SMU 2010! Forum

[kalvano]

Financial aid awards are out for PLUS loans.

Still no certifications?

Sorry. That's what I meant. It says it's certified by the lender and by the FA office.

So keep a lookout if you've already done everything.

[HBK]

Any golf players out there?

Are there any decent munis or courses with student discounts in the area?

[maxpayne]

Financial aid awards are out for PLUS loans.

Still no certifications?

Sorry. That's what I meant. It says it's certified by the lender and by the FA office.

So keep a lookout if you've already done everything.

Thanks. Currently, my Grad-Plus Loans are still not certified but I will keep a lookout.

[mbusch22]

How do you know when they are officially certified?

I keep getting emails from them reminding me to do the counseling, which I've already done twice. (The first time it wasn't showing up in my completed counseling list)

[kalvano]

How do you know when they are officially certified?

I keep getting emails from them reminding me to do the counseling, which I've already done twice. (The first time it wasn't showing up in my completed counseling list)

You'll get an email about it.

[ClemTiger]

How do you know when they are officially certified?

I keep getting emails from them reminding me to do the counseling, which I've already done twice. (The first time it wasn't showing up in my completed counseling list)

You'll get an email about it.

I just got this email:

"You have successfully accepted your 2010-2011 Stafford Loan on Access.SMU. There is nothing further you are required to do at this time. If you have not completed Loan Entrance Counseling or your Direct Loan Master Promissory Note for this loan, you will be contacted shortly via your SMU email account to do so."

That matches what is listed on my Award Summary page which indicates that my Federal Direct Sub/UnSub loans have been certified, but I guess I'm still waiting on my PLUS loans to go through.

[texasforever]

Any golf players out there?

Are there any decent munis or courses with student discounts in the area?

I too am interested in this.

As far as electricity goes, I signed up with APNA Energy at a locked rate of 9.2 cents for 12 months. Best deal I could find.

[Billy Batts]

Any golf players out there?

Are there any decent munis or courses with student discounts in the area?

Doesn't our tuition include membership in Dallas Country Club?

[nontradintexas]

Any golf players out there?

Are there any decent munis or courses with student discounts in the area?

Doesn't our tuition include membership in Dallas Country Club?

What's even funnier is that betasteve and I are commenting on this post from the 4th tee box.

[fathergoose]

Any golf players out there?

Are there any decent munis or courses with student discounts in the area?

Doesn't our tuition include membership in Dallas Country Club?

What's even funnier is that betasteve and I are commenting on this post from the 4th tee box.

As part of the construction crew that's renovating the golf course?

[nontradintexas]

OK guys - so I've gotten a couple questions about supplements, and figured I'd just post this which I've already sent to some of you incoming:


Caveats to subsequent advice: These may vary a little by professor (in that, if something is suggested, I would learn towards that). Also, my experiences seemed to differ pretty drastically from most of TLS and, to some extent, my classmates. I really did just learn better from the casebook. So, remember that you probably should evaluate this, and every other piece of advice on law school under the lens of how you learn. Also, make sure to adapt as the semester goes on.

Canned Briefs
So, for all the classes I had a case brief book keyed to my casebook. I mainly used it to check how well I was briefing cases. I almost completely stopped using these after a month. But, it was a good safety net. However, as I got better at briefing—I found that these canned briefs were normally over the entire case, even when they were supposedly keyed to the casebook, so they weren't 100% accurate when the cases were abridged to show only a specific part of the case. Also, they books were a little too formulaic.
Example of a canned brief book (LinkRemoved)

E&Es
I had an up to date E&E for Civ Pro, Property, Torts, and Contracts. I used them in the beginning, but pretty much stopped using them as I was getting everything from the casebook and lecture. Most TLS'ers find the opposite to be the better approach, but I liked this one and obviously it didn't affect my performance.
Example of an E&E (Also referred to Glannons, I think... And if not, I never used a glannon guide) (LinkRemoved)

Crunchtime Series
Bought them for each subject - thought they would help me during outlining, but I ended up thinking they were a waste of time. Take very good notes in class, and your outline will be fine. They may be helpful if you have trouble trying to figure out how all the stuff in class fits together.
Example of a Crunchtime book (LinkRemoved)

Exam Guides
These aren't bad. I had one or two for each class, and found that they were really useful for practice, since no profs have all that many tests on file. And, if you end up with Dorsoneo for Civ Pro, if you don't pick up his Civ Pro M/C supplement, you should probably fail. [Point: If a prof publishes a supplement, buy it without hesitation and use it.]
A good supplement for practice essays are the Friedman's Practice Series: Example (LinkRemoved)
And for multiple choice which, even if your exam is going to be essay, isn't bad to shore up concepts the Questions and Answers Series is good. Example BY DORSANEO (read: if you are the section that has him, buy this.) (LinkRemoved)

Misc:
Crim law: Buy Understanding Criminal Law by Dressler (LinkRemoved). Period. Full Stop.
Con law in spring: Buy Constitutional Law Principles and Policies by Chemerinsky (LinkRemoved). Period. Full Stop. (There may be a newer version than the one I linked)

Commercial Outlines
There are two types of commercial outlines - the huge ones that are just based on the subject, and ones that are keyed to your textbook. I found the keyed commercial outlines pretty damn helpful for Con law, but found the massive outlines to be just too much info, and I had to do too much filtering of what we covered/how we covered it/etc vs. what was in the book.
Subject Based Commercial Outline Example (Gilbert's, in this Example) (LinkRemoved)
Keyed Commercial Outline Example (Legalines Series, in this example) (LinkRemoved)

In conclusion, what you'll see is that I bought nearly every damn supplement on the planet and used essentially none of them. But, the key is that what works for me might not work for you. If you are reading the casebook and you don't like it, find something else. If you are reading the casebook, and you aren't understanding the concepts, find something else.

Also, when you cover future interests and rule against perpetuities in property, you will want to do these like math problems [i.e. do a lot of them, as you only really learn by doing]. So, finding a book full of them is also beneficial.

Just remember that Class preempts Supplement. So if your prof says A, and the supp says B and they contradict—then for the class, A is right, B is wrong. (If Prof also notes that B exists, but doesn't like it—then you bring that up on a test if the issue is presented)

Lastly, you don't need all of these supplements on day 1. I made that mistake, and likely wasted some money. On the other hand, it was comforting to know that I could turn to my bookshelf at any time to look something up.

Lastly, no I am not a shill for lawbooksforless.com. It was just easiest site to find links. For best prices look at the linked website, amazon.com, and barristerbooks.com. I think I got most of mine on barristerbooks, but several on amazon, and a few from the campus bookstore.

I hope this helps a little.

Agree wholeheartedly with the above, with the exception of the recommended Crim Law book, mainly because with the professor I had no supplement would have helped.

Ultimately, that's my entire opinion on supplements - their efficacy really depends on who your professor is. For example - for one of the Civ Pro professors, all you will need is a copy of a student-made, handed-down outline for their class that hasn't changed since 1996. For some, the E&E is really helpful. For others (like my crim law) there's not much of anything. Think of it this way: the person writing the test is your professor - do you care what he/she thinks about topic X, or do you care what 8 staff attorneys for a publishing company think about topic X?

Another option for supplements are CALI lessons, which are online and include practice questions that are generally multiple choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank. I found these particularly helpful for Property (dealing with future interests), some Crim Law, and some Torts. You'll get your CALI login info with your orientation packet the week before you start.

[wellington]

Is the "My SF eSpace" in the student center portion of access the place to set up direct deposits for living loans?

[Billy Batts]

Is the "My SF eSpace" in the student center portion of access the place to set up direct deposits for living loans?

Yessir.

[HBK]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

[kalvano]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

It's 106 degrees outside. Find an indoor sport.

[squ1rtle]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

Top Golf is nearby campus. http://topgolf.com/Locations/US/Dallas/Default.aspx

[fathergoose]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

Top Golf is nearby campus. http://topgolf.com/Locations/US/Dallas/Default.aspx

Went there last night. It was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be. Dallas has some nice municipals and public courses, on the not so cheap side, but pretty nice layouts.

I'll be back up in Dallas for good second week of August if anybody wants to get out and play the week before class starts.

[HBK]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

It's 106 degrees outside. Find an indoor sport.

That's the kind of quitter mentality I want to avoid in law school. Compared to Austin or Houston's humidity 106 in Dallas seems pretty good.

[kalvano]

So, what's the deal about golf? I never got any serious responses.

It's 106 degrees outside. Find an indoor sport.

That's the kind of quitter mentality I want to avoid in law school. Compared to Austin or Houston's humidity 106 in Dallas seems pretty good.

Well, you're in luck. The humidity today was only 67% with an actual temperature of 102.

Might as well be snow.

Also, Top Golf is really cool.

[Billy Batts]

So, all my disbursement dates are set for 8/10. Any of you 2Ls know from past experience when we can actually expect the money to hit our bank accounts? Like at my undergrad, you could always count on it hitting the Thursday before classes started. Any way of knowing this?

[kalvano]

So, all my disbursement dates are set for 8/10. Any of you 2Ls know from past experience when we can actually expect the money to hit our bank accounts? Like at my undergrad, you could always count on it hitting the Thursday before classes started. Any way of knowing this?

It said online if you are set up for direct deposit, 2 days after disbursement.

[InnoSource]

curious, but what were everyone's stats? did anyone feel like its still a lot harder to get in now because of the economy? i have a low gpa...and based on what i saw on lawschoolnumbers...not even a solid 165 will help me.

[kalvano]

curious, but what were everyone's stats? did anyone feel like its still a lot harder to get in now because of the economy? i have a low gpa...and based on what i saw on lawschoolnumbers...not even a solid 165 will help me.

I'm sure they are looking to bump medians like most everyone else, but a 165 should be enough. What GPA?

[SpencerPratt]

I will say if your GPA keeps you on the fence for admisisons, you can take solace in the fact that your LSAT will put you in the PT program with a good scholarship if SMU is where you want to go.

How much are people accepting for aid? I finally got my award info and was offered around 53k before calculating scholarship (I'm in the PT program). Thoughts?

[kalvano]

I demanded more aid so I don't have to live like a prole.