Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[BelugaWhale]

Did anybody have 1st Amendment law with Tushnet and is willing to share outline? PM me if yes.

Can't find any in any outline bank.

[Stinson]

Just want to echo the previous poster on the "grades are important thing." It would be pretty unbelievable if a bunch of people who have clearly cared a lot about grades their whole lives - and I would posit that people whether at fancy private UG's or not probably did care about grades if they wound up at HLS, YLS, or SLS - suddenly didn't. They do care, and grades really matter for certain kinds of things like clerkships and a handful of firms, and obviously academia type things that usually follow clerkships.

The grading system somewhat helps and somewhat hurts stress levels, depending on the person. There are fewer distinctions, and people who can't help but care about distinctions get bothered by this, whereas people who are more inclined to be chill about it like the fact that mostly you can just get P's and be totally fine. 10th percentile and 50th percentile get the same grade, which is actually kind of awesome if you don't constantly feel the need to be in the top. Bear in mind, by the way, that the system was not changed so the students would be happy; if you get professors to speak candidly about it the system was changed to make professors' lives easier because they all hate grading exams and it's easier to say, "This was a B something in old system, so this is a P, and this was an A something in the old system, so it gets an H," and not have to hairsplit between 80 mostly identical exams and decide what is a B+ and what's an A-.

I think the thing to remember with HLS is that it is very big and contains many sub-communities. Some of those communities - the want-to-be Supreme Court justices crowd - will obsess about this stuff a lot and worry that a DS is worth two H's or whatever. Other communities - the people who came to HLS because it's an easy button to getting a market job in the market of their choice - care less. If you hang with the right people, the specter of grade obsessing will not define your time in 1L, let alone law school. Little as grades were discussed in 1L, I have literally never heard them discussed after.

[094320]

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[DoubleChecks]

My IRL discussions with my 2L friends re: grades, paraphrased & summarized:

"Any LPs?"
"No. This validates all the times I skipped reading because I was too drunk and class because I was too hungover."
"Ditto. I should drink more."
*followed by discussion of how wasted we're going to get at the Halfway Thru Harvard Party*

lol, not sure if being facetious or not haha. i dont generally experience the extremes that much (compiling all the handful of posters above me). overall, i would say the "grading atmosphere" at HLS is better/less stressful than at most other law schools. but, like with anything in life, depending on your own personality and the friends you subsequently find...grades may seem to matter more or not. i feel like people gravitate to similar people. if you dont want to stress about grades (and often dont), then i would imagine you'd end up with a group of friends that don't really talk about grades (regardless of which law school you go to).

[Spritzpiggy]

Question (one that I'm hoping Im posting in the right place): Where do students typically live? What is the neighboring area like and where would be good, safe places areas for off campus housing? I'm from the far south and have never been to Boston, visited NY only once in my life etc. Help a sister out

[thelawschoolproject]

Question (one that I'm hoping Im posting in the right place): Where do students typically live? What is the neighboring area like and where would be good, safe places areas for off campus housing? I'm from the far south and have never been to Boston, visited NY only once in my life etc. Help a sister out

A fair amount of 1Ls live on campus (there are some LLM, 2Ls, and 3Ls mixed in, too). But, in my section I'd say that > 50% live on campus which is a bit more than the overall average.

I know several people who live between Harvard Square and Porter Square and that seems to be safe/acceptable. Other people I know live in off-campus housing provided by HLS (like Terry Terrace) or apartments owned by Lesley which is next to the law school. There are apartment buildings all over Mass Ave. The downside, obviously is that Cambridge is very expensive.

Additionally, there seem to be a handful of people who live a further away in Brookline.

[fatduck]

Question (one that I'm hoping Im posting in the right place): Where do students typically live? What is the neighboring area like and where would be good, safe places areas for off campus housing? I'm from the far south and have never been to Boston, visited NY only once in my life etc. Help a sister out

the areas around harvard are all pretty safe. off-campus housing tends to cluster around subway stops:



so people typically find apartments near the davis square stop, or the porter square stop, or the central square stop, or near harvard itself.

[Spritzpiggy]

Thanks, that's really helpful

[094320]

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[Langdell]

I'm a 1L in a seminar. It seems that it's full of pretty intense 2Ls and 3Ls who, unlike me, have done extensive coursework in the field. How are seminars graded? I'm concerned that there's no way I'll get an H in this thing.
Should I switch? If so, what is still open these days?
Thanks.

[ph14]

I'm a 1L in a seminar. It seems that it's full of pretty intense 2Ls and 3Ls who, unlike me, have done extensive coursework in the field. How are seminars graded? I'm concerned that there's no way I'll get an H in this thing.
Should I switch? If so, what is still open these days?
Thanks.

Seminars aren't on the curve. They are hard though and can be intimidating. If it is a course you're interested in stay in it. Talk to the professor, they often can be understanding and can give you advice for doing well.

[PinkCow]

I'm a 1L in a seminar. It seems that it's full of pretty intense 2Ls and 3Ls who, unlike me, have done extensive coursework in the field. How are seminars graded? I'm concerned that there's no way I'll get an H in this thing.
Should I switch? If so, what is still open these days?
Thanks.

I was in your exact position as a 2L last semester - completely outranked by every single person in the seminar. My participation was extremely rare and trite. Got an H. Moral of the story: The curve must have been nonexistent in that seminar. Don't sweat it.

[delusional]

I'm a 1L in a seminar. It seems that it's full of pretty intense 2Ls and 3Ls who, unlike me, have done extensive coursework in the field. How are seminars graded? I'm concerned that there's no way I'll get an H in this thing.
Should I switch? If so, what is still open these days?
Thanks.

I would say depends on the seminar, the professor, and what the grading is based on. I was in a seminar filled with 2L and 3L gunners but the professor was engaging and to be perfectly honest, the non-blind grading may have played a role. OTOH, I went to a seminar yesterday with two professors who seemed completely uninterested in knowing people's names, in which the reading requirement was intense and which required response papers almost every week on which the grade would be based. I dropped it as soon as I left the room.

[englawyer]

Question (one that I'm hoping Im posting in the right place): Where do students typically live? What is the neighboring area like and where would be good, safe places areas for off campus housing? I'm from the far south and have never been to Boston, visited NY only once in my life etc. Help a sister out

A fair amount of 1Ls live on campus (there are some LLM, 2Ls, and 3Ls mixed in, too). But, in my section I'd say that > 50% live on campus which is a bit more than the overall average.

I know several people who live between Harvard Square and Porter Square and that seems to be safe/acceptable. Other people I know live in off-campus housing provided by HLS (like Terry Terrace) or apartments owned by Lesley which is next to the law school. There are apartment buildings all over Mass Ave. The downside, obviously is that Cambridge is very expensive.

Additionally, there seem to be a handful of people who live a further away in Brookline.

i'd also add that anywhere in the triangle formed by Beacon St, Kirkland St, and Mass Ave is very popular: http://[link redacted]/maps/tqhf7. as you get closer to Beacon St or even a bit beyond, the apartments go down in price.

[JDflowergirl]

Hey 2Ls and 3Ls how did you balance interviews and classes during your 1L year? Also at what point should you have a job lined up for the summer? End of February? March? I did not think it would be this stressful.

[Hattori Hanzo]

Hey 2Ls and 3Ls how did you balance interviews and classes during your 1L year? Also at what point should you have a job lined up for the summer? End of February? March? I did not think it would be this stressful.

Don't worry about it. Your 1L employment has very little effect on your OCI, if at all, as long as it's something related to law. Most students have something by March but there's no deadline, as opportunities continue to roll in. I got my first year summer gig in April and a friend of mine got hers in June!

Also, the OCS will do anything they can to place you, so worst case scenario will be working at one of the school clinics over the summer and receiving SPIF.

[PMan99]

Hey 2Ls and 3Ls how did you balance interviews and classes during your 1L year? Also at what point should you have a job lined up for the summer? End of February? March? I did not think it would be this stressful.

Always went to interviews instead of classes.

I got my SA by early Feb but I know others who were getting SAs later. Gov/PI people were looking well into March, some even later. Earlier is better, but there's really no point in giving a specific "when." By now your SA apps should be out, so it's time to move to Gov/PI and just continuously apply until you find something.

[ph14]

Hey 2Ls and 3Ls how did you balance interviews and classes during your 1L year? Also at what point should you have a job lined up for the summer? End of February? March? I did not think it would be this stressful.

Don't worry about it. Your 1L employment has very little effect on your OCI, if at all, as long as it's something related to law. Most students have something by March but there's no deadline, as opportunities continue to roll in. I got my first year summer gig in April and a friend of mine got hers in June!

Also, the OCS will do anything they can to place you, so worst case scenario will be working at one of the school clinics over the summer and receiving SPIF.

Or researching for a professor, which honestly isn't a bad gig as it lets you get to know a professor and develop a relationship.

[JDflowergirl]

Thanks! I will get back to the job search grind after I watch the 49ers take down the Ravens

[canadianlookingtolaw]

I am accepted at HLS, waiting to hear about financial aid, but I know that Harvard typically is not very generous. I have also been accepted at Columbia as a Hamilton fellow, which offers full tuition (worth $174 000) for all three years. I am considering between the 2 schools. Any advice from current students?

[ph14]

I am accepted at HLS, waiting to hear about financial aid, but I know that Harvard typically is not very generous. I have also been accepted at Columbia as a Hamilton fellow, which offers full tuition (worth $174 000) for all three years. I am considering between the 2 schools. Any advice from current students?

Wait and see how much money you get from HLS, return here and tell us how much you get.

[fatduck]

okay i have a dumb question

how do we go about getting option 2 writing credit recorded? for example, i did a moot court Q round brief last semester (didn't advance), and did 15+ pages of writing in a seminar. what else do i need to do?

[ph14]

okay i have a dumb question

how do we go about getting option 2 writing credit recorded? for example, i did a moot court Q round brief last semester (didn't advance), and did 15+ pages of writing in a seminar. what else do i need to do?

Fill out some paperwork. http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/writing/faq.html

Q: How do I register for Option 2?
A: You register for Option 2 by completing and submitting the registration form.

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http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/wr ... -page.html

[fatduck]

okay i have a dumb question

how do we go about getting option 2 writing credit recorded? for example, i did a moot court Q round brief last semester (didn't advance), and did 15+ pages of writing in a seminar. what else do i need to do?

Fill out some paperwork. http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/writing/faq.html

Q: How do I register for Option 2?
A: You register for Option 2 by completing and submitting the registration form.

-->

http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/wr ... -page.html

well that was easy. now i just need to figure out who the faculty supervisor is for Ames.

[094320]

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