Rutgers Newark Forum

[badpixie]

They just tapped the waitlist, and...

I AM IN!!!

good luck to everyone still waiting out there!!!

Congratulations!!

[Deevo]

They just tapped the waitlist, and...

I AM IN!!!

good luck to everyone still waiting out there!!!

Congratulations!!! The same thing just happened to me! So excited.

[renee15]

what was your study schedule like your first semester? thanks

First semester you will have 4 lectures (Torts, Property, Crim. Law and Contracts) and LRW. Generally I would do about 1 hour of "prep" for each lecture. "Prep" simply means reading and understanding the material for the next class (briefing, taking notes, etc.). So if I had three lectures the following day, I would usually need 3 hours to "prep". Based on this model, my schedule would vary from day to day, but it basically gave me Fridays and Saturdays off.

Please note that the notion of "prepping" for a class is different from College where people would normally "review" what they did in class. Law School Professors expect you to know the material when you walk into the classroom. Please don't be the idiot who gets caught unprepared and has to admit to the professor that they didn't read the case. . Or WORSE, the idiot who pretends to be prepared and then gets embarassed by the professor when their unpreparedness is inevitably exposed.

Some students like to read ahead, but I don't. First off, your syllabus can change. My Crim. Law professor was running behind, so he skipped the entire section on Rape. So anyone who had 'read ahead' basically wasted their time. Also, I feel I retained the information better if I had the lecture immediately following my "prep". So I recommend only reading the material for the next class.

With LRW, I basically worked whenever I could. I didn't have a fixed schedule, but I tried to do about 1 hour of LRW 3 times a week. Many people procrastinate on the LRW assignments, and end up doing all-nighters. Please DO NOT DO THIS. You cannot write a good paper if you are frantically typing away with a mug of coffee and 3 hours before it is due. Oh who am I kidding, of course you will procrastinate, we all do! But seriously, try not to.

About 6 weeks before the end of the semester, you will want to start on your outlines. You should try to dedicate 1 hour per day on these. But ONLY 1 hour. Outlines are supposed to be concise, so keep it short! If your outline is longer than your class notes, then you are doing something wrong.

Overall, my goal was to do 8 hours of class and study per day on average (except Saturdays and Sundays). I treated law school like it was a 9-5 job.

Also don't forget you will have allocate time for your professors office hours (if you plan to go), seminars, clubs and other events. I recommend using a schedule or calendar tool like Google Calendar. I sync'd my Google Calendar to my iPhone, iMac and MacbookPro so anytime I wanted to view or modify my schedule, I could modify it on any device and it would be transmitted to every device I had. I was never off-schedule.

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like a great plan that would probably work for me. Did you completely take weekends off or just do less work? What are the chances of committing one's self to non-law school activities on weekends? I am thinking about playing on a travel ice hockey team, which may involve me traveling to PA,MD and VA as well as tournaments. . much further away. Is it possible if I stick to a strict schedule?

[badpixie]

They just tapped the waitlist, and...

I AM IN!!!

good luck to everyone still waiting out there!!!

Congratulations!!! The same thing just happened to me! So excited.

Congratulations Deevo!

[phooey182]

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like a great plan that would probably work for me. Did you completely take weekends off or just do less work? What are the chances of committing one's self to non-law school activities on weekends? I am thinking about playing on a travel ice hockey team, which may involve me traveling to PA,MD and VA as well as tournaments. . much further away. Is it possible if I stick to a strict schedule?

I did not completely take weekends off. Life happens and your schedule adjusts. There were weekends when I would spend a few hours studying. A travel team seems like a huge time committment, and there will be some weekends where you needs a few hours for studying or just some 'down time'. Personally I think you should skip the travel team because you might end up missing a few games. Is that fair to your teammates? But I would definitely stick with the hockey in some way because you can put it on your resume. It makes you more interesting to employers. And the exercise will keep you from getting fat.

[renee15]

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like a great plan that would probably work for me. Did you completely take weekends off or just do less work? What are the chances of committing one's self to non-law school activities on weekends? I am thinking about playing on a travel ice hockey team, which may involve me traveling to PA,MD and VA as well as tournaments. . much further away. Is it possible if I stick to a strict schedule?

I did not completely take weekends off. Life happens and your schedule adjusts. There were weekends when I would spend a few hours studying. A travel team seems like a huge time committment, and there will be some weekends where you needs a few hours for studying or just some 'down time'. Personally I think you should skip the travel team because you might end up missing a few games. Is that fair to your teammates? But I would definitely stick with the hockey in some way because you can put it on your resume. It makes you more interesting to employers. And the exercise will keep you from getting fat.

Well I would only be travelling maybe...10 weekends...maybe less...I don't know what their schedules are like. Unfortunately I don't have many choices because there arent enough Women's teams in NJ...I come from MA and there are tons so I don't have to travel too much. My other option would be to play with men, which might not be a bad idea. Who knows...I got to make a decision soon though! Thanks for the imput!

[Deevo]

They just tapped the waitlist, and...

I AM IN!!!

good luck to everyone still waiting out there!!!

Congratulations!!! The same thing just happened to me! So excited.

Congratulations Deevo!

Thanks!

So, what is everyone's feeling on early vs. late track? Guess I'm already late on sending that form back - lol.

[kasparov]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

[NJcollegestudent]

For those who just got in off the list, if you do not mind, what were your LSAT and GPA's?

[NJcollegestudent]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

[kasparov]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

I live one block away from Gladstone station. Did you commute? If so, did you take the train? I'm debating whether to buy a parking badge, NJT pass, or both to cover all possible scenarios.

[orange_ava]

Congrats to all of those who just got off the waitlist.

To any current students, Mac or PC? Does RU prefer one over the other? Thanks!

[Deevo]

For those who just got in off the list, if you do not mind, what were your LSAT and GPA's?

167, 2.8ish

Congrats to all of those who just got off the waitlist.

To any current students, Mac or PC? Does RU prefer one over the other? Thanks!

Thanks, glad to be in!
I think PC's could potentially run the test software better (ie: they can), but I'm no expert.

Update: the second link on the following page may be useful:
http://law.newark.rutgers.edu/students/ ... g-students

[ejhl2007]

does anyone know how to get resident status to pay instate tuition at rutgers?
i heard that as long as you can provide a lease you are eligible?
what's the deadline?

any info would help..

thanks.

[kasparov]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

sorry for the double reply, but i missed this. can you really take the light rail from penn to washington for free?

[renee15]

does anyone know how to get resident status to pay instate tuition at rutgers?
i heard that as long as you can provide a lease you are eligible?
what's the deadline?

any info would help..

thanks.

I have my lease in. I would say the sooner the better. I hear it needs to be in before the bill for the semester goes out.

[king3780]

does anyone know how to get resident status to pay instate tuition at rutgers?
i heard that as long as you can provide a lease you are eligible?
what's the deadline?

any info would help..

thanks.

I have my lease in. I would say the sooner the better. I hear it needs to be in before the bill for the semester goes out.

ASAP is the best answer. Dean Walton can "fix" it if you get the lease in after the term bill comes out, but it's a hassle. Time to find a place to live!

[phooey182]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

sorry for the double reply, but i missed this. can you really take the light rail from penn to washington for free?

If you buy a monthly pass on NJ Transit, yes you can take the rail for free. And the monthly pass on NJ Transit is worth it. Also, you can buy a monthly pass through Rutgers, which means you'll get the student discount.

If you do not buy a monthly pass on NJ Transit, the rail is not free. Also, no one on the rail will check to make sure you bought a rail ticket or have a monthly pass. However, police will periodically board the light rail to check for passenger tickets and monthly passes. If you don't have a pass, you'll get a citation which is very expensive.

[rw2188]

For those who just got in off the list, if you do not mind, what were your LSAT and GPA's?

156, 3.2 and 3.3 (I have 2 BAs from 2 different universities)

I was on hold for 2 months, then put on the waitlist.

[audrey hepburn]

Does anyone know when we should be getting our schedules and list of professors? Maybe current students can tell us when they received their schedules last year?

[duanxiao]

For those got off the waitlist, are you for the full-time or part-time program?

They just tapped the waitlist, and...

I AM IN!!!

good luck to everyone still waiting out there!!!

[Deevo]

For those got off the waitlist, are you for the full-time or part-time program?

Full-time program. Best of luck if you're still waiting.

[king3780]

Does anyone know when we should be getting our schedules and list of professors? Maybe current students can tell us when they received their schedules last year?

Late July, early August as I recall.

[NJcollegestudent]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

I live one block away from Gladstone station. Did you commute? If so, did you take the train? I'm debating whether to buy a parking badge, NJT pass, or both to cover all possible scenarios.

Sorry for the late reply. I do commute via train each day through New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor line. For you, if you use the Gladstone line, you have to change at Secacus and take a train back to Newark, New Jersey. The thing about New Jersey Transit is that when it comes to trains and commuting there are some days when there might be some delays, usually minor. Most of the time it is quite efficient, and worth the time. In addition, you get to ride the light rail for free if you have a monthly, or weekly pass with atleast one zone.

I think i commented on the parking before, however, its worth another visit. Parking is a situation that figures to be tricky for the campus and its 10,000 or so students. There are two decks, Deck 1 and Deck 2, with Deck 1 being right next to the law school and englehard hall. Deck 2 is further down the university avenue, and usually is used when Deck 1 fills up. During the regular semesters, fall and spring, after say 9:30am there is no parking left and then only Deck 2 is available. Parking is about 380 dollars or so for the entire year and gas would be based on your distance from the campus. Rail fares also vary from where you are coming from, as they can be as low as 74 dollars to as expensive as 440 dollars a month (without the discount).

[NJcollegestudent]

anyone coming from somerset county or thereabouts? interested in a car pool situation?

If you prefer mass transit, and live around the Raritan Valley Line, i believe it can be a 30-45 minute trip in to Newark. Also you can use the light rail for free to get to campus.

sorry for the double reply, but i missed this. can you really take the light rail from penn to washington for free?

If you buy a monthly pass on NJ Transit, yes you can take the rail for free. And the monthly pass on NJ Transit is worth it. Also, you can buy a monthly pass through Rutgers, which means you'll get the student discount.

If you do not buy a monthly pass on NJ Transit, the rail is not free. Also, no one on the rail will check to make sure you bought a rail ticket or have a monthly pass. However, police will periodically board the light rail to check for passenger tickets and monthly passes. If you don't have a pass, you'll get a citation which is very expensive.

The discount is extremely convenient for students, as it is 25% off the entire fare. You can enroll through rutgers online and pay the 3 dollars or so extra monthly for the quicktickets. If you do not want to pay the fee, then use the paper form and get it stamped by your registrar, and then present that and your ID to the rail window to get the pass.

Regarding the light rail inspections, it is true about the tickets which are quite the burden if you do not have valid fare payment. For those who come into Rutgers via path or a non New Jersey Transit mode of transportation, then purchase the downtown fare for .70 cents each way, rather than the 1.35 for the full price. The only restriction is that you cannot use downtown fare between 4-7pm outbound.