Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges Forum

[lgleye]

T

[Icculus]

Thanks, guys…… I don't know what I'd do without your input..... I know that you're leaving, but I'm begging ya, pls stay on this thread thru OCI.

it really calms me a lot knowing that I’ve already done a lot of the stuff that you’ve advised, such as data compiling on the firms in my market area (NYC), my primary and secondary practice areas, etc. I’ve got a list of my 15-20 target firms, all V30 and above, but am cautious about adding below V30 ‘cause I’ll probably get shot down.

By the way, I wonder why EVERY rising 2L seems to have to start from scratch with a blank Excel sheet, formatting and then compiling and inputting stats on a firm taken from NALP, Chambers, and Vault to compile a comprehensive spreadsheet…….. Shouldn’t we have a program or template from upperclassmen or the OCS? I swear that once I’m done with OCI as a 3L, I’ll be releasing my 3-D spreadsheet to anybody who wants it…… all they’ll have to do is update with latest stats for the year, which can’t very by much….. at least they won’t have to deal with building a template structure.

Now, getting back to networking, should I be emailing alumni at each of my target firms, regardless of practice area (list of alumni already built into my spreadsheet) ? Is June too early?
For those of you who did that, what was the response ratio, and what helpful hints were you able to extract?

Oh, yeah…… I’m cutting down to only 1 cup of coffee per day…..

Not sure what you mean by V30 and above (as in not top 30 firms?).

Also, keep in mind that while vault ranking is important GPA cutoff and CLASS SIZES need to be taken I to consideration. A firm taking on 80 summers can take a wide range of people. I had a V10 hiring partner tell me as long as someone is above his internal GPA cut off he doesn't care what your grades are so much as whether he can talk to you, socialize with you, and put you in front of others. Unfortunately those cutoff aren't public.

[bananasplit19]

Alright, I have a couple super-serious and urgent questions for the current NU folk: I just logged into my nlaw.northwestern.edu gmail account because I'm totally checked out at work now that I know when I'm leaving for Chicago super-psyched for NU.

It looks like they give you a default e-mail address (firstinitial-lastname2016@nlaw.northwestern.edu), and you can pick an alternate custom address that funnels to the default. However, when I send out e-mails, the recipient sees my address as the default firstinitial-last name format. Is there a way to have the alternate be the default in that regard?

Additionally, do students use their nlaw e-mail frequently? Do they stick to their personal e-mail accounts? Link accounts? Personal preference? I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

[Icculus]

Alright, I have a couple super-serious and urgent questions for the current NU folk: I just logged into my nlaw.northwestern.edu gmail account because I'm totally checked out at work now that I know when I'm leaving for Chicago super-psyched for NU.

It looks like they give you a default e-mail address (firstinitial-lastname2016@nlaw.northwestern.edu), and you can pick an alternate custom address that funnels to the default. However, when I send out e-mails, the recipient sees my address as the default firstinitial-last name format. Is there a way to have the alternate be the default in that regard?

Additionally, do students use their nlaw e-mail frequently? Do they stick to their personal e-mail accounts? Link accounts? Personal preference? I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

Personal preference. I have both on my phone, my friends have both my email addresses and I use both for gchat. I'd say I use my NU email more often, but for friends from home it's my gmail account.

[rinkrat19]

It looks like they give you a default e-mail address (firstinitial-lastname2016@nlaw.northwestern.edu), and you can pick an alternate custom address that funnels to the default. However, when I send out e-mails, the recipient sees my address as the default firstinitial-last name format. Is there a way to have the alternate be the default in that regard?

I think the outgoing email stays the same. You might be able to set up a 3rd party email client (Outlook, Thunderbird) to show the email being from one of the alternate aliases, but I haven't tried it.

Additionally, do students use their nlaw e-mail frequently? Do they stick to their personal e-mail accounts? Link accounts? Personal preference?

You probably need to at least check your nlaw email, since it's a constant mode of communication between you, the school, fellow students, etc. Your professors/TAs will email the whole section with class info, etc. But you can certainly keep using other emails (I have three) for personal/outside use, and put a different email on your resume, etc. I have all three of my emails set up in Outlook on my laptop.

I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

I cannot think of a single circumstance in which this would be a sane reason for withdrawing.

[Cobretti]

Alright, I have a couple super-serious and urgent questions for the current NU folk: I just logged into my nlaw.northwestern.edu gmail account because I'm totally checked out at work now that I know when I'm leaving for Chicago super-psyched for NU.

It looks like they give you a default e-mail address (firstinitial-lastname2016@nlaw.northwestern.edu), and you can pick an alternate custom address that funnels to the default. However, when I send out e-mails, the recipient sees my address as the default firstinitial-last name format. Is there a way to have the alternate be the default in that regard?

Additionally, do students use their nlaw e-mail frequently? Do they stick to their personal e-mail accounts? Link accounts? Personal preference? I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

To send as your alias log into your email, go to settings, accounts, send mail as... Your alias should be listed, if not then add it now. Once its listed just set that as default and you can click the option immediately below to reply to emails sent to either address with your alias.

[Holly Golightly]

Oh, yeah…… I’m cutting down to only 1 cup of coffee per day…..

Pretty sure you don't even need that 1...

[bananasplit19]

I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

I cannot think of a single circumstance in which this would be a sane reason for withdrawing.

Es un chiste. Now that I know where I'm going, I can casually joke about the overanalysis of every possible variable in making an informed law school selection.

To send as your alias log into your email, go to settings, accounts, send mail as... Your alias should be listed, if not then add it now. Once its listed just set that as default and you can click the option immediately below to reply to emails sent to either address with your alias.

Success! Thanks much.

[Blumpbeef]

Do students use their nlaw e-mail frequently? Do they stick to their personal e-mail accounts? Link accounts? Personal preference? I'm not saying I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers, but...I may withdraw from NU if I don't like the answers.

This wasn't on purpose, but I gchat TLSers using my personal gmail account and everyone else with my NU one.

[CupOfTea]

Just posted this in the Northwestern AJD thread because somehow I didn't see this thread. Oh well. Looking for a little guidance for housing. If its already been discussed in the previous 200 pages feel free to direct me there. Anyways I have a friend looking into Lincoln Park and Gold Coast. They want to live alone for a reasonable price and want to minimize outside distractions during school. What is the atmosphere like in these areas? Any other area you would recommend? Thanks in advance 

Edited to fix atrocious phone spelling

[fishfry111]

[

[Icculus]

Now, getting back to networking, should I be emailing alumni at each of my target firms, regardless of practice area (list of alumni already built into my spreadsheet) ? Is June too early?
For those of you who did that, what was the response ratio, and what helpful hints were you able to extract?

Oh, yeah…… I’m cutting down to only 1 cup of coffee per day…..

Not sure what you mean by V30 and above (as in not top 30 firms?).

Also, keep in mind that while vault ranking is important GPA cutoff and CLASS SIZES need to be taken I to consideration. A firm taking on 80 summers can take a wide range of people. I had a V10 hiring partner tell me as long as someone is above his internal GPA cut off he doesn't care what your grades are so much as whether he can talk to you, socialize with you, and put you in front of others. Unfortunately those cutoff aren't public.

All this talk is starting to make me nervous. Still trying to get the hang of Vault and NALP (which is awesome).
I'd also like to know about netowkring with alumni and the response ratio.

Something to remember, the Vault rankings arae all based on geography and practice area and are heavily favored to NYC transactional work. If you're interested in litugation you're better off looking at the Chambers websites. And I cannot stress this enough...look at summer class sizes. Bigger classes are good, that's why NYC is a good place to bid since most firms have classes of 20+, as opposed to places like Chicago where classes are smaller (except for places like Kirkland and Sidley).

[lgleye]

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[fishfry111]

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[lgleye]

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[dstars823]

do you guys have any insight on what is the best place to live around the law school, id prefer not to break the bank but id more prefer not to get shot

[Icculus]

Followed your advice and read through Chambers. the commentary on the "Getting Hired" section seems a bit to emphasis personality as a key trait..... I suppose that's really important if you're going litigation.

Not just litigation. The key to getting call backs and jobs is personality. If you get the call back you have the grades, what people are looking for is fit. Are you someone they want around, they want to be stuck in the office with, they want to shoot the shit with, or have a drink with? Can you be trusted out to lunch with a client. Remember, you will be competing with people who all have similar credentials so personality is important. This is why people here are telling you to chill, that kind of over-the-top attitude can be a bit off-putting in interview situations. The best CB interview I had was with a partner who went to NU and she noticed on my resume I was a member of the social committee. She then asked me about the Chiicago bar scene, what places we still went to bar review, and how I liked the city. She was deciding whether I was the kind of person people could talk to.

ETA: Think of it this way, grades get you in the door, personality gets you hired. (There are exceptions, but this is an overall solid rule).

[Holly Golightly]

do you guys have any insight on what is the best place to live around the law school, id prefer not to break the bank but id more prefer not to get shot

lol, you're not going to get shot in Streeterville. You're also not going to be able to get a decent apartment there without forking over lots of cash.

[dstars823]

im just trying to keep it under like 1200 a month if possible i just didnt know if there were apartments that were really popular among northwestern law students

do you guys have any insight on what is the best place to live around the law school, id prefer not to break the bank but id more prefer not to get shot

lol, you're not going to get shot in Streeterville. You're also not going to be able to get a decent apartment there without forking over lots of cash.

[traehekat]

im just trying to keep it under like 1200 a month if possible i just didnt know if there were apartments that were really popular among northwestern law students

do you guys have any insight on what is the best place to live around the law school, id prefer not to break the bank but id more prefer not to get shot

lol, you're not going to get shot in Streeterville. You're also not going to be able to get a decent apartment there without forking over lots of cash.

Lots of NU students live in Streeterville their first year and then move north to Lincoln Park/Lakeview. Under $1,200 is a lot easier to do in Lincoln Park/Lakeview than it is in Streeterville, and those areas are also more fun than the touristy Streeterville (the main tradeoff is proximity to the school, usually resulting in a 35-45 minute commute versus a 5 minute walk).

[Icculus]

im just trying to keep it under like 1200 a month if possible i just didnt know if there were apartments that were really popular among northwestern law students

do you guys have any insight on what is the best place to live around the law school, id prefer not to break the bank but id more prefer not to get shot

lol, you're not going to get shot in Streeterville. You're also not going to be able to get a decent apartment there without forking over lots of cash.

Lots of NU students live in Streeterville their first year and then move north to Lincoln Park/Lakeview. Under $1,200 is a lot easier to do in Lincoln Park/Lakeview than it is in Streeterville, and those areas are also more fun than the touristy Streeterville (the main tradeoff is proximity to the school, usually resulting in a 35-45 minute commute versus a 5 minute walk).

Lakeview by an express bus: 20 minute cimmute and could keep it under $1200.

[09042014]

im just trying to keep it under like 1200 a month if possible i just didnt know if there were apartments that were really popular among northwestern law students

lol, you're not going to get shot in Streeterville. You're also not going to be able to get a decent apartment there without forking over lots of cash.

Lots of NU students live in Streeterville their first year and then move north to Lincoln Park/Lakeview. Under $1,200 is a lot easier to do in Lincoln Park/Lakeview than it is in Streeterville, and those areas are also more fun than the touristy Streeterville (the main tradeoff is proximity to the school, usually resulting in a 35-45 minute commute versus a 5 minute walk).

Lakeview by an express bus: 20 minute cimmute and could keep it under $1200.

Even on the 146, I'm skeptical you are doing door to door in 20 minutes. I'm guessing you have to leave reliably 30 minutes before class to make sure you get there on time. Maybe even more.

But streeterville sucks.

There are some fairly affordable places at the intersection of Gold Coast, Oldtown and Old Cabrini Green. Around LaSalle and Division. Its a bit cheaper because Cabrini Green used to be like Vietnam but they torn it down and now it's completely safe. I like it because it's a short walk from Gold Coast and Old Town, has like 5 grocery stores w/in 4 blocks, easy access to the red line at clark and division.

The bad part is that it's not ideal for taking public transit to school. But it's only like a 1.25 mile walk.

[Cobretti]

What is everyone's thoughts on Roger's Park? Obviously the commute would suck, but aside from that? Prices seem really reasonable, and i seem to be finding way more places up there that don't have weight restrictions for dogs than in LP/LV.

[Icculus]

Even on the 146, I'm skeptical you are doing door to door in 20 minutes. I'm guessing you have to leave reliably 30 minutes before class to make sure you get there on time. Maybe even more.

But streeterville sucks.

There are some fairly affordable places at the intersection of Gold Coast, Oldtown and Old Cabrini Green. Around LaSalle and Division. Its a bit cheaper because Cabrini Green used to be like Vietnam but they torn it down and now it's completely safe. I like it because it's a short walk from Gold Coast and Old Town, has like 5 grocery stores w/in 4 blocks, easy access to the red line at clark and division.

The bad part is that it's not ideal for taking public transit to school. But it's only like a 1.25 mile walk.

I am where the 146 and 148 meet. If I can catch the 148 it is 20 minutes door to door provided there is no traffic since the 148 jumps right onto Lakeshore. Though yes, I generally leave 30 minutes for some bufer time. Gold Coast is also a good option, but not as cheap as Lakeview.

[Holly Golightly]

West town is also AWESOME, and if you live close to Grand the 65 is the most ridiculously fast bus ever because Grand is a magical street that never has traffic even during rush hour.