UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[YCrevolution]

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[confuzzled888]

how long does it take for journal write on competitions?
There is an editing part and a writing part... how long did it take you guys total (or those of you who actually applied)?

[napolnic]

how long does it take for journal write on competitions?
There is an editing part and a writing part... how long did it take you guys total (or those of you who actually applied)?

It takes the whole weekend. I heard about a guy who supposedly went out to Feb club every night during the tryouts and I have no idea how that was possible. Picked it up Friday, didn't leave the house until Sunday night for Kinkos. That's all the time you are given (well, I guess you have until you submit it Monday morning, but I like sleep).

[ewc227]

I know 1L classes are obviously laid out for us, but does that mean we also have no say in what section/times we prefer?

[Cavalier]

I know 1L classes are obviously laid out for us, but does that mean we also have no say in what section/times we prefer?

Correct. Second semester you get to choose two of four class, but your schedule is completely fixed first semester.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Question to all current UVA students. I have a separate thread devoted to this and I'm extremely thankful to all the UVA students who already contributed to it.

So here it is: I am currently deciding between UVA and UT and inching closer to picking UT. Fortunate enough to have been offered scholarships at both, combined tuition total for all 3 years are ~$26,000 for UT and ~$72,000 for UVA. So, would it be a mistake for me to not choose UVA? Want to come back to Texas after graduation and SO has a strong preference for staying near friends and family in Texas. Visited both and liked UVA better (UVA was actually my favorite school to have visited), but not sure that I liked it 45k more. Thoughts/advice? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Kohinoor]

Question to all current UVA students. I have a separate thread devoted to this and I'm extremely thankful to all the UVA students who already contributed to it.

So here it is: I am currently deciding between UVA and UT and inching closer to picking UT. Fortunate enough to have been offered scholarships at both, combined tuition total for all 3 years are ~$26,000 for UT and ~$72,000 for UVA. So, would it be a mistake for me to not choose UVA? Want to come back to Texas after graduation and SO has a strong preference for staying near friends and family in Texas. Visited both and liked UVA better (UVA was actually my favorite school to have visited), but not sure that I liked it 45k more. Thoughts/advice? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

def stick with UVA.

[vanwinkle]

Question to all current UVA students. I have a separate thread devoted to this and I'm extremely thankful to all the UVA students who already contributed to it.

So here it is: I am currently deciding between UVA and UT and inching closer to picking UT. Fortunate enough to have been offered scholarships at both, combined tuition total for all 3 years are ~$26,000 for UT and ~$72,000 for UVA. So, would it be a mistake for me to not choose UVA? Want to come back to Texas after graduation and SO has a strong preference for staying near friends and family in Texas. Visited both and liked UVA better (UVA was actually my favorite school to have visited), but not sure that I liked it 45k more. Thoughts/advice? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Since you're from Texas and have strong ties there, you won't have a problem convincing Texas employers you want to work there when you graduate. As a result you'll have really good chances of finding work in TX with a UVA degree, even better chances than you would with a UT degree. The UVA degree is both more prestigious and more rare in TX, and law firms love to diversify their ranks. They hire plenty of UT grads and are always looking for high-caliber students from other schools. If it ends up being between you and yet another UT student, they'll take you.

[Apple Tree]

This is not related to the UVA law school, but has there been any progress on catching the killer of that Metallica fan? Even though it's been a while, I just found out that they found her body. So I'm curious about it...

[wackjickham]

This is not related to the UVA law school, but has there been any progress on catching the killer of that Metallica fan? Even though it's been a while, I just found out that they found her body. So I'm curious about it...

No. My parents are friends with her parents (our dads work together), and since finding her body there's been very little progress. Her parents tried to keep it in the news as long as they could but it seems like interest has waned and there aren't as many leads anymore. All they know is that it had to be someone local to be able to access that place where they hid her body. The police said it would be impossible for anyone who wasn't from the area to know of such a place.

[Cavalier]

This is not related to the UVA law school, but has there been any progress on catching the killer of that Metallica fan? Even though it's been a while, I just found out that they found her body. So I'm curious about it...

I think it was the aggressive fox.

[Apple Tree]

Yuck. I hope they find the killer(s) soon. It's scary to think that there's a psycho killer on the loose in/around C'ville. I get that people get killed everyday, but this is definitely very chilling (at least to me)... I probably watched way too many serial killer movies.

[公诉人]

how necessary is a car?

[YCrevolution]

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[hoyas2010]

Not sure if you would be familiar with this, but- How much effect does being a VA resident and going ED have on admissions? I am living in DC and am seriously considering moving across the Potomac and living in VA for a year and applying ED next cycle. On the UVA site it says a resident is someone who lives in VA for at least 12 months by the time they start classes. I will not have lived there for 12 months at the time of application but I will by the time I actually started classes. Anyone have any input on this crazy idea?

[YCrevolution]

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[hoyas2010]

Not sure if you would be familiar with this, but- How much effect does being a VA resident and going ED have on admissions? I am living in DC and am seriously considering moving across the Potomac and living in VA for a year and applying ED next cycle. On the UVA site it says a resident is someone who lives in VA for at least 12 months by the time they start classes. I will not have lived there for 12 months at the time of application but I will by the time I actually started classes. Anyone have any input on this crazy idea?

If you get VA residency, it will help you a lot (the number of Virginians applying to UVA Law has remained essentially flat over recent years... the number of out-of-staters applying has kept increasing). You will have to check VA residency rules, though... simply living in VA isn't going to get you residency for school purposes.

Thanks for your response. Have you ever seen a breakdown of the numbers specifically for VA residents rather than the combined stats with non-residents?

[YCrevolution]

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[Cavalier]

how necessary is a car?

I don't have a car and so far I've done fine. I think living on Arlington is essential though, given that it's within walking distance of the law school and the Barracks Road Shopping Center, which includes two grocery stores, a Bed Bath and Beyond, several restaurants, several clothing stores, etc. If I can't get what I need in the shopping center I just order it online. The only place I absolutely cannot get to without a car is the airport, so if I can't get a friend to drive me I'll just get a cab (which is roughly $25-30, but bearing that cost every now and then is a lot cheaper than having a car and car insurance).

[democrattotheend]

Is it too late to apply for a place at Ivy Gardens? I got on the waitlist at the Jeffersonian on January 5, but still have not heard anything, and having seen both places now, I think I liked Ivy better, although it is further from school. Do you think it's too late to apply there, or does that not fill up as quickly as the Jeffersonian?

[nycsoul87]

Not sure if you would be familiar with this, but- How much effect does being a VA resident and going ED have on admissions? I am living in DC and am seriously considering moving across the Potomac and living in VA for a year and applying ED next cycle. On the UVA site it says a resident is someone who lives in VA for at least 12 months by the time they start classes. I will not have lived there for 12 months at the time of application but I will by the time I actually started classes. Anyone have any input on this crazy idea?

If you get VA residency, it will help you a lot (the number of Virginians applying to UVA Law has remained essentially flat over recent years... the number of out-of-staters applying has kept increasing). You will have to check VA residency rules, though... simply living in VA isn't going to get you residency for school purposes.

Thanks for your response. Have you ever seen a breakdown of the numbers specifically for VA residents rather than the combined stats with non-residents?

From what I'm told, the stats are roughly the same, at least for matriculants. The difference is that you're competing against a much smaller pool (and for 40% of the seats) if you're in-state.

http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/prospectives/faqs.htm


Matriculants' numbers are the same but the odds are more in your favor, especially if you are a splitter.

roughly 350-360 students in each entering class with 40% of the spots for each class reserved for in-state residents (140 or so spots)

last yr there were 7,102 applications for ~220 nonresident spots and 778 applications for ~140 in state spots...

[doback]

Is it too late to apply for a place at Ivy Gardens? I got on the waitlist at the Jeffersonian on January 5, but still have not heard anything, and having seen both places now, I think I liked Ivy better, although it is further from school. Do you think it's too late to apply there, or does that not fill up as quickly as the Jeffersonian?

I got a place at Ivy last year applying in late april or early may. I have some friends here that applied even later, so you should be fine. You might have to be flexible on start date though. I had to sign a lease starting in June even though I wasn't moving in until right before orientation. But unless you plan on staying in Cville during the summers you'll have to pay for an empty apartment at some point, so that wasn't a deal killer for me.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Here are some questions for current UVA students.

Overall, what has your law school experience at UVA been like? What do you love about UVA? What do you dislike about it? How have job prospects been for people?
If I do well enough on the LSAT, I'm thinking of going ED here next year. I love Charlottesville and my gut feeling is that I'll love UVA Law but I'm just curious as to your experiences..

[vanwinkle]

Here are some questions for current UVA students.

Overall, what has your law school experience at UVA been like? What do you love about UVA? What do you dislike about it? How have job prospects been for people?
If I do well enough on the LSAT, I'm thinking of going ED here next year. I love Charlottesville and my gut feeling is that I'll love UVA Law but I'm just curious as to your experiences..

I like the building itself as a large and open and inviting environment. Classmates are all very friendly, and the professors are (mostly) patient, friendly, and conversational in or out of class. I got the impression at other schools when I visited that they were more competitive-feeling than this place is. You'll still suffer law school stress here, but I think it's a lot less here than at many other schools due to the cordial atmosphere.

I like Charlottesville, but I do wish I was going to school at a place a bit more urban. C-ville is not a huge city, it's kind of spread out, and the traffic situation can be pretty terrible. A lot of the roads haven't been widened going into town due to the historic nature of many of the buildings, and they desperately need a bypass for US 29 going around the city. Some of the streets are very strangely laid out, to where you keep coming to intersections where you have to turn to stay on the street you're on and going straight becomes another street. The geography takes some getting used to. Also some of the drivers here are complete morons, moreso than elsewhere.

I managed to secure a pretty competitive PI internship in NYC this summer. I did a lot of work to do that, including racking up a lot of pro bono hours and networking while I was, but my feeling is that if you want something badly enough you can probably get it from here. I've got classmates that are interning for the USAO here or back home, others that are interning at local PI organizations, and a few that are going international to do human rights work overseas this summer. Some are doing RA gigs, which are not bad for 1Ls at all, especially since they tend to be paid reasonably.

I can't speak to the law firm experience, both because I'm not that interested in law firms and because I'm only a 1L. Most 1Ls didn't get anything at law firms because very few law firms are hiring 1Ls right now, but that's true everywhere. The focus this year for everyone has been to find something that gives legal experience so you've got it on your resume during the job hunt next year. Everything I've seen on TLS says that this is no different than other schools. I have heard from quite a few 2Ls here who have summer jobs lined up at law firms around the country, so while I can't speak to how often or how well that hunt has been going, folks have definitely been able to find things from here.

[wackjickham]

Is the student expense budget the school provides reasonable? I tend to live pretty cheaply, so I have a feeling I'll go under it. Does that happen a lot? Have you heard of a lot of people going over/staying under the cost of living budget allocated by the school?