Any kid friendly law school towns? Forum

[mini777]

In mid-January, when you haven't see the sun for a month and it's somewhere around 0 outside, ask your children if they'd be happier if it were 70 and sunny.

They lived in Portland, OR before , so they are used to not seeing the sun.

[Other25BeforeYou]

I will disagree that a family can be happy anywhere. I would as soon have no "peers" if my family were happy -- no offense to mini or mbw. You have enough in common with your family-free peers. You don't need a shoulder to cry on about how hard it is being a law student with a family. Everybody has their stuff. I think there were very few towns/cities with decent law schools where my family would have been comfortable. That was #1 in my decision-making process.

I totally agree with KMaine and KMaine, no offense taken. When I was making my decision, I gave greatest weight to where my kids would be the happiest. I also took into account where I could give them most of my attention while I was at school. I chose Cornell because I knew that my kids would be happier in Ithaca than in LA and life would be easier as a parent. I did not bother looking into how many students would be in a similar situation.

In mid-January, when you haven't see the sun for a month and it's somewhere around 0 outside, ask your children if they'd be happier if it were 70 and sunny.

When I was a kid growing up in Upstate New York, winters were nothing short of magical. Sledding with neighborhood kids, making snowmen, and hoping against hope every night that there would be a freak snowstorm and school would be canceled (and the ecstatic joy that occurred when it actually happened). The saddest time of the year was spring because all the snow melted.

It's almost certainly not for everyone, and some kids would probably hate it. I'm just saying, many children out there wouldn't prefer a snowless 3 years.

[AP-375]

I was under the impression that Ithaca was a quiet place with not much to do other than drink with undergrads. I like Cornell, but I worry my wife would be bored to tears there. Not so?

[irishman86]

I was under the impression that Ithaca was a quiet place with not much to do other than drink with undergrads. I like Cornell, but I worry my wife would be bored to tears there. Not so?

Probably so. I think it's by far the tiniest town out of all the T-14 locales, but it's only 3 years, so whatever.

[mbw]

In mid-January, when you haven't see the sun for a month and it's somewhere around 0 outside, ask your children if they'd be happier if it were 70 and sunny.

They lived in Portland, OR before , so they are used to not seeing the sun.

And we're from Portland, Maine... Last year, they were rather peeved at pitiful amount of snow we got

ETA: As far as things to do, it's really not bad at all. There are all the typical things (just got back from soccer and now they're off to swim at the Y,) and this morning was spent at the farmers' market and later this afternoon, we're going out to a pumpkin patch to pick our own (we can do the same at Christmas with cut-your-own tree farms.) There's a nice childrens/science museum, the Syracuse zoo is only an hour away, and Cornell has lots of smaller museums. There are youth singing and theater groups and athletics through the IYB. Lots of parks, outdoor recreation, etc. And the schools are excellent, and most have extensive extra-curricular activities: I have four kids in four schools (ages 8 - 14) and we're busy almost every night with something.

And we still have time for a beer/movie/dinner with our law school peers now and again.

Also, while Ithaca is small, it's not that small. I grew up just outside of New Haven, and there's much more for my kids to do here than there was for me in suburban Connecticut. It's also has a much more reasonable CoL than almost all the other T14s (maybe not UVA and/or Mich) and having things to do means nothing if you can't afford to do them.

[mini777]

I was under the impression that Ithaca was a quiet place with not much to do other than drink with undergrads. I like Cornell, but I worry my wife would be bored to tears there. Not so?

It depends on what she likes doing for fun. There are a number of law students with significant others at Cornell and most of the significant others seem very content.

[OmbreGracieuse]

I have a friend who lives next to UVa, and LOVES it! She feels it is one of the kid friendliet schools out there; they have socials for parents and their kids, and do holiday related things for all the little ones.

I live by Notre Dame; I speak from personal experience that it is NOT a kid friendly area (just shooting that out there). There isn't a lot to do here.

[Apple Tree]

I got into all these schools with 168 so I think OP has a great chance at all of them. I only visited UVA. From what I've seen, C'vill is very child friendly. The weather is great, and the COL is unbeatable for the quality the city (town) brings. I think UVA law also has an organization for students with kids.