Top Law Schools

thelaststraw05 wrote:

Lady in Red wrote:

sanguar wrote:It tastes like sulfur. We got a tap filter thing and that fixes it.

Is that something I could buy at Home Depot?

I read tap filter as being like a pur filter that attaches to your faucet. I'm sure Sanguar will correct me if I'm wrong.

But this kind of thing:

http://www.amazon.com/PUR-3-Stage-Horiz ... 615&sr=8-5

http://www.amazon.com/Brita-Chrome-Fauc ... 15&sr=8-14

That's awesome; I didn't know such a thing existed! I'm going to buy one now and use it here until the move. I've been using a Brita pitcher, which works well, but it's a minor inconvenience to refill it all the time.

Are there apartment complexes in Burns Park?

I'm looking into renting an apartment at Forum (726 State St.), which is one of the four apartments sponsored by the Law School. I'm wondering if people can offer any insights about the apartment. The location is ideal. Are there any problems with pests, leaks, crime, poor management -- anything serious that I should know before I sign the lease?

Any review, positive or negative, is appreciated!

I've only made it through the first 22 pages of this thread, so I apologize if this has been asked.

Thank you!

Lady in Red wrote:I'm looking into renting an apartment at Forum (726 State St.), which is one of the four apartments sponsored by the Law School. I'm wondering if people can offer any insights about the apartment. The location is ideal. Are there any problems with pests, leaks, crime, poor management -- anything serious that I should know before I sign the lease?

Any review, positive or negative, is appreciated!

I've only made it through the first 22 pages of this thread, so I apologize if this has been asked.

Thank you!

On the way to a football game, I got in one of those "Them: GO!" "Us: BLUE!!" things with people in that place. I could see inside. It looked pretty nice. I'm also positive crime will not be an issue since there is a code to get in, it is basically on top of the campus, and there will be all law students living there.

AreJay711 wrote: On the way to a football game, I got in one of those "Them: GO!" "Us: BLUE!!" things with people in that place.

That just made me smile from ear to ear. God, I wish I could start today! I'm saving all my pennies to buy every Michigan sweatshirt I can find!

Lady in Red wrote:

AreJay711 wrote: On the way to a football game, I got in one of those "Them: GO!" "Us: BLUE!!" things with people in that place.

That just made me smile from ear to ear. God, I wish I could start today! I'm saving all my pennies to buy every Michigan sweatshirt I can find!

Slacker... Already had all mine delivered... I even got a free bear in a Michigan jersey... but only because I spent so much money.

Ok, this question might sound a little crazy but I'm wondering if I need to bring my tux to Ann Arbor/do current students ever have to go to black tie stuff that would require it? (I know Penn does a nice black tie welcome dinner at the Constitution museum.)

I'm trying to decide whether I should get a new tux or go on a mini-vacation before law school.

JDizzle2015 wrote:Ok, this question might sound a little crazy but I'm wondering if I need to bring my tux to Ann Arbor/do current students ever have to go to black tie stuff that would require it? (I know Penn does a nice black tie welcome dinner at the Constitution museum.)

I'm trying to decide whether I should get a new tux or go on a mini-vacation before law school.

No black tie. I wore a suit once for oral argument. That's it for school events. Even the employer meet & greet is business casual.

JDizzle2015 wrote:Ok, this question might sound a little crazy but I'm wondering if I need to bring my tux to Ann Arbor/do current students ever have to go to black tie stuff that would require it? (I know Penn does a nice black tie welcome dinner at the Constitution museum.)

I'm trying to decide whether I should get a new tux or go on a mini-vacation before law school.

The school doesn't have any black tie events, but i have used my suit a couple times: the "new york" party where black was the required color. also, some bros in the lawyers club had a "fancy party" and everyone dressed up classy for that.

anyway, bring your goods. it won't hurt and you'll probably have the closet space.

So, I have been reading a lot about how if you want a successful career or biglaw, you need to be above the median at a school like University of Michigan.

What happens to the students below the median? What happens to the bottom 50% of the class? Are they completely screwed or is the prestige/name of Michigan Law so strong that being below the median still offers opportunities at fantastic jobs?

Thanks!

Question for anyone on a journal: Does having a Mac put you at a disadvantage? I was perusing the ITS website and it said Macs are fine for exams and such, but the software used for the journals isn't really compatible with Macs.

ScrabbleChamp wrote:Question for anyone on a journal: Does having a Mac put you at a disadvantage? I was perusing the ITS website and it said Macs are fine for exams and such, but the software used for the journals isn't really compatible with Macs.

Most people on law review had Macs. I think all journals use Word so no big deal. It adds one extra step for this informing because a macro doesn't work right to format footnotes but that's it. We have a publications staff that does all of the heavy software typesetting at stuff.

Macs are not only heavily supported, many things seem to work better on them. E.g. When configuring a laptop the PC people had to sit around for 30+ minutes while the script downloaded stuff. I was done in less than 5.

The exam software, printers, etc all work perfectly fine. (I think about 50-60% of my 1L section had Macs as well FWIW.)

aladdinismyprince wrote:So, I have been reading a lot about how if you want a successful career or biglaw, you need to be above the median at a school like University of Michigan.

What happens to the students below the median? What happens to the bottom 50% of the class? Are they completely screwed or is the prestige/name of Michigan Law so strong that being below the median still offers opportunities at fantastic jobs?

Thanks!

Being below median isn't great but almost all I know have jobs, albeit in secondary markets, etc. just be smart and don't aim for places like DC if below median. (For DC in particular, even some H grads have trouble placing...)

blowhard wrote:

ScrabbleChamp wrote:Question for anyone on a journal: Does having a Mac put you at a disadvantage? I was perusing the ITS website and it said Macs are fine for exams and such, but the software used for the journals isn't really compatible with Macs.

Most people on law review had Macs. I think all journals use Word so no big deal. It adds one extra step for this informing because a macro doesn't work right to format footnotes but that's it. We have a publications staff that does all of the heavy software typesetting at stuff.

Macs are not only heavily supported, many things seem to work better on them. E.g. When configuring a laptop the PC people had to sit around for 30+ minutes while the script downloaded stuff. I was done in less than 5.

The exam software, printers, etc all work perfectly fine. (I think about 50-60% of my 1L section had Macs as well FWIW.)

So, in your experience, having a Mac is not a hinderance or disadvantage in any way?

ScrabbleChamp wrote:

blowhard wrote:

ScrabbleChamp wrote:Question for anyone on a journal: Does having a Mac put you at a disadvantage? I was perusing the ITS website and it said Macs are fine for exams and such, but the software used for the journals isn't really compatible with Macs.

Most people on law review had Macs. I think all journals use Word so no big deal. It adds one extra step for this informing because a macro doesn't work right to format footnotes but that's it. We have a publications staff that does all of the heavy software typesetting at stuff.

Macs are not only heavily supported, many things seem to work better on them. E.g. When configuring a laptop the PC people had to sit around for 30+ minutes while the script downloaded stuff. I was done in less than 5.

The exam software, printers, etc all work perfectly fine. (I think about 50-60% of my 1L section had Macs as well FWIW.)

So, in your experience, having a Mac is not a hinderance or disadvantage in any way?

All the women want to date you and all the men want to be like you. Other than that...

No.

blowhard wrote:

ScrabbleChamp wrote:

blowhard wrote:

ScrabbleChamp wrote:Question for anyone on a journal: Does having a Mac put you at a disadvantage? I was perusing the ITS website and it said Macs are fine for exams and such, but the software used for the journals isn't really compatible with Macs.

Most people on law review had Macs. I think all journals use Word so no big deal. It adds one extra step for this informing because a macro doesn't work right to format footnotes but that's it. We have a publications staff that does all of the heavy software typesetting at stuff.

Macs are not only heavily supported, many things seem to work better on them. E.g. When configuring a laptop the PC people had to sit around for 30+ minutes while the script downloaded stuff. I was done in less than 5.

The exam software, printers, etc all work perfectly fine. (I think about 50-60% of my 1L section had Macs as well FWIW.)

So, in your experience, having a Mac is not a hinderance or disadvantage in any way?

All the women want to date you and all the men want to be like you. Other than that...

No.

Ha. Last question lest I hijack the thread... what are your thoughts on the differences between the MacBook Air 13" and the MacBook Pro 13"? I haven't used Macs in a while, but I have heard horror stories about PCs crashing during exams and such and I've never heard of such a thing with a Mac, so any advice you can provide would be very helpful.

ScrabbleChamp wrote:
Ha. Last question lest I hijack the thread... what are your thoughts on the differences between the MacBook Air 13" and the MacBook Pro 13"? I haven't used Macs in a while, but I have heard horror stories about PCs crashing during exams and such and I've never heard of such a thing with a Mac, so any advice you can provide would be very helpful.

I have a Pro but wish I had the Air...its pretty sweet. It's all subjective though, they are both great machines.

Husband has the 13" Air. He loves it. I don't think we've missed the CD drive at all.

46nyc wrote:Can any current students elaborate on how easy it is to stay within the budget set for financial aid? Especially if you're signing a one year lease at your apartment. I guess I'm worried because I'd really like to have a one bedroom to myself, at least for the first year, and I feel like all of the apartment complexes start one bedrooms at $950/month not including utilities, but the total budget for rent/utilities/food is $11750, which if you have to spread that over a 12 month lease is $979/month. Then where does money for utilities/food come from? Any explanation would be really helpful. Thanks!

It's not so bad if you're under 26 and you can stay on your parents' health insurance plan. UM allocates $2,000 for health insurance costs. In addition, they give you $3,000 for what they call "personal expenses," which is just eating out and going to bars, and the bars are very cheap (we're talking 2 or 3 dollars for a beer at many places). I'm actually consistently floored at how cheap things are here, I'm from a more metro area and so the lower prices are always a nice surprise.

They also give you lots of money for books, about $1,000 when they really only cost about $500 for the whole year if you get them used (most people do). So basically they give you $17,978 to live on, with the caveat being that you probably won't get a paid internship for the summer and funding is scarce, so you have to consider (worst case scenario, meaning you find neither funding nor a subletter) the cost of leasing your apartment over the summer plus the cost of living wherever your 1L internship is.

$950 is on the upper end for a 1 bdrm. The complexes the law schools reserved for the 1Ls are def. not the cheapest housing around. Ann Arbor has a lot of free standing houses that are split up into separate apartments and leased by property companies. I rent a 1bdrm two blocks from the law school for $700/month, and my rent includes gas (aka heat) and water which are the bulk of my utilities. It's a small place but it's nice, and it's a 1bdrm and not a studio which I like. It wasn't that easy to find though, cheap places go fast. What you need to do is go to the property companies' websites and see what they have available.

This website lists some of them: http://www.johnwcooper.com/annarbor/off ... chigan.htm, but there are like 15 more that people just don't know about. Just google/yelp variations of "Ann Arbor Property Management" and you'll probably find them all. Sometimes they don't have online listings so you have to call.

In lieu of that, you can always try craigslist. I actually found my place there because my landlord only owns one building so he doesn't have a website.

You probably would have to choose between a car or a roommate, but having your own place is definitely doable.

sbj4455 wrote:

46nyc wrote:Can any current students elaborate on how easy it is to stay within the budget set for financial aid? Especially if you're signing a one year lease at your apartment. I guess I'm worried because I'd really like to have a one bedroom to myself, at least for the first year, and I feel like all of the apartment complexes start one bedrooms at $950/month not including utilities, but the total budget for rent/utilities/food is $11750, which if you have to spread that over a 12 month lease is $979/month. Then where does money for utilities/food come from? Any explanation would be really helpful. Thanks!

It's not so bad if you're under 26 and you can stay on your parents' health insurance plan. UM allocates $2,000 for health insurance costs. In addition, they give you $3,000 for what they call "personal expenses," which is just eating out and going to bars, and the bars are very cheap (we're talking 2 or 3 dollars for a beer at many places). I'm actually consistently floored at how cheap things are here, I'm from a more metro area and so the lower prices are always a nice surprise.

They also give you lots of money for books, about $1,000 when they really only cost about $500 for the whole year if you get them used (most people do). So basically they give you $17,978 to live on, with the caveat being that you probably won't get a paid internship for the summer and funding is scarce, so you have to consider (worst case scenario, meaning you find neither funding nor a subletter) the cost of leasing your apartment over the summer plus the cost of living wherever your 1L internship is.

$950 is on the upper end for a 1 bdrm. The complexes the law schools reserved for the 1Ls are def. not the cheapest housing around. Ann Arbor has a lot of free standing houses that are split up into separate apartments and leased by property companies. I rent a 1bdrm two blocks from the law school for $700/month, and my rent includes gas (aka heat) and water which are the bulk of my utilities. It's a small place but it's nice, and it's a 1bdrm and not a studio which I like. It wasn't that easy to find though, cheap places go fast. What you need to do is go to the property companies' websites and see what they have available.

This website lists some of them: http://www.johnwcooper.com/annarbor/off ... chigan.htm, but there are like 15 more that people just don't know about. Just google/yelp variations of "Ann Arbor Property Management" and you'll probably find them all. Sometimes they don't have online listings so you have to call.

In lieu of that, you can always try craigslist. I actually found my place there because my landlord only owns one building so he doesn't have a website.

You probably would have to choose between a car or a roommate, but having your own place is definitely doable.

Regardless, don't pay for the school health plan. I pay $82 a month at Aetna (not the school plan) which covers a few visits outside the school. You can go to the school health thing for free regardless of insurance. And, I'm covered for hospitalization.

Michigan's Aetna plan is a rip-off if you use off-campus health services. You have to spend $250 out-of-pocket first (not including co-pays) and then it's an 80/20 split. If you still qualify for your parent's plan, I suggest you stay on that.

So, I've never actually lived in a climate like Michigan... how warm of a jacket do I need to purchase? I'm looking online at jackets on North Face and Columbia, and I have no clue what the difference between a $750 jacket and a $200 jacket are. Any tips on which cold weather jackets are best? Same goes for waterproof boots, too.

I recommend one of those "3-layer" Columbia or north face ones. Wind proof is a must.

I'm a chick, so I wear Uggs when it snows. The husband has some of those LLBean duck boots with a removable liner that insulates them.

I wouldn't spend a crap ton on a coat. A 200 dollar one should do. Layering is really the key, though, as apparently it's so hot inside Hutchins in the winter you have to strip down.

It hasn't really gotten cold yet. I'm disappointed

(as old man winter laughs at my nativity)

AreJay711 wrote:It hasn't really gotten cold yet. I'm disappointed

(as old man winter laughs at my nativity)

Last year it snowed in mid-April

Joan Hollaway wrote:

AreJay711 wrote:It hasn't really gotten cold yet. I'm disappointed

(as old man winter laughs at my nativity)

Last year it snowed in mid-April

True, but it had also snowed a ton by this point.

Edit: P.S. I like your hair...just noticed on FB the other day.