Top Law Schools

After much debate and inner turmoil, I have sent in my deposit to Brooklyn Law School and I feel very confident and happy about it. So heres the thread, whose joining me?

great choice
wish i could go to
my lsat was to low to apply
good luck

Just received news that my scholarship was increased, so that makes my decision easy b/n Brooklyn and Cardozo. I will be sending in my seat deposit to BLS tonight!

awesome, what was your scholarship increased to?

To about full tuition, so there really is no contest with Cardozo...especially since BLS has both affordable and nice housing. I was not impressed with the Cardozo apartments at all.

Good to hear you'll be at BLS in the fall! Hopefully there are a few more TLS-ers who will be joining us.

ya i have 32k a year there, i had about 30 at cardozo. I have requested more from Brooklyn but they said since my scholarship was on the high end already i wouldnt know about more money until May. So I figured i might as well put my deposit down and if more money came my way it would be nice, and if not 32k a year is still a good thing.

Yeah, I had about the same at Cardozo. That's awesome though and good luck in getting the scholarship increase! 32k a yr is great...esp. since the housing is affordable in terms of NY/some parts of Brooklyn. And there's always need-based grants as well.

It's just nice to finally have made a decision and to be able to start getting ready for the fall.

Carm - I just sent in a letter today asking BK to up my scholarship to be closer to full tuition. I faxed it and am also mailing it. How long until you got a response? I am hoping they give me additional $ b/c Cardozo gave me full $$ and I am basing my law school tuition primarily on $.

heightsholly - I contacted the Admissions Office at the end of last week and then spoke with someone yesterday who informed me of the scholarship increase. So it wasn't too long in my case, a few days. I kind of pressed them b/c of the deposit deadline today and was going to ask for an extension if they didn't have a decision yet. Good luck with yours!

Are you leaning toward BLS?

I am leaning more towards BK lately b/c I think they are a better fit for me -- I am moving home after being abroad for two years and BK seems to have better int'l law classes and faculty than Cardozo. But Cardozo has given me quite a bit more $ and it is ranked higher, for whatever that is worth. I am going to meet with 'Dozo to talk to them and get a better feel for the school. Right now, I prefer BK. I'll stop by Admission tomorrow when I am visiting the school with my friend. You? Was your final offer the full tuition amount? Thanks!

Yeah, depending on how much the cost of tuition is increased this year from last -my scholarship is basically full tuition (I may have a couple hundred $ to cover but no big deal). I would absolutely stop by and speak with them in person - the Admissions Office is really great and I think they are pretty generous with $, especially if you mention your offer from Cardozo.

I went to both Admitted Students Programs and I have to say I definitely got a better feel from BLS overall. I especially found the library more spacious and comfortable...plus it's open all week. And it's really only a few spots difference in the rankings...they offer pretty much the same employment prospects.

Hope to see you there in the fall!

Thanks Carm. I'll keep you posted.

Visited the school today and was able to get a bit more $. Nice admissions office and great clinincal faculty at BK.

heightsholly wrote:Visited the school today and was able to get a bit more $. Nice admissions office and great clinical faculty at BK.

Glad to hear you got more money. Hope that'll sway your decision toward BLS.

Did you also check out the library? I love the library...(the classrooms are kind of bland) and the study spaces. I think the library is a huge advantage over Cardozo's. The library is open late all 7 days (unlike Dozo's) and there are so many study spaces and room.

You should also check Feil Hall for housing in the future if you didn't get a chance today. It is so nice. You'll definitely want to live here after seeing it.

That's great to hear heightsholly! Do you think you'll be going to BLS in the fall?

aximpod - Out of curiousity, are you a BLS student? Or going there in the fall?

I saw Feil and really liked it. I am visiting Dozo and Fordham this week. I am torn still. I was not blown away by BK. I met a few students who seemed a bit young and a few current students that I talked to were not very thrilled with their BK experience. THat being said, law school is what you make of it and I think I could be very happy at BK. I put down my seat deposit. Just got $5000/year at Fordham via mail. It is nice, but not enough to sway me.

Good luck Brooklyn people!

carm611 wrote:That's great to hear heightsholly! Do you think you'll be going to BLS in the fall?

aximpod - Out of curiousity, are you a BLS student? Or going there in the fall?

Yah. I am a 1L at BLS. After reading many of the misconceptions on this board, I wanted to offer a real 1L opinion of BLS.

heightsholly wrote:I saw Feil and really liked it. I am visiting Dozo and Fordham this week. I am torn still. I was not blown away by BK. I met a few students who seemed a bit young and a few current students that I talked to were not very thrilled with their BK experience. THat being said, law school is what you make of it and I think I could be very happy at BK. I put down my seat deposit. Just got $5000/year at Fordham via mail. It is nice, but not enough to sway me.

There are a lot of young students here. I am pretty young myself so I find it comforting that the school has a somewhat young population (relatively). I was out of school for one year before entering law school and most of my classmates in my sections are either straight out of school or took 1-2 years off. That being said, there is also a substantial minority who are pushing 30 or beyond a bit.

School is definitely what you made of it. I have people in my classes whining about readings and school all the time. I usually just ignored them because I don't find school hard at all. There can be a lot of work and some occasional sleepless nights but it is very manageable. The people who are most vocal about how much they dislike school are the ones who are doing poorly. Everyone I know who is doing well keeps a pretty low profile. People in law school are not such tools that they announce their GPA to everyone. I look around my section and I can only pick out 4-5 people that I know did very well last semester. Everyone else is a mystery.

I am going to be fair and state that your Brooklyn experience can be hit or miss. There are plenty of good points but also some weak areas. The thing I hate most is career service. You are assigned a career counselor in the fall of 1L to assist you with job search. This is a big YMMV. My friends got some fantastic career counselors and I got one I am not too thrilled with. You can request a change (I am leaning toward it) but it has to be for a valid reason.

Your experience is also dependent on your section and your friends. Some sections seem a little more miserable than mine and some sections seem to have a lot more fun than my section (we used to have fun and hang out together...then first semester grades appeared). Some people like being loners and some like making friends. I think being sociable might be the better option

Thanks Aximpod! I really enjoyed reading your perspective and, I agree, I think BK gets a bad wrap on this board sometimes. I hope I am not contributing to that -- I really do like the school a lot, and I am bit of an unconvential candidate and am trying to decide if BK is the best fit for me.
I just had lunch a a BK grad who really got a lot out of her time there and she really made the most of the great faculty. The complaints this week were from 2 students who did not yet have jobs (they were 3Ls) -I think perhaps their perspective was affected by that job anxiety. I am coming by again next Wed. i am trying to make the best choice that is the best fit for me. thanks again for your post.

Brooklyn just called and offered me a bit more money which makes me even more sure of my choice. I'm getting more and more excited by the day to attend Brooklyn in the fall. I feel that any complaints or issues certain students have are issues and complaints that certain students have at all law schools. Like you said, it is what you make of it. And I plan to make it an awesome, yet understandably difficult, 3 years.

Good luck to those who are there, those who have made the decision and those still on the fence. I look forward to potentially seeing you all in August.

Congrats Sarajbj! That's great, glad to hear it.

I'm definitely really excited about the fall! I agree as well, I think it's what you make out of it and honestly...there are going to be a few people at every school that don't have many good things to say. And generally that's a reflection of what you put into the experience.

I'm between here and Cardozo. I think I'd rather live off campus at either school because I'm certainly not the dorm type. Where are most of you going to be housed? I don't think either school has a gym facility either, so that's another reason for me to live off campus. I also don't think I could handle the idea of being 23-26 and having an RA I have to answer to. From what I understand, you need to notify before having any visitors?

xhaust50 wrote:I'm between here and Cardozo. I think I'd rather live off campus at either school because I'm certainly not the dorm type. Where are most of you going to be housed? I don't think either school has a gym facility either, so that's another reason for me to live off campus. I also don't think I could handle the idea of being 23-26 and having an RA I have to answer to. From what I understand, you need to notify before having any visitors?

heightsholly - You are welcome. Just doing my part to clear BLS undeserved reputation on this board.

I live in Feil Hall at BLS and I can tell you it is definitely not a dorm setting. It is more like an high rise apartment complex. It is quiet and clean. The building is only a few years old so everything still looks great. There are plenty of studios and apartments. The Dean lives here (I forgot what floor but I bumped into her in a few times). There are also a bunch of families with kids!

We do not have RA's or any of the other nonsense. You have to sign visitors in, which is great because there is always a security personnel at the front desk at all times - 24 hours. They will contact you if anyone claims they are here to see you. They also receive and notify you of all package deliveries. My friend lives in Battery park in a high rise condo complex and they have the same regulations - nothing too restrictive about keeping track of strangers in the building.

There is a YMCA (housed in a new high rise apartment) right across the street. They offered a discount price for BLS students. There is a Gold, NYSC, and Equinox all within a 2-3 blocks radius.

I decided to bypass the gym and just run around the area. It is amazing to run on the Brooklyn promenade and just stare at the NY Harbor and Manhattan skyline.

dumb question:

the admitted students part of the BLS website, how do I access it? I'm assuming its the same password as from the status checker, which I no longer have, but is that password given in any of the paperwork?

And is there anything worth seeing on it? Or just same old information we already know?

Thanks