BU 1Ls & 2Ls Taking Questions Forum

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BU2013

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BU 1Ls & 2Ls Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:41 pm

BU 1L Taking Questions. There are a few of us on this board, hopefully some of the rest will chime in. Ask away.
Last edited by BU2013 on Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Blindmelon

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by Blindmelon » Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:01 am

Tag - 2L here.

Miranda 18

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by Miranda 18 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:09 am

BU seems pretty unrepresented here so its awesome you are taking questions :D

How are you liking BU? Can you talk a little bit about your class? I know most students at BU come in straight from undergrad but do you consider your classmates diverse in terms of geography, ideology, race, etc? I've lived in Boston before and I know the city is fairly homogeneous (though very fun and friendly) and I am wondering if that is also the case at BU.

In terms of jobs do you know if most people have to opportunities to leave New England if they wanted to?

Thanks in advance!

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Eugenie Danglars

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by Eugenie Danglars » Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:13 am

What do you like best about BU?
What do you like least?
What's the "feel" of the student body? Liberal, conservative, wild, attached...etc.
Do you know anyone doing a dual degree? How's that going?

thanks in advance!

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by blink » Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:24 am

1) do the crummy facilities bother you?
2) are the professors really that awesome?
3) is it an issue being the second best school in Boston? Like the above poster said, what is it like trying to place to other regions?

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BU2013

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:40 am

Eugenie Danglars wrote: What do you like best about BU?
The atmosphere/student body, older students, faculty and staff here are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Random 3L's will offer to give you outlines, share network contacts. The alumni network is equally friendly, and all this is before I'm even allowed to talk to the career services. I visited a number of schools before deciding on BU, at most schools the admitted student days were lightly staffed, at BU they had nearly 100 volunteers and the administration actually mentioned turning students down.

What do you like least?
I'm not trying to be a salesman, but nothing yet. I'm sure if you give me a few weeks something will start to bother me though, so I'll keep you posted.

What's the "feel" of the student body? Liberal, conservative, wild, attached...etc.
It is Boston, and it is a post-graduate degree so naturally most of the people are Center-Left. But the Federalist Society is well represented on campus. The student body is very diverse and very accepting. The average student here is probably 24 with a year of either work or graduate school, but there are also plenty of people who are either older or straight out of college. People here are outgoing, laid back, and all very intelligent. Discussions of philosophy in pubs and wine tastings are more likely than keg parties. That said, there are keg parties and bar reviews, all of which are heavily attended. Not to mention the "Harbor Cruise" (Booze Cruise) this weekend that 200+ students are attending.

Do you know anyone doing a dual degree? How's that going?
I'm not, and I don't know that any 1L's are. I get the impression that it's something most people add in their 2nd or 3rd year. For example, I know a guy who received a firm offer, and was asked by the firm to get an LLM.

thanks in advance!

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:46 am

Miranda 18 wrote:BU seems pretty unrepresented here so its awesome you are taking questions :D

How are you liking BU? Can you talk a little bit about your class? I know most students at BU come in straight from undergrad but do you consider your classmates diverse in terms of geography, ideology, race, etc?
I don't know if most students come straight from undergrad. I had that impression of the school last year, but now that I'm here it seems like everyone either has a graduate degree or work experience, not that I mind much. Very geographically diverse, as for race I answered that in the next question, and In the post above I mentioned political ideology. If you have any questions about a specific minority group I'm sure I can either answer them, or ask someone else to.

I've lived in Boston before and I know the city is fairly homogeneous (though very fun and friendly) and I am wondering if that is also the case at BU.
Very diverse, especially for a T30 school in New England. School stats say the student body is between 25-30% URM. There is also a sizable and well represented GLBT community.

In terms of jobs do you know if most people have to opportunities to leave New England if they wanted to?
I only know a handful of people whose targets are outside of New England, but I know someone going to work at a firm in Texas, and another whose heading out to San Francisco--so it seems if you want to escape the North East you can, at least anecdotally.

Thanks in advance!

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Eugenie Danglars

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by Eugenie Danglars » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:51 am

Thanks very much. That reinforces a lot of what I've heard before. I really think I'd like BU. Now, I just have to get in :-)

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:56 am

blink wrote: 1) do the crummy facilities bother you?
No. The external appearance of the building is certainly uh, well...you've seen pictures of it. But once you are inside the facilities are pretty nice. The classroom facilities are new, I'll try to post a photo if I can find one. The library is pretty strangely configured, but once you learn how to navigate it, it's fine. I'm really starting to love the law tower, and I think that it grows on most people. Also, BU's UG has awesome facilities nearby we get to use, like FitRec which is one of the best gyms in the country, and the Student Union next door which is convenient for grabbing food between classes.

2) are the professors really that awesome?
Yes.

3) is it an issue being the second best school in Boston? Like the above poster said, what is it like trying to place to other regions?
"The second best school in Boston" is kind of a misleading. Yes, Harvard is across the river. But we don't actively compete with them for many jobs. There is some competition for the MA Court of Appeals clerkships, but those seem to be pretty evenly split between BU/Harvard/BC grads. Many Harvard students go into boutiques, NYC big-law, and Academia. That leaves us as the relative top dog when it comes to competing for Boston firm jobs. Again, many students target is Boston--but I do know of a few students who wanted to go elsewhere and have. The CDO seems very receptive to such requests.

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BU2013

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:03 am

Some pictures from inside the Law Tower:
Typical 1L Classrooms
Image
Image
The Tower
Image

There are no decent photos of the Library or Lounges online, so I'll see if I can find some on facebook to post later.

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Blindmelon

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by Blindmelon » Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:50 am

blink wrote:1) do the crummy facilities bother you?
2) are the professors really that awesome?
3) is it an issue being the second best school in Boston? Like the above poster said, what is it like trying to place to other regions?
We do extremely well in Boston for a few reasons - Boston firms are really self-conscious that you actually would rather work in NYC, so they take tons of BU/BC students over higher ranked schools because its easier to show ties to the area. Its also easier to network in a city you live in.
Anecdotaly, BU seems to actually be doing better in NYC than Boston this year, but thats only because there are a lot more SA positions in NYC as Boston firms class size outside of the trinity of Wilmer, Ropes, and Goodwin are extremely small. That being said, there are great market-rate firms outside of Vault that take lots of BU people - foley hoag, Choat Hall & Stewart, Nutter, Brown Rudnick, etc. For NYC, I know a few people with V5 offers. For Boston, I know a handful of people that have offers at Ropes, Wilmer and Goodwin - many of which are not on law review.

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Wed Sep 29, 2010 1:02 pm

Any other Q's?

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Eugenie Danglars

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by Eugenie Danglars » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:01 am

I'll keep asking if you keep answering :-D

What is the general feel towards public interest? A reasonable career option or something to check off the volunteering/being a good person list once-in-a-while?

What's need based aid like?

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FlanAl

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by FlanAl » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:18 am

I think you said that it is very diverse geographically? just wondering if there are a few people from the west coast and if any of them plan on returning after they graduate. I know you mentioned the one person with the job in SF I was just wondering if other people were hoping for this as well.

also thanks for starting this thread

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by Blindmelon » Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:52 am

Eugenie Danglars wrote:I'll keep asking if you keep answering :-D

What is the general feel towards public interest? A reasonable career option or something to check off the volunteering/being a good person list once-in-a-while?

What's need based aid like?
For need based aid its one of the best in the country (theres a ranking thing somewhere). I got 20k/year non-merit.
PI is huge here - lots of opportunities to get involved during the year and lots of PI recruiting fairs. The school also brings on lots of alumni for easy networking opportunities. I went to a lunch with a Manhatten ADA, met a few ACLU lawyers, etc.
Theres also the public interest group on campus. Look at the website for more info.
FlanAl wrote:I think you said that it is very diverse geographically? just wondering if there are a few people from the west coast and if any of them plan on returning after they graduate. I know you mentioned the one person with the job in SF I was just wondering if other people were hoping for this as well.

also thanks for starting this thread
I know people with biglaw jobs in CA at BU right now. Of course, if CA is what you want, I would look at USC/UCLA more so than BU. But being here won't prevent you from working in CA as long as you have ties.

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:35 pm

Eugenie Danglars wrote:I'll keep asking if you keep answering :-D

What is the general feel towards public interest? A reasonable career option or something to check off the volunteering/being a good person list once-in-a-while?

What's need based aid like?
On public interest, the school does a 5k summer grant program for students (1Ls included) who are interested in doing non-paying public interest over the summer. Many schools have similar programs but not all do, it is something worth looking into wherever you go.

I don't know anyone on need based aid, but it seems like almost everyone has 10-25k per year in scholarship money. BU never gives strings on it's money. I'm getting 15k myself. BU WILL NEGOTIATE AID. So if you get excepted and no money follows, don't give up. I got my scholarship increased 3 times, as late as June.

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by Eugenie Danglars » Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:28 pm

BU2013 wrote:
I don't know anyone on need based aid, but it seems like almost everyone has 10-25k per year in scholarship money. BU never gives strings on it's money. I'm getting 15k myself. BU WILL NEGOTIATE AID. So if you get excepted and no money follows, don't give up. I got my scholarship increased 3 times, as late as June.
This kind of info is the reason I love this board... :-) Thanks!

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:55 pm

Eugenie Danglars wrote:
BU2013 wrote:
I don't know anyone on need based aid, but it seems like almost everyone has 10-25k per year in scholarship money. BU never gives strings on it's money. I'm getting 15k myself. BU WILL NEGOTIATE AID. So if you get excepted and no money follows, don't give up. I got my scholarship increased 3 times, as late as June.
This kind of info is the reason I love this board... :-) Thanks!
Make sure you apply to plenty of schools, I noticed this during my cycle. You can't just call and say "I'd like more money please," but you can certainly say, "BC offered me more money than you, and you are my first choice but...." Using this exact tactic I got one school to offer more than another, a third to offer more than the second, and then I got the original one to offer more than the third one!

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by thesybarite » Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:08 am

Thanks - this is really helpful. It sounds like a great school. It's encouraging to hear that the jobs in Boston aren't Harvard biased, I'd worried about that too.

I got a fee waiver, so I'm extra pumped about applying :D

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:11 am

Oh yeah, I probably shouldn't say stuff like this.... but requesting a fee waiver worked for me.

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by thesybarite » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:04 am

Hey, I was reading a bit about BU and BC today - talking about reputation and how they're often confused. For me BU has heaps of stuff I'm interested whereas BC really doesn't, but in general do you think they're compared/confused in the wider job market/general public?

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by BU2013 » Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:56 pm

thesybarite wrote:Hey, I was reading a bit about BU and BC today - talking about reputation and how they're often confused. For me BU has heaps of stuff I'm interested whereas BC really doesn't, but in general do you think they're compared/confused in the wider job market/general public?
Wider job market? Never. General Public? Sometimes.

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Re: BU 1L Taking Questions

Post by dakatz » Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:51 pm

Miranda 18 wrote:BU seems pretty unrepresented here so its awesome you are taking questions :D

How are you liking BU? Can you talk a little bit about your class? I know most students at BU come in straight from undergrad but do you consider your classmates diverse in terms of geography, ideology, race, etc? I've lived in Boston before and I know the city is fairly homogeneous (though very fun and friendly) and I am wondering if that is also the case at BU.

In terms of jobs do you know if most people have to opportunities to leave New England if they wanted to?

Thanks in advance!
I'm really loving BU so far. The student body has got to be one of the best things about this place. I saw it clearly when I came to visit for a tour, when I attended admitted students day, and I continue to see it now as a student. People here really support each other and the attitude and vibe is always positive and constructive. The upperclassmen are always willing to give us advice, help us our with picking classes, speaking about their job search, and guiding us along.

In terms of geography and race, BU is very diverse. That goes for not just the law school but the whole university. BU is a very international school in general so the overall feel is very multicultural. There are quite a few people from California, Chicago, mid-atlantic, etc. People came from pretty much all over.

One of the main reasons I picked BU is because they place well in not just New England but the mid-Atlantic as well. I talked to a bunch of lawyers I know in NYC and they said they see a bunch of BU grads around and that BU is a place they have traditionally hired from. I don't really know about other regions though.

As for the facilities, its really not a big deal. I never really understood people's fascination with aesthetics (or warm weather for that matter, so perhaps I'm just thick-skinned). Much of the inside is renovated and modern, plus you get the best view of the Boston skyline from the upper floors. They are continually adding study areas and computers to meet student demand. The classrooms themselves are more than adequate as well. So all in all, the facilities aren't bad, though not particularly lovely from the exterior view. Its one of those things that are sort of neutral to me. Facilities certainly aren't something I'd list as a pro, but its not like they are a detriment to the law school experience in any way.

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by thesybarite » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:38 pm

I'm loving the diversity element. All the schools say it but it sounds like BU really walks the talk.

And Boston as a city - do you love it? What's good about it/bad about it? If you're particularly keen to stay there after graduation is it quite achievable, say with regards to work in inter/national firms?

Are the 2Ls and 3Ls worried about finding jobs in this climate?

Thanks :)

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Re: BU 1L & 2L Taking Questions

Post by dakatz » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:51 pm

thesybarite wrote:I'm loving the diversity element. All the schools say it but it sounds like BU really walks the talk.

And Boston as a city - do you love it? What's good about it/bad about it? If you're particularly keen to stay there after graduation is it quite achievable, say with regards to work in inter/national firms?

Are the 2Ls and 3Ls worried about finding jobs in this climate?

Thanks :)
Boston is a great city. I love the history and culture of it which really gives it some "character". There are always things to do no matter what your preference is. The big drawback is the T (subway system) since it stops running right around midnight. But even that is balanced out by a positive, since a T line runs right down BU and gives us easy access to the entire city. BU is a very quick ride into downtown (or a very nice walk if the weather is good). I'll let the 2L's or 3L's speak to hiring and job prospects since I'm just a lowly 1L :D

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