Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions Forum

Brady199 · Post by **Brady199** » Sun Jun 21, 2015 1:08 am

Thanks folks! This is very helpful indeed.

FluffMonster · Post by **FluffMonster** » Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:23 am

Serett wrote:
Brady199 wrote:So my question is whether we have the time to dodo this stuff other than the softball league. That's mandatory right?
For another perspective:

Many people do softball, but it's not mandatory. I and multiple people in my section never went, while others participated in every game, and still others played or attended just a bit. If it sounds enjoyable to you, it's manageable, though.

There's also a bowling league, but I recall its schedule (Wed. nights) working poorly with the 1L schedule.

Student orgs tend to be minimal work, especially first semester. Even the most active ones, like ACS and Fed Soc, don't require much time. Feel free to join these almost at-will.

Pro bono projects can vary. Slack mentioned Innocence Project being on the more time-consuming side. The Veterans Tax Assistance project is also probably among the more time-consuming (depending on how they have people sign-up or how many hours they require, if any; not sure, didn't do it myself). Lawyer on the Line assigns files on a volunteer basis, so you can have many hours or few, at your will. The DACA Renewal Clinic, if it happens again, wasn't very time-consuming.

I didn't do moot court (past what was required), the transactional deal activity, or mock trial, so I'm not sure how time-consuming they are (well, I do still know that moot court is inconveniently time-consuming around 1L Spring finals). But you don't actually have to worry about moot court until second semester, at which point you'll hear a lot about it and be in a better position to decide how far to take it.

Maybe don't attempt to do all of this, but you'll be able to try out multiple that interest you without trouble.

The transactional law competition was a fun time--made me decide I want to do transactional work. I highly recommend.

Plus, it's typically scheduled so as not to conflict with other 1L activities, so it's an easy resume builder.

: ) · Post by **: )** » Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:42 am

Any opinion from current Dukies on University Apartments/University Commons?

And also some of those random townhouses/smaller apartments off Erwin Road? It seems like they house a lot of international people.

I guess I am just worried about being isolated socially if I live closer to campus away from everyone.

Also this is just a general question, but roommates during 1L... Good idea or bad? I've had roommates nearly all my life, but I also didn't have a demanding job or school.

PB&J.D. · Post by **PB&J.D.** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:44 am

Any 3Ls/grads who have had Krawiec? She's teaching BA this fall.

Serett · Post by **Serett** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 9:08 am

PB&J.D. wrote:Any 3Ls/grads who have had Krawiec? She's teaching BA this fall.

Well, a decade ago, apparently Harvard students wanted to bone her.

DOOK101 · Post by **DOOK101** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:51 am

Any insight as to when journal selections typically come out? I'm getting a little anxious here. DLJ all the way.

CaptainLeela · Post by **CaptainLeela** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:19 pm

Welcome to TLS

06102016 · Post by **06102016** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:20 pm

fishpaste1 · Post by **fishpaste1** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:53 pm

Post removed.

DOOK101 · Post by **DOOK101** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:18 am

slackademic wrote:
CaptainLeela wrote:
DOOK101 wrote:Any insight as to when journal selections typically come out? I'm getting a little anxious here. DLJ all the way.
You're going to be a while. Note grades weren't even due until Thursday. Not sure if that's true for every journal, but I think it's standard across the board
That's true for every journal.

How does that even work? The grades were "due" to journals, and then you all look at GPAs + scores and decide? I can't imagine that should take very long once they're graded.

FluffMonster · Post by **FluffMonster** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:24 am

DOOK101 wrote:
slackademic wrote:
CaptainLeela wrote:
DOOK101 wrote:Any insight as to when journal selections typically come out? I'm getting a little anxious here. DLJ all the way.
You're going to be a while. Note grades weren't even due until Thursday. Not sure if that's true for every journal, but I think it's standard across the board
That's true for every journal.
How does that even work? The grades were "due" to journals, and then you all look at GPAs + scores and decide? I can't imagine that should take very long once they're graded.

Just distract yourself by going out and having fun in your summer location. You probably won't be singing the same tune next summer when you're busy and journals are a pain.

06102016 · Post by **06102016** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:09 am

DOOK101 · Post by **DOOK101** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 12:38 pm

-deleted-

paahhgg · Post by **paahhgg** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:33 pm

Hello, incoming 1L here,

I actually had a question about the fall 1L schedule. What is this LARW week that lands on Fall Break? Is this required? Or can we go home for the week?

Thanks in advance.

SplitMyPants · Post by **SplitMyPants** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 2:45 pm

paahhgg wrote:Hello, incoming 1L here,

I actually had a question about the fall 1L schedule. What is this LARW week that lands on Fall Break? Is this required? Or can we go home for the week?

Thanks in advance.

Fall Break is technically deemed 1L Writing Week. You use a portion of that week to write your graded memo. How much of it you use depends on how much you procrastinate and how much work you plan to put into your memo. However, there are no classes and you can go home and work on it from there. IIRC, most of my friends stayed in Durham last year, FWIW.

FeraFera · Post by **FeraFera** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:05 pm

PB&J.D. wrote:Any 3Ls/grads who have had Krawiec? She's teaching BA this fall.

I can't actually be helpful, but she was a one-day guest lecturer in a class I was in and I thought her lecture was super boring. But she was talking about taboo trades or something; not anything remotely BA-like.

MadwomanintheAttic · Post by **MadwomanintheAttic** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:30 pm

Hello. Incoming 1L here. I'm really interested in bowling or softball. How feasible is it to participate during 1L and how do you sign-up to be part of a team for either?

Also, is there any type of printing allowance that students are given? Like so many pages a semester or school year?

Thanks in advance

PB&J.D. · Post by **PB&J.D.** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:44 pm

MadwomanintheAttic wrote:Hello. Incoming 1L here. I'm really interested in bowling or softball. How feasible is it to participate during 1L and how do you sign-up to be part of a team for either?

Also, is there any type of printing allowance that students are given? Like so many pages a semester or school year?

Thanks in advance

It's feasible; I wouldn't do both because softball games are typically on Tuesday & Thursday, while I believe bowling is Wednesday (?), so that can be taxing on time with the M/W/TH class schedule. Your section will choose a softball captain and they will do the roster sign-up (emails are sent to everyone before the season starts). I imagine bowling is similar.

Printing is something like $150-200 per year. You won't run out unless you print excessively.

kalcifer · Post by **kalcifer** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:36 am

PB&J.D. wrote:
MadwomanintheAttic wrote:Hello. Incoming 1L here. I'm really interested in bowling or softball. How feasible is it to participate during 1L and how do you sign-up to be part of a team for either?

Also, is there any type of printing allowance that students are given? Like so many pages a semester or school year?

Thanks in advance
It's feasible; I wouldn't do both because softball games are typically on Tuesday & Thursday, while I believe bowling is Wednesday (?), so that can be taxing on time with the M/W/TH class schedule. Your section will choose a softball captain and they will do the roster sign-up (emails are sent to everyone before the season starts). I imagine bowling is similar.

Printing is something like $150-200 per year. You won't run out unless you print excessively.

I believe it's way more than $200 now, and even if you were to run out you can get a refill for free.

As for the softball and bowling. Just do softball in the fall and bowling in the spring semester. Softball season is fall only unless you do the UVA softball invitational.

Bowling is not divided by sections. You can make your own team of 4 or 5 and just play. I know some sections took softball seriously (ours absolutely didn't and had way more fun than those gunners) but I don't remember anyone taking bowling too seriously. It was just students and professors playing and having fun.

06102016 · Post by **06102016** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 12:00 pm

SplitMyPants · Post by **SplitMyPants** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 3:47 pm

What is this Blue Zone Commuter (BCOM) lot that 2Ls can sign up for? The parking site says that Blue Zone Commuter is for Blue Zone lots 1, 2, and 3, but I can't figure out where that is. It's twice the price of Green Zone, which is obv shit. Am I disillusioned to hope that perhaps what ever this BCOM lot is is an improvement?

Also, is it possible to get a car pool pass with another person to park in the front of Chem lot?

Serett · Post by **Serett** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 7:52 pm

SplitMyPants wrote:What is this Blue Zone Commuter (BCOM) lot that 2Ls can sign up for? The parking site says that Blue Zone Commuter is for Blue Zone lots 1, 2, and 3, but I can't figure out where that is. It's twice the price of Green Zone, which is obv shit. Am I disillusioned to hope that perhaps what ever this BCOM lot is is an improvement?

Also, is it possible to get a car pool pass with another person to park in the front of Chem lot?

I don't know which particular Blue Zone lots are the commuter lots versus the regular Blue Zone, but based on my knowledge of where the Blue Zone lots are generally, I strongly doubt the Blue Zone Commuter lots are anything more than nominally closer than the regular Blue Zone lots. The Blue Zone is to the East of Wallace Wade, and I'd bet that the "commuter" lots within it are just the closest of the large area to Towerview. That's not much (or any) closer than a number of Green lots (e.g., the Eden lots directly across the street), while it's closer than the furthest Green lots (on Duke University Road). I don't think Blue Commuter is any more worth double the cost of a Green permit this year than regular Blue was last year.

Winston1984 · Post by **Winston1984** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:27 pm

Follow up the parking pass question for incoming 1Ls. Looking at the map, the distance to the law school seems to be roughly equal between the two, but blue is twice as expensive. Is this because there are many more blue lots? Is this worth it?

MadwomanintheAttic · Post by **MadwomanintheAttic** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:50 pm

@Winston I was just coming here to ask that very question. You beat me to it

se627 · Post by **se627** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 3:16 pm

complicated question. if i remember correctly, the blue lot was completely sold out when parking opened for 1ls last year, so no one really had a choice, and everyone basically ended up with green lot passes. that said, i have never parked in the blue lot, so i cannot attest to its quality. but, i can say that you cannot get any worse than the green lot. this past year, the green lot was oversold, and there were plenty of days where there was no space to park, despite the fact that you had a pass. (granted, part of this was due to the construction equipment for the new football field that was parked in the lot. but, even before that began, it was difficult to find spaces at some points). at the beginning of the year, there was an overflow gravel lot across cameron blvd., but even that was rezoned and is now technically faculty club parking, i believe. the situation was so ridiculous, though, people with green passes still parked in it. not sure if they will be stricter with that this year.

as i understand it, the blue lot has upward of 1,300 spots in it compared to the 550 or so in the main green lot, so it should theoretically be easier to get a spot. however, i think the blue lot shared with undergraduates, so hard to say for sure. (maybe a 3l that has parked in it in the past can chime in). also note that the green zone parking passes will also allow you to park in the two smaller lots on twerview past wannamaker.

all this to say, you are right that the two lots are pretty much equidistant from the law school, but after the hassle that was the green lot, i wouldn't recommend it if it can be avoided.

one final thing to consider is what time you will be getting to school. if you are an early riser and plan on arriving and studying at least an hour to an hour and a half before classes start at 9:15 or 9:30, then you should be fine with green lot parking. but, if you like to roll in at the very last second and hussle to get to class, then you may want to try for the bigger lot (assuming blue will be available), otherwise you will inevitably find yourself circling the green lot/campus wondering where you can and cannot park. lots of people in that situation sometimes ended up having to pay to park for up to 4 hours in the visitors lot across from fuqua and then move their cars later or risk getting ticketed.

hope this helps!