CLEO 2009 Forum

[macjags07]

I received a letter in the mail today from the CLEO program today. I was admitted! I'm accepting it and will attend the 6 week institute at one of the locations (Southern Illinois U or U of Pittsburgh) this summer.

Best wishes to all of the other applicants.

Wow, that's great. What part of the country are you in? I am in the midwest so I'm wondering if I will get it soon. I have my fingers crossed.

I'm in Maryland. The letter was dated and postmarked January 8th, so I'm sure I only received the letter so quickly because I'm only a short distance from the CLEO office in DC.

[araiza99]

I received a letter in the mail today from the CLEO program today. I was admitted! I'm accepting it and will attend the 6 week institute at one of the locations (Southern Illinois U or U of Pittsburgh) this summer.

Best wishes to all of the other applicants.

Wow, that's great. What part of the country are you in? I am in the midwest so I'm wondering if I will get it soon. I have my fingers crossed.

I'm in Maryland. The letter was dated and postmarked January 8th, so I'm sure I only received the letter so quickly because I'm only a short distance from the CLEO office in DC.

Cool. I feel better about myself.

[mimijd]

congratulations! how long do they give you to decide whether or not you will attend? do you get to choose which of the two locations you will attend?

Thanks wraaaa and mimijd. The letter says a deposit must be submitted by February 2nd and you have to fax a form accepting your spot in the summer institute "immediately." I was hoping we'd be allowed to choose the location; however, it appears that students are assigned locations. Either way, good deal.

No problem! I'm hoping I get accepted soon. How much is the deposit, if you don't mind me asking?

[macjags07]

congratulations! how long do they give you to decide whether or not you will attend? do you get to choose which of the two locations you will attend?

Thanks wraaaa and mimijd. The letter says a deposit must be submitted by February 2nd and you have to fax a form accepting your spot in the summer institute "immediately." I was hoping we'd be allowed to choose the location; however, it appears that students are assigned locations. Either way, good deal.

No problem! I'm hoping I get accepted soon. How much is the deposit, if you don't mind me asking?

The deposit is $200.

[starlight007]

congrats!!!!

i hope we all get in too!

[mbalde]

Hey whats up everybody. I'm applying to the CLEO summer program too. I live in Pittsburgh so i feel like this is a sign since one of the locations is @ Pitt. I've got all my stuff together and ready to submit, But i cannot figure out how to do so on LSDAS. Can someone please fill me in on how to do so, I feel so stupid asking. Thanks

[araiza99]

Hey whats up everybody. I'm applying to the CLEO summer program too. I live in Pittsburgh so i feel like this is a sign since one of the locations is @ Pitt. I've got all my stuff together and ready to submit, But i cannot figure out how to do so on LSDAS. Can someone please fill me in on how to do so, I feel so stupid asking. Thanks

I imagine you have already applied to law schools - is this correct? If so, then make sure you have paid for an extra law school report ($12, like you paid for the law schools).

You don't have to do anything else. Cleo will access a law school report from LSDAS.

[mbalde]

Hey whats up everybody. I'm applying to the CLEO summer program too. I live in Pittsburgh so i feel like this is a sign since one of the locations is @ Pitt. I've got all my stuff together and ready to submit, But i cannot figure out how to do so on LSDAS. Can someone please fill me in on how to do so, I feel so stupid asking. Thanks

I imagine you have already applied to law schools - is this correct? If so, then make sure you have paid for an extra law school report ($12, like you paid for the law schools).

You don't have to do anything else. Cleo will access a law school report from LSDAS.

I've just been in the process of getting my stuff together so i havent actually sent anything in yet. But do i have to pay that $12 and get a report for CLEO to access it?

[mimijd]

Hey whats up everybody. I'm applying to the CLEO summer program too. I live in Pittsburgh so i feel like this is a sign since one of the locations is @ Pitt. I've got all my stuff together and ready to submit, But i cannot figure out how to do so on LSDAS. Can someone please fill me in on how to do so, I feel so stupid asking. Thanks

I imagine you have already applied to law schools - is this correct? If so, then make sure you have paid for an extra law school report ($12, like you paid for the law schools).

You don't have to do anything else. Cleo will access a law school report from LSDAS.

I've just been in the process of getting my stuff together so i havent actually sent anything in yet. But do i have to pay that $12 and get a report for CLEO to access it?

Yes

[basetommyball]

Hey guys, I'm a CLEO 2008 Fellow. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and has been a life-saver now that I'm a 1L. Hit me up if ya'll have any questions, I'd be happy to help.

Edit:
So after reading further, I'll answer some of the questions already posted

To be accepted, you must be nominated by one of the schools you're applying to. You can't solicit them to nominate you, nor will you be notified if you've been nominated or by whom. Only about 1/4 of applicants will receive nominations. TIP: to increase your odds, apply to member schools as opposed to SSI's, their very actively involved and will be more likely to make a nomination. YOU HAVE TO APPLY TO A SCHOOL TO LIST IT ON YOUR APPLICATION. After the nomination round, Mrs. Thomasine Williams and her admissions committee will pour your app, a lot like law school admissions do, and will pick around 80 students for the two summer classes.

Essentially the 6week program is a simulation of the entire first semester of 1L. Each school each year offers different courses, for example we (TJ in San Diego) took LRWA, Contracts, and Torts. You will do everything a 1L does, therefore by the completion you will have written a Memo, taken exams, etc..., and you WILL BE RANKED. Its not all school business though, you'll attend several networking seminars and other networking events (for example, we went on a cruise around San Diego bay). Thus, the experience you gather is invaluable.

The cost of attendance is 2000 unless you get a low-income waiver, which will knock the application fee to 200. So that begs the question: So other than the intangible "experience," what's in it for me?
First, if you successfully graduate, you qualify for the CLEO scholarship. It can be worth 1000-5000 a year. Everyone who graduates is eligible for the minimum, so the program will pay for itself.
Also, CLEO can help you get into law school. If you are accepted to CLEO, but do not have a law school that you've been accepted to, YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED AND PLACED IN AT LEAST ONE SCHOOL BY GRADUATION. If you already have a law school, it can help you get into a better one. However, dont bank on this. Only 2 from the top 5 from our class got into a better school.
Lastly, CLEO fellows qualify for enhancement seminars that occur twice a year that vary in topic. I just got back from our first one, which spent a week teaching us better exam techniques and oriented us on the job hunt for our 1L summer. The end of the semester, we'll attend a seminar where we get exclusive access to interview at several V100 firms and appelate judges for our 2L summer, so its quite possible that I'll a job locked up before I even start my 1L summer. During 3L, that seminar will give you a free bar prep for the multi-state bar.

Hope that helped some, ask away if there are any more q's.

[jamaicanjynx]

...

[bonesinger]

I put the 8 that I wanted to attend (NYC schools). I applied to basically every school I got a fee waiver for. I let the schools that I didn't put on my CLEO application know I was applying to CLEO also.

Hopefully I get in somewhere.

[araiza99]

To be accepted, you must be nominated by one of the schools you're applying to. You can't solicit them to nominate you, nor will you be notified if you've been nominated or by whom. Only about 1/4 of applicants will receive nominations. TIP: to increase your odds, apply to member schools as opposed to SSI's, their very actively involved and will be more likely to make a nomination. YOU HAVE TO APPLY TO A SCHOOL TO LIST IT ON YOUR APPLICATION. After the nomination round, Mrs. Thomasine Williams and her admissions committee will pour your app, a lot like law school admissions do, and will pick around 80 students for the two summer classes.

Essentially the 6week program is a simulation of the entire first semester of 1L. Each school each year offers different courses, for example we (TJ in San Diego) took LRWA, Contracts, and Torts. You will do everything a 1L does, therefore by the completion you will have written a Memo, taken exams, etc..., and you WILL BE RANKED. Its not all school business though, you'll attend several networking seminars and other networking events (for example, we went on a cruise around San Diego bay). Thus, the experience you gather is invaluable.

The cost of attendance is 2000 unless you get a low-income waiver, which will knock the application fee to 200. So that begs the question: So other than the intangible "experience," what's in it for me?
First, if you successfully graduate, you qualify for the CLEO scholarship. It can be worth 1000-5000 a year. Everyone who graduates is eligible for the minimum, so the program will pay for itself.
Also, CLEO can help you get into law school. If you are accepted to CLEO, but do not have a law school that you've been accepted to, YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED AND PLACED IN AT LEAST ONE SCHOOL BY GRADUATION. If you already have a law school, it can help you get into a better one. However, dont bank on this. Only 2 from the top 5 from our class got into a better school.
Lastly, CLEO fellows qualify for enhancement seminars that occur twice a year that vary in topic. I just got back from our first one, which spent a week teaching us better exam techniques and oriented us on the job hunt for our 1L summer. The end of the semester, we'll attend a seminar where we get exclusive access to interview at several V100 firms and appelate judges for our 2L summer, so its quite possible that I'll a job locked up before I even start my 1L summer. During 3L, that seminar will give you a free bar prep for the multi-state bar.

Hope that helped some, ask away if there are any more q's.

Thanks. I'm confused by your statements:

You state, "To be accepted, you must be nominated by one of the schools you're applying to," emphasis added. In contrast you state, "CLEO can help you get into law school. If you are accepted to CLEO, but do not have a law school that you've been accepted to, YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED AND PLACED IN AT LEAST ONE SCHOOL BY GRADUATION."

So do you have to be nominated or does is simply help to to gain admittance to CLEO? My understanding is that it helps. How can you be accepted to CLEO and not have a law school that you've been accepted to but be nominated by a law school?

Only member schools nominate candidates, so aren't you suggesting that only students nominated by member institutions will get a shot at being accepted? So what if a student got accepted to Harvard... No love from CLEO?

Additionally, can you please describe the social atmosphere at CLEO? I don't mean partying and stuff, I mean level of maturity. I noticed on LSN that you were out of ugrad a couple years before law school... how did you fit in?

Also, do you believe CLEO helped you academically for 1L. In other words, do you feel your 1L GPA/Rank would have been less if you did not attend CLEO?

[basetommyball]

Thanks. I'm confused by your statements:

You state, "To be accepted, you must be nominated by one of the schools you're applying to," emphasis added. In contrast you state, "CLEO can help you get into law school. If you are accepted to CLEO, but do not have a law school that you've been accepted to, YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED AND PLACED IN AT LEAST ONE SCHOOL BY GRADUATION."
So do you have to be nominated or does is simply help to to gain admittance to CLEO? My understanding is that it helps. How can you be accepted to CLEO and not have a law school that you've been accepted to but be nominated by a law school?

Yes you have to be nominated, but nominations and acceptances do not automatically follow each other. Therefore its possible for a school to nominate you and NOT accept you. However, many of those schools with offer "conditional acceptances" if you do get accepted to cleo. Usually they will require a certain rank to gain acceptance to their law school. In our class, we had 6 students that had yet to be accepted to a law school by the time we had arrived at cleo. By the time we graduated, every one of them had been accepted to at least one school.

Only member schools nominate candidates, so aren't you suggesting that only students nominated by member institutions will get a shot at being accepted? So what if a student got accepted to Harvard... No love from CLEO?

Member schools aren't the only nominating schools, SSI's will nominate also. Its just that member schools are more likely to nominate. I'm in no way suggesting that only kids going to member schools have a shot, that's a huge jump in logic. I'm only suggesting that since member schools nominate more frequently, you may have a better shot getting in if you otherwise had not applied to a member school. Therefore your harvard kid will still have a shot at cleo. Really, its up to harvard if they want to nominate that kid. No nomination=no love from cleo.

Additionally, can you please describe the social atmosphere at CLEO? I don't mean partying and stuff, I mean level of maturity. I noticed on LSN that you were out of ugrad a couple years before law school... how did you fit in?[

I went straight from ugrad to law school, I just graduated may 2008. The level of maturity was actually very high. Most of the participating fellows had overcome some sort of socioeconomic disadvantage, and their behavior and focus reflected that. For example, our class had 2 Palestinian refugees, 4 Nigerian immigrants, and several fellows from the US that grew up pretty indigent their whole lives. As far as fitting in, keep in mind that every fellow has just put their entire lives on hold to move themselves to a city they had never been to and lived in the most diverse setting you can be situated in. So you dont fit in because you're like someone, our common factor was that we had no common factor, so we all grew extremely close. Of course, every large group of people will tend to develop cliques, but the beauty of it is is that the cliques were amorphous, so you were hanging out with different groups of people everyday without sacrificing comfort. So I fit in just fine.

do you believe CLEO helped you academically for 1L. In other words, do you feel your 1L GPA/Rank would have been less if you did not attend CLEO?

Absolutely. Coming in to 1L I had no idea what I was getting into, nor did I have any idea of the demands 1L puts on you. Furthermore, I dont have any family, friends, acquaintances, etc... that are in the legal field, so I was pretty naive about everything legal. Seriously, without this summer, I know I would have failed 1L. Not only do you get a head start, but they teach you exam techniques, study/briefing techniques, etc... In other words, they completely arm you for 1L.

[araiza99]

Thanks man, now you got me worried that I did not get nominated. I applied way early to schools and already have some acceptances. How could they have nominated me so early in the game. I emailed a couple of the schools to indicate that I applied to CLEO and lots of them told me they don't nominate, even if they are member schools. Some of them said they select from CLEO graduates, and others said that they will make an admissions decision regardless of CLEO. ahh crap.

BTW, what is your source that students "must" be nominated to be accepted to CLEO? Where did you read this? Or is it a rumor?

[basetommyball]

Its part of the process. I know Thomasine Williams.

lol, sorry. My intentions weren't to worry anyone. Most of the posters on here are so qualified that they have nothing to worry about. As a matter of fact, all of us from the cleo 2008 forum were accepted. So I'm sure you'll do just fine. Actually, its a good thing that you applied earlier rather than later. Schools don't make nominations until CLEO approaches them, they aren't proactive about their nominations. So no worries.

Some of them said they select from CLEO graduates, and others said that they will make an admissions decision regardless of CLEO. ahh crap.

Lol, yeah sounds about right. However, my honest advice is to use CLEO more as a device for preparation and opportunity rather than a device to get into a better school. That's what I did last year, I was hoping that I could rest on CLEO to get me into ND or UT, and I was approaching it all wrong.

[araiza99]

Its part of the process. I know Thomasine Williams.

lol, sorry. My intentions weren't to worry anyone. Most of the posters on here are so qualified that they have nothing to worry about. As a matter of fact, all of us from the cleo 2008 forum were accepted. So I'm sure you'll do just fine. Actually, its a good thing that you applied earlier rather than later. Schools don't make nominations until CLEO approaches them, they aren't proactive about their nominations. So no worries.

Some of them said they select from CLEO graduates, and others said that they will make an admissions decision regardless of CLEO. ahh crap.

Lol, yeah sounds about right. However, my honest advice is to use CLEO more as a device for preparation and opportunity rather than a device to get into a better school. That's what I did last year, I was hoping that I could rest on CLEO to get me into ND or UT, and I was approaching it all wrong.

yeah, I'm not looking to get an admissions edge. I already got accepted to the schools I wanted. I'm looking for an academic edge. I want to kick-butt as a 1L and I want CLEO to give me that edge. I have a couple non-CLEO friends in law school and they tell me that the CLEO fellows have their act together.

[Progress]

I received a letter in the mail today from the CLEO program today. I was admitted! I'm accepting it and will attend the 6 week institute at one of the locations (Southern Illinois U or U of Pittsburgh) this summer.

Best wishes to all of the other applicants.

Congratulations to you macjags07! When did you apply for the program?

[mimijd]

I got in, and I'm soooooo excited! Good Luck to everyone still waiting!

[basetommyball]

yeah, I'm not looking to get an admissions edge. I already got accepted to the schools I wanted. I'm looking for an academic edge. I want to kick-butt as a 1L and I want CLEO to give me that edge. I have a couple non-CLEO friends in law school and they tell me that the CLEO fellows have their act together.

Awesome, well thats exactly what CLEO is there for. Good luck to you araiza, you seem like you have your act together too, you shouldn't have any problem. And congrats mimi and macjag!

[araiza99]

I got in, and I'm soooooo excited! Good Luck to everyone still waiting!

Congrats! What part of the country are you in?

[mimijd]

I got in, and I'm soooooo excited! Good Luck to everyone still waiting!

Congrats! What part of the country are you in?

Thanks tommy and araiza!!! I live in GA.

[starlight007]

congrats as well!

[araiza99]

I got in, and I'm soooooo excited! Good Luck to everyone still waiting!

Congrats! What part of the country are you in?

Thanks tommy and araiza!!! I live in GA.

Cool, looks like the acceptances are reaching eastcoasters

I got my fingers crossed in the midwest

[bonesinger]

im still waiting, i live in NY , on a side note, i got in st. johns with a 20k/yr scholly so I was happy about that

now to only do well on the feb lsat!