Wake Forest 2010 Forum

[tstyler98]

Just got into Winston-Salem about an hour ago. We drove around for a bit looking for where the bars/restaurants are that students usually frequent, but gave up after like 15 minutes and just got Taco Bell. We did drive out to the campus though to check out how the "gated campus" thing worked. It is exactly what you think - there is a country club looking entrance and a guard at a booth that basically lets you in or turns you away. The guard on duty couldn't let us in, but he was really nice and pointed us in the direction of food. I guess there is a guard on duty from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, otherwise it sounds like people are free to come and go.

Going to bed, I'll let you guys know how the visit/class/campus is tomorrow night if I get a minute. I'll try and take some pictures and post them later too.

How'd your visit go?

[PirateCap'n]

Just got into Winston-Salem about an hour ago. We drove around for a bit looking for where the bars/restaurants are that students usually frequent, but gave up after like 15 minutes and just got Taco Bell. We did drive out to the campus though to check out how the "gated campus" thing worked. It is exactly what you think - there is a country club looking entrance and a guard at a booth that basically lets you in or turns you away. The guard on duty couldn't let us in, but he was really nice and pointed us in the direction of food. I guess there is a guard on duty from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, otherwise it sounds like people are free to come and go.

Going to bed, I'll let you guys know how the visit/class/campus is tomorrow night if I get a minute. I'll try and take some pictures and post them later too.

How'd your visit go?

+1. Would love to hear your thoughts on it.

[traehekat]

Back in Champaign after what seemed like a much shorter drive on the way back. Here's a summary of the weekend...

Friday morning I headed over to the law school for a class visit and tour. The law building is right at the entrance of campus, and there is a large parking lot right next to the building. Already I can tell the campus is beautiful - the law building is surrounded by trees and everything is well kept and pristine. Across from the law building are the tennis courts with more awesome landscaping, which is right up my alley since I play a lot of tennis.

The building itself is better than I expected, but that isn't saying a WHOLE lot since I had pretty low expectations, based on what I have heard. Most of the classes are on the first floor, and the second floor houses things like admissions, career services, etc. For the most part, the building's condition seemed fine but I can definitely see how some would say it is cramped. Since I was there on Friday it wasn't too crowded, but I can see how some would say there isn't enough space. However, everyone has their own carol in the library, which most people apparently treat as there main desk - they leave books and stuff out there and it seems like no one worries about things being stolen (although I didn't see any laptops left behind). The library was a little underwhelming, but honestly I don't think that is a big deal. I mean, you have access to West and Lexis Nexis where you will do the majority, if not all of your research, and there is certainly room in the library to study if you want. The lounge area was nice, and I guess while it is warmer out it isn't too crowded because people will be outside more, but during the colder months I was told it can get packed. The classrooms aren't really too bad, and those certainly aren't cramped as most classes only have 40 students in them or so, at least your first year. The courtrooms are pretty small, but they have 2 or 3 I think so, maybe that makes up for it. I didn't get a chance to check out the finals of the moot court competition on Friday, but I heard it was going to be well attended - I would have liked to see how many people could really fit in there.

My interactions with everyone during my visit, however, were wonderful. I headed up to admissions where Jenny Hutcherson, the admissions assistant, greeted me and hooked up me up with a folder with some information and a WFU School of Law blanket, which was pretty cool. While we were up there talking and waiting for another prospective student I learned something kind of interesting - Jenny knows who I am on here! Had a pretty good laugh about it, although I can't say I'm surprised (most of my specific information is on here, so it can't be too hard to match it up). Anyway, Jenny is awesome, and I am definitely not just saying that because she may be reading this, haha. She was extremely helpful answering any questions I had about Wake, Winston-Salem, or anything else, really. I also met Melanie Nutt as she was on her way out of admissions after the tour, and she is great. Between her and Jenny, I definitely felt "at home", so to speak, at Wake Forest. The student who lead the tour was really candid about answering any questions the other student and I had, which I appreciated. The class I sat in on was Evidence, which is a 2L class for the most part, and so the professor taught using more of a lecture format. The material was interesting and the professor allowed plenty of times for questions and answered them thoroughly. The student I sat next too was really friendly and took a minute to ask me some questions and answer any I had, both before and after the class.

So after the tour and I picked up my friend from the hotel we were staying at and we drove back to check out the rest of the campus. I have to say, it really is a beautiful campus and I can see why they keep it gated. Everything is well kept and there are trees, bushes, and flowers everywhere. Being from Illinois and the southwest Chicago suburbs, I am just not used to this much green, so maybe this isn't big news for people from the area, but I was pretty blown away. We took a peak inside Reynolda Hall and it was very nice inside as well - big food court and lots of seating to eat. Honestly, the whole campus is picture perfect.

However, in this is my first gripe about WFU. Now, I'll preface by saying that it appeared to be some sort of admitted students day for undergraduates, or some sort of weekend where parents came down, so maybe this is a little bit out of the norm (but from what I have heard, it is not). Anyway, the undergraduate campus has very much so a rich white kid school type of feel to it. Probably about 70% of the students/parents I ran into were wearing Ralph Lauren or Lacoste. It was not very diverse, at all. While I didn't get exactly the same feeling at the law school, the class I sat in on didn't have one black student out of about 60 kids. Now, I'm as white as they come, but I come from a very large public school where you can pick 7 people at random and you will probably get 3 different races, so this is just what I am used to, but also what I value. Just my two cents, and I will add that I never heard any sort of racist comments or undertones or anything like that - at all. I'm just saying it was very homogeneous, from what I could see.

As this post is becoming a little epic, I'll try to wrap it up. I checked out Crowne Oaks Apartments and they were awesome. Very spacious and all the appliances look to be high quality. We had lunch at Twin City Diner and it was good, I had that Gus burger with chili and slaw on it which someone recommended. Later Friday night, we headed into downtown Winston-Salem and had a few beers and burgers at Finnegan's Wake. Cool atmosphere, although at this point I became pretty confused as to where the undergraduates go to drink/hang out, as there were definitely few, if any, undergraduates there. This was on a Friday night, too. Upon further thought, however, I'm not sure if this is a bad thing... The rest of Winston-Salem is pretty nice, especially out by Mario's Pizza where it has more of a suburban feel to it, which is what I'm used to. On Saturday we checked out Charlotte. We stuck to Tryon Street, but it was really nice. Great restaurants and I was able to catch the Bulls/Cavs game at Fox & Hound. We also went to South Park, which is right outside Charlotte, I guess. Enormous upscale mall and from what I can tell an extremely nice, expensive area. The mall had a Louis Vitton, Lacoste, and Maggiano's, to put it in perspective.

So yeah, fun trip and I'm definitely glad I made it. Here a few pics, but you can see them all here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/49427191@N02/. I only took pictures of the campus and Charlotte, so you should be able to tell which are which.

[elliwg6]

Hello all, I'm a current undergraduate student and I am planning on being a double Deac. So I can answer questions people might have about Wake and the area in general if anyone has any. I've been here 4 years so I think I know quite a bit, but maybe not everything about the law school, I've only had the basic tour and class etc. but i've met all the staff and they are wonderful and the facilities are excellent as well.

[Nicholasnickynic]

why no w-s pics?

[Nicholasnickynic]

Hello all, I'm a current undergraduate student and I am planning on being a double Deac. So I can answer questions people might have about Wake and the area in general if anyone has any. I've been here 4 years so I think I know quite a bit, but maybe not everything about the law school, I've only had the basic tour and class etc. but i've met all the staff and they are wonderful and the facilities are excellent as well.

Out of school life?

Wake seems to get crushed by UGA/UNC in this aspect.

Thoughts?
Feelings?

[traehekat]

why no w-s pics?

Eh, by the time we got out there it was getting dark so the pictures wouldn't have been great, plus we were going out to the bar and I didn't want to feel like a tourist the ENTIRE time I was there.

[Nicholasnickynic]

why no w-s pics?

Eh, by the time we got out there it was getting dark so the pictures wouldn't have been great, plus we were going out to the bar and I didn't want to feel like a tourist the ENTIRE time I was there.

Haha fair enough.

I just didn't know if you were trying to hide anything about W-S (some might say its not the most attractive city).

[traehekat]

why no w-s pics?

Eh, by the time we got out there it was getting dark so the pictures wouldn't have been great, plus we were going out to the bar and I didn't want to feel like a tourist the ENTIRE time I was there.

Haha fair enough.

I just didn't know if you were trying to hide anything about W-S (some might say its not the most attractive city).

It's weird... it really depends where you go, plus I couldn't really tell when I was technically in Winston-Salem and when I wasn't. The downtown/city portion is nice - a few good restaurants and bars, and it looks like there were a fair amount of arts and crafts kind of shops, but it was tough to tell cause it was dark. The area by Hanes shopping mall is the suburban aspect to Winston-Salem, and it was nice there too. Lots of your typical restaurants and stores, and the mall isn't bad at all. There were some areas we went through that were less than pleasing on the eye, but I mean hey, most cities have areas like that. It was hard to get a great feel for everything, because any time you want to go somewhere, you have to hop on the highway for 5 minutes (according to the iPhone, at least), so you kind of skip over some parts of the city and just get to where you are heading. This is what kind of confused me regarding undergraduate students - like, if you don't have a car, I don't understand what you are doing for fun other than drinking at the frat/sorority houses, but maybe elliwg6 can comment on this.

[elliwg6]

Hello all, I'm a current undergraduate student and I am planning on being a double Deac. So I can answer questions people might have about Wake and the area in general if anyone has any. I've been here 4 years so I think I know quite a bit, but maybe not everything about the law school, I've only had the basic tour and class etc. but i've met all the staff and they are wonderful and the facilities are excellent as well.

Out of school life?

Wake seems to get crushed by UGA/UNC in this aspect.

Thoughts?
Feelings?

well, i'm actually from georgia, so i know a little about athens, and frankly its pretty awesome as far as night life is concerned. in athens you can walk to the bars from most of the houses and apartments. in winston there are a far number of good bars, not really any clubs, at least none that i know of. there are some pretty good "wake bars" especially for older undergraduates, and i assume that these are frequented by graduate students also, but probably not on the same nights. (there are the really trashy underclassmen undergraduate bars too) there are also a lot of stuff in the downtown area, but driving or a cab is necessary. i cant speak for unc, but i hear that they have a solid night life. to be honest its kinda what you make it, at least is has been for me.

also, to compare anywhere to athens almost just isnt fair to be honest haha. but its definitely not terrible

[lml09]

Traehekat, you got a WFU law school BLANKET???? Cool! I want one too!

Btw, i've lived in nc my whole life and Wake isn't exactly known for it's diversity. There's a reason they call it "white forest".

[Nicholasnickynic]

Hello all, I'm a current undergraduate student and I am planning on being a double Deac. So I can answer questions people might have about Wake and the area in general if anyone has any. I've been here 4 years so I think I know quite a bit, but maybe not everything about the law school, I've only had the basic tour and class etc. but i've met all the staff and they are wonderful and the facilities are excellent as well.

Out of school life?

Wake seems to get crushed by UGA/UNC in this aspect.

Thoughts?
Feelings?

well, i'm actually from georgia, so i know a little about athens, and frankly its pretty awesome as far as night life is concerned. in athens you can walk to the bars from most of the houses and apartments. in winston there are a far number of good bars, not really any clubs, at least none that i know of. there are some pretty good "wake bars" especially for older undergraduates, and i assume that these are frequented by graduate students also, but probably not on the same nights. (there are the really trashy underclassmen undergraduate bars too) there are also a lot of stuff in the downtown area, but driving or a cab is necessary. i cant speak for unc, but i hear that they have a solid night life. to be honest its kinda what you make it, at least is has been for me.

also, to compare anywhere to athens almost just isnt fair to be honest haha. but its definitely not terrible

Thanks.

Lol@white forest

[traehekat]

Traehekat, you got a WFU law school BLANKET???? Cool! I want one too!

Btw, i've lived in nc my whole life and Wake isn't exactly known for it's diversity. There's a reason they call it "white forest".

Heh, it's nothing TOO nice - just a black fleece blanket with a patch near the corner that says Wake Forest University School of Law with the WFU logo. Still, better than nothing, and its practical!

[elliwg6]

why no w-s pics?

Eh, by the time we got out there it was getting dark so the pictures wouldn't have been great, plus we were going out to the bar and I didn't want to feel like a tourist the ENTIRE time I was there.

Haha fair enough.

I just didn't know if you were trying to hide anything about W-S (some might say its not the most attractive city).

It's weird... it really depends where you go, plus I couldn't really tell when I was technically in Winston-Salem and when I wasn't. The downtown/city portion is nice - a few good restaurants and bars, and it looks like there were a fair amount of arts and crafts kind of shops, but it was tough to tell cause it was dark. The area by Hanes shopping mall is the suburban aspect to Winston-Salem, and it was nice there too. Lots of your typical restaurants and stores, and the mall isn't bad at all. There were some areas we went through that were less than pleasing on the eye, but I mean hey, most cities have areas like that. It was hard to get a great feel for everything, because any time you want to go somewhere, you have to hop on the highway for 5 minutes (according to the iPhone, at least), so you kind of skip over some parts of the city and just get to where you are heading. This is what kind of confused me regarding undergraduate students - like, if you don't have a car, I don't understand what you are doing for fun other than drinking at the frat/sorority houses, but maybe elliwg6 can comment on this.

Yeah......No car as and undergraduate meant you just made friends with people who did.

Also, driving can be kinda confusing because wake is actually at the hub of the intersection of some main roads. which means its easy to get to and from wake to places, via silas creek, reynolda, stratford and university, but harder/ more annoying to eat dinner at stratfrod, see a movie on reynolda and go to a bar downtown (university) if you see what i mean... its a lot of i know 6 ways to get there but there is no "best way"

[lml09]

Traehekat, you got a WFU law school BLANKET???? Cool! I want one too!

Btw, i've lived in nc my whole life and Wake isn't exactly known for it's diversity. There's a reason they call it "white forest".

Heh, it's nothing TOO nice - just a black fleece blanket with a patch near the corner that says Wake Forest University School of Law with the WFU logo. Still, better than nothing, and its practical!

I need some wfu thing to cuddle with that will fill the gap that my UNC snuggie left.

[traehekat]

Traehekat, you got a WFU law school BLANKET???? Cool! I want one too!

Btw, i've lived in nc my whole life and Wake isn't exactly known for it's diversity. There's a reason they call it "white forest".

Heh, it's nothing TOO nice - just a black fleece blanket with a patch near the corner that says Wake Forest University School of Law with the WFU logo. Still, better than nothing, and its practical!

I need some wfu thing to cuddle with that will fill the gap that my UNC snuggie left.

haha it's super soft too, made a great pillow on the way home.

[gogo]

Traehekat, you got a WFU law school BLANKET???? Cool! I want one too!

Btw, i've lived in nc my whole life and Wake isn't exactly known for it's diversity. There's a reason they call it "white forest".

Heh, it's nothing TOO nice - just a black fleece blanket with a patch near the corner that says Wake Forest University School of Law with the WFU logo. Still, better than nothing, and its practical!

I need some wfu thing to cuddle with that will fill the gap that my UNC snuggie left.

haha it's super soft too, made a great pillow on the way home.

jealous about the blanket too! i want a shirt/hat as well. does anyone know where you can buy wake law apparel?

[lml09]

Gogo, the student store has tons of wfu law stuff, havnt been able to find them anywhere else (including the online store)

[Nicholasnickynic]

Gogo, the student store has tons of wfu law stuff, havnt been able to find them anywhere else (including the online store)

When I went there, they had 1 cap, an ugly shirt, and a really ugly oversized 80s lady sweatshirt. =/ Not impressed.

[lml09]

Gogo, the student store has tons of wfu law stuff, havnt been able to find them anywhere else (including the online store)

When I went there, they had 1 cap, an ugly shirt, and a really ugly oversized 80s lady sweatshirt. =/ Not impressed.

Really? I was there a couple weeks ago and they had 3 styles of shirts, two styles of sweat shirts, a hat and a load of car stuff. Maybe they just got new stuff in and you were there with the clearance stuff?

[PirateCap'n]

Gogo, the student store has tons of wfu law stuff, havnt been able to find them anywhere else (including the online store)

WFU law merchandise seems pretty scarce wherever you look, including everywhere on the internet. I'm not going up to WS anytime in the near future, and I would like to have some stuff before I make it up. If anybody finds anything on the internet, let us know if you don't mind.

[Nicholasnickynic]

Gogo, the student store has tons of wfu law stuff, havnt been able to find them anywhere else (including the online store)

WFU law merchandise seems pretty scarce wherever you look, including everywhere on the internet. I'm not going up to WS anytime in the near future, and I would like to have some stuff before I make it up. If anybody finds anything on the internet, let us know if you don't mind.

UGA is opposite: Nothing on campus, but they have a sweet online store.

I really don't think WF has law gear online.

Go to the WF store at the mall though. They got tons of law stuff, and just WF stuff in general (garter belt lol)

[rickter]

why no w-s pics?

Eh, by the time we got out there it was getting dark so the pictures wouldn't have been great, plus we were going out to the bar and I didn't want to feel like a tourist the ENTIRE time I was there.

I think it was awesome of you to post the pics you did, and thanks for those. living in CA and not having a lot of money, I wasn't able to visit before I had to send my deposit, so this is only the second set of images that I have seen of what the campus is really like .

Thanks again

[moandersen]

However, in this is my first gripe about WFU. Now, I'll preface by saying that it appeared to be some sort of admitted students day for undergraduates, or some sort of weekend where parents came down, so maybe this is a little bit out of the norm (but from what I have heard, it is not). Anyway, the undergraduate campus has very much so a rich white kid school type of feel to it. Probably about 70% of the students/parents I ran into were wearing Ralph Lauren or Lacoste. It was not very diverse, at all. While I didn't get exactly the same feeling at the law school, the class I sat in on didn't have one black student out of about 60 kids. Now, I'm as white as they come, but I come from a very large public school where you can pick 7 people at random and you will probably get 3 different races, so this is just what I am used to, but also what I value. Just my two cents, and I will add that I never heard any sort of racist comments or undertones or anything like that - at all. I'm just saying it was very homogeneous, from what I could see.

That would probably be my only reservation about the school as well. I attended a 'rich white kid' school in cali for a year, so it wouldnt be anything new to me, but I like diversity. Ill be honest, I went on lsac.org last week to check out the racial breakdown of wake out of curiosity and discovered what I expected. My elementary and high school population all had >50% minority (i think in my hs, it was roughly 25% white, with the rest being minorities), and the university i ended up graduating from had the nickname University of Indian and Chinese (UIC). Its nice when you yourself are a minority to have others around you. I addressed this issue at the ASD because I was one of only two minorities attending, and received a hesitant response. Unfortunately im the 'wrong' minority for law school purposes

All of that to say, I think the campus looks a lot sweeter in mid april then it does in february.

[traehekat]

Oh, and not sure how many times I listened to Raise Up by Petey Pablo over the weekend... but it was a lot.