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Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 3:27 pm
by MattM
Hello,
What are the major differences between the workload in a quarter system and the regular two semester system most Law Schools use?
One of the schools i'm looking at is Baylor but I'm not sure if that would be the right fit for me due to the expedited speed of the quarter system....I have a Solid GPA and LSAT so I feel confident about Law School in general but not sure if the quarter system would be good due to the rushed pace....I think by working hard just like in undergrad in the two semester system while it would be fast given that it is law school, I would be able to review and understand the material in a better way.
Thanks!
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 3:36 pm
by Ti Malice
Perhaps we should begin with a more elementary question: "Should I go to Baylor?"
Only sensible answer: "Fuck no."
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 4&t=192436
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=224879
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 5:31 pm
by Crowing
The difference is taking more sets of exams sucks
Post removed.
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:15 pm
by MistakenGenius
Post removed.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:21 pm
by BigZuck
Don't go to Baylor dude, it's an awful experience from everything I have read/heard, job placement is weak, and it's in Waco. If your numbers are good, go to UT.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:33 pm
by shifty_eyed
You can't leave class to go to the restroom, you can't eat in class, you can't enter the classroom if you are late. There are a bunch of mandatory 2L and 3L classes including a horrifically stressful Practice Court class (classes?) required in your 3rd year. Most law schools let you take whatever you want after 1L.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:38 pm
by ph14
shifty_eyed wrote:You can't leave class to go to the restroom, you can't eat in class, you can't enter the classroom if you are late. There are a bunch of mandatory 2L and 3L classes including a horrifically stressful Practice Court class (classes?) required in your 3rd year. Most law schools let you take whatever you want after 1L.
No way
.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:41 pm
by ilikebaseball
Is Baylor at least a good school for leveraging smu?
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:46 pm
by shifty_eyed
ph14 wrote:shifty_eyed wrote:You can't leave class to go to the restroom, you can't eat in class, you can't enter the classroom if you are late. There are a bunch of mandatory 2L and 3L classes including a horrifically stressful Practice Court class (classes?) required in your 3rd year. Most law schools let you take whatever you want after 1L.
No way
.
According to my source, a prof said "Don't get up in less you are puking." She said that in another class (4 hours long), they have one break, but another classmate got permission from the prof ahead of time to leave sometimes for medical reasons.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:47 pm
by BigZuck
Not sure anyone here could effectively answer that but it's worth a shot. Although, isn't SMU pretty generous on their own? I believe they are pretty LSAT-whorish
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:49 pm
by ph14
shifty_eyed wrote:ph14 wrote:shifty_eyed wrote:You can't leave class to go to the restroom, you can't eat in class, you can't enter the classroom if you are late. There are a bunch of mandatory 2L and 3L classes including a horrifically stressful Practice Court class (classes?) required in your 3rd year. Most law schools let you take whatever you want after 1L.
No way
.
According to my source, a prof said "Don't get up in less you are puking." She said that in another class (4 hours long), they have one break, but another classmate got permission from the prof ahead of time to leave sometimes for medical reasons.
That's pretty ridiculous. I can't imagine why a law school wouldn't treat its students as anything less than adults.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:56 pm
by shifty_eyed
Baylor also has no secondary journals, so it's law review or bust.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:58 pm
by BigZuck
shifty_eyed wrote:Baylor also has no secondary journals, so it's law review or bust.
MUCH RIGOR
Well, I think we answered your question OP. Chicago and Baylor suck and aren't worth attending.
/thread
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:01 pm
by Ramius
BigZuck wrote:shifty_eyed wrote:Baylor also has no secondary journals, so it's law review or bust.
MUCH RIGOR
Well, I think we answered your question OP. Chicago and Baylor suck and aren't worth attending.
/thread
Lol.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:02 pm
by rpupkin
BigZuck wrote:shifty_eyed wrote:Baylor also has no secondary journals, so it's law review or bust.
MUCH RIGOR
Well, I think we answered your question OP. Chicago and Baylor suck and aren't worth attending.
/thread
LOL
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:05 pm
by Neal Patrick Harris
Crowing wrote:The difference is taking more sets of exams sucks
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:22 pm
by BVest
choward014 wrote:Is Baylor at least a good school for leveraging smu?
SMU doesn't negotiate.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:15 pm
by Nucky
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:21 am
by Attax
BVest wrote:choward014 wrote:Is Baylor at least a good school for leveraging smu?
SMU doesn't negotiate.
And UT/UH didn't give a shit about my Baylor $
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:49 am
by hef
I went to Baylor. The quarter system sucks, but its also kinda scary how little you learn in law school. I am sometimes glad i had to take more classes and learn about more areas of law.
Regarding Waco, its a great place to go to law school. The cost of living is great. And its not like you have a lot of distractions tempting you while you read in the library. Speaking of, the library and law school is beautiful.
there was a comment about the quarter system messing with SA opportunities. That can happen, I guess. I happened to me, but only because I didn't realize, or really even know about the whole SA/biglaw/thing. I worked at the AGs and another government gig one summer, and I didn't get another summer of working because I did PC during the spring/summer quarters.
And now that PC has been brought up, PC is a brutal experience that will push you to your limit. I was memoed twice during the first quarter of PC, the second time occurred a few days before finals. It was tough.
With all that said, if I had to do it over again, I would choose to go to Baylor. When I graduated, jobless, from Baylor, I was stressed, anxious, etc. I had an interview at a plaintiffs firm a couple of days after graduation. I went into the interview, and was able to talk intelligently about litigation. See, PC teaches you what discovery is. PC teaches you local rules, procedural tips, how to hold your own under pressure. When I walked out of the interview I was shown where my desk was and told to start ASAP. I was able to argue hearings under my bar card, while waiting for results (oh, I also was studying for the bar during PC. It is hard, but its doable. might as well do it then when you have just had Texas procedure and evidence shoved down your throat for 6 months; also, baylor's bar pass rate is nearly perfect every year), and guess what, I even won some of those hearings. It was awesome.
And then Baylor did one more thing for me, aside from turning me into a person who was confident in a court room the moment she left law school. See, Baylor is small. The professors get to know the students there. I can honestly say I left Baylor having become friends with most of mine. And Baylor hires professors who have practiced for some time. I cant think of a prof there who didn't actually work in the field as an attorney for a decent while before turning to teaching. So, these professors know, because they have worked with, lots of attorneys in the market.
I graduated jobless. I was bitter about only having one summer. Then, I landed a job within a week of graduated, because of the confidence PC gave me. I worked there for a few months, then I got a phone call from biglaw(sorry, not gonna say the firm). A partner there was friends with one of the PC profs. He asked whether my prof knew of anyone who they could throw into litigation without holding their hand. My prof told them about me, that same prof who had memoed me twice. He had pushed me during PC, and he was confident in my skills. So he gave me a great reference, and then I was recruited. It was literally the coolest thing to happen to me. Especially since I wasn't expecting it. So, I went from a jobless smoo to landing a 6 figure salary within 4 months of graduating.
I am not from Texas. I have no family here. I am the first generation to graduate college in my family. I clerked for no judges. Basically, I have no connections to bring to the table regarding the law firm business. I only had Baylor to help me open doors. And it did, in a huge way. My job rocks. And I'll actually get to do trials.
There is a lot of negativity about Baylor on here. And, its almost always from people who didnt go there, but swear that they heard their intel from someone who totally did go there. That shit is hearsay.
Feel free to message me or whatever if you want to know more about Baylor. I am not trying to say its all rainbows and lollipops there. There are many cons. But there are a lot of pros, and, for me, the pros out weigh the cons.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:08 am
by JVK
That's easy to say now that you have your job. You worked hard and I'm happy for you, but do your realize how unpredictable your own process was? Would you really recommend that someone go to a school on the premise that you threw all your cards to the wind and they happened to fall into order?
That's not easy to duplicate and I'm sure there are many, many others who didn't get big law through a professor after graduating jobless. Graduating with an understanding of the court system and how litigation works doesn't mean anything if you're still unemployed. It's possible, yes, and that's a good skill to have. But someone still choosing a law school is still in a position where they can decide how they want to manage risk, and there are a lot less risky choices than going to Baylor and hoping.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:24 am
by hef
JVK wrote:That's easy to say now that you have your job. You worked hard and I'm happy for you, but do your realize how unpredictable your own process was? Would you really recommend that someone go to a school on the premise that you threw all your cards to the wind and they happened to fall into order?
That's not easy to duplicate and I'm sure there are many, many others who didn't get big law through a professor after graduating jobless. Graduating with an understanding of the court system and how litigation works doesn't mean anything if you're still unemployed. It's possible, yes, and that's a good skill to have. But someone still choosing a law school is still in a position where they can decide how they want to manage risk, and there are a lot less risky choices than going to Baylor and hoping.
I completely agree. Law School needs to be an informed decision, and unfortunately, many people just kinda jump into it. I wasn't trying to say Baylor is for everyone; its definitely not. I was just trying to share my positive experience. You are right, it is easy to say its awesome because I now have a job. But I did also say that I was bitter when I graduated.
Regarding unemployment, I have read that Baylor prospects are bad. But, in my personal experience with my fellow classmates, I don't perceive that to be the case. All of my friends have jobs. And I have more than 2 friends. The majority of my graduating class did not have jobs, mostly bc we graduated in august and only had one summer to work. However, I am not the only person from my school to get a job based of a profs recommendation. A decent number of my friends were referred to firms by baylor profs, mostly the PC profs. And I cant really think of anyone off the top of my head right now that doesnt have a job, though I am sure there are some.
But you are right. Law school is a risk. And one person landing biglaw after graduating jobless is a very rare exception
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:42 pm
by Attax
hef wrote:JVK wrote:That's easy to say now that you have your job. You worked hard and I'm happy for you, but do your realize how unpredictable your own process was? Would you really recommend that someone go to a school on the premise that you threw all your cards to the wind and they happened to fall into order?
That's not easy to duplicate and I'm sure there are many, many others who didn't get big law through a professor after graduating jobless. Graduating with an understanding of the court system and how litigation works doesn't mean anything if you're still unemployed. It's possible, yes, and that's a good skill to have. But someone still choosing a law school is still in a position where they can decide how they want to manage risk, and there are a lot less risky choices than going to Baylor and hoping.
I completely agree. Law School needs to be an informed decision, and unfortunately, many people just kinda jump into it. I wasn't trying to say Baylor is for everyone; its definitely not. I was just trying to share my positive experience. You are right, it is easy to say its awesome because I now have a job. But I did also say that I was bitter when I graduated.
Regarding unemployment, I have read that Baylor prospects are bad. But, in my personal experience with my fellow classmates, I don't perceive that to be the case. All of my friends have jobs. And I have more than 2 friends.
The majority of my graduating class did not have jobs, mostly bc we graduated in august and only had one summer to work. However, I am not the only person from my school to get a job based of a profs recommendation. A decent number of my friends were referred to firms by baylor profs, mostly the PC profs. And I cant really think of anyone off the top of my head right now that doesnt have a job, though I am sure there are some.
But you are right. Law school is a risk. And one person landing biglaw after graduating jobless is a very rare exception
So, what you're saying is that you didn't have jobs b/c the way Baylor is established disengages you from the rest of how the state operates and thus disadvantages you making you rely on professors to hopefully help you out rather than actually having secured employment prior to graduation, coupled with being probably the most expensive school in Texas? Seems like a bad bet.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 1:14 pm
by hef
A lot of law students from a lot of different law schools graduate without jobs every year. And I said the quarter system can suck if you don't realize that you need to interview at private firms to be able to get offers after a summer. I didn't do my research to know that. Also, I choose to do PC when I did, and forgo a second summer shooting for a clerkship, because I just wanted to get the whole bar/pc over with in one rip, and I was not utterly terrified of job hunting after graduating. Lots of people do it.
I just offering my experience.
Re: Quarter System Vs Semester System
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:08 pm
by BigZuck
From listening to my cointern it sounds like Baylor's RIGOR schtick is little more than an elaborate hazing ritual. She also has kind of a chip on her shoulder and is a bit of a gunner, but that might just be cuz she's a law student.
She's a real person who totally went there. I also hear bad things from attorneys who went there and then sometimes from people who post in elaborate detail on here. There are also the employment stats, which are pretty mediocre. No doubt there are some good solid anecdotes to be found just like any school. But if it does confer an advantage on its grads, that advantage is not born out in its capacity to help students get jobs. And if Baylor grads do have some sort of advantage right out of the gate because they have heard the words "discovery" before or whatever I would assume grads from other schools would catch up and be on the same level in a couple months or so. I just don't see any reason for Baylor law to exist, TBH.