I wouldn't know, I've only done 1L. The # of courses to choose from wasn't really relevant outside of my one elective, though I did think my elective taught me the most and more than a couple of the required doctrinal 1L classes combined, so there is that. I mean, if some people can get an H in some 1L doctrinal classes after barely showing up, barely doing the reading, and mostly just using somebody's outline, then was the actual semester-long course dedicated to teaching you the BLL (and next to no policy or theory) really worth sitting through? My opinion is no.

tomwatts has probably struck upon some of it. I went straight through, so my comparison point is undergrad, and undergrad was way better than law school intellectually in every single way for me. I'd probably be somewhat less critical if I had taken time off, first. Part of it, too, was that if lecture was sorta useless** in undergrad then I just wouldn't go, whereas in 1L I felt pressured to actually go to every class (and professors notice if you don't) even when I knew I wasn't gaining anything from it. This won't be an issue in 2L & 3L, so I expect that to be a lot better.

**Note, by useless I don't mean not relevant to the exam. A class is useful to me if I'm learning anything at all, even if it's not relevant to the exam.


I should also note that I was happy socially and happy doing activities. I'm really just commenting about the school part.

"Isn't it a strength of minimum-security prison that you have more freedom on the grounds during your three-year stay than at other detention centers?"

Law school sucks. Harvard gives you more chances to choose your flavor of suck, but studying the law is horribly boring in general. (One true exception that I have greatly enjoyed is clinical work, which is more engaging and gives you practical experience that's generally useful even if you work in a field you'll never practice in.)

Can anyone give me an idea of when I can expect my first loan disbursement for the fall? We haven't received any info about applying for loans yet, but I'm trying to plan my summer budget. Can I assume that I'm on my own until at least September 1?

So I wasn't planning on buying any E&Es/hornbooks before 1L, but my friend who just finished 1L at another T-14 has offered to sell me her books for cheap. I know this has been asked ad nauseum before, but not sure if I ever came across it in this thread. Are there particular E&Es/hornbooks that you guys would recommend getting? I'm still debating whether I should wait until 1L starts before making any purchases. Thanks!

CivPro. But don't read it over the summer, just use it during the semester. I didn't end up using it much cuz the professor's teaching style just clicked with me, but I know other ppl found it very helpful.

students generally have a bond w/ those from their undergrad either just because or due to mutual friends, and that applies to both 1L-1L relations and 1L-2L/3L relations. the result is that people from elite schools seem more at home and thus likely to "jump right in" by participating in class, joining orgs, socializing. there is also an advantage in that 2L/3L's can give advice on outlines, classes, exam prep, etc. this sort of results in "social stratification" because elite undergrads are very over-represented. the most blatant example is Harvard, as H undergrads form roughly 10% of each class. By 2L, a lot of that goes away and social groups form for different reasons.

it was a while ago but i believe checks were cut during orientation.

This sounds vaguely familiar.

Regarding social groups, I dunno, I don't even know which undergrad most ppl I'm not friends with went to lolol. My group has a mix. I'd say in my general group, we have the full range of brand-name private colleges, brand-name state universities, more obscure liberal arts colleges, and bad state schools. Undergrad background just doesn't really matter in our group. I did notice that some other of the groups tended to be filled just with ppl from "elite" undergrads, but honestly I think I sat around and counted the ASW list once out of curiosity and it was something like 70%+ of attendees attended an "elite" undergrad (this handful of colleges repeated over and over and over, the rest only showed up once). So it's not going to be that hard to find a group of randomly selected ppl who mostly attended an "elite" undergrad.

Yeah, it was part of the whole march around the room filling out various papers. One of the tables was the check dispensing table. If you had everything filled out and submitted as necessary, you could pick up a check.

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Anyone know someone who cross-registered at MIT?

Any further back-room chatter on grade delivery?

If TomWatt's dates are right, in 2010 the last 1L exam was May 12 (Wednesday) and grade release was June 7(Monday) before noon EST--about 26 days. In 2011 the last 1L exam was May 11 (Wednesday) and grade release was June 8 (Wednesday)--28 days. Our last exam was May 9 (Wednesday) and today is 28 days. I'll be surprised if they aren't out by Fri. afternoon.

The 2008-2009 school year isn't relevant since that was from Harvard's old schedule when fall semester finals was after Christmas break, but before another break. The entire academic calendar for the entire university has changed since 2009-2010 and on, so we should be on that pattern.

They were tentatively scheduled to be released today, per the calendar OCS created for rising 3Ls applying for clerkships, but have apparently been delayed. According to HELIOS and yesterday's post from Kirsten on the clerkship blog, grades will be posted in "mid-June."

Good info, but damn!

Nice to know that I was correct minus a weird delay. I wonder what delays it.

A careful reading of the blog post shows that there wasn't necessarily a delay; rather the date was tentative, and the registrar is not giving specific dates. If there was a delay, it was probably for the same reason as all grades are delayed, made worse by the simultaneous release.

Eh to me having a "tentative" release date and then not releasing it that day is a "delay". I mean I assume that profs delay grade release, but I have also heard that some profs just give out their grades weeks after the simultaneous release, so there must be some point at which they just go ahead without some.

Yeah, the email last semester implied that some grades come later. But I can't imagine that's the case with 1L courses. It must be seminars with sketchy paper requirements that end up getting extended a bunch of times.

I've heard that one 1L crim law prof has done it 2 semesters in a row (release a couple weeks after the simultaneous release date).

NOOOOOooooooo!!!!! Which one?

I heard from someone in Section 4 who heard from someone who was in Section 4 last year that their crim prof does this. Of course we're starting to get a bit extended in the grapevine here so my sources might be incorrect or confused.

Are there any courses (other than the 1L classes) that are essentially required or so strongly recommended that everyone basically takes them? A friend at another T-14 says there are several courses like this (Evidence and Tax I think were examples).

Most people probably take some version of Con Law, which is not a required course. I don't know that Harvard is different though - tax and evidence are important no matter where you are.

I've actually heard several profs say to leave Evidence till whatever bar prep course you take. About every prof recommended corporations and tax.