Top Law Schools

SplitMyPants wrote:

premalone wrote:Can anyone describe what the quality of life is like at Duke? How is the social scene, are people generally happy or stressed, what kinds of things are students involved with outside of the law school? I plan to visit next semester to get a good grasp of the atmosphere, but wanted to know firsthand from some students!

I'm not a transfer or anything, so I have no other experience with other schools except ASWs and what I read on here. However, in my experience, the atmosphere of the student body and the law school is just about the best that I could have hoped for in a school. I think, though there are the typical stressors associated with any law school, the student body is generally pretty happy. All the students are friendly and collegial. There's a great social scene. However, I think whether you're more of a homebody or more someone trying to go out every night, you'll find people who feel similarly—Duke does not attract any one type of person. Durham is also a great size city for law school—plenty of stuff to do for three years without being too distracting.

Awesome, that's pretty in line with what I've heard! I'm pretty on the fence between UVA and Duke so at this point I just want to see which school would be the best fit. Thanks!

premalone wrote:

SplitMyPants wrote:

premalone wrote:Can anyone describe what the quality of life is like at Duke? How is the social scene, are people generally happy or stressed, what kinds of things are students involved with outside of the law school? I plan to visit next semester to get a good grasp of the atmosphere, but wanted to know firsthand from some students!

I'm not a transfer or anything, so I have no other experience with other schools except ASWs and what I read on here. However, in my experience, the atmosphere of the student body and the law school is just about the best that I could have hoped for in a school. I think, though there are the typical stressors associated with any law school, the student body is generally pretty happy. All the students are friendly and collegial. There's a great social scene. However, I think whether you're more of a homebody or more someone trying to go out every night, you'll find people who feel similarly—Duke does not attract any one type of person. Durham is also a great size city for law school—plenty of stuff to do for three years without being too distracting.

Awesome, that's pretty in line with what I've heard! I'm pretty on the fence between UVA and Duke so at this point I just want to see which school would be the best fit. Thanks!

Yeah it definitely comes down to how you feel about fit personally. One more small plug for Duke is I feel like I appreciate the small class size. Even though I'm not necessarily great friends with everyone on my class, at least by the end of 1L I had had class with all but 25 or so of them and definitely at least know who everyone is. It makes for a good community. But, again, take that FWIW as I have no first hand experience Aside from being in my ~220 person class.

can you apply for a dual degree during your 1L year? And if so, how hard is it to get accepted to a JD/MA (I realize it might vary based on the field)? also what do 1Ls usually have lined up for the summer?

proteinshake wrote:can you apply for a dual degree during your 1L year? And if so, how hard is it to get accepted to a JD/MA (I realize it might vary based on the field)? also what do 1Ls usually have lined up for the summer?

Can't help with the first two questions; wasn't a dual degree student, and I'm not sure how Duke does those programs now that the summer-starter program is history. For the second question, some minority of people get 1L SAs (best odds if you're a diverse candidate, IP, or from one of the few areas in which 1L SAs are more common--I think parts of the South--and, of course, have excellent grades), there are a few other explicitly paid positions (say with a major corporation's legal department), and the rest find something in government, non-profit, with judges, or at the law school and either attempt to get some sort of summer funding (whether through PILF, a Stanback Program internship, or something completely outside of the law school) or have rich parents (both if you're lucky!).

Do any current/past students live in the area around Southpoint (or know others who did)? If so, how did you/they seem to like it? Seems like a great area with better apartment options than the ones 5 minutes from the law school with the main drawback being the 15-20 minute distance, which isn't actually all that bad if it's the only pitfall. Any thoughts on the area (or other good areas) are appreciated!

joeytribbiani wrote:Do any current/past students live in the area around Southpoint (or know others who did)? If so, how did you/they seem to like it? Seems like a great area with better apartment options than the ones 5 minutes from the law school with the main drawback being the 15-20 minute distance, which isn't actually all that bad if it's the only pitfall. Any thoughts on the area (or other good areas) are appreciated!

IMO that would be pretty inconvenient. First, I would not underestimate the inconvenience of having a nearly 20 minute commute, especially during 1L finals studying. 10 minutes may seem trivial but you may find that with everything else going on, the extra ten minutes forces you to choose to study at home even though, for example, you may feel like going to the library would be a more productive environment.

Additionally, and more importantly IMO, it is extremely inconvenient to get to downtown Durham from there. Therefore, if you see yourself Uber-ing to the Durham bars a lot, it will greatly increase your Uber tabs throughout the year. This is especially true because there will be far fewer people to split it with than, say, if you lived in Pinnacle, where you can literally spend $3.00 round trip to get to and from the Durham bars by splitting Ubers.

That said, there is a lot of great stuff (food, bars, shopping, etc.) around Southpoint that I have failed to take advantage of because I do not live super close to that area.

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Do any current/past students live in the area around Southpoint (or know others who did)? If so, how did you/they seem to like it? Seems like a great area with better apartment options than the ones 5 minutes from the law school with the main drawback being the 15-20 minute distance, which isn't actually all that bad if it's the only pitfall. Any thoughts on the area (or other good areas) are appreciated!

IMO that would be pretty inconvenient. First, I would not underestimate the inconvenience of having a nearly 20 minute commute, especially during 1L finals studying. 10 minutes may seem trivial but you may find that with everything else going on, the extra ten minutes forces you to choose to study at home even though, for example, you may feel like going to the library would be a more productive environment.

Additionally, and more importantly IMO, it is extremely inconvenient to get to downtown Durham from there. Therefore, if you see yourself Uber-ing to the Durham bars a lot, it will greatly increase your Uber tabs throughout the year. This is especially true because there will be far fewer people to split it with than, say, if you lived in Pinnacle, where you can literally spend $3.00 round trip to get to and from the Durham bars by splitting Ubers.

That said, there is a lot of great stuff (food, bars, shopping, etc.) around Southpoint that I have failed to take advantage of because I do not live super close to that area.

Thanks for your input!

I guess how I ended up looking around Southpoint in the first place is because the places right around school are much more expensive and generally smaller, and then Pinnacle is cheaper with a bit more space but I toured and it definitely has a quality drop. I looked at Trinity Commons, Heights at LaSalle, and Lofts at Lakeview, but they all seemed to be $1200 and up for a lot less space. (I'm looking for a 1 bed/1 bath, I know it would be more affordable if I had a roommate) Also, maybe it's no longer the case, but previous posters mentioned some stuff about bugs and a break in or two - I really hate bugs and had my house in undergrad broken into and my laptop stolen so when I read that I was immediately a bit put off.

The points you make about the commute are definitely valid though. I'm used to a bit of a commute so I'm not sure I would mind all that much, but perhaps that would change once I was actually there and in the midst of the 1L craziness so I'll definitely keep it in mind. Any idea if there are any places closer to the school but at similar price points/with similar amenities as some of the places around Southpoint?

joeytribbiani wrote:

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Do any current/past students live in the area around Southpoint (or know others who did)? If so, how did you/they seem to like it? Seems like a great area with better apartment options than the ones 5 minutes from the law school with the main drawback being the 15-20 minute distance, which isn't actually all that bad if it's the only pitfall. Any thoughts on the area (or other good areas) are appreciated!

IMO that would be pretty inconvenient. First, I would not underestimate the inconvenience of having a nearly 20 minute commute, especially during 1L finals studying. 10 minutes may seem trivial but you may find that with everything else going on, the extra ten minutes forces you to choose to study at home even though, for example, you may feel like going to the library would be a more productive environment.

Additionally, and more importantly IMO, it is extremely inconvenient to get to downtown Durham from there. Therefore, if you see yourself Uber-ing to the Durham bars a lot, it will greatly increase your Uber tabs throughout the year. This is especially true because there will be far fewer people to split it with than, say, if you lived in Pinnacle, where you can literally spend $3.00 round trip to get to and from the Durham bars by splitting Ubers.

That said, there is a lot of great stuff (food, bars, shopping, etc.) around Southpoint that I have failed to take advantage of because I do not live super close to that area.

Thanks for your input!

I guess how I ended up looking around Southpoint in the first place is because the places right around school are much more expensive and generally smaller, and then Pinnacle is cheaper with a bit more space but I toured and it definitely has a quality drop. I looked at Trinity Commons, Heights at LaSalle, and Lofts at Lakeview, but they all seemed to be $1200 and up for a lot less space. (I'm looking for a 1 bed/1 bath, I know it would be more affordable if I had a roommate) Also, maybe it's no longer the case, but previous posters mentioned some stuff about bugs and a break in or two - I really hate bugs and had my house in undergrad broken into and my laptop stolen so when I read that I was immediately a bit put off.

The points you make about the commute are definitely valid though. I'm used to a bit of a commute so I'm not sure I would mind all that much, but perhaps that would change once I was actually there and in the midst of the 1L craziness so I'll definitely keep it in mind. Any idea if there are any places closer to the school but at similar price points/with similar amenities as some of the places around Southpoint?

There are some nice places not immediately within walking distance. Parc at University tower is really nice. You can even get a 1 bedroom 1 bath with a second story loft for about 1k. Bell West End is also really nice and cheaper than the places immediately by campus. Those three complexes right next to campus charge more because they know they can snag the students without cars plus the international students that generally have money to spend. I would also discourage you or other 1Ls to live more than a few minutes away from the law school. Traffic to southpoint can be bad sometimes. Also, you really are not going to want to commute a lot of days. I know of a person who lived in Raleigh for first semester 1l and it got to the point they actually rented a room in Durham because even the 30-40 minute commute was too much for the last month or so of classes leading up to finals. Or find a house. Im renting a house for essentially nothing within walking distance to campus.

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grades?? wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Do any current/past students live in the area around Southpoint (or know others who did)? If so, how did you/they seem to like it? Seems like a great area with better apartment options than the ones 5 minutes from the law school with the main drawback being the 15-20 minute distance, which isn't actually all that bad if it's the only pitfall. Any thoughts on the area (or other good areas) are appreciated!

IMO that would be pretty inconvenient. First, I would not underestimate the inconvenience of having a nearly 20 minute commute, especially during 1L finals studying. 10 minutes may seem trivial but you may find that with everything else going on, the extra ten minutes forces you to choose to study at home even though, for example, you may feel like going to the library would be a more productive environment.

Additionally, and more importantly IMO, it is extremely inconvenient to get to downtown Durham from there. Therefore, if you see yourself Uber-ing to the Durham bars a lot, it will greatly increase your Uber tabs throughout the year. This is especially true because there will be far fewer people to split it with than, say, if you lived in Pinnacle, where you can literally spend $3.00 round trip to get to and from the Durham bars by splitting Ubers.

That said, there is a lot of great stuff (food, bars, shopping, etc.) around Southpoint that I have failed to take advantage of because I do not live super close to that area.

Thanks for your input!

I guess how I ended up looking around Southpoint in the first place is because the places right around school are much more expensive and generally smaller, and then Pinnacle is cheaper with a bit more space but I toured and it definitely has a quality drop. I looked at Trinity Commons, Heights at LaSalle, and Lofts at Lakeview, but they all seemed to be $1200 and up for a lot less space. (I'm looking for a 1 bed/1 bath, I know it would be more affordable if I had a roommate) Also, maybe it's no longer the case, but previous posters mentioned some stuff about bugs and a break in or two - I really hate bugs and had my house in undergrad broken into and my laptop stolen so when I read that I was immediately a bit put off.

The points you make about the commute are definitely valid though. I'm used to a bit of a commute so I'm not sure I would mind all that much, but perhaps that would change once I was actually there and in the midst of the 1L craziness so I'll definitely keep it in mind. Any idea if there are any places closer to the school but at similar price points/with similar amenities as some of the places around Southpoint?

There are some nice places not immediately within walking distance. Parc at University tower is really nice. You can even get a 1 bedroom 1 bath with a second story loft for about 1k. Bell West End is also really nice and cheaper than the places immediately by campus. Those three complexes right next to campus charge more because they know they can snag the students without cars plus the international students that generally have money to spend. I would also discourage you or other 1Ls to live more than a few minutes away from the law school. Traffic to southpoint can be bad sometimes. Also, you really are not going to want to commute a lot of days. I know of a person who lived in Raleigh for first semester 1l and it got to the point they actually rented a room in Durham because even the 30-40 minute commute was too much for the last month or so of classes leading up to finals. Or find a house. Im renting a house for essentially nothing within walking distance to campus.

Somehow I totally missed Parc at University Tower in all my searching, looks like a great option. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely look there and keep looking for closer options!

proteinshake wrote:

none that i can think of

Another housing question.. I'm deciding between Duke and Michigan and while there are way more important things to consider, one thing that draws me to Michigan is the lawyers club since it makes summers easier as far as not needing to find a subletter or pay double rent depending on where you work for the summer. What do most Duke students that work away from the area in the summer do? Find subletters? And if so, are they easy to find?

joeytribbiani wrote:Another housing question.. I'm deciding between Duke and Michigan and while there are way more important things to consider, one thing that draws me to Michigan is the lawyers club since it makes summers easier as far as not needing to find a subletter or pay double rent depending on where you work for the summer. What do most Duke students that work away from the area in the summer do? Find subletters? And if so, are they easy to find?

Purely anecdotal, but I know several people who were able to sublet there places first and second summer to people in the Duke community or by listing it on Craigslist. Personally, I think the lawyers club seems overrated—they force you onto a meal plan and it is essentially dorm-style living. Seems too much like college, but that's just me. I guess it does come in handy during the Ann Arbor winters to be so close to the law school. Either way, at the end of the day, we're talking about a couple thousand difference over three years. This is likely more than made up for in the differing offers you'll get (IME, and from talking to others, Duke was far more generous) and other cost-of-living differences.

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Another housing question.. I'm deciding between Duke and Michigan and while there are way more important things to consider, one thing that draws me to Michigan is the lawyers club since it makes summers easier as far as not needing to find a subletter or pay double rent depending on where you work for the summer. What do most Duke students that work away from the area in the summer do? Find subletters? And if so, are they easy to find?

Purely anecdotal, but I know several people who were able to sublet there places first and second summer to people in the Duke community or by listing it on Craigslist. Personally, I think the lawyers club seems overrated—they force you onto a meal plan and it is essentially dorm-style living. Seems too much like college, but that's just me. I guess it does come in handy during the Ann Arbor winters to be so close to the law school. Either way, at the end of the day, we're talking about a couple thousand difference over three years. This is likely more than made up for in the differing offers you'll get (IME, and from talking to others, Duke was far more generous) and other cost-of-living differences.

Definitely agree it feels like a dorm, which is the obvious downside. I'm not a big cooker and not a picky eater so the meal plan doesn't bother me so much. Good point about the relative offers and savings overall though. Thanks for continuing to answer questions - getting closer and closer to saying yes to Duke!

joeytribbiani wrote:

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Another housing question.. I'm deciding between Duke and Michigan and while there are way more important things to consider, one thing that draws me to Michigan is the lawyers club since it makes summers easier as far as not needing to find a subletter or pay double rent depending on where you work for the summer. What do most Duke students that work away from the area in the summer do? Find subletters? And if so, are they easy to find?

Purely anecdotal, but I know several people who were able to sublet there places first and second summer to people in the Duke community or by listing it on Craigslist. Personally, I think the lawyers club seems overrated—they force you onto a meal plan and it is essentially dorm-style living. Seems too much like college, but that's just me. I guess it does come in handy during the Ann Arbor winters to be so close to the law school. Either way, at the end of the day, we're talking about a couple thousand difference over three years. This is likely more than made up for in the differing offers you'll get (IME, and from talking to others, Duke was far more generous) and other cost-of-living differences.

Definitely agree it feels like a dorm, which is the obvious downside. I'm not a big cooker and not a picky eater so the meal plan doesn't bother me so much. Good point about the relative offers and savings overall though. Thanks for continuing to answer questions - getting closer and closer to saying yes to Duke!

Most of the people living in apartment complexes i know who know they're not staying for the summer are on 9 month leases.

lymenheimer wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:

SplitMyPants wrote:

joeytribbiani wrote:Another housing question.. I'm deciding between Duke and Michigan and while there are way more important things to consider, one thing that draws me to Michigan is the lawyers club since it makes summers easier as far as not needing to find a subletter or pay double rent depending on where you work for the summer. What do most Duke students that work away from the area in the summer do? Find subletters? And if so, are they easy to find?

Purely anecdotal, but I know several people who were able to sublet there places first and second summer to people in the Duke community or by listing it on Craigslist. Personally, I think the lawyers club seems overrated—they force you onto a meal plan and it is essentially dorm-style living. Seems too much like college, but that's just me. I guess it does come in handy during the Ann Arbor winters to be so close to the law school. Either way, at the end of the day, we're talking about a couple thousand difference over three years. This is likely more than made up for in the differing offers you'll get (IME, and from talking to others, Duke was far more generous) and other cost-of-living differences.

Definitely agree it feels like a dorm, which is the obvious downside. I'm not a big cooker and not a picky eater so the meal plan doesn't bother me so much. Good point about the relative offers and savings overall though. Thanks for continuing to answer questions - getting closer and closer to saying yes to Duke!

Most of the people living in apartment complexes i know who know they're not staying for the summer are on 9 month leases.

'16 Duke Law grad here. I lived at Pinnacle for 2 years and my roommate and I never had a problem subletting our place during the summer (we listed our respective halves of the apt individually on DukeList). The location and price are hard to beat and there is always a ton of law students living there.

what are some things you wish you knew before you got to Duke?

proteinshake wrote:what are some things you wish you knew before you got to Duke?

How much graded LARW sucks. I knew it was going to suck, but not this badly. Other than that, nothing else that i can think of/no complaints, really

how's the gym? and do you have to pay extra for it?

proteinshake wrote:how's the gym? and do you have to pay extra for it?

Nope. It's covered in your student fees/tuition stuff. Quality is decent. Not the biggest gym, but I've never been when it was super packed to where I can't find something to do.

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lymenheimer wrote:

proteinshake wrote:what are some things you wish you knew before you got to Duke?

How much graded LARW sucks. I knew it was going to suck, but not this badly. Other than that, nothing else that i can think of/no complaints, really

Do you feel like the class made (is making) you better at research and writing than an ungraded counterpart? I'm torn between not wanting to have a graded/strict LARW and wanting to have those skills when I enter the workforce.

Dr.Degrees_Cr.Cash wrote:

lymenheimer wrote:

proteinshake wrote:what are some things you wish you knew before you got to Duke?

How much graded LARW sucks. I knew it was going to suck, but not this badly. Other than that, nothing else that i can think of/no complaints, really

Do you feel like the class made (is making) you better at research and writing than an ungraded counterpart? I'm torn between not wanting to have a graded/strict LARW and wanting to have those skills when I enter the workforce.

Eh. I think I just end up overstressing about it. I imagine the instruction is similar in value across schools. I'm planning on going corporate though, so I haven't found the class to be very representative of what I'll (likely) be doing with my career (based on the attorneys i've spoken with and whatever little experience with transactional stuff i've had at this point (very limited)).

Dr.Degrees_Cr.Cash wrote:

lymenheimer wrote:

proteinshake wrote:what are some things you wish you knew before you got to Duke?

How much graded LARW sucks. I knew it was going to suck, but not this badly. Other than that, nothing else that i can think of/no complaints, really

Do you feel like the class made (is making) you better at research and writing than an ungraded counterpart? I'm torn between not wanting to have a graded/strict LARW and wanting to have those skills when I enter the workforce.

IMO, yes, it did. Taking so many credits of heavy doctrinal classes as you are beginning law school leads you to not give two shits about anything ungraded... Just my $0.02. In my view, there are so many other more important factors in choosing a school.

(Caveat, I did well in the class and so have little reason to hate graded LARW with 20/20 hindsight.)

proteinshake wrote:

No. If anything it may be a soft bump, coming off as making you seem more down-to-earth / grounded than some stereotypes of future attorneys. Plus, it's a form of practicing interpersonal soft skills—those are service industries, just like the legal field.