UVA or Penn Forum

[Veyron]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

[itsirtou]

I say UVA but like someone else said, I'm not really unbiased.

also I hate fratty culture and I'm fine here, just fyi.

[ksimon2007]

I say UVA but like someone else said, I'm not really unbiased.

also I hate fratty culture and I'm fine here, just fyi.

Yeah the friend I have at UVA is by no means fratty and loves the place...frattyness or the lack thereof matters not

[whitman]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

Yeah, that came out a little haevy-handed, mostly to see if I could elicit a response and get some information. Keep up the witty one-liners on here, by the way, Veyron; they always give me a good chuckle.

Also, I know non-fratty people who go to UVA law and love it. Most people who get into UVA Law are not frat stars because frat stars often don't have the GPA/LSAT combo to get in.

[FiveSermon]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

Yeah, that came out a little haevy-handed, mostly to see if I could elicit a response and get some information. Keep up the witty one-liners on here, by the way, Veyron; they always give me a good chuckle.

Also, I know non-fratty people who go to UVA law and love it. Most people who get into UVA Law are not frat stars because frat stars often don't have the GPA/LSAT combo to get in.

UVA has to be the 2nd most splitter friendly school around after NU. Have a 3.85+? Just score above 160 and ED. Got above a 170? Just make sure you have above a 3.0

[whitman]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

Yeah, that came out a little haevy-handed, mostly to see if I could elicit a response and get some information. Keep up the witty one-liners on here, by the way, Veyron; they always give me a good chuckle.

Also, I know non-fratty people who go to UVA law and love it. Most people who get into UVA Law are not frat stars because frat stars often don't have the GPA/LSAT combo to get in.

UVA has to be the 2nd most splitter friendly school around after NU. Have a 3.85+? Just score above 160 and ED. Got above a 170? Just make sure you have above a 3.0

I wish the ED wasn't required for this to be true.

[unc0mm0n1]

UVA for DC. Penn for NYC. All else pretty equal. Penn is snobbier though.

This, although I question Penn being snobby (unless UVA happens to be an incredibly down-to-earth place). Perhaps the LS is different in this respect, but most people I know who went to the UG were cool people.

I think the consensus on UVA is that it is incredibly down to earth, but I suspect that Penn is just as nice a place to study. The very clear answer on UVA for D.C. does not seem to be resonating with the poll voters. 22 to 21 haha.

I understand that both schools are pretty much the same so I appreciate you all indulging me.

Both schools are known for having cool people but the people are also very, very different. UVA is more fraty, Penn is more laid back and west coast (CA is the most represented state).

I heard that about UVA, not so much about Penn. I thought it was closer to Chicago than Berkeley (I have not visited Penn yet and just taking this from some people who I know who went there)

[paulinaporizkova]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

Yeah, that came out a little haevy-handed, mostly to see if I could elicit a response and get some information. Keep up the witty one-liners on here, by the way, Veyron; they always give me a good chuckle.

Also, I know non-fratty people who go to UVA law and love it. Most people who get into UVA Law are not frat stars because frat stars often don't have the GPA/LSAT combo to get in.

UVA has to be the 2nd most splitter friendly school around after NU. Have a 3.85+? Just score above 160 and ED. Got above a 170? Just make sure you have above a 3.0

if you said 165, you'd be right.

[Veyron]

[/quote]

I heard that about UVA, not so much about Penn. I thought it was closer to Chicago than Berkeley (I have not visited Penn yet and just taking this from some people who I know who went there)[/quote]

You must not have gotten within 1000 miles of our admissions office. Even when they fart they use the word collegiality. For all the overkill, its prettymuch true. We just aren't athletic enough for softball.

Yeah, that came out a little haevy-handed, mostly to see if I could elicit a response and get some information.

No problem, this is my de-facto posting technique

[RVP11]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

UVA also does 4 classes + LRW.

OP: I'd ignore this "UVA for DC, Penn for NYC" talk. The schools are a lot closer in terms of placement in each city. DC firms aren't going deeper into the class at UVA just because it's 100 miles away, and it's probably the same with NYC firms and Penn. Big, prestigious firms in big, prestigious cities like to get people from all the top schools and want school diversity in their summer classes. And even if UVA, for instance, DID have some edge with DC firms, it'd probably be swallowed up by the fact that just about every person in the top quarter of the class is gunning for DC.

Go visit the schools and pick based on that. Or just answer the question of whether you want to live in a big city or a college town.

[ksimon2007]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

UVA also does 4 classes + LRW.

OP: I'd ignore this "UVA for DC, Penn for NYC" talk. The schools are a lot closer in terms of placement in each city. DC firms aren't going deeper into the class at UVA just because it's 100 miles away, and it's probably the same with NYC firms and Penn. Big, prestigious firms in big, prestigious cities like to get people from all the top schools and want school diversity in their summer classes. And even if UVA, for instance, DID have some edge with DC firms, it'd probably be swallowed up by the fact that just about every person in the top quarter of the class is gunning for DC.

Go visit the schools and pick based on that. Or just answer the question of whether you want to live in a big city or a college town.

what is the entering class size for penn? My only worry about going to a place like Penn is that the atmosphere might be a little too "ivy league" for me (ie overly competitive and adversarial).

[beachbum]

Well, here goes my first official troll for my new school...

OP, did you apply to Duke, and have you considered attending? I was in a similar situation to yours when deciding where to ED, and I found that, in a lot of respects, Duke is a happy medium between Penn and UVA. Just a thought.

[showNprove]

Well, here goes my first official troll for my new school...

OP, did you apply to Duke, and have you considered attending? I was in a similar situation to yours when deciding where to ED, and I found that, in a lot of respects, Duke is a happy medium between Penn and UVA. Just a thought.

Actually, Penn is a happy medium between U.Va. and Duke--as in, almost as good as U.Va. and better than Duke.

[Veyron]

So I'm in at Penn, WLed at UVA, which sucks because I was really looking forward to playing softball and cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Penn sounds kind of miserable from what I've read from Veyron, who, ironically, seems to love it even as he makes it sound awful. Is Penn really that bad? Students that nerdy? Work that hard (I saw somewhere that he said it was as intense as Chicago, which seems to be proud of its reputation as the most intense around)?

I think you misunderstand me, the first semester is super intense because the university tries to cram in 4 classes + LRW. I think this may change next year.

UVA also does 4 classes + LRW.

OP: I'd ignore this "UVA for DC, Penn for NYC" talk. The schools are a lot closer in terms of placement in each city. DC firms aren't going deeper into the class at UVA just because it's 100 miles away, and it's probably the same with NYC firms and Penn. Big, prestigious firms in big, prestigious cities like to get people from all the top schools and want school diversity in their summer classes. And even if UVA, for instance, DID have some edge with DC firms, it'd probably be swallowed up by the fact that just about every person in the top quarter of the class is gunning for DC.

Go visit the schools and pick based on that. Or just answer the question of whether you want to live in a big city or a college town.

what is the entering class size for penn? My only worry about going to a place like Penn is that the atmosphere might be a little too "ivy league" for me (ie overly competitive and adversarial).

Like 250. I wouldn't worry about it being overly competive, people don't even discuss grades for the most part - its verboden (drives me up the wall). Sometimes people will joke about being gunners but the flat nature of the curve is such that a large % of the class ends up right in the middle so there isn't much use in being an ass to your sectionmates. Like I said, its a very west coast vibe, not very preppy at all. People ARE probably more career focused here than at UVA though.

[beachbum]

Well, here goes my first official troll for my new school...

OP, did you apply to Duke, and have you considered attending? I was in a similar situation to yours when deciding where to ED, and I found that, in a lot of respects, Duke is a happy medium between Penn and UVA. Just a thought.

Actually, Penn is a happy medium between U.Va. and Duke--as in, almost as good as U.Va. and better than Duke.

That's fair, should've expected someone to fight troll with troll

[ksimon2007]

@beachbum I did apply to Duke and have yet to hear.

@Veyron Thanks for the answer. I grew up in the south and have taken to wearing boat shoes and khakis haha...not to mention I am a black conservative...I doubt there is a perfect fit for that description, but I really do not foresee fitting in socially being a problem for me at either place. How would you describe access to professors outside the classroom at UPenn? I do appreciate the tradition of taking professors out to lunch. If you would rather pm please feel free to do so.

[Veyron]

@beachbum I did apply to Duke and have yet to hear.

@Veyron Thanks for the answer. I grew up in the south and have taken to wearing boat shoes and khakis haha...not to mention I am a black conservative...I doubt there is a perfect fit for that description, but I really do not foresee fitting in socially being a problem for me at either place. How would you describe access to professors outside the classroom at UPenn? I do appreciate the tradition of taking professors out to lunch. If you would rather pm please feel free to do so.

I have few complaints about the access, just spent an hour today 1 on 1 with my former contracts professor going over my Ks exam and getting pointers about how to take issue spotters. Small schools have their advantages.

[ksimon2007]

@beachbum I did apply to Duke and have yet to hear.

@Veyron Thanks for the answer. I grew up in the south and have taken to wearing boat shoes and khakis haha...not to mention I am a black conservative...I doubt there is a perfect fit for that description, but I really do not foresee fitting in socially being a problem for me at either place. How would you describe access to professors outside the classroom at UPenn? I do appreciate the tradition of taking professors out to lunch. If you would rather pm please feel free to do so.

I have few complaints about the access, just spent an hour today 1 on 1 with my former contracts professor going over my Ks exam and getting pointers about how to take issue spotters. Small schools have their advantages.

I attend an undergrad with a little over 1,000 students so I do appreciate small class sizes. I know that W&L is ideally the type of school I would like to attend, but the ranking is simply not there...on the other hand Penn does have the ranking

[mst]

You want DC, you want laid-back, you have a supportive close friend at UVA. Both are great schools. Basically equal in placement/regions aside from a slight edge to each in NY & DC. But you want DC. So go UVA. Enjoy softball bro.

[Veyron]

@beachbum I did apply to Duke and have yet to hear.

@Veyron Thanks for the answer. I grew up in the south and have taken to wearing boat shoes and khakis haha...not to mention I am a black conservative...I doubt there is a perfect fit for that description, but I really do not foresee fitting in socially being a problem for me at either place. How would you describe access to professors outside the classroom at UPenn? I do appreciate the tradition of taking professors out to lunch. If you would rather pm please feel free to do so.

I have few complaints about the access, just spent an hour today 1 on 1 with my former contracts professor going over my Ks exam and getting pointers about how to take issue spotters. Small schools have their advantages.

I attend an undergrad with a little over 1,000 students so I do appreciate small class sizes. I know that W&L is ideally the type of school I would like to attend, but the ranking is simply not there...on the other hand Penn does have the ranking

I don't know how the actual class size for the 1st year doctrinals stack up to other schools overall. I've had classes this year ranging from about 80 kids to about 15 kids. But I will say, class size doesn't correspond much with accessibility, I am constantly shocked by how few kids actually go to office hours.

[ksimon2007]

@beachbum I did apply to Duke and have yet to hear.

@Veyron Thanks for the answer. I grew up in the south and have taken to wearing boat shoes and khakis haha...not to mention I am a black conservative...I doubt there is a perfect fit for that description, but I really do not foresee fitting in socially being a problem for me at either place. How would you describe access to professors outside the classroom at UPenn? I do appreciate the tradition of taking professors out to lunch. If you would rather pm please feel free to do so.

I have few complaints about the access, just spent an hour today 1 on 1 with my former contracts professor going over my Ks exam and getting pointers about how to take issue spotters. Small schools have their advantages.

I attend an undergrad with a little over 1,000 students so I do appreciate small class sizes. I know that W&L is ideally the type of school I would like to attend, but the ranking is simply not there...on the other hand Penn does have the ranking

I don't know how the actual class size for the 1st year doctrinals stack up to other schools overall. I've had classes this year ranging from about 80 kids to about 15 kids. But I will say, class size doesn't correspond much with accessibility, I am constantly shocked by how few kids actually go to office hours.

I'm certainly one to talk to my professors outside of the classroom

[keg411]

I don't think the DC/NYC thing is as big of a deal as some of you are making it. DC is extremely competitive and will continue to be from either school. OP, your best bet is really to visit both; but I think there are advantages to going to UVA and having a friend to help you out.

Also, I go to a school that plays softball (though I'm not making the UVA trip; too close to finals and too much going on the surrounding weekends) and it's probably the most fun thing ever.

[ksimon2007]

I don't think the DC/NYC thing is as big of a deal as some of you are making it. DC is extremely competitive and will continue to be from either school. OP, your best bet is really to visit both; but I think there are advantages to going to UVA and having a friend to help you out.

Also, I go to a school that plays softball (though I'm not making the UVA trip; too close to finals and too much going on the surrounding weekends) and it's probably the most fun thing ever.

All good points.

[Whatsawahooanyway]

How exactly does softball work at UVA? Is it pickup? Leagues? Slow-pitch? Ball size/gloves or not? Do we form an allstar team eventually to annihilate other law schools in the big softball tourney?

Just wondering.

[showNprove]

How exactly does softball work at UVA? Is it pickup? Leagues? Slow-pitch? Ball size/gloves or not? Do we form an allstar team eventually to annihilate other law schools in the big softball tourney?

Just wondering.

1. There are 1L section teams, student org. teams, and self-made teams.
2. No, the games are scheduled by NGSL once all teams are registered.
3. Yes, Men's and Co-Rec.
4. Yes.
5. Regulation softball and we use gloves.
6. Yes, it's a tournament in the spring.