Vanderbilt 1L Taking Questions Forum

[Biglawl1L]

Thanks for all of the great responses so far! Can you speak a little about the reputation of the International Law Practice Lab, International Legal Studies and related faculty?

Also, how are students fairing trying to make it out to D.C.? I know Vandy has traditionally been able to place interested students out there but what about ITE?

[gogators]

Thanks for all of the great responses so far! Can you speak a little about the reputation of the International Law Practice Lab, International Legal Studies and related faculty?

Also, how are students fairing trying to make it out to D.C.? I know Vandy has traditionally been able to place interested students out there but what about ITE?

Professor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global law school

[pleasetryagain]

This may have been touched on here or elsewhere but what is the curve like?

[gogators]

This may have been touched on here or elsewhere but what is the curve like?

I'm not the most familiar with the actual workings of the curve but I know the top 20% cutoff was like a 3.53 which is apparently higher this year than it was last year.

[thickfreakness]

In line with the curve question a little bit.

Vandy says they don't rank the class, but they do have a suggested curve. How does this work for grade-cutoffs at OCI? Do employers set GPA cuts based on the suggested curve?

[turkishangora]

Thanks for all of the great responses so far! Can you speak a little about the reputation of the International Law Practice Lab, International Legal Studies and related faculty?

Also, how are students fairing trying to make it out to D.C.? I know Vandy has traditionally been able to place interested students out there but what about ITE?

Professor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global law school

I was going through the externships list online and it looked really impressive. How competitive are these placements in International and other specialties in general? Do a ton a ppl end up interested? thanks

[gogators]

In line with the curve question a little bit.

Vandy says they don't rank the class, but they do have a suggested curve. How does this work for grade-cutoffs at OCI? Do employers set GPA cuts based on the suggested curve?

Yes I believe there is some kind of suggested curve but the professors really don't follow it which is both good and bad. For instance, my Civ Pro professor had a wider curve which meant she reserved 10 C's for students (which is high). This differed from the other section's Civ Pro curve.

OCI works out well for us. First off, the employers apparently think that the curve is lower than it actually is according to career services. Secondly, the employers set their cutoffs at weird numbers. They clearly use the same kind of cutoff for all law schools because for instance some ask for top 1/3 and clearly there are people who have to guesstimate that. Most employers will set 3.0 min if they do one or else top 50% or top 30%. In the end, everyone gets a job, everyone gets a good paying job that wants one (as shown in the new stats), and everyone gets a job they at least can bear doing.

[Biglawl1L]

rofessor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global

Awesome, I was hoping you would say something to that effect. Professor Newton and his work there seems baller.

Would you be able to speak at all about Vandy's DC placement ITE? You have UVA, Gtown, + a very attractive market for other T14 students...how is Vandy competing there?

[86revolt]

Professor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global law school

just curious: what kind of international opportunities? ICC? ICTJ? UN?

[gogators]

rofessor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global

Awesome, I was hoping you would say something to that effect. Professor Newton and his work there seems baller.

Would you be able to speak at all about Vandy's DC placement ITE? You have UVA, Gtown, + a very attractive market for other T14 students...how is Vandy competing there?

Atlanta and DC are the biggest markets for Vandy and we place very well. I don't have exact numbers, and obviously you have to go looking for government jobs if you want one as opposed to having them shoved down your throat at GULC, but I have plently of friends working there this summer. That's all the D.C. info I have though.

[gogators]

Professor Mike Newton is our guy and he's insanely good at this. Vandy places all over the world because of him. In fact, he's personal friends with Gen. Patreus and brought him here to Vandy tonite to speak in a rare event. Professor Newton can put you where you want to be for International Law and it's this connection that makes Vandy a truly global law school

just curious: what kind of international opportunities? ICC? ICTJ? UN?

All of the above. I actually have an ICC oppurtunity this summer infact. Newton pushes ICTJ and UN hard along with tribunals in Africa and state department. Professor Gervais, IP International Law, has WIPO and some others as well.

[chizUFL]

Hey gogators! Thanks for some great answers.

I'm a fellow UF undergrad and now live in Dallas. One of the things I really miss is SEC sports. How is the sports scene at Vandy and among the law students? Are there many SEC fans there? I'm trying to decide between UT and Vandy right now, but I really get tired of all the Big 12 talk from my coworkers now. I'm sure it would only be 100 times worse in Austin.

Of course I'm not going to base any decision on this really, but I am curious if law students go to games or if there's at least a good place to watch the Gators!

Thanks!

[jockinjay-z]

Hey Gogators! Do you think its possible to negotiate more aid from Vandy especially if you got more money from a peer school?? If so, what do you think is the best way to do this? Email, phone, letter, etc..?? Thanks.

[gogators]

Hey gogators! Thanks for some great answers.

I'm a fellow UF undergrad and now live in Dallas. One of the things I really miss is SEC sports. How is the sports scene at Vandy and among the law students? Are there many SEC fans there? I'm trying to decide between UT and Vandy right now, but I really get tired of all the Big 12 talk from my coworkers now. I'm sure it would only be 100 times worse in Austin.

Of course I'm not going to base any decision on this really, but I am curious if law students go to games or if there's at least a good place to watch the Gators!

Thanks!

Ok so here's the deal. Football is nothing like it was at Florida. I'm not going to lie to you. The tailgating is much tamer and there is less people. However, the girls are still awesome, and it is SEC football. Basketball is a different story, to a degree, but coming from Florida which doesn't care about basketball unless we're good its good enough as the student body cares.

Yes, law students go to games because the law school does a great job of tailgating before the games. As such, we all eat, drink "refreshments", and generally make fools of ourselves next to out MBA and Med School peers. As for watching Gator games, there's a Nashville Gators Club but they don't actually meet in Nashville so I don't go but instead end up with others across the street from the law school at Varsity Grille.

[gogators]

Hey Gogators! Do you think its possible to negotiate more aid from Vandy especially if you got more money from a peer school?? If so, what do you think is the best way to do this? Email, phone, letter, etc..?? Thanks.

Do I think that it's possible. Yes. Depending on what you think is a peer school. I don't for instance think they will match WUSTL. But UT or UCLA, maybe they would raise their amount but doubt they would match. From my personal experience, I didn't need Vandy to match because I was happy with my offer. However, I did get other schools to do matching and found that a respectable email to the schools was the best way to go and found it to be a great method. I was able to get a few schools to raise their amounts, although it wasn't enough to get me away from Vandy.

[thickfreakness]

Hey gogators! Thanks for some great answers.

I'm a fellow UF undergrad and now live in Dallas. One of the things I really miss is SEC sports. How is the sports scene at Vandy and among the law students? Are there many SEC fans there? I'm trying to decide between UT and Vandy right now, but I really get tired of all the Big 12 talk from my coworkers now. I'm sure it would only be 100 times worse in Austin.

Of course I'm not going to base any decision on this really, but I am curious if law students go to games or if there's at least a good place to watch the Gators!

Thanks!

Ok so here's the deal. Football is nothing like it was at Florida. I'm not going to lie to you. The tailgating is much tamer and there is less people. However, the girls are still awesome, and it is SEC football. Basketball is a different story, to a degree, but coming from Florida which doesn't care about basketball unless we're good its good enough as the student body cares.

Yes, law students go to games because the law school does a great job of tailgating before the games. As such, we all eat, drink "refreshments", and generally make fools of ourselves next to out MBA and Med School peers. As for watching Gator games, there's a Nashville Gators Club but they don't actually meet in Nashville so I don't go but instead end up with others across the street from the law school at Varsity Grille.

I've been to like three games at Vandy and I don't think it really counts as SEC football, but it's still a nice environment.

Also, roll tide.

[Apple Tree]

A Vandy alumni told me that the law school doesn't rank students. Is that true? If that's the case, how do the employers pre-screen students?

[thickfreakness]

A Vandy alumni told me that the law school doesn't rank students. Is that true? If that's the case, how do the employers pre-screen students?

Look about 10 posts up, homie.

[Apple Tree]

Lol, i guess I should have looked closer.

[gogators]

A Vandy alumni told me that the law school doesn't rank students. Is that true? If that's the case, how do the employers pre-screen students?

Look about 10 posts up, homie.

Not getting ranked is at first a weird feeling but you get used to it. Besides, its fun to guess grades because no one really ever talks about what they got except to maybe a couple of people.

[SWEDE LAW]

Hey GoGators, thanks for all of the info! Another question for you: How did Vandy 2ls do at OCI this year? I saw the recent NLJ 250 stats (impressive) but that was from kids doing OCI in 2007. Has everyone (or most everyone) found work? What would you estimate the % is for kids shooting for big law or a NLJ 250 firm and able to land a job successfully? I am assuming the numbers would be worse than the recent NLJ 250.

Thank you!

[gogators]

Hey GoGators, thanks for all of the info! Another question for you: How did Vandy 2ls do at OCI this year? I saw the recent NLJ 250 stats (impressive) but that was from kids doing OCI in 2007. Has everyone (or most everyone) found work? What would you estimate the % is for kids shooting for big law or a NLJ 250 firm and able to land a job successfully? I am assuming the numbers would be worse than the recent NLJ 250.

Thank you!

I don't pretend to know a majority of the 2L's but from hearing people talk it does sound like they all have something for this summer. However, it does sound like some of them did have to go beyond OCI to do so. Not sure how much more but I was too wound up with trying to figure out my summer to pay too much attention. Also, there are definitely a fair number of them who are doing non-paid work this summer too judging by the number that showed up for the Public Interest and Vanderbilt Stipends. As for %, I'm not sure. My educated guess is probably around the same, obviously I would think a little less, but employers seems to love our small class sizes and how we end up doing in the real world.

[td6624]

Thanks for all the answers so far, man.

My question is pretty specific, and you may not have an answer, but right now it's pretty much the only thing holding me back from sending in a deposit (aside from, you know, seeing the place). I've read some and heard from a few friends that the undergrad population can be pretty intensely homophobic. Does that spill into the law school much, or at all? Are you able to estimate the number of gay students in your class or at the school in general?

I already have a significant other and have never been really entrenched in any sort of "gay culture," but I've spent the last four years in an environment that is not nearly as friendly as I'd like. I don't need a gay bar on every corner, but I also don't want to have to worry about people giving me looks if I walk into a bar with one other dude.

I'm choosing between GW and Vandy. Vandy has the clear edge in everything so far except for a little less money offered to me and the potential for my QOL to be a lot lower than it'd be in DC.

I'm sure I sound like a nervous, paranoid ass in this post, but you know. It's a pretty big decision, and I just don't wanna screw it up. Thanks in advance.

[poprox]

Thanks for all the answers so far, man.

My question is pretty specific, and you may not have an answer, but right now it's pretty much the only thing holding me back from sending in a deposit (aside from, you know, seeing the place). I've read some and heard from a few friends that the undergrad population can be pretty intensely homophobic. Does that spill into the law school much, or at all? Are you able to estimate the number of gay students in your class or at the school in general?

I already have a significant other and have never been really entrenched in any sort of "gay culture," but I've spent the last four years in an environment that is not nearly as friendly as I'd like. I don't need a gay bar on every corner, but I also don't want to have to worry about people giving me looks if I walk into a bar with one other dude.

I'm choosing between GW and Vandy. Vandy has the clear edge in everything so far except for a little less money offered to me and the potential for my QOL to be a lot lower than it'd be in DC.

I'm sure I sound like a nervous, paranoid ass in this post, but you know. It's a pretty big decision, and I just don't wanna screw it up. Thanks in advance.

I can't speak for the law school itself, but the hip hangouts over in East Nasvhille (especially right around 5 points) appear to be very gay friendly. You're looking at about a 15 minute drive down Broadway, aka West End Avenue to get over there. There's just a really eclectic mix of people who hang out over in Eash Nashville, so I honestly don't think you'll have problems there.

[td6624]

Is there an efficient way to avoid driving out to places? I like to "have a good time" if I'm at a bar on a weekend. So driving would kinda put a damper on that.