SMU 2011 Forum

Share Your Experiences, Read About Other Experiences. Please keep posts organized by school and expected year of graduation.
renee88

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by renee88 » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:59 pm

wellington wrote:Having to put up with more bullshit (See: having to take classes year round just to graduate in 3 years, having to do the balls-to-the-wall court requirement your final year, being subjected to archaic/strict Socratic method all three years--enjoy standing up in class when you're called on) doesn't necessarily make a program better.

It only means you have to put up with more bullshit.
No, it doesn't make it better in general. It just may be better suited for me. That's what I'm debating.

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kalvano

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by kalvano » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm

And not "set apart" in a good way. Deal with it. If you feel like being a masochist, go for it. But I'm not sure how many times people have to tell you that all that extra work is just bullshit and won't really help you out.

No employer looks at a Baylor student and gives them an "extra work" bonus bump. You'll have to be a much higher class rank at Baylor than students from SMU or UT. And the odds of losing your scholarship are very high.

If someone said "Car A gives you an 80% chance of a painful fiery death in a crash and Car B gives you a 5% chance", would you want to drive A or B?

renee88

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by renee88 » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:23 pm

kalvano wrote:And not "set apart" in a good way. Deal with it. If you feel like being a masochist, go for it. But I'm not sure how many times people have to tell you that all that extra work is just bullshit and won't really help you out.

No employer looks at a Baylor student and gives them an "extra work" bonus bump. You'll have to be a much higher class rank at Baylor than students from SMU or UT. And the odds of losing your scholarship are very high.

If someone said "Car A gives you an 80% chance of a painful fiery death in a crash and Car B gives you a 5% chance", would you want to drive A or B?
All I will say is I've heard different things than what you're saying from both current students and especially from grads. No doubt there will be mixed opinions about most schools and I'm just trying to weigh them all.

And again I just have to be on the top two thirds for the scholarship. It's something to work for but not really worse than most schools.

I appreciate the opinions and will see what smu ends up offering me before I decide. She left it somewhat open until I call back tomorrow.

Edited for typos!

ClutchCity24

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by ClutchCity24 » Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:00 pm

I know a guy out of school just a couple years. He started at Baylor and left after one year. I have never seen somebody run away so fast from a place. He couldn't get away quick enough.

Maybe it will be entirely different for you and others. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

nouseforaname123

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by nouseforaname123 » Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:19 am

renee88 wrote:The way schools are ranked doesn't cover everything. Obviously I am a 0L, but like most people on here I've researched and compared the schools I'm considering. From what I've learned, those policies just set Baylor apart from many schools. That's the basis of my post.
If your views are correct about the higher quality of a Baylor education then employers should be rushing to Waco before even thinking about OCI at SMU/UH. Simply put, the employment data doesn't back up the assertion that Baylor is a better educational choice.

For as "better prepared" as Baylor law grads are, and for as much as Baylor's policies set it apart from other schools, employers aren't hiring Baylor grads over UT/UH/SMU kids. Money talks, bullshit walks.

I have nothing personal against Baylor. My undergrad degree is from Baylor (a handful of my family members can say the same thing). Something just doesn't add up.

Best of luck to you, Sic' Em Bears and I hope you'll keep us updated as to how this all works out for you.

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JRDallas11

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by JRDallas11 » Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:22 pm

Just started an SMU 2012 thread. Mainly for those of us who are giving up on the waitlist and have the time to give it a go next year.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7&t=162655

profbarium

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by profbarium » Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:31 am

JRDallas11 wrote:Just started an SMU 2012 thread. Mainly for those of us who are giving up on the waitlist and have the time to give it a go next year.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7&t=162655
If any of you wants to call into SMU and remove him/herself from the waiting list, those of us still clinging to the slim hope of getting in this fall would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

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thearchduke

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by thearchduke » Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:28 pm

A little conversation hijack here - I'm going to be a 2L and I never sold my books last semester. I also didn't highlight, underline, or otherwise mark my books, and I bought them virtually unused or new (it helps to get to the bookstore early). At most, their corners are a little worn and the person who had them before me highlighted a few pages in some of them. Occasionally, different professors use the same book, so even if your professor is different, you might see if their book is the same. PM me and we'll make a deal. I live in Dallas close to campus and I'll be one of the mentors at all of your orientation sessions, so we can arrange to meet then.

Miscellaneous

Black's Law Dictionary, 3rd Pocket Edition edited by Garner ISBN 978-0-314-15862-8 (free with any book)
Plain English for Lawyers, 5th Edition by Wydick ISBN 978-1-59460-151-4 (free with any book)

Criminal Law (Bellin)

Criminal Law, Cases and Materials, 6th Edition by Kaplan, Weisberg and Binder ISBN 978-0-7355-6835-8 ($60)
Texas Penal Code, West's Texas Statutes and Codes, 2010 Edition ISBN 978-0-314-98810-2 ($20)

Supplement: Examples and Explanations (E&E), Criminal Law, 4th Edition by Singer and La Fond ISBN 978-0-7355-6243-1 (free with Crim books)

Civil Procedure (Martinez)

Civil Procedure, Materials for a Basic Course, 10th Edition by Field, Kaplan and Clermont ISBN 978-1-59941-778-3 ($50)

Supplement: E&E, Civil Procedure, 5th Edition by Glannon ISBN 978-0-7355-5556-3 (free with Civ Pro Book)
Supplement: Emanuel Crunchtime (EC), Civil Procedure by Emanuel ISBN 978-0-7355-7228-7 (free with Civ Pro book)

Torts (Martin)

Tort Law, Responsibilities and Redress, Second Edition by Goldberg, Sebok and Zipursky ISBN 978-0-7355-6560-9 ($30)

Supplement: E&E, The Law of Torts, 3rd Edition by Glannon ISBN 978-0-7355-4024-8 (free with Torts book)

Contracts (Crespi)

Contracts, Cases and Materials, 7th Edition by Farnsworth, Young, Sanger, Cohen, and Brooks ISBN 978-1-59941-030-2 ($80)
Contracts, 4th Edition by Farnsworth ISBN 978-0-7-3554540-3 ($40)
Selections for Contracts by Farnsworth, Young, Sanger, Cohen and Brooks ISBN 978-1-5-9941529-1 (free with other two, might be newer version now)

Supplement: EC, Contracts by Emanuel ISBN 978-0-7355-8995-7 (free with Contracts books)

Legal Writing (Any Professor)

Legal Writing and Other Lawyering Skills, 5th Edition by Schultz and Sirico ISBN 978-0-7355-9402-9 ($50)
Basic Legal Research, 4th Edition by Sloan ISBN 978-0-7355-7672-8 ($50)
Persuasive Writing for Lawyers and the Legal Profession, 2nd Edition by Sirico and Schultz ISBN 978-0-8205-5326-9 (free with other two)

Property (Forrester)

She updated her book in the offseason, so this is an old edition. Also, her publisher apparently binds books with spit and prayer, so the covers are coming off of ALL of these books. Anyway, I'd bet very few of the cases change in the update (this edition is copyright 2010), and you could probably get away easily enough with the older edition. You can always buy the new one later if you change your mind.

Property Law: Cases, Materials and Questions, 2nd Edition by Chase and Forrester ISBN 978-0-8205-7094-5 ($10)

Supplement: Questions and Answers, Property by Nagle ISBN 978-0-8205-6226-1 ($5 or free with Property Book)
Supplement: EC, Property by Emanuel ISBN 978-0-7355-7892-0 ($5 or free with Property Book)

I hope there's still a few of you checking this thread, so PM away.

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kalvano

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by kalvano » Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:14 pm

His books are in great shape except for the puppy urine smell.

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Repartee16

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by Repartee16 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:00 pm

I'm thinking about applying to SMU. I've lived in San Antonio and Austin before, and absolutely love the state and the people there. I also have a lot of family in San Antonio. I went to Auburn University for undergrad.

What are my chances of attending? 2.2 UGPA (civil engineering degree) 165 LSAT

I've been out of school for approximately 3 years. Worked 6 months as a Project Manager for a construction project in California and took a detour and taught English at a large private academy in South Korea for two years after that. I know my UGPA is horrid, the engineering program was rigorous and I wasn't dedicated and mature enough at the time to do anything about it. Also, I'm full Korean but was raised completely American. Before I relocated to South Korea, I had not been there before.

Any insight to my possible chances would be greatly appreciated!

zurcaled11

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by zurcaled11 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:03 pm

I think you dug up the wrong thread.

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Thirteen

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by Thirteen » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:23 pm

Repartee16 wrote:I'm thinking about applying to SMU. I've lived in San Antonio and Austin before, and absolutely love the state and the people there. I also have a lot of family in San Antonio. I went to Auburn University for undergrad.

What are my chances of attending? 2.2 UGPA (civil engineering degree) 165 LSAT

I've been out of school for approximately 3 years. Worked 6 months as a Project Manager for a construction project in California and took a detour and taught English at a large private academy in South Korea for two years after that. I know my UGPA is horrid, the engineering program was rigorous and I wasn't dedicated and mature enough at the time to do anything about it. Also, I'm full Korean but was raised completely American. Before I relocated to South Korea, I had not been there before.

Any insight to my possible chances would be greatly appreciated!
You have a shot to make it. My LSDAS GPA was slightly lower than your GPA, and I was admitted in the 2009 and 2010 cycles. Send an e-mail to the Dean of Admissions requesting a fee waiver, and explain in your Why SMU essay why you want to attend SMU. Feel free to shoot me a PM with any additional questions you have. Good luck!

HBK

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by HBK » Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:59 am

renee88 wrote:
kalvano wrote:And not "set apart" in a good way. Deal with it. If you feel like being a masochist, go for it. But I'm not sure how many times people have to tell you that all that extra work is just bullshit and won't really help you out.

No employer looks at a Baylor student and gives them an "extra work" bonus bump. You'll have to be a much higher class rank at Baylor than students from SMU or UT. And the odds of losing your scholarship are very high.

If someone said "Car A gives you an 80% chance of a painful fiery death in a crash and Car B gives you a 5% chance", would you want to drive A or B?
All I will say is I've heard different things than what you're saying from both current students and especially from grads. No doubt there will be mixed opinions about most schools and I'm just trying to weigh them all.

And again I just have to be on the top two thirds for the scholarship. It's something to work for but not really worse than most schools.

I appreciate the opinions and will see what smu ends up offering me before I decide. She left it somewhat open until I call back tomorrow.

Edited for typos!
I'm late to this party and you probably already made your decision, but I received almost the same scholly offers from Baylor and SMU. After talking to some Baylor Law alums, it was a no-brainer.

- Baylor has no home market
- Baylor has three sets of finals per year
- Baylor's third year is unnecessarily difficult
- Every Baylor alum I met regrets their decision to go to Baylor (especially the trial lawyers who said 3L trial work did nothing for them)
- SMU has better NLJ250 placement
- Dallas > Waco in almost every conceivable way

/SMU 2L

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Stevoman

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by Stevoman » Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:02 pm

HBK wrote:
renee88 wrote:
kalvano wrote:And not "set apart" in a good way. Deal with it. If you feel like being a masochist, go for it. But I'm not sure how many times people have to tell you that all that extra work is just bullshit and won't really help you out.

No employer looks at a Baylor student and gives them an "extra work" bonus bump. You'll have to be a much higher class rank at Baylor than students from SMU or UT. And the odds of losing your scholarship are very high.

If someone said "Car A gives you an 80% chance of a painful fiery death in a crash and Car B gives you a 5% chance", would you want to drive A or B?
All I will say is I've heard different things than what you're saying from both current students and especially from grads. No doubt there will be mixed opinions about most schools and I'm just trying to weigh them all.

And again I just have to be on the top two thirds for the scholarship. It's something to work for but not really worse than most schools.

I appreciate the opinions and will see what smu ends up offering me before I decide. She left it somewhat open until I call back tomorrow.

Edited for typos!
I'm late to this party and you probably already made your decision, but I received almost the same scholly offers from Baylor and SMU. After talking to some Baylor Law alums, it was a no-brainer.

- Baylor has no home market
- Baylor has three sets of finals per year
- Baylor's third year is unnecessarily difficult
- Every Baylor alum I met regrets their decision to go to Baylor (especially the trial lawyers who said 3L trial work did nothing for them)
- SMU has better NLJ250 placement
- Dallas > Waco in almost every conceivable way

/SMU 2L
Holy cow dude, wrong year on the thread. :p

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noleknight16

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by noleknight16 » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:22 pm

So at 160, 3.6 I'm obviously not going to get into full time. I'm right at the part time median. I applied originally FT and PT. Should I just have them switch to PT? I am taking the LSAT this saturday though

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Thirteen

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by Thirteen » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:38 pm

noleknight16 wrote:So at 160, 3.6 I'm obviously not going to get into full time. I'm right at the part time median. I applied originally FT and PT. Should I just have them switch to PT? I am taking the LSAT this saturday though
If it were me, I'd let the admissions office know that I planned to take the test on Saturday. You might not get admitted during the first round of decisions, but bumping your score a few points could help you get in FT. It's worth the risk, imo.

Good luck!

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swilson215

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Re: SMU 2011

Post by swilson215 » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:43 pm

noleknight16 wrote:So at 160, 3.6 I'm obviously not going to get into full time. I'm right at the part time median. I applied originally FT and PT. Should I just have them switch to PT? I am taking the LSAT this saturday though
I keep getting weirded out when I see this thread bumping to the top of my post lists. Here's this year's thread.

Not that current SMU students aren't nice enough to post in multiple threads. But wouldn't you rather have everything in one place?

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