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So like a lot of people here I'm in the process of deciding which law school to attend next fall. Just got back from San Francisco and I thought I'd share my experience.

First of all, the Tenderloin is not nearly as bad as I had envisioned. Yes, it's unattractive. Yes, there are groups of homeless people walking around. Yes, it smells like piss. Honestly though, it wasn't bad enough to scare me out of considering it. In addition, I walked about 4 blocks to the east and I was completely out of it.

The people who worked at the admissions office were really nice. They answered all of my questions and got me set up with a class. I sat in on a con law class. The class size was about 55. The professor was passionate, interesting and actually really hilarious. He only called on about 2 students and even then he was very non-threatening. The students seemed friendly with one another and they even helped me out when I walked in and had no idea where to sit. I got a good vibe with no hint whatsoever of the over the top competitiveness that I always hear about (although I'm sure it exists).

I had a lot of fears coming into the situation about getting around. The BART is really accesible and I had no trouble whatsoever getting around the city. The only thing that I did not like was McAllister tower. I got a depressing vibe from that place (maybe it was the cloudy day?). It's an older building but it has some decent facilities like the workout area and the sky room. I wasn't able to see an actual room but I have seen pictures online and they don't look terrible. The location is great as far as the distance it takes to get to classes, but otherwise the area around the tower is not very nice.

I have pics I can post later.

thanks for writing about your experience. have you visited any other schools? how does hastings compare? are you going to any of the hastings admitted students days? i'll probably be going to the one in march. looking forward to seeing your pics.

btw, where are you from originally? i'm wondering how the vibe is in san francisco. what did you think about the city? i'm used to the laid back style of LA and am hoping SF will be about the same.

vb007 wrote:thanks for writing about your experience. have you visited any other schools? how does hastings compare? are you going to any of the hastings admitted students days? i'll probably be going to the one in march. looking forward to seeing your pics.

btw, where are you from originally? i'm wondering how the vibe is in san francisco. what did you think about the city? i'm used to the laid back style of LA and am hoping SF will be about the same.

Hastings and Boulder are the final two contenders (I think..). I'm from Colorado so I'm pretty familiar with the CU campus but I am going next week to sit in on a class and take the tour of the law school.

I am not attending the admitted students days but I think I got most of my questions answered so I'm not terribly concerned about missing them. I love SF. The vibe is amazing. I think walking around the different neighborhoods and seeing how alive the city is and how random it is really sold me. There are SO many places to go and SO many different types of people which is just not something that I think I've experienced here.

Denver is small. Don't get me wrong I love Denver and Colorado. The city is CLEANER than any city I've ever been to, it has a nightlife but it gets boring. Eventually, you see everything. And Boulder is just suffocating. The undergrads overwhelm the city. Mainly when I think of Boulder I think of drunk undergrads stumbling down the hill in front of my car. Yeah there's outdoor stuff and there are some cool, unique spots but it's nothing like SF. I think CO gets the reputation of being "laid back" because we have a lot of outdoorsy people and hippies but it's really not that laid back at all.

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thanks for posting the pics. i didn't apply to colorado because they don't really have very many offerings in what i'm interested in (ip, biotech, science). everything i read about cu is overwhelmingly positive though, so it looks like you're in a win-win situation. do you have a preference for where you want to work? i'm 99% sure i'm going to hastings so maybe we'll be classmates this fall!

Yeah I'd like to live and work in CA so I'm about 99% sure about Hastings too!! I think seeing Boulder will just reinforce my decision but I'm going to try and go into the situation thinking objectively.

If you want to live and work in CA then go to Hastings. Period.

I visited Hastings last week and LOVED the hell out of it.

McAllister Tower is kinda dingy but it's 100% awesomer than the quality of housing in the college town I'm living in now (UCSB's Isla Vista, anyone?).

Here's a pic of the view out of one of the 2-bedroom apartments in the tower. That is indeed the Cal Supreme Court you see there.


Another pic of the view from another window


different angle of the workout room in the Tower. Used to be a formal ballroom


I know these pics below (not mine) have been available for a while, but thought I'd post them in here.
A McAllister tower efficiency (a stupidly small studio).
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thruruby wrote:I visited Hastings last week and LOVED the hell out of it.

McAllister Tower is kinda dingy but it's 100% awesomer than the quality of housing in the college town I'm living in now (UCSB's Isla Vista, anyone?).

Here's a pic of the view out of one of the 2-bedroom apartments in the tower. That is indeed the Cal Supreme Court you see there.


Another pic of the view from another window

Wow, the views are nice.

rlktntdrmr wrote:
Wow, the views are nice.

tell me about it! you can kind of see the SF bay peeking out in that second pic.

Also, I should really reiterate the OP's point that the Tenderloin is not that bad at all. Especially for people coming up from LA, it's really not a big deal. The homeless/vagrant/drug addict population is pretty much equal to what's around USC, but the Tenderloin businesses employ dozens of security guards who are standing watch all over the place (unlike in LA).

The city is beautiful.

thruruby wrote: UCSB anyone?

Graduated class of 07 from UCSB. living/working in downtown SB now. Awesome to see a fellow Gaucho get accepted to UC Hastings. UC Hastings showed me no love.

+1 on the TL also. It's not THAT bad.

vvpatvv wrote:

thruruby wrote: UCSB anyone?

Graduated class of 07 from UCSB. living/working in downtown SB now. Awesome to see a fellow Gaucho get accepted to UC Hastings. UC Hastings showed me no love.

+1 on the TL also. It's not THAT bad.

UCSB '06 here. Glad to see that there will be a sizable Gaucho presence at Hastings next year

vvpatvv wrote:

thruruby wrote: UCSB anyone?

Graduated class of 07 from UCSB. living/working in downtown SB now. Awesome to see a fellow Gaucho get accepted to UC Hastings. UC Hastings showed me no love.

+1 on the TL also. It's not THAT bad.

UCSB here as well ('08). Still waiting on Hastings...