BU 1Ls & 2Ls Taking Questions Forum

[dakatz]

I'll trade your disheartening A- for my B+.

I'm sure this last memo will do the trick. Worth 50% I believe.

[tea_drinker]

What can you say about BU's health law? Do you know anyone who want to do health law? If yes, are they happy/enjoying it? I am getting my master in health policy, and would love to study/practice health law.

Also, from your own experience, observations of your peers and other factors, how holistic do you think BU admission really is?

[Cupidity]

What can you say about BU's health law? Do you know anyone who want to do health law? If yes, are they happy/enjoying it? I am getting my master in health policy, and would love to study/practice health law.

Also, from your own experience, observations of your peers and other factors, how holistic do you think BU admission really is?

They do an excellent job catering to it, they have a secondary journal dedicated to it, a substantial number number of courses, and tons of networking events. There seems to be roughly one a week. I know two people with jobs in health law, one working for a government agency, the other at a small firm. One is miserable, one is happy. 50% happiness is better than average for lawyers.

[tea_drinker]

They do an excellent job catering to it, they have a secondary journal dedicated to it, a substantial number number of courses, and tons of networking events. There seems to be roughly one a week. I know two people with jobs in health law, one working for a government agency, the other at a small firm. One is miserable, one is happy. 50% happiness is better than average for lawyers.

50% is still good. Do you mind pointing out which one is miserable? I'd guess the government one, but not sure. It could be the small firm one too if he/she only does malpractice cases.

Also, why did you choose BU? Do you have any Boston ties? DO you plan to stay and practice in Boston after graduation?

[Cupidity]

The gov't one is less happy, says too much of his time is spent jumping through hoops instead of doing substantive stuff. I chose BU for a number of reasons. The state I'm from has no legal market, and I had no desire to stay, so when considering law schools I traveled to a few locations, LA, DC, Boston, NY, to try and determine which area I would be happiest living in. I decided on Boston because it is an amazing city.

[Blindmelon]

Also, from your own experience, observations of your peers and other factors, how holistic do you think BU admission really is?

Not really holistic at all unfortunately. There seems to be a grade floor at 3.3 - LSAT range muddles around 166/7, but will dip as low as 163.

[Aggiegrad2011]

Here's to hoping for dipping to 162 once for me, and in return, getting a sweet LSAC GPA over 4.00. What a deal!!!

[Eugenie Danglars]

Also, from your own experience, observations of your peers and other factors, how holistic do you think BU admission really is?

Not really holistic at all unfortunately. There seems to be a grade floor at 3.3 - LSAT range muddles around 166/7, but will dip as low as 163.

I hate being a 3.3 splitter.

[superjohnnnn]

this thread makes me drool soo much more than other schools. sounds like heaven

[thexfactor]

Here's to hoping for dipping to 162 once for me, and in return, getting a sweet LSAC GPA over 4.00. What a deal!!!

should of applied to UVA ED.. like yesterday...
(hopefully you did)

[slater1]

Someone directed me to this board the other day - I had used another board when applying to law school. I'm a recent (May 2010) grad of BU law and can chime in on questions that you guys might have, especially if you have job search related questions about BU or anything else that the 1L and 2L checking this board may not have really experienced yet. I did a biglaw internship 2L year and got a deferred offer. Currently I'm working a fellowship in the legal office of a local government agency.

I did moot court 2L year and judged 1L moot court my 2L year. Was also on a journal.

[Eugenie Danglars]

Someone directed me to this board the other day - I had used another board when applying to law school. I'm a recent (May 2010) grad of BU law and can chime in on questions that you guys might have, especially if you have job search related questions about BU or anything else that the 1L and 2L checking this board may not have really experienced yet. I did a biglaw internship 2L year and got a deferred offer. Currently I'm working a fellowship in the legal office of a local government agency.

I did moot court 2L year and judged 1L moot court my 2L year. Was also on a journal.

Thanks for dropping in! We appreciate it!

1) How did your classmates fare in the job search? Anecdotally, of course
2) What schools did you pass over for BU?
3) If you had law school to do all over, what would you do differently?

Thanks in advance!

[slater1]

1) How did your classmates fare in the job search? Anecdotally, of course
2) What schools did you pass over for BU?
3) If you had law school to do all over, what would you do differently?

1. My friends were a pretty good cross-section of the class based on where we finished, whether we did journals, etc. Everyone I know has a job. Some got biglaw (I think all deferred like me), others are working for governmental agencies they had wanted to work for, and others are in "holding period" type jobs (like clerking for a local court they might not have considered if the economy had been better). I think the lesson of "ITE" for my class was that you might not get your first choice job, or even your second choice job, but if you're willing to work at it a little you'll get something. I do know some people too that did LLM programs this year to try to wait out the economy.

2. I'm not sure how helpful this will be - I was very particular about where I wanted to go to school. I wanted East Coast and wouldn't consider DC or NYC (hate those cities), so that limited me to Boston, Philly, and Duke/Vandy-type schools. I got into BC too but chose BU for more scholarship money and because, in my research of Boston firms, it seemed like 6-7 years ago they switched over and started hiring a lot more BU than BC people. That anecdotally held up in my biglaw class - we didn't even have a BC person. The best school I got into was Vanderbilt but I'm not sure if I was ever really serious about going there.

3. I'm not really sure. Maybe I would have taken more seminars than lecture classes. At BU the seminars are much smaller and the grades are determined by a paper rather than a test. So, since you can write the paper a month before the end of class if you want, you can get that out of the way before studying for the final test in your lecture classes. I didn't really think of this until 3L year and so got crushed my 2L year studying for finals. I did good in those classes but it wasn't too much fun towards the end

[Eugenie Danglars]

Very helpful! Thanks

[slater1]

I'll bump in case anyone has any more BU questions, once they're done I'll probably stop checking this forum for awhile

[ccurley07]

Where do most 1Ls seem to live? Do you recommend living on campus? If they live off-campus, what're the best neighborhoods?

[Gotti]

I don't know if this has been asked already (sorry I'm at work, don't have time to comb through all the questions ITT), but how's the public transportation? I read someone say that the T train stops at midnight or whatever, but I'm not sure how east coast cities' public transport is except for NYC. I'm from CA and depend on a car wherever I live and if I go to the east coast I won't be buying a car, so I'm scared I'll need one lol.

[dakatz]

I don't know if this has been asked already (sorry I'm at work, don't have time to comb through all the questions ITT), but how's the public transportation? I read someone say that the T train stops at midnight or whatever, but I'm not sure how east coast cities' public transport is except for NYC. I'm from CA and depend on a car wherever I live and if I go to the east coast I won't be buying a car, so I'm scared I'll need one lol.

Transportation is really convenient, aside from the fact that the T stops running a bit early. The Green line has multiple branches that run from the western parts of Boston all the way to the downtown area. The B line (part of the Green line) runs the entire length of the BU campus. The law school is located right in front of a T stop so getting downtown (or to the Allston area, where many students live) is incredibly easy.

The T does stop running pretty early, with the last train usually coming around 12:30 AM. But taxis are obviously abundant and, if you have a bunch of people split a ride, not expensive.

While on the topic of transportation, I might as well fill you in on trains/bus. Amtrak and all the bus lines run from South Station (though Amtrak stops at Back Bay station in Copley Square, which is very close to BU). South Station is accessible via T, and only requires one switchover downtown. I make the trip between BU and South Station typically in under 40 minutes.

[Gotti]

I don't know if this has been asked already (sorry I'm at work, don't have time to comb through all the questions ITT), but how's the public transportation? I read someone say that the T train stops at midnight or whatever, but I'm not sure how east coast cities' public transport is except for NYC. I'm from CA and depend on a car wherever I live and if I go to the east coast I won't be buying a car, so I'm scared I'll need one lol.

Transportation is really convenient, aside from the fact that the T stops running a bit early. The Green line has multiple branches that run from the western parts of Boston all the way to the downtown area. The B line (part of the Green line) runs the entire length of the BU campus. The law school is located right in front of a T stop so getting downtown (or to the Allston area, where many students live) is incredibly easy.

The T does stop running pretty early, with the last train usually coming around 12:30 AM. But taxis are obviously abundant and, if you have a bunch of people split a ride, not expensive.

While on the topic of transportation, I might as well fill you in on trains/bus. Amtrak and all the bus lines run from South Station (though Amtrak stops at Back Bay station in Copley Square, which is very close to BU). South Station is accessible via T, and only requires one switchover downtown. I make the trip between BU and South Station typically in under 40 minutes.

Perfect, thanks! I just really don't want to invest in another car/drive my car all the way across the country lol. Good to know I won't need to

[slater1]

Where do most 1Ls seem to live? Do you recommend living on campus? If they live off-campus, what're the best neighborhoods?

I never really looked into living on campus, but I know there's a BU building pretty close to the law tower that houses BU grad students of all types. I had a friend who lived there and liked that she got to meet other people, but I'd imagine it's more expensive.

Most people probably live in either Allston-Brighton or Brookline. A-B is a very popular place for students to live because it's fairly close to BU and is also cheap, but with that popularity you do get some loud nights. Brookline is a bit further away and located on a different branch of the Green Line (but that branch's closest stop is still only a 5 minute walk from BU), but tends to be quieter and somewhat more of a suburban feel if you're into that (thought you also tend to pay more).

You could also try living closer to downtown or even the Back Bay neighborhood (which is like halfway between BU and downtown), but costs obviously go up then.

[BostonPants]

I don't know if this is the correct place to ask this (feel free to send me on my way, pointed in the right direction as needed), but what does it take to get a full-ride from BU? Specific LSAT / GPA threshold? What about partial scholarships?

I'm sure you can't completely predict what $$ amounts you'd expect handed out by schools to specific applicants, but was just curious to get an idea of how BU does with scholarships.

I am applying next cycle (with a June 2011 LSAT re-take), and would LOVE to attend BU (Health Law + remaining in Boston = perfection for me).

thanks!!

[Cupidity]

Where do most 1Ls seem to live? Do you recommend living on campus? If they live off-campus, what're the best neighborhoods?

There isn't on campus housing, not in the sense you might be thinking. The tower isn't amazing and is pretty hard to get into and pretty expensive. BU does rent a ton of apartments around the school, I live in one, they are expensive but nice (and a partial housing stipend makes them cheap and nice).

I would suggest looking in the back-bay area, along the green-line for convenience. If you follow the C line from Kenmore to Coolidge Corner, anything on that stretch you can afford is just heaven. Allston is cheap, and there are tons of bars, but it is very college. I remember reading that last year and thinking "College...well how bad could that be"....it's about as bad as you can imagine. But if you can tollerate it, it can save you a couple hundred bucks.

Stick to back-bay, it will cost you more, but it is worth it. And at the end of the day, $100k debt vs $110k debt is not that big a deal for comfort.

[Cupidity]

I don't know if this is the correct place to ask this (feel free to send me on my way, pointed in the right direction as needed), but what does it take to get a full-ride from BU? Specific LSAT / GPA threshold? What about partial scholarships?

I'm sure you can't completely predict what $$ amounts you'd expect handed out by schools to specific applicants, but was just curious to get an idea of how BU does with scholarships.

I am applying next cycle (with a June 2011 LSAT re-take), and would LOVE to attend BU (Health Law + remaining in Boston = perfection for me).

thanks!!

For non URM's, full rides seem to be very, very rare. The #'s you would need would probably get you into Chicago/Berkeley. That said, getting 15-25k per year is easy with a 3.7+/166+

[Cupidity]

I don't know if this has been asked already (sorry I'm at work, don't have time to comb through all the questions ITT), but how's the public transportation? I read someone say that the T train stops at midnight or whatever, but I'm not sure how east coast cities' public transport is except for NYC. I'm from CA and depend on a car wherever I live and if I go to the east coast I won't be buying a car, so I'm scared I'll need one lol.

T rocks, you don't need a car. I know it's been answered, but maybe hearing it from multiple people will assuage your fears.

[BostonPants]

I don't know if this is the correct place to ask this (feel free to send me on my way, pointed in the right direction as needed), but what does it take to get a full-ride from BU? Specific LSAT / GPA threshold? What about partial scholarships?

I'm sure you can't completely predict what $$ amounts you'd expect handed out by schools to specific applicants, but was just curious to get an idea of how BU does with scholarships.

I am applying next cycle (with a June 2011 LSAT re-take), and would LOVE to attend BU (Health Law + remaining in Boston = perfection for me).

thanks!!

For non URM's, full rides seem to be very, very rare. The #'s you would need would probably get you into Chicago/Berkeley. That said, getting 15-25k per year is easy with a 3.7+/166+

Thanks so much, very helpful in understanding what their financial aid tends to look like!