Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[cway]

Thanks for the info in this thread. Very helpful!

0L here. Why is BSA so highly competitive and desirable? (Sincerely not trying to be a smartass.) It just seems pretty bland - and yet several people ITT have put it in the same bucket as HLR. Is it particularly prestigious, or does it just require a large time commitment like HLR? I feel like I'm missing something.

[owlofminerva]

Thanks for the info in this thread. Very helpful!

0L here. Why is BSA so highly competitive and desirable? (Sincerely not trying to be a smartass.) It just seems pretty bland - and yet several people ITT have put it in the same bucket as HLR. Is it particularly prestigious, or does it just require a large time commitment like HLR? I feel like I'm missing something.

I think it works a little both ways. To some degree, you are right in that it doesn't seem like a big deal; at the same time, however, there are a number of positive things to be said for it. It does require a big time commitment, just like the other two major players that people try to join at the end of 1L: HLAB and HLR.

On the positive side of things, BSAs get to work a lot on legal writing skills with the work that goes into coaching the 1L sections and even helping run the Ames competitions. Not only that, but their experience is more on the practical side of legal writing instead of the theory-based articles seen on law review. Additionally, BSA has been around for quite some time and so there is a network of alumni there to tap into and establish a connection with more so than just going to HLS. As a result, BSA can be a desirable thing.

I think the only true negative for BSA is the fact that not a lot of people (re: employers) outside of the HLS community know what a BSA does. Everybody knows what law review is, or even a clinic like HLAB. BSA is a bit harder to really explain, at least in just a resume alone.

In any case, everybody I know that did BSA all seemed to have a good experience out of it and while it might not be as "desirable" as HLR, it can be very competitive to join.

[wert3813]

Thanks for the info in this thread. Very helpful!

0L here. Why is BSA so highly competitive and desirable? (Sincerely not trying to be a smartass.) It just seems pretty bland - and yet several people ITT have put it in the same bucket as HLR. Is it particularly prestigious, or does it just require a large time commitment like HLR? I feel like I'm missing something.

First, it's not as prestigious as HLR, but not much in this world is. That said, it is pretty prestigious, but I actually think a lot of people do it because they either will like the experience or it helps their future goals:

You get to work with 1Ls in a fairly substantive and (usually) helpful role which I'm sure a lot of people enjoy.
If you are into appellate brief writing I can imagine it is particularly useful.
If you want to be a professor one day it makes a lot of sense.
You have the opportunity to get a great relationship with a professor.
It pays (though not a lot).

[cway]

Appreciate the quick responses!

[paglababa]

Anyone turn down full ride at a t6 to come to H? Especially offers that gave more than just money, ie. AnBryce @ NYU. Would love to hear how you feel now. Feel free to PM me.

[Vursz]

Anyone turn down full ride at a t6 to come to H? Especially offers that gave more than just money, ie. AnBryce @ NYU. Would love to hear how you feel now. Feel free to PM me.

Seconding this.

[mnindc]

Anyone turn down full ride at a t6 to come to H? Especially offers that gave more than just money, ie. AnBryce @ NYU. Would love to hear how you feel now. Feel free to PM me.

+1

[tomwatts]

I turned down a full-tuition scholarship at NYU to go to HLS. My reasons were a bit unusual. I'm doing a JD/MPP, and there's basically no other JD/MPP in the country like Harvard's. I had a decent amount of money saved up before law school (and ended up working during the second, third, and fourth years) so that I won't go into huge amounts of debt. Things like that.

If it were straight-up sticker at HLS vs. full-ride at NYU and I wanted nothing but biglaw in NY or something, then it probably would've made more sense to go to NYU.

[MoMettaMonk]

.

[patogordo]

i bet if you asked "who went to H at sticker and wishes they'd had the option of a full ride at CCN?" you'd get a lot more responses

[wert3813]

Just in case you guys don't all get PMs from people...If you are A) good with living in NYC while in school, B) want general big law, and C) won't spend the rest of your life wishing you had gone to Harvard then taking the money at CCN is probably wise. If some of these aren't true the decision becomes much tougher and much more dependent on you and your circumstances.

[Doorkeeper]

Also turned down a free ride at NYU and mega cash at Chicago. My specific goals from law school made Harvard the easy choice, but I agree with the sentiment that if you're just looking for NYC biglaw then the CCN full ride makes a lot of sense.

Happy to discuss more via PMs.

[Vursz]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

[delusional]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

Don't know a ton about this - sum total of my knowledge is two classmates going to Texas biglaw but I'll answer for now and you can wait for others to chime in. At least one of them is not a super LR-type baller and had only moderate ties (undergrad in TX but from northeast). Definitely doesn't have that "tough nut to crack" reputation that, say, DC does.

[rathgra]

Has anyone had any success renting larger houses (say 5-6 bedrooms)? Preferably within a 15 minute walk of the law school. PMs welcome - thanks!

[wert3813]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

Don't know a ton about this - sum total of my knowledge is two classmates going to Texas biglaw but I'll answer for now and you can wait for others to chime in. At least one of them is not a super LR-type baller and had only moderate ties (undergrad in TX but from northeast). Definitely doesn't have that "tough nut to crack" reputation that, say, DC does.

If you search for a poster named "double checks" (doublechecks? the guy with the pineapple icon) and this thread, then you should find a good discussion he had of TX out of HLS a while back. While easy is always a word you want to be careful about applying to a job search the general belief is that if someone like you doesn't get Texas it's because you have just awful grades (like bottom 2-3%) or serious personality issues (and honestly, it might even take both). FWIW the interview to callback percent for TX firms out of HLS is much more similar to NYC (in the 40% range) than DC or SoCal (in the 30% range).

[KaNa1986]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

Given sufficient ties (grew up in TX, went to UG there), Dallas isn't grade selective (unlike NY V15, DC V5).

[kcam1991]

Just curious to the type of grades sears prize winners have?

[TripTrip]

Just curious to the type of grades sears prize winners have?

More DSs than Hs, no Ps.

[Cowboy25]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

Given sufficient ties (grew up in TX, went to UG there), Dallas isn't grade selective (unlike NY V15, DC V5).

What exactly do you mean by "ties?" Just that you have lived in the area before, or that you have made connections within the legal work place?

[KaNa1986]

Just out of curiosity, what's the approximate grade cutoff for Dallas biglaw out of HLS?

Ties are almost as good as they get (born and raised, parents live there, only left for UG/law school)

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before; TLS conventional wisdom seems to be something along the lines of "well, if you want to work in TX, go to HYS, and have ties, you're all set." That seems almost too good to be true...

Given sufficient ties (grew up in TX, went to UG there), Dallas isn't grade selective (unlike NY V15, DC V5).

What exactly do you mean by "ties?" Just that you have lived in the area before, or that you have made connections within the legal work place?

Anything that convinces the firm that you want to work in TX, have legitimate reasons for wanting to work in TX, and will not leave TX for NY/DC/SV in 2 years.

[wert3813]

Just curious to the type of grades sears prize winners have?

More DSs than Hs, no Ps.

Really? Wow that's high.

[ph14]

Just curious to the type of grades sears prize winners have?

More DSs than Hs, no Ps.

Really? Wow that's high.

Well, it's top 2 people in a class of 500+. That seems pretty accurate to me.

[wert3813]

Just curious to the type of grades sears prize winners have?

More DSs than Hs, no Ps.

Really? Wow that's high.

Well, it's top 2 people in a class of 500+. That seems pretty accurate to me.

Yeah I would have thought More DSs than Ps but I'm basing that off of nothing. What so ever.

[ph14]

More DSs than Hs, no Ps.

Really? Wow that's high.

Well, it's top 2 people in a class of 500+. That seems pretty accurate to me.

Yeah I would have thought More DSs than Ps but I'm basing that off of nothing. What so ever.

More DS than Ps puts you into magna territory, top 10%. But still a ways to go to be one of the top 2 students, i'm sure.