Columbia students taking questions Forum

[runthetrap]

everyone will have different styles and you 1Ls should not drastically change your habits because you think there's a "right" way to study for law school.

every single law student i've spoken to has given me this advice.

It's really true. The only thing I'd recommend is asking 2Ls/3Ls about specific professors to see if any of them have particular quirks. That way you know, for example, that Heller likes to use multiple choice questions taken from class discussion for his Property exam, which means you should take really good class notes.

really solid advice. thanks! duly noted

[Tiago Splitter]

everyone will have different styles and you 1Ls should not drastically change your habits because you think there's a "right" way to study for law school.

every single law student i've spoken to has given me this advice.

Actually there is a right way to do things, at least at a 1L: don't be lazy. You're not doing much else, so don't try to get too cute.

[runthetrap]

Actually there is a right way to do things, at least at a 1L: don't be lazy. You're not doing much else, so don't try to get too cute.

word

[theoutpostmhs]

Hi Guys,

This thread is great. Thanks for having this!

I've been reading all your posts about not worrying about Legal Methods and just enjoying those three weeks. I just have a quick question regarding attendance. My brother is getting married on the last Friday of LM class in California, so I have to catch a flight on Thursday. How bad is it to miss two days of LM (and the last two days)? I'm sure this depends on the professor, but wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this. Thanks!

[txdude45]

Hi Guys,

This thread is great. Thanks for having this!

I've been reading all your posts about not worrying about Legal Methods and just enjoying those three weeks. I just have a quick question regarding attendance. My brother is getting married on the last Friday of LM class in California, so I have to catch a flight on Thursday. How bad is it to miss two days of LM (and the last two days)? I'm sure this depends on the professor, but wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this. Thanks!

It's less bad than finding $50 in your pants pocket.

Just email the professor to let them know. It won't matter at all.

[theoutpostmhs]

Hi Guys,

This thread is great. Thanks for having this!

I've been reading all your posts about not worrying about Legal Methods and just enjoying those three weeks. I just have a quick question regarding attendance. My brother is getting married on the last Friday of LM class in California, so I have to catch a flight on Thursday. How bad is it to miss two days of LM (and the last two days)? I'm sure this depends on the professor, but wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this. Thanks!

It's less bad than finding $50 in your pants pocket.

Just email the professor to let them know. It won't matter at all.

Thanks so much! I had called the registrar to ask if they knew what time the class would be held so I can try and catch a flight after class, and I was told that it was strongly discouraged to miss, which made me nervous. Thanks for clearing it up!

[Taus11]

.

[fleurdelis2]

i heard that you can snag good deals on furniture at the end of summer from people moving out. anybody have info on this?

[JVK]

i heard that you can snag good deals on furniture at the end of summer from people moving out. anybody have info on this?

A lot of them left at the end of the last spring semester, but there might be a few who stayed until the end of summer. There's a Columbia "Free and For Sale" Facebook group that's really helpful for that type of thing, so that's definitely worth checking out.

If you've found out your roommate and they're a current 2L/3L/anyone already living there, ask them if you can buy the furniture of whoever was there last. I know a couple people who did that and got some great "hand-me-down" furniture for next to nothing. IKEA also delivers unlimited furniture to your doorstep for a flat rate of $99, if you get a deal there it's worth going in with a couple other friends doing the same thing on the fixed delivery fee.

[JVK]

Has anyone taken one of the Negotiations seminars, and do you have specific teacher recommendations for that/what's the workload like?

Also, what do people think of Pistor?

[john_brown]

Hi all, late to this but...

[Tiago Splitter]

Also, what do people think of Pistor?

Upside: Panels--only on call once every three days, lots of LLMs for an easy curve

Downside: No laptops

[JVK]

Also, what do people think of Pistor?

Upside: Panels--only on call once every three days, lots of LLMs for an easy curve

Downside: No laptops

Got it, thanks. I put my name down for her Law and Finance Theories colloquium. Any idea about that one in particular?

Hi all, late to this but...

Just got an offer for accommodation in 415 West 115th Street. Good location it seems, but don't have much else to go on. I'm tempted to roll the dice on it to avoid the hassle of looking on my own, but just wanted to get a few more details before accepting.

Can anyone shed any light on the building/apartments?

I live in on the same block at 403 W 115th, in a pretty comparable apartment, and have a few friends in 415. I'm assuming you have a furnished 3-bedroom share, but let me know.

There's a single superintendent assigned to your building, and he's a pretty nice dude (I'm almost positive I know the one for your building). The place itself comes with utilities like electricity and Internet (making a window A/C fantastic), though you'll need to supply your own router if you want one. The kitchens across the whole block seem to be uniformly more than fine, but there's one bathroom between the three residents. The closets are quite large in each of my apartment's three bedrooms. Laundry's done with a card that you add money to. If it's furnished, you'll have extremely standard dorm furniture (a twin bed, desk, and a dresser, plus some tables and chairs in the living room).

The thing I can't help you with is your bedroom size. The buildings on the W115th block weren't built as law school housing to begin with, I'm pretty sure, but as as private apartments before Columbia bought them up at some point. What this means for you is that the floor plans aren't entirely uniform, primarily in terms of bedrooms. We have two small bedrooms and one larger one, but a set of girls in my complex has three bedrooms all as big or bigger than our largest one. You should have a floor plan that you got along with your housing assignment, though, so you'll know that already.

Verdict-wise, I love W 115th. It's hard to beat the convenience that comes with living a block and a half from the law school. My bedroom was on the smaller end but very much livable, and I preferred not to study in it anyway, though that's a personal thing. I think it was absolutely a good thing for 1L year in particular... not that the other housing assignments are much farther (most are within 5-6 blocks from the law school), but definitely don't feel like you got shafted with your assignment at the very least.

[tlsapp2017]

Also, what do people think of Pistor?

Upside: Panels--only on call once every three days, lots of LLMs for an easy curve

Downside: No laptops

Got it, thanks. I put my name down for her Law and Finance Theories colloquium. Any idea about that one in particular?

Hi all, late to this but...

Just got an offer for accommodation in 415 West 115th Street. Good location it seems, but don't have much else to go on. I'm tempted to roll the dice on it to avoid the hassle of looking on my own, but just wanted to get a few more details before accepting.

Can anyone shed any light on the building/apartments?

I live in on the same block at 403 W 115th, in a pretty comparable apartment, and have a few friends in 415. I'm assuming you have a furnished 3-bedroom share, but let me know.

There's a single superintendent assigned to your building, and he's a pretty nice dude (I'm almost positive I know the one for your building). The place itself comes with utilities like electricity and Internet (making a window A/C fantastic), though you'll need to supply your own router if you want one. The kitchens across the whole block seem to be uniformly more than fine, but there's one bathroom between the three residents. The closets are quite large in each of my apartment's three bedrooms. Laundry's done with a card that you add money to. If it's furnished, you'll have extremely standard dorm furniture (a twin bed, desk, and a dresser, plus some tables and chairs in the living room).

The thing I can't help you with is your bedroom size. The buildings on the W115th block weren't built as law school housing to begin with, I'm pretty sure, but as as private apartments before Columbia bought them up at some point. What this means for you is that the floor plans aren't entirely uniform, primarily in terms of bedrooms. We have two small bedrooms and one larger one, but a set of girls in my complex has three bedrooms all as big or bigger than our largest one. You should have a floor plan that you got along with your housing assignment, though, so you'll know that already.

Verdict-wise, I love W 115th. It's hard to beat the convenience that comes with living a block and a half from the law school. My bedroom was on the smaller end but very much livable, and I preferred not to study in it anyway, though that's a personal thing. I think it was absolutely a good thing for 1L year in particular... not that the other housing assignments are much farther (most are within 5-6 blocks from the law school), but definitely don't feel like you got shafted with your assignment at the very least.

Would you mind sharing how small "on the smaller end" was in square feet? I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to fit anything into my ~100 sq. ft. bedroom other than the furniture that comes with the room...

[JVK]

Would you mind sharing how small "on the smaller end" was in square feet? I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to fit anything into my ~100 sq. ft. bedroom other than the furniture that comes with the room...

Mine was 100 sq. ft. (10' x 10'), dead on. What sort of furniture are you looking to fit?

I had a pretty fair amount of floor space left after the dresser, desk, and bed, so I threw in a shoe rack and left the rest open. The closet was fairly big so between that, the dresser, and a storage container under the bed I had most things accounted for. You won't have too much of a choice where the bed goes given the window placement and the room size, but outside of that I could shuffle the rest pretty freely.

[john_brown]

*

[moonman157]

How important is it to meet with someone at CSO about bidlists? I was an idiot and didn't sign up for one until today, and the only available appointments are during work hours.

[starrydreamz3]

How important is it to meet with someone at CSO about bidlists? I was an idiot and didn't sign up for one until today, and the only available appointments are during work hours.

Have you studied the last bid fail list pretty closely? You can try to just get feedback from the CLS EIP thread on TLS.

[moonman157]

How important is it to meet with someone at CSO about bidlists? I was an idiot and didn't sign up for one until today, and the only available appointments are during work hours.

Have you studied the last bid fail list pretty closely? You can try to just get feedback from the CLS EIP thread on TLS.

I have. I mean, I plan on posting my bid list and working pretty hard at it (looking at honors reports, last bid fail, etc) but I also want to be as conservative as possible, and I wanted an extra pair of eyes to look over it. Is this something worth missing work over?

[JVK]

Yep, three bedroom shared. Thanks for the details, that was very helpful and has put me at ease a bit. I kind of thought that $1250 was a bit steep for a room, but I guess the convenience of living nearby makes up for it. If you can think of anything else that would be good to know about living in that building or on that block please let me know. Thanks again!

Sure. I can't think of anything else too pressing to say, but if you have something specific you want to ask just send me a PM.

How important is it to meet with someone at CSO about bidlists? I was an idiot and didn't sign up for one until today, and the only available appointments are during work hours.

Have you studied the last bid fail list pretty closely? You can try to just get feedback from the CLS EIP thread on TLS.

I have. I mean, I plan on posting my bid list and working pretty hard at it (looking at honors reports, last bid fail, etc) but I also want to be as conservative as possible, and I wanted an extra pair of eyes to look over it. Is this something worth missing work over?

I set up an appointment around noon, and called in when I'd otherwise be eating lunch. You just send over your materials beforehand and put your phone number down, worked fine!

[moonman157]

Yep, three bedroom shared. Thanks for the details, that was very helpful and has put me at ease a bit. I kind of thought that $1250 was a bit steep for a room, but I guess the convenience of living nearby makes up for it. If you can think of anything else that would be good to know about living in that building or on that block please let me know. Thanks again!

Sure. I can't think of anything else too pressing to say, but if you have something specific you want to ask just send me a PM.

How important is it to meet with someone at CSO about bidlists? I was an idiot and didn't sign up for one until today, and the only available appointments are during work hours.

Have you studied the last bid fail list pretty closely? You can try to just get feedback from the CLS EIP thread on TLS.

I have. I mean, I plan on posting my bid list and working pretty hard at it (looking at honors reports, last bid fail, etc) but I also want to be as conservative as possible, and I wanted an extra pair of eyes to look over it. Is this something worth missing work over?

I set up an appointment around noon, and called in when I'd otherwise be eating lunch. You just send over your materials beforehand and put your phone number down, worked fine!

Awesome,thanks!

[lunaraeon]

I set up an appointment around noon, and called in when I'd otherwise be eating lunch. You just send over your materials beforehand and put your phone number down, worked fine!

Awesome,thanks!

I did this too except for poor cell service on my end, it was just as effective as an in-person meeting. Just have copies of whatever you sent for review and a notepad with you when you call, so you can write down what they tell you.

[Harry Belafonte]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how difficult would it be as a Columbia student to get a 1L or 2L SA abroad? Specifically in a place like Hong Kong?

Thanks so much!

[jbagelboy]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how difficult would it be as a Columbia student to get a 1L or 2L SA abroad? Specifically in a place like Hong Kong?

Thanks so much!

People do it, esp via magic circle, but you have to have the language skills and a compelling background. 1L will be much more about you and your connections; for 2L at EIP you will have the opportunity to interview for the Asian offices of a number of firms, but I don't have specific experience with that.

[Harry Belafonte]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how difficult would it be as a Columbia student to get a 1L or 2L SA abroad? Specifically in a place like Hong Kong?

Thanks so much!

People do it, esp via magic circle, but you have to have the language skills and a compelling background. 1L will be much more about you and your connections; for 2L at EIP you will have the opportunity to interview for the Asian offices of a number of firms, but I don't have specific experience with that.

Thanks so much for the insight. I wonder what type of grades you'd need at Columbia to get into one of the magic circle firms?