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

[bjsesq]

While I believe this is TCR, it precludes that precious marriage lovin that I'll need to sustain myself during 1L

TMI

I thought it was funny. And true.

[Sauer Grapes]

I had a strong hunch that Holly might have been in my "Tell it like it is" section. A-D?

I know I met and sat next to someone (Rinkrat? "Tall chick with curly hair" rather narrowed down the candidates) from here, but decided not to out myself to anyone as a TLS'er. I honestly couldn't recall who was what description, and I found myself more in conversations with existing students/faculty anyway.

For anyone interested, I was the AJD guy with thinning black hair and goatee with brown slacks, buttondown and a dark red vest.

Looking forward to attending!

Pretty sure I remember you...you sat on my right in the clerkship/academia talk, I think? And I asked you if you knew about LRAP?

I ran into one other guy thinking about AJD, in my tell-it-like-it-is session. Didn't catch his name...Asian guy.

You'll notice that they didn't invite any of the current AJDs to speak at the tell-it-like-it-is sessions.

[homestyle28]

So question/challenge/topic of discussion: was there any preconceived notion you had about the law or law school that's been blown out of the water since you've been there?

[ArchRoark]

I will be withdrawing tonight, turning NU down has been incredibly difficult. I would love to attend, but my ir/rational fear of near-sticker level debt just isn't allowing it.

I wish you all the best!

bk187, hopefully my withdrawal helps you get pulled from the hold list

[taw856]

So question/challenge/topic of discussion: was there any preconceived notion you had about the law or law school that's been blown out of the water since you've been there?

Definitely expected a far more cutthroat student body, but annoyingly Type A power play types have been the exception rather than the norm.

I feel like that's common knowledge here about NU though -- I just didn't know it when I decided I wanted to be in Chicago.

[ArghItsBlarg]

I will be withdrawing tonight, turning NU down has been incredibly difficult. I would love to attend, but my ir/rational fear of near-sticker level debt just isn't allowing it.

I wish you all the best!

bk187, hopefully my withdrawal helps you get pulled from the hold list

Sorry Roark. I know from debt aversion, so I feel your pain. Best of luck wherever you end up attending.

[09042014]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

[homestyle28]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

[D-hops]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

You didn't ask me, but I'll offer my $0.02:

Firm gigs are hard to come by but they weren't impossible this year. A lot of them are offered as a result of diversity scholarships that come with a 1L SA gig although this year I think there was a slight uptick in 1L SA hiring. Some firms will hire one 1L for the summer and they use it as much as a marketing tool as they do recruiting (the firms that hire 1L SAs get talked about), but this will be bases strongly on your grades and potentially a technical background. Also, you have to remember at least in the Chicago area NU students are competing with UChi which makes it difficult when there is only 1 position in the firm's Chicago office.

If you don't get a firm, there are three general ways to bring in money over the summer: 1) work in and unpaid public interest and get money from SFPIF, 2) get a paying RA gig, 3) Take a class, or turn your RA or public interest work into a practicum or class for credit - not only can this be an easy "A" to boost your GPA prior to OCI, but you can borrow COA loans (tuition is free over the summer). There may be other opportunities to get paid (some companies hire in house interns that are paid), but those three ways are, I think, the most common.

[FiveSermon]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

He's DF. He probably has multiple V5s licking his boots.

[EarlCat]

You didn't ask me, but I'll offer my $0.02:

Firm gigs are hard to come by but they weren't impossible this year. A lot of them are offered as a result of diversity scholarships that come with a 1L SA gig although this year I think there was a slight uptick in 1L SA hiring. Some firms will hire one 1L for the summer and they use it as much as a marketing tool as they do recruiting (the firms that hire 1L SAs get talked about), but this will be bases strongly on your grades and potentially a technical background. Also, you have to remember at least in the Chicago area NU students are competing with UChi which makes it difficult when there is only 1 position in the firm's Chicago office.

If you don't get a firm, there are three general ways to bring in money over the summer: 1) work in and unpaid public interest and get money from SFPIF, 2) get a paying RA gig, 3) Take a class, or turn your RA or public interest work into a practicum or class for credit - not only can this be an easy "A" to boost your GPA prior to OCI, but you can borrow COA loans (tuition is free over the summer). There may be other opportunities to get paid (some companies hire in house interns that are paid), but those three ways are, I think, the most common.

Don't forget externships. You can take the judicial practicum class, which gives you four credits, qualifies you for SLs, gets you a great experience in the court system, and, if you work enough hours, beefs up your reportable public service hours.

[D-hops]

You didn't ask me, but I'll offer my $0.02:

Firm gigs are hard to come by but they weren't impossible this year. A lot of them are offered as a result of diversity scholarships that come with a 1L SA gig although this year I think there was a slight uptick in 1L SA hiring. Some firms will hire one 1L for the summer and they use it as much as a marketing tool as they do recruiting (the firms that hire 1L SAs get talked about), but this will be bases strongly on your grades and potentially a technical background. Also, you have to remember at least in the Chicago area NU students are competing with UChi which makes it difficult when there is only 1 position in the firm's Chicago office.

If you don't get a firm, there are three general ways to bring in money over the summer: 1) work in and unpaid public interest and get money from SFPIF, 2) get a paying RA gig, 3) Take a class, or turn your RA or public interest work into a practicum or class for credit - not only can this be an easy "A" to boost your GPA prior to OCI, but you can borrow COA loans (tuition is free over the summer). There may be other opportunities to get paid (some companies hire in house interns that are paid), but those three ways are, I think, the most common.

Don't forget externships. You can take the judicial practicum class, which gives you four credits, qualifies you for SLs, gets you a great experience in the court system, and, if you work enough hours, beefs up your reportable public service hours.

Yeah I think I was implicitly including this in public interest, but it should be a separate category.

[D-hops]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

He's DF. He probably has multiple V5s licking his scraping him off their boots.

FTFY

[bjsesq]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

He's Dhops. He probably has multiple V5s fellating his geniusness.

FTFY

Refixed

[09042014]

There is nothing irrational about fearing 220K in debt.

DF, do you mind saying anything about how your 1l summer search went or what you'll be doing? They at ASW said in general 1l firm gigs are generally hard to come by (duh) but a little better for diverse students or students with a technical background (you were an engineer, right?). The also said that nearly everyone finds some way to bring in cash flow for summer months, even if it's just taking classes and borrowing the cost, es la verdad?

Thanks dood.

I'm doing an RA. Tech background helps, but it's not an easy get. My big problem was my undergrad GPA. You send out resumes to firms before law school grades and the second a firm asked for my undergrad transcript I got a rejection letter in the mail three days later.

I know two tech people with firm jobs this summer but another 4 or 5 without. A lot of the more patent pros firms are looking to lock down people with good tech backgrounds while they can.

I will say that you shouldn't waste time during finals sending out emails on Dec 1. Wait til finals are over then send. Or have it all read to go by Dec 1. But I wasted an entire day during reading week and it was a waste. Also do government stuff early, a lot of deadlines are pretty early.

[EarlCat]

Yeah I think I was implicitly including this in public interest, but it should be a separate category.

Yeah, there's no SFPIF grant for externs.

[homestyle28]

Thanks y'all. Bout what I thought.

[Holly Golightly]

Yeah I think I was implicitly including this in public interest, but it should be a separate category.

Yeah, there's no SFPIF grant for externs.

Eh, I qualified for SFPIF, but I'm still doing the practicum.

[animalcrkrs]

Not sure if this is already posted b/c I'm too lazy and bearing down on finals to scroll through pages of posts, but the NU Law Housing Survey (student survey of housing options etc.) is posted on the admitted student website (scroll to bottom of main page of admitted students site to find the PDF link)

https://www.law.northwestern.edu/newstudent/

This is the same survey we distributed at Day at Northwestern Law, so if you want a digital copy or you didn't get to come to DANL, enjoy. It has Streeterville building and other neighborhood reviews, recommended realtors etc.

[splitmuch]

Do any of you the current students live in or know about the Chicagoan? I'll be living there but I haven't seen it (my roommates checked it out) and am interested in people's thoughts.

[EarlCat]

I'm looking for someone to take over my lease. $1075.00
Probably the cheapest apartment you're going to find anywhere near school.

http://860dewitt.com
http://www.860dewitt.com/apartments/flo ... studio.htm

PM if you have questions.

[bdubs]

Anyone know when the student budgets for next year will be published? I e-mailed financial aid and have received no reply.

[robotclubmember]

Is it possible to cross-register into an undergrad course at NU? Not something I'd consider doing 1L, but during 2L/3L, I'd be interested in taking a course in the school of communication. NU's comm program is world class, why not? At a minimum you'd get a chance to meet the future Stephen Colberts and Jerry Springers of the world :p

[Bumi]

Is it possible to cross-register into an undergrad course at NU?

I was planning to do the same, until I saw this.

[bdubs]

Is it possible to cross-register into an undergrad course at NU? Not something I'd consider doing 1L, but during 2L/3L, I'd be interested in taking a course in the school of communication. NU's comm program is world class, why not? At a minimum you'd get a chance to meet the future Stephen Colberts and Jerry Springers of the world :p

It would be somewhat of a challenge because you would have to commute to Evanston from the NU Law campus, but there is a shuttle bus and some public transit options. I would imagine that you are probably able to register for a few courses outside of the law school though.