Top Law Schools

Met with Dean Widerka today and was accepted into the May program
I'm very excited about this opportunity, however, I am seriously worried about how I will finance my legal education if I choose Cardozo. For people who are starting in May, are you taking out student loans or are your parents paying for your education? My parents may help me out a little, but not nearly enough to cover the estimated cost of attendance. My sister lives in Brooklyn so I can stay with her for a while until I figure out my housing situation. Is anyone else worried about taking out such large loans?

How do you think, if you write in LOCI that the school is your top choice and after sometime after this you're accepted in this school. But then you accept a place in another school. would that be inpolite, unprofessional and would cause problems with acceptance or it is normal practice to do in that manner.

ValerOn1820 wrote:How do you think, if you write in LOCI that the school is your top choice and after sometime after this you're accepted in this school. But then you accept a place in another school. would that be inpolite, unprofessional and would cause problems with acceptance or it is normal practice to do in that manner.

Just because it's your top choice, doesn't mean it's the best choice. Schools understand financial concerns, timing, etc are a major factor in picking a school.

Sherlock1708 wrote:Met with Dean Widerka today and was accepted into the May program
I'm very excited about this opportunity, however, I am seriously worried about how I will finance my legal education if I choose Cardozo. For people who are starting in May, are you taking out student loans or are your parents paying for your education? My parents may help me out a little, but not nearly enough to cover the estimated cost of attendance. My sister lives in Brooklyn so I can stay with her for a while until I figure out my housing situation. Is anyone else worried about taking out such large loans?

I am very worried about cost. I recently met with a cousin of mine who is head of recruiting for a top firm in New Orleans. He said that unless you go to Tulane, his firm will only consider the top 10 students in the class (not top 10%) for anyone that attends a non-prestigious school (top 20). Granted NYC works differently, but if that's how stringent big law is in New Orleans, NYC big law would be even more selective although they make more exceptions.

His suggestion to me was that if you are not one of the top 25 students in the class, the starting salary wont be high enough to warrant paying 45,000 a year instead of 25,000 a year...

Admitted student to the Fall program here. I'm considering on-campus housing and I was wondering if anyone had figures for last year's security deposit/housing charge? I checked out the posted 2008 figures and it comes out to $2200 due by May 24th, but does anyone know if those are similar to the figures for last year?

I'm trying to figure out if it would cost less up front to find a place off-campus on a train-line.....

....and does this building have rats/mice?

pugsrcute wrote:....and does this building have rats/mice?

I saw a post which said there were rats everywhere you probably read the same one. To me it just seems unlikely
So you say the rent in the Alabama is $2200/mo or is that just the security on the apt? I emailed the school Friday and hopefully i'll have details on this soon.

Sherlock1708 wrote:Met with Dean Widerka today and was accepted into the May program
I'm very excited about this opportunity, however, I am seriously worried about how I will finance my legal education if I choose Cardozo. For people who are starting in May, are you taking out student loans or are your parents paying for your education? My parents may help me out a little, but not nearly enough to cover the estimated cost of attendance. My sister lives in Brooklyn so I can stay with her for a while until I figure out my housing situation. Is anyone else worried about taking out such large loans?

Yes, definitely am worried too. I see that you have 40K to Hofstra. That would be difficult to turn down if I had that and especially if I was relocating for law school to begin with...they gave me 20 and the commute to there would be a pain for me, so it wasn't as hard for me to turn it down.

I am definitely taking out loans, but I do have some savings and my parents, like yours, may help me out a little with tuition. I also will be living with them so that eliminates the cost of living issue for me.

I really liked Cardozo and love NYC, can't imagine living anywhere else, so this will be my risky gamble. Hoping for the best.

May Program....6 weeks from today. YIKES!

pugsrcute wrote:I'm trying to figure out if it would cost less up front to find a place off-campus on a train-line.....

Yes.

john1990 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:....and does this building have rats/mice?

I saw a post which said there were rats everywhere you probably read the same one. To me it just seems unlikely
So you say the rent in the Alabama is $2200/mo or is that just the security on the apt? I emailed the school Friday and hopefully i'll have details on this soon.

Well, that's just the security on the apartment that's due by June 24th. I really, really want to live on-campus but I'm trying to figure out if I would be able to find something nicer or not...infested for the same deposit money.

sd5289 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:I'm trying to figure out if it would cost less up front to find a place off-campus on a train-line.....

Yes.

Hahahahaha.... I'm definitely looking Do you have any neighborhood suggestions?

pugsrcute wrote:Hahahahaha.... I'm definitely looking Do you have any neighborhood suggestions?

I figured a concise answer was best.

I can recommend some neighborhoods but it kinda depends on your style. Have you been to the city before? Do you want more urban, more neighborhood, somewhere in between? How long of a commute are you okay with? I love Astoria because I get both the neighborhoody feel and access to all the restaurants, bars, and stores I want. Plus, I'm 20 minutes from midtown on the N/Q trains.

sd5289 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:Hahahahaha.... I'm definitely looking Do you have any neighborhood suggestions?

I figured a concise answer was best.

I can recommend some neighborhoods but it kinda depends on your style. Have you been to the city before? Do you want more urban, more neighborhood, somewhere in between? How long of a commute are you okay with? I love Astoria because I get both the neighborhoody feel and access to all the restaurants, bars, and stores I want. Plus, I'm 20 minutes from midtown on the N/Q trains.

You know, I've been looking at Astoria. It really looks like it has it all- and I really do like the neighborhoody feel. I want to live somewhere that I also like on the weekends/off-hours.
I hear those trains are also more bearable during rush hour than some of the ones going through Brooklyn, like the L- I have been to the city before, but I haven't gotten the chance to explore many of the boroughs so this is all new for me. I really appreciate the Astoria recommendation!

pugsrcute wrote:

sd5289 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:Hahahahaha.... I'm definitely looking Do you have any neighborhood suggestions?

I figured a concise answer was best.

I can recommend some neighborhoods but it kinda depends on your style. Have you been to the city before? Do you want more urban, more neighborhood, somewhere in between? How long of a commute are you okay with? I love Astoria because I get both the neighborhoody feel and access to all the restaurants, bars, and stores I want. Plus, I'm 20 minutes from midtown on the N/Q trains.

You know, I've been looking at Astoria. It really looks like it has it all- and I really do like the neighborhoody feel. I want to live somewhere that I also like on the weekends/off-hours.
I hear those trains are also more bearable during rush hour than some of the ones going through Brooklyn, like the L- I have been to the city before, but I haven't gotten the chance to explore many of the boroughs so this is all new for me. I really appreciate the Astoria recommendation!

I live further into Brooklyn so I won't suggest my place of residence (although being 30-40 minutes away is reasonable if you're by a train), but I know that many of my friends who came to NYC for college ended up living in Brooklyn- in Park Slope and Williamsburg.

Just withdrew. Good luck!

Does anyone know when we should start looking for apartments for Fall entry? Is it possible to find an apartment now and then not start a lease until August? Thanks!

cc999 wrote:Does anyone know when we should start looking for apartments for Fall entry? Is it possible to find an apartment now and then not start a lease until August? Thanks!

At the ASD they said you shouldn't go apartment hunting until you're ready to put down the $$, bc the city's market is so fast-paced and very here-today-gone-tomorrow.

I'm thinking of going up in mid-July and staying with a friend while I look around, and then I'll have my family start shipping my stuff up when I find a place.

cc999 wrote:Does anyone know when we should start looking for apartments for Fall entry? Is it possible to find an apartment now and then not start a lease until August? Thanks!

Yup, I heard the same thing from a friend living in Manhattan now. The thing is, I'm told you need to go with your checkbook and full deposit in your account, a good housing reference, and good credit (and some of the sticklers require some recent bank statements but....they also don't seem interested in living with students). If you have all of these elements, you should be able to snag an apartment that you like/can afford.
Also yeah, the apartments that are being advertised now seem to be for immediate occupancy. Some are as late as early May but it looks like folks start shopping around two weeks or at most one month before the desired start of their lease-

Kess wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:

sd5289 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:Hahahahaha.... I'm definitely looking Do you have any neighborhood suggestions?

I figured a concise answer was best.

I can recommend some neighborhoods but it kinda depends on your style. Have you been to the city before? Do you want more urban, more neighborhood, somewhere in between? How long of a commute are you okay with? I love Astoria because I get both the neighborhoody feel and access to all the restaurants, bars, and stores I want. Plus, I'm 20 minutes from midtown on the N/Q trains.

You know, I've been looking at Astoria. It really looks like it has it all- and I really do like the neighborhoody feel. I want to live somewhere that I also like on the weekends/off-hours.
I hear those trains are also more bearable during rush hour than some of the ones going through Brooklyn, like the L- I have been to the city before, but I haven't gotten the chance to explore many of the boroughs so this is all new for me. I really appreciate the Astoria recommendation!

I live further into Brooklyn so I won't suggest my place of residence (although being 30-40 minutes away is reasonable if you're by a train), but I know that many of my friends who came to NYC for college ended up living in Brooklyn- in Park Slope and Williamsburg.

Thanks! I've been looking at Williamsburg too- the location along the 'L' is awesome.... the area seems to be more 'professional seeking professional' than Park Slope which has more people posting who are okay with students-

Anyone staying in the Trump Hotel?

Yeah, I'm sorry if someone already answered this but....is there a Cardozo class of 2015 Facebook group?

pugsrcute wrote:Yeah, I'm sorry if someone already answered this but....is there a Cardozo class of 2015 Facebook group?

http://www.facebook.com/groups/303443259719381/

law31390 wrote:

pugsrcute wrote:Yeah, I'm sorry if someone already answered this but....is there a Cardozo class of 2015 Facebook group?

http://www.facebook.com/groups/303443259719381/

Thanks!

Ah! Getting ready to send my seat deposit in for the May program! It is SO crazy that I'm going to law school soooooo soon! YAY!