University of Florida Forum

[Lomax]

Congratulations! I will likely be joining you there.

You two seem awfully giddy for a couple of blokes condemned to three years of pain and suffering at a school that most recently brought in a grand total (if you can call it that) of 8 firms for on-campus interviewing (servicing a field of approximately 400 graduating students). Stetson must have the ghost of Billy Mays pitching its program - either that or one hell of a pamphlet.

Why this?^ You know, I am not overtly impressed with Stetson either, but they have made a choice for their future, and I am sure that it can still prepare them to be successful, so why trash it? Besides, you don't know if those 8 firms that come on campus place an emphasis on hiring Stetson grads, in that case, maybe there are only 8 but the prospect of a job is higher, I am just saying what is the necessity of bashing someone else's choice?

Believe it or not, my intention was not to bash Stetson or belittle Moose or Margaret. I was simply using my poetic license to highlight the potential objective absurdity of choosing Stetson over UF. I am an investor by trade, and I deal with numbers. I know that not everyone does, but in cases like this, maybe everyone should. I'm not being condescending, and I'm not trying to impose my opinion - I'm simply presenting the naked truth, in its harshest form, so that those considering making what might be a terrible mistake (based on numbers, not based on opinion) might reconsider.

As for your question regarding the 8 firms interviewing at Stetson possibly preferring Stetson grads - those same firms mostly interview at UF as well, and 32 more firms interview at UF than at Stetson. If the extrapolation works, then your odds of employment would seem to go up 300% by choosing UF over Stetson.

This guy is a buffer for the boys in the UF locker room. Seriously, no other ls school is worthy of anything besides ridicule...all hail UF Capt. Lomax. He pulled this data out of his ass and has been using it as his main argument in other threads.

Ha, "a buffer for the boys in the UF locker room" - I like that. You are a flamer who knows nothing of what he writes. You contribute nothing but garbage, while I make reasonable comments and evidenced arguments. Pulled this data out of my ass? Wow, what an idiot you are. I even provided the link for you to use to double-check the numbers yourself. Please stop using this forum.

[kathy2op]

Another 1L UF law student here - if anyone has any questions - about anything, feel free to ask, or PM me!

[Franco Columbu]

My status has changed today from "under review by committee" to "Reviewed by committee; decision pending".

So now I'm basically on hold indefinitely?
Has anyone gone from "decision pending" to being accepted?

[Lomax]

Another 1L UF law student here - if anyone has any questions - about anything, feel free to ask, or PM me!

In your experience, is the UF student body overly competitive? In your experience, is the UF community contaminated with bad professors and unfriendly students? Is there any evidence, to your knowledge, of UF being a law school "in decline"? Is absolutely nobody at UF getting jobs through OCI? Is there any reason to believe, as far as you know, that the University of Miami would place the average student better in South Florida than UF would? Are you pleased with your choice of UF? Are others you know pleased with their choice of UF?

I have already objectively decided that UF is the best choice in Florida in all but a few rare situations, but your answering these questions will likely put to rest (or confirm) the fears of others.

[superman21]

lomax where are you finding the information about how many firms go to each respective school for OCI? Is there a way to find how many students get hired?

[kathy2op]

Another 1L UF law student here - if anyone has any questions - about anything, feel free to ask, or PM me!

In your experience, is the UF student body overly competitive? In your experience, is the UF community contaminated with bad professors and unfriendly students? Is there any evidence, to your knowledge, of UF being a law school "in decline"? Is absolutely nobody at UF getting jobs through OCI? Is there any reason to believe, as far as you know, that the University of Miami would place the average student better in South Florida than UF would? Are you pleased with your choice of UF? Are others you know pleased with their choice of UF?

There are some competition feels of course, but it is true about any law school you will go. Law school works on steep curve, and professors usually only able to give away few As, few Cs, and the rest gets Bs. But it's nothing close to those horrible stories I heard before I started law school. No one hides book, people willing to share their notes and explain you something you just didn't get in class. It gets much intense though few weeks before finals start, but I usually just try to get out of school and study home to avoid all the pressure.

So far I was pleased with most of my professors, there are some individuals I would not take again (hey, it's not Harvard law afterall), but in general they all are extremely approachable and willing to help you as much as you can. I found for myself that I understand the hardest topics my better in professor's office during his/her office hours, then in class when they through random questions at the students doing their Socratic thing.

I would not say that UF is the school "in decline". The right way is to say that there some great schools in the FL that try to catch up with it. But the truth is - UF DOES has enormous reputation in the state and one of the largest alumni networks in the country. So it is probably going to be quite a while before another law school will get on the same level or ahead of the UF (of course I am talking only about FL schools).

Most of the students are very friendly. UF has EXTREMELY diverse student body. There a lot of international students, from different countries, different backgrounds, large range of ages. I would be surprise if someone would have hard tome to find sole-mates and friends here.

[kathy2op]

Another 1L UF law student here - if anyone has any questions - about anything, feel free to ask, or PM me!

Is absolutely nobody at UF getting jobs through OCI? Is there any reason to believe, as far as you know, that the University of Miami would place the average student better in South Florida than UF would? Are you pleased with your choice of UF? Are others you know pleased with their choice of UF?

I would never say that absolutely nobody gets jobs through OCI. Of course, it is not the same as it used to be before the economic fall, but there still firms come to interview on campus, just not as much as it used to be, and of course, they do hire some students when they come. It's very hard but not impossible to get 1L summer job through OCI, just because firms in general try to stay away from 1L. I did not apply myself for OCI this year because I decided to do summer abroad, but I saw today couple of people from my section had interview on campus and they said it went very well.
Different story when you are 2L. From what I heard from 2 and 3L students, you have to be really in the top 15% of your class to get decent chance to be selected for OCI. But even if you do not get OCI and just trying to reach employees on your own, UF on your resume is definately will help you open more doors in FL than any school. I heard that by now almost everyone who graduated last year has a job somewhere.

[kathy2op]

Another 1L UF law student here - if anyone has any questions - about anything, feel free to ask, or PM me!

Is there any reason to believe, as far as you know, that the University of Miami would place the average student better in South Florida than UF would? Are you pleased with your choice of UF? Are others you know pleased with their choice of UF?

I have already objectively decided that UF is the best choice in Florida in all but a few rare situations, but your answering these questions will likely put to rest (or confirm) the fears of others.

UM does not place better than UF anywhere. Period. It may seem that it places better in Miami, but it's only because Um is in Miami and 80% student stay there, while UF class is spread all over Florida and some go out of state (primarily Atlanta and DC). What UM provides, and it is hands down, it's a convenience to set up interviews and network in Miami. But it's only in regard of Miami. Once you go further North - Ft Lauderdale, Boca, Palm Beach, Orlando, etc - the UF degree will do much better job for you.
I myself considered over 10 schools instate and out-state when I applied last year.
The pros of my chose of UF - still the best regarded school ion the state, among the cheapest (in-state) tuition you can still find in the country, very law COL, great faculty, huge library, not too competitive students.
Cons - law school is in fact really tough (but it's true of any school, so I shouldn't be saying it), facilities is not too fancy (our cafeteria is a joke!, but it is a state school and it has limited financing compare to Miami or Stetson), Gainesville is extremely boring if you are over 25 and moved from a big city. On the other had, you don't have that much time to go out your first year anyway.
I have not yet heard ONE person in my law school who would regret choosing UF. There is still no equal competitor to it in FL.

[Lomax]

lomax where are you finding the information about how many firms go to each respective school for OCI? Is there a way to find how many students get hired?

1. --LinkRemoved-- - Be advised that the raw numbers are misleading, as multiple offices of the same firm are often listed in the results.
2. No, not that I know of.

[Lomax]

Thank you, kathy2op, for (hopefully) putting a lot of nonsensical arguments to rest.

[Grizz]

UM do not place better than UF anywhere. Period. It may seem that it places better in Miami, but it's only because Um is in Miami and 80% student stay there, while UF class spread all over Florida and some go out of state (primarily Atlanta and DC). What UM provides and it is hands down, it's convenience to set up interviews and network in Miami. But it's only in regard of Miami. Once you go further North - Ft Lauderdale, Boca, Palm Beach, Orlando, etc - the UF degree will do much better job for you.

Thank you.

[isaiah6v8]

My status has changed today from "under review by committee" to "Reviewed by committee; decision pending".

So now I'm basically on hold indefinitely?
Has anyone gone from "decision pending" to being accepted?

Cupidity there's your cue.

Cupidity apparently did, but he is the only one i know of.

[Franco Columbu]

My status has changed today from "under review by committee" to "Reviewed by committee; decision pending".

So now I'm basically on hold indefinitely?
Has anyone gone from "decision pending" to being accepted?

Cupidity there's your cue.

Cupidity apparently did, but he is the only one i know of.

Thanks. So it's very rare I'm guessing... Looks like I'll be waiting until March comes around, when the first batch of the "pending" group will be rejected or accepted.

[isaiah6v8]

My status has changed today from "under review by committee" to "Reviewed by committee; decision pending".

So now I'm basically on hold indefinitely?
Has anyone gone from "decision pending" to being accepted?

Cupidity there's your cue.

Cupidity apparently did, but he is the only one i know of.

Thanks. So it's very rare I'm guessing... Looks like I'll be waiting until March comes around, when the first batch of the "pending" group will be rejected or accepted.

That's what I have gathered.

[mps]

I was "reviewed by committee; decision pending" for over a month, then admitted via snail mail. in the interim they sent me a letter asking for further evidence of my FL residency.

i still don't know if i am considered a fl resident for tuition purposes... did other people get letters telling them if they were, or was it mentioned in the admittance letter? (my permanent residence is in fl, car is registered there, license there, voter there, tax payer there... be pretty annoyed if i'm paying taxes and not getting in-state tuition!)

anyone going to the March 19 admitted students day?

[Moose Thompson]

My status has changed today from "under review by committee" to "Reviewed by committee; decision pending".

So now I'm basically on hold indefinitely?
Has anyone gone from "decision pending" to being accepted?

Cupidity there's your cue.

Cupidity apparently did, but he is the only one i know of.

I was in the same boat for about a month before being accepted. Don't give up hope yet.

[horriblegb]

You know, checking LSN, nobody has heard anything since 2/11, is anybody "decision in transit"? Or do you think they are waiting to send out a large batch (like, until March)?

[ram jam]

No decision in transit here. I have been RCDP for a while now. stats show that if we do not go "decision transit" before march, we are either waitlisted or rejected.

[Pleadthe5th]

Anyone know if UF is giving more scholarships. Not trying to sound entitled, but with a 166 and being in the first batch of admits I thought I was a lock for some $. What are the minimum numbers needed for $?

[lawduder]

Anyone know if UF is giving more scholarships. Not trying to sound entitled, but with a 166 and being in the first batch of admits I thought I was a lock for some $. What are the minimum numbers needed for $?

I'm a 167 also hoping for some merit $$ so I called and spoke to the financial aid lady. She said scholarship offers go out all the way through March in rounds.

edit: called last week

[Franco Columbu]

No decision in transit here. I have been RCDP for a while now. stats show that if we do not go "decision transit" before march, we are either waitlisted or rejected.

March is not very far away, and I don't have a fall-back plan that will keep me in Florida. I really don't want to end up at some university in Northern Canada like Saskatchewan or Manitoba.

I think I'm going to put together an application for UMiami and Stetson before its too late.

[nbatty]

This all just sucks. Very very badly.

I wish they'd let us know in a timely manner so we can make other arrangements. If I get into Georgia with tuition equalization (doesn't seem to be a huge reach) deposit is due April 1st. A "late march/early april" decision doesn't leave much time to decide.

I've been RCDP since 2/11. 163/3.7 in state.

[spitfire935]

RCDP since December 3rd! This means I'll need to make a down payment at a school without knowing my full options. I am not visiting schools until accepted so this wait will make it harder for me to choose UF over another.

[mps]

This all just sucks. Very very badly.

I wish they'd let us know in a timely manner so we can make other arrangements. If I get into Georgia with tuition equalization (doesn't seem to be a huge reach) deposit is due April 1st. A "late march/early april" decision doesn't leave much time to decide.

I've been RCDP since 2/11. 163/3.7 in state.

i realllly think you should get in, i was 163/3.2x RCDP from 12/08 to 01/20-ish... and i think the "late march/early april" was re scholarship info. Good luck!

[nbatty]

Thanks MPS, I hope you're right.

Are you leaning towards UF?