Kansas 2013 Forum

Share Your Experiences, Read About Other Experiences. Please keep posts organized by school and expected year of graduation.
Post Reply
User avatar
hotdog123

Bronze
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:15 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by hotdog123 » Thu May 06, 2010 9:24 am

Anybody have any tips on the living situation? Some insider info on the logistics of where to live (COL, convenience, walk factor, neighborhoods, etc) and how to get around would be much appreciated.

AmicusCuriae

New
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:19 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by AmicusCuriae » Thu May 06, 2010 9:57 am

DonnyMost wrote:Anybody have any tips on the living situation? Some insider info on the logistics of where to live (COL, convenience, walk factor, neighborhoods, etc) and how to get around would be much appreciated.

A car is an absolute necessity. There *is* bus service in town, but it's awful and infrequent. The only apartment complexes that are within a reasonable walking distance to Green Hall (the Law School building) are Chase Court and Applecroft. Chase Court is the nicer of the 2, but it's more expensive. You can get cheaper housing if you look further from Campus, but parking on campus can be kind of a nightmare depending on the time of day,

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Thu May 06, 2010 10:25 am

The law school doesn't have its own restricted parking lot?

hatteras1

New
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:57 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by hatteras1 » Thu May 06, 2010 10:26 am

procrastinator wrote:In!
Congrats!!

User avatar
hotdog123

Bronze
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:15 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by hotdog123 » Thu May 06, 2010 10:29 am

AmicusCuriae wrote:
DonnyMost wrote:Anybody have any tips on the living situation? Some insider info on the logistics of where to live (COL, convenience, walk factor, neighborhoods, etc) and how to get around would be much appreciated.

A car is an absolute necessity. There *is* bus service in town, but it's awful and infrequent. The only apartment complexes that are within a reasonable walking distance to Green Hall (the Law School building) are Chase Court and Applecroft. Chase Court is the nicer of the 2, but it's more expensive. You can get cheaper housing if you look further from Campus, but parking on campus can be kind of a nightmare depending on the time of day,
That's disheartening. You would think running a campus bus in such a relatively small town wouldn't be hard and would be somewhat of a necessity. I'm a cyclist at heart, so I ride my bike everywhere (and I mean everywhere). Hopefully there's some sense of pedestrian friendliness. Thanks for the apartment pointers, I was hoping for more options near Green hall, but those look like good choices.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
hotdog123

Bronze
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:15 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by hotdog123 » Thu May 06, 2010 10:29 am

procrastinator wrote:In!
Congrats. Summer section i'm guessing?

AmicusCuriae

New
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:19 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by AmicusCuriae » Thu May 06, 2010 10:35 am

procrastinator wrote:The law school doesn't have its own restricted parking lot?
Unless something has changed in the last year or two, no. Parking on campus is restricted by the color of permit you have. There are yellow lots (students), red lots (staff), gold lots (certain faculty) and a two garages (permits hard to get). Even grad/law students are restricted to yellow lots. Yellow lots are always the least convenient. I believe the lot in front of Green Hall is a red lot. The Allen Fieldhouse garage is really close to the law school, but IIRC the waitlist is usually about 2 years.

User avatar
txelle

New
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:21 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by txelle » Thu May 06, 2010 11:52 am

procrastinator wrote:In!
Congrats!

User avatar
txelle

New
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:21 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by txelle » Thu May 06, 2010 12:02 pm

I keep hearing about a park and ride? Anyone have any opinions on doing that?

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Thu May 06, 2010 12:21 pm

DonnyMost wrote:
procrastinator wrote:In!
Congrats. Summer section i'm guessing?
Nope, fall. Summer session would really be pushing it for finding a place to live!

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Thu May 06, 2010 12:31 pm

Here's a question - how about motorcycle parking? At my UG it was the only central campus parking available to students that didn't have important research-related employment.

User avatar
hotdog123

Bronze
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:15 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by hotdog123 » Thu May 06, 2010 12:34 pm

procrastinator wrote:
DonnyMost wrote:
procrastinator wrote:In!
Congrats. Summer section i'm guessing?
Nope, fall. Summer session would really be pushing it for finding a place to live!
That's odd, you must have been one of the last decisions made. They're locked down for everything right now except for the Summer section.

AmicusCuriae

New
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:19 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by AmicusCuriae » Thu May 06, 2010 4:30 pm

procrastinator wrote:Here's a question - how about motorcycle parking? At my UG it was the only central campus parking available to students that didn't have important research-related employment.
There are various motorcycle lots around campus, many much more convenient than regular parking. That said, I don't know where the ones near Green are.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


banksie

New
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by banksie » Fri May 07, 2010 5:05 am

Current 1L (rising 2L in like 8 hours :D ) at KU.

Aside from the previously mentioned apartments, lots of law students live in Meadowbrook apartments. Its probably a 15 minute walk, but you can always find someone to give you a ride. Additionally, there are several KU bus stops in the complex and there is a bus probably every 10 minutes, so you can ride the bus from there easily. Plus, the bus drops you off in front of the law school.

Park and Ride is okay, you basically park in a giant lot on west campus (west side of Iowa St.) and then wait for the bus to drive you to the east campus. Positives are that it is cheaper than the traditional parking pass and you essentially have guaranteed parking. Down side is that you are at the whim of the bus.

Traditional parking on campus is decent. Most people who do (like me) have the yellow pass, which means you can park at the lot basically next to the law school (30 second walk), or by the rec (like a 6 minute walk). If you come to the law school before 8:30 am, which you probably will most days first year, there is basically always a spot at the lawschool/Burge union lot. When there isn't, you can always park at the rec and hoof it.

Like someone said, you can put yourself on the waiting list for the Allen Field House covered parking garage once you are officially a grad student. It takes at least 3 semesters, usually 4, before you get a spot though. The benefit, however, is that it is a guaranteed spot in a covered garage 45 seconds from the law building. Also, you will probably see and get to high-five Bill Self (and Turner Gill but I don't think anyone cares) since he parks in there too.

With regards to financial aid negotiation, I sent them an email basically modeled off the generic negotiation requests you can find scattered across TLS and they emailed me back with more money. So its always worth a shot.

I can answer more questions if anyone has 'em.

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Fri May 07, 2010 5:54 pm

Banksie, can you comment on how happy you are with KU? What's the 1L social scene like? How competitive is the class?

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Fri May 07, 2010 10:35 pm

Another question:

Is it possible to gain residency after the first year?

banksie

New
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by banksie » Fri May 07, 2010 11:09 pm

Socially, there are a lot of opportunities, at least in my class. You automatically become pretty good friends with your small section since you will have every first year class with them (sometimes only your small section, sometimes combined with other small sections as well). There are usually large groups of 1Ls hanging out weekend nights, and often during the week depending on the work load. Obviously, being in a college town, you and your friends can always find something to do. So there is definitely a healthy social scene. I typically didn't go out during the week, but there are a decent amount of people who do. There are also SBA tailgates for football and then of course KU basketball is the big draw in the winter. Basically, there is a lot to do, and people doing something almost every single night if you are so inclined to join.

As for competitiveness, there seems to be a broad spectrum represented. You have a fair amount of people who are just happy to be in law school and will take their C's and C+'s and be thrilled to have a JD when all is said and done. 1L has a forced curve of 2.8-3.0 (but that could change with a new dean), so the B+'s and A's can be very competitive. That being said, there isn't any sort of ruthlessness or overt animosity (at least pre spring grades and law review selection) in the class. The one 4.0 last semester happened to be from my small section, and is a really chill dude. There wasn't any book stealing or library research material hiding, and you can always find someone to to borrow notes from if you miss a class, or to trade outlines with. However, the top 10% will be very competitive, just like at any law school, and if you want to be there you will obviously have to work hard. Concerning summer employment, the big/medium law summer jobs were insanely competitive this year, though you obviously have to factor in the economy.

To summarize, I would characterize KU has having a good social scene and an average to slightly below average feeling of competitiveness.

As for residency, I think this tells you everything you need to know: http://www.registrar.ku.edu/pdf/residen ... mation.pdf .

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


koehn2

New
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:36 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by koehn2 » Fri May 07, 2010 11:34 pm

txelle wrote:I keep hearing about a park and ride? Anyone have any opinions on doing that?

I used park and ride when I was in undergrad. It's ok. You have to make sure you don't run late because it is probably 5-10 min ride from the park and ride parking lot depending on the amount of stops and where on campus. Green is the 3rd stop I think. There is a parking lot right outside of green hall that I think is designated for law students. Another option is the parking garage across the street. I am pretty sure that you can get a permit to park there, but you have to call the parking dept. and get put on a special list at least that is what I had to do for the Union parking garage. Parking is the worst part about KU.

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Sat May 08, 2010 4:45 am

banksie wrote:As for residency, I think this tells you everything you need to know: http://www.registrar.ku.edu/pdf/residen ... mation.pdf .

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
thanks for you answers. However, the linked PDF doesn't seem to answer my question about 2L residency.

User avatar
pertristis

Bronze
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:29 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by pertristis » Sat May 08, 2010 6:19 am

http://www.registrar.ku.edu/residency/residency.shtml might be of more help. Basically, the answer is that it is possible to change residency status, but it is fairly difficult. One has to have lived in the state continuously for 365 days, received most financial support from sources originating in Kansas, and be able to document that one intends to make Kansas a permanent residence. This is quite difficult for an undergrad to do. Grads have an easier go of it—I have a friend in the MBA program who had his residency changed without even requesting it. Hope this helps.

procrastinator

Bronze
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:19 am

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by procrastinator » Sat May 08, 2010 6:32 am

Thanks. Shouldn't be comparatively diificult for me as all my financial support will be coming from financial aid and Uncle Sam.

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


AKAlicious

New
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:23 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by AKAlicious » Sun May 09, 2010 12:31 pm

procrastinator wrote:Thanks. Shouldn't be comparatively diificult for me as all my financial support will be coming from financial aid and Uncle Sam.
I've actually heard that it's quite difficult to get residency, grad or undergrad. The bottom line is that if you're going for that, do stuff like change your car registration to KS right away. (I waited until 2 months after I got here, which sucks because that might effect when the date of residency is established according to their determination). Just don't count on it for cost of attendance calculations (the same way you can't count on GPA/rank-contingent financial aid!), because you don't know what will happen.

phi4life940

New
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun May 24, 2009 10:33 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by phi4life940 » Mon May 10, 2010 1:40 am

Hey everyone! I am on the waitlist for the Fall (made that first cut! :D ) and have always wanted to go to KU. My girlfriend is in for the Fall and we already have an apartment (The Exchange) lined up. If I don't get in to KU I will be making the drive to Washburn everyday (hopefully I won't have to do that!)

The apartment complex said the KU bus comes by every 30 mins and it's only an 8-minute ride to campus....has anyone used the KU bus as their primary mode of transportation??? Someone earlier said it wasn't dependable nor was it on time...is that true? My girlfriend went to CU during her freshman semester of undergrad and said the bus was very timely and very reliable....I was hoping KU's bus was the same.

Anyways...I'm glad to see people obsessing about law school as much as I am! "Late May" couldn't come any faster for us fall-waitlisters! haha

longroad

New
Posts: 89
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 2:26 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by longroad » Mon May 10, 2010 10:48 am

"Late May" couldn't come any faster for us fall-waitlisters! - ^^^^^^ (see above)

I agree. Have you (or anyone else) heard anything about the first cut people and our odds of getting off. I was patting myself on the back for about 15 seconds when I received the email which stated they were keeping me around, and then I realized that KU historically has little WL movement and there could be hundreds of people who "made the first cut." They were not very specific in their letter. Anyone know anything?

koehn2

New
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:36 pm

Re: Kansas 2013

Post by koehn2 » Mon May 10, 2010 4:20 pm

phi4life940 wrote:Hey everyone! I am on the waitlist for the Fall (made that first cut! :D ) and have always wanted to go to KU. My girlfriend is in for the Fall and we already have an apartment (The Exchange) lined up. If I don't get in to KU I will be making the drive to Washburn everyday (hopefully I won't have to do that!)

The apartment complex said the KU bus comes by every 30 mins and it's only an 8-minute ride to campus....has anyone used the KU bus as their primary mode of transportation??? Someone earlier said it wasn't dependable nor was it on time...is that true? My girlfriend went to CU during her freshman semester of undergrad and said the bus was very timely and very reliable....I was hoping KU's bus was the same.

Anyways...I'm glad to see people obsessing about law school as much as I am! "Late May" couldn't come any faster for us fall-waitlisters! haha

Hey I will warn you. I have some friends in undergrad that live at the exchange. They were just built last summer, but lots of undergrads live there. I think it has a tendency to be loud with lots of parties on the weekends. I lived at the reserves just down the street at they were extremely loud and I hated it. Just thought I would throw that out there. If that doesn't bother you than you'll be fine.
Last edited by koehn2 on Tue May 11, 2010 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Law School Acceptances, Denials, and Waitlists”