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If anyone has questions.

I hate you.

clintonius wrote:I hate you.

I guess I'm taking both questions and insults...kidding. I assume you still have a final to take?

Have a job lined up? Any major debt? Happy you went to NYU?

thisguy456 wrote:Have a job lined up? Any major debt? Happy you went to NYU?

Job - yep. Clerking (D. Ct. in 2011, CoA in 2012), then NYC biglaw.
Debt - no. Worked for several years before law school, largely paid my own way.
Happy - yes. Met some good friends, built relationships with bigwig profs, and the job thing has turned out well.

twistedwrister wrote:

thisguy456 wrote:Have a job lined up? Any major debt? Happy you went to NYU?

Job - yep. Clerking (D. Ct. in 2011, CoA in 2012), then NYC biglaw.
Debt - no. Worked for several years before law school, largely paid my own way.
Happy - yes. Met some good friends, built relationships with bigwig profs, and the job thing has turned out well.

Congrats. I'll be a 1L at NYU in the fall. I'm keeping my options open, because I don't want to start law school with an overly narrow (not to mention uninformed) idea of what I want to do. That said, at this point I am very interested in clerking at the federal level. Can you give me a sense of how competitive you felt the process was, how supportive the school was (I've heard NYU has been trying to encourage more clerkships), etc.? Any general info you feel like providing would be great. Thanks!

NYC_7911 wrote:

twistedwrister wrote:

thisguy456 wrote:Have a job lined up? Any major debt? Happy you went to NYU?

Job - yep. Clerking (D. Ct. in 2011, CoA in 2012), then NYC biglaw.
Debt - no. Worked for several years before law school, largely paid my own way.
Happy - yes. Met some good friends, built relationships with bigwig profs, and the job thing has turned out well.

Congrats. I'll be a 1L at NYU in the fall. I'm keeping my options open, because I don't want to start law school with an overly narrow (not to mention uninformed) idea of what I want to do. That said, at this point I am very interested in clerking at the federal level. Can you give me a sense of how competitive you felt the process was, how supportive the school was (I've heard NYU has been trying to encourage more clerkships), etc.? Any general info you feel like providing would be great. Thanks!

Thanks! And congrats to you as well. I hope you enjoy NYU. Re clerkships, it was extremely competitive this year, but NYU placed well nonetheless. Clerking straight out of school is more difficult now because (1) many, many more judges are hiring alumni with several years of experience, (2) more judges are hiring "off plan,", and (3) more law students are looking to clerk (b/c they didn't get the job they wanted, or any job, etc.) As you would expect, grades and law review matter a lot, although I was not on law review (by choice). Building strong relationships with professors is key. NYU has a very structured system for clerkship applications. The school has a dedicated clerkship office, they match you with recommenders, streamline the application process, etc. All in all, the clerkship office is great. They have been encouraging students to apply outside of the NYC area b/c clerkships here are so competitive. However, S.D.N.Y. and 2d Cir. will always be NYU's bread and butter. I do have 3L friends clerking all over the place, though (D.C. Cir., 9th Cir., 6th Cir.) I only know one LR person who completely struck out, but she only applied to SDNY/EDNY/2d Cir. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the very helpful response! I'll definitely keep these things in mind. It's definitely encouraging to hear that NYU grads are placing well even outside of SDNY/2nd Circuit, although I would much prefer to stay around here. Anyway, thanks for taking the time...I'll come back if I think of any other worthwhile questions.

twistedwrister wrote:

clintonius wrote:I hate you.

I guess I'm taking both questions and insults...kidding. I assume you still have a final to take?

Yea we have civ pro tomorrow, lol.

I know this is hard to answer on account of people having the decency not to discuss it, but to whatever extent you can speak to it, does everybody have a decent job? Do you have to be pretty unlucky to strike out at OCI and mass mail etc., or is that not abnormal? Is it beyond hellish if you strike out, or do people tend to maintain the mindset that they will get something eventually?

twistedwrister wrote:
Thanks! And congrats to you as well. I hope you enjoy NYU. Re clerkships, it was extremely competitive this year, but NYU placed well nonetheless. Clerking straight out of school is more difficult now because (1) many, many more judges are hiring alumni with several years of experience, (2) more judges are hiring "off plan,", and (3) more law students are looking to clerk (b/c they didn't get the job they wanted, or any job, etc.) As you would expect, grades and law review matter a lot, although I was not on law review (by choice). Building strong relationships with professors is key. NYU has a very structured system for clerkship applications. The school has a dedicated clerkship office, they match you with recommenders, streamline the application process, etc. All in all, the clerkship office is great. They have been encouraging students to apply outside of the NYC area b/c clerkships here are so competitive. However, S.D.N.Y. and 2d Cir. will always be NYU's bread and butter. I do have 3L friends clerking all over the place, though (D.C. Cir., 9th Cir., 6th Cir.) I only know one LR person who completely struck out, but she only applied to SDNY/EDNY/2d Cir. Hope this helps.

What made you turn down law review and do you think that decision hurt your chances (though I realize things turned out pretty perfect as is)?

^^ +1. I'm curious about this, too.

BaiAilian2013 wrote:

twistedwrister wrote:

clintonius wrote:I hate you.

I guess I'm taking both questions and insults...kidding. I assume you still have a final to take?

Yea we have civ pro tomorrow, lol.

I know this is hard to answer on account of people having the decency not to discuss it, but to whatever extent you can speak to it, does everybody have a decent job? Do you have to be pretty unlucky to strike out at OCI and mass mail etc., or is that not abnormal? Is it beyond hellish if you strike out, or do people tend to maintain the mindset that they will get something eventually?

None of my 3L friends are still looking for a job, but a few struck out at EIW last year. Pretty much everybody finds something, but not everyone gets what they want. That's the biggest difference from boom times. One friend of mine was really disappointed he didn't get biglaw after 2L, but he worked hard and snagged an offer from a V100 firm this year. It's certainly a lot less stressful if you land a 2L SA position. Last year, the classes were smaller, but the offer rates were really high (near 100% at most firms). I'm sure you've seen the numbers, but something like 70% of NYU's 2L class last year got at least one offer from EIW. The other 30% had to find a job another way. Anyway, by most accounts, legal hiring is at least stable and likely improving, so the chances of finding absolutely no job are relatively low.

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:

twistedwrister wrote:
Thanks! And congrats to you as well. I hope you enjoy NYU. Re clerkships, it was extremely competitive this year, but NYU placed well nonetheless. Clerking straight out of school is more difficult now because (1) many, many more judges are hiring alumni with several years of experience, (2) more judges are hiring "off plan,", and (3) more law students are looking to clerk (b/c they didn't get the job they wanted, or any job, etc.) As you would expect, grades and law review matter a lot, although I was not on law review (by choice). Building strong relationships with professors is key. NYU has a very structured system for clerkship applications. The school has a dedicated clerkship office, they match you with recommenders, streamline the application process, etc. All in all, the clerkship office is great. They have been encouraging students to apply outside of the NYC area b/c clerkships here are so competitive. However, S.D.N.Y. and 2d Cir. will always be NYU's bread and butter. I do have 3L friends clerking all over the place, though (D.C. Cir., 9th Cir., 6th Cir.) I only know one LR person who completely struck out, but she only applied to SDNY/EDNY/2d Cir. Hope this helps.

What made you turn down law review and do you think that decision hurt your chances (though I realize things turned out pretty perfect as is)?

I had/have time consuming responsibilities outside of law school, so the 10-20 hours/week LR demands just didn't work for me. Not being on LR did hurt my chances for certain clerkships. Some judges, including some "feeders," won't even look at candidates who weren't on LR, regardless of the candidates' other credentials. Grades are certainly more important than LR, but LR does matter.

When you say "by choice," do you mean that you were accepted but declined, or that you didn't try out at all?

What do you recommend 1L's do to excel on exams?

asealclubber wrote:When you say "by choice," do you mean that you were accepted but declined, or that you didn't try out at all?

I graded on but declined.

twistedwrister wrote:

asealclubber wrote:When you say "by choice," do you mean that you were accepted but declined, or that you didn't try out at all?

I graded on but declined.

And Judge didn't care.

BruceWayne wrote:What do you recommend 1L's do to excel on exams?

Go to class, take good notes, make your own outline, learn your outline, and take a few practice exams to get comfortable with the professor's style and the exam format. Cater to your professor. (S)he will almost certainly have an overall view on how the law currently stands and how the law should be. Try to weave your narrative to fit the professor's point of view. I never used supplements, but some top students do. It's hard, but you have to (1) relax, and (2) get in the zone for the few hours you are taking the exam.

Desert Fox wrote:

twistedwrister wrote:

asealclubber wrote:When you say "by choice," do you mean that you were accepted but declined, or that you didn't try out at all?

I graded on but declined.

And Judge didn't care.

I guess not. Most judges with whom I interviewed never asked about LR. One did ask, and when I explained my situation, he understood (and I got an offer). Like I said, a few judges likely trashed my app just because I wasn't on LR, but I still had multiple interviews and offers on both the D. Ct. and CoA (2/9/D.C.) level. Of course, my grades were good, some profs went to bat for me, and I had published a couple of articles, so not having LR wasn't a dealbreaker.

Congrats!

thecilent wrote:Congrats!

Thanks! Relaxing ain't easy.

I know it's been said, but

clintonius wrote:I hate you.

(one more for me too)

Did you publish a note? when did you do your substantial writing?

On the admissions website for NYU, it states that "Students are admitted to the Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program only on a full-time basis and only for the fall semester."
Is J.D. a separate program from what regular law students are accepted (no prior law school experience)? Do regular law students attend classes only in the fall? What about the spring? I hope to attend NYU in the future (after I take my LSATs and increase my gpa some more), but I just wanted to get those questions answered.

Renzo wrote:I know it's been said, but

clintonius wrote:I hate you.

(one more for me too)

Did you publish a note? when did you do your substantial writing?

Good luck. What year are you? If you're a 2L/3L, don't stress too much. I did my substantial writing 2L. I published that piece in another school's secondary journal (one that catered to the subject matter of my article). I wrote another paper for a 2L seminar and published it the same way, in another school's journal by submitting through Expresso. I'm not sure if these are considered "notes" or "articles."

Sparda9000 wrote:On the admissions website for NYU, it states that "Students are admitted to the Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program only on a full-time basis and only for the fall semester."
Is J.D. a separate program from what regular law students are accepted (no prior law school experience)? Do regular law students attend classes only in the fall? What about the spring? I hope to attend NYU in the future (after I take my LSATs and increase my gpa some more), but I just wanted to get those questions answered.

No, J.D. is the "regular" law school program. The website statement just means (1) NYU doesn't have a part-time program, and (2) no one can start at NYU at any time other than the fall semester (e.g., no summer or spring starters). Hope this helps.