-P.  Trying being in my section where ALL of the profs do random socratic 

elaborate??

p.s. the month wait til I hear about my early decision at Penn is killing me!

I shall elaborate:

CivPro:  Prof has 1st half of the alphabet on call for 2 weeks, then last part of alphabet on call for 2 weeks, then repeat.

Contracts:  A-J on call Monday, L-O = Tues, P-Z = Wed

Torts:  Just goes in order

Property:  Each student signs up for 2 days during which they are on call

Yeah yeah...it's kinda like fake law school 

[MahlerGrooves]

You and everyone in your class has NO excuse for unprepared socratic.  Your profs dont do real socratic, you know when you're on call :-P.  Trying being in my section where ALL of the profs do random socratic 

elaborate??

p.s. the month wait til I hear about my early decision at Penn is killing me!

Mine... NO WARNING.  The end. 

And good luck with ED!!!  I'll be so excited once the Penn Law Class of 2012 starts up and I can pretend I'm not a 1L anymore 

Last year, they didn't start calling ED people until after 1L exams were over.  This bodes well for us because we won't then be tempted to ignore studying to respond, enthusiastically, to our future classmates.

[MahlerGrooves]

You and everyone in your class has NO excuse for unprepared socratic.  Your profs dont do real socratic, you know when you're on call :-P.  Trying being in my section where ALL of the profs do random socratic 

elaborate??

p.s. the month wait til I hear about my early decision at Penn is killing me!

Mine... NO WARNING.  The end. 

And good luck with ED!!!  I'll be so excited once the Penn Law Class of 2012 starts up and I can pretend I'm not a 1L anymore 

Last year, they didn't start calling ED people until after 1L exams were over.  This bodes well for us because we won't then be tempted to ignore studying to respond, enthusiastically, to our future classmates.

Damn. Based on LSN I was hoping I'd hear around Dec 11th-15th. I really hope they don't send the letters later than that since I go home after finals at that point... when are you guys done?

No need to wait for a letter.  They'll call you