firstimer wrote:pjo wrote:dixon02 wrote:The general consensus is that the faculty is very strong teaching wise, on average. There are obviously plenty of exceptions. I personally didn't have any 1L professors who I considered poor professors. Some were just average, some were fantastic. I know we are commonly ranked very high in polls/surveys for teaching quality.
One thing I think everyone would agree on is that compared to many other schools, our professors are extraordinarily accessible outside of class.
I really can't figure out why everyone keeps saying this.
Interesting experiences. Anyone else have any feedback? Teaching quality / accessibility of faculty is very important to me because I didn't necessarily get the opportunity to get to know my professors in undergrad.
Also, couple of other random questions:
1) is it possible to get part-time (<10 hours per week) jobs on campus / be an RA in the residence halls?
2) what % would you say of your class (if you're a 3L) has not found a job for the next year? Do people in the school-funded fellowships genuinely want to be there, or have they been pushed into it to boost the school's employment numbers?
3) free food opportunities...many or few? (pretty trivial q)
4) is the social scene pretty good? (also trivial q)
Thanks for any info!
1) Yes, it's possible, but it's not common. I would in fact say it's a flat-out bad idea during 1L. After that, you could try. I've heard of people being RAs. Personally, I think that would be miserable. Too much noise and commotion for me.
2) Not going to get too specific since I'm a 2L. I will say I think it's a really difficult question to answer, because people without jobs tend not to talk about not having jobs. As for the fellowships, I think it's a mixed bag but do think it's overrated on TLS. I know a number of people who are basically banking on those fellowships to go into public interest. The truth is if you want to go into PI, aside from public defense, it's just really hard and there simply aren't jobs there for new graduates. I know multiple people who are basically assuming that if they don't get a Skadden, Equal Justice Works, or Powell (UVA's two-year fellowship that goes to one person), they'll take one of the school funded positions and try to get hired coming off that. So while I'm sure there are people who are in these spots because they struck out, some of them are absolutely there because they've chosen to be.
3) Tons of free food opportunities. Especially during spring semester, you could go to a free lunch most days of the week.
4) Social scene is great. Only word of caution is that it's an insular community. People will know your business, that's the nature of going to a law school in a small town. But people go out all the time, and Charlottesville has a great social scene between the Corner (where college kids go out) and the Downtown [outdoor] Mall (which attracts an older crowd).