Top Law Schools

I remember this time last year: obsessing on this website and feeling overwhelmed. If you have any questions about Hastings or law school in general feel free to ask.

Do you live in the tower?
Do you know what life in the tower is like?
How much do people hang out with others from their section outside of school?
What % did you place in your class and how hard did you study for it?
Think you'll find good work this summer?

I do live in the tower and it is actually pretty nice. I had my reservations but I am happy I did it for this year. I have only met a handful of students who regret living in the tower, but for the most part people feel the benefits outweigh the negative aspects. It can get noisy, and you can feel out of touch with the rest of the world, but there is something to be said about not having a commute and being able roll out of bed 10 minutes before class.
People hang out with others from their section all the time. There are section parties and it is inevitable that you are going to make friends with people from your section unless you have absolutely zero social grace.
We don't have class % yet but based on previous class GPAs I place in the top half of my class. I studied really hard, but so did everyone else. Grading is somewhat arbitrary, even my friends who did amazingly well agree, and it is not necessarily indicative of how hard you study.
I have found great work for the summer and so have many of my friends. Hastings has a great reputation in the Bay Area and people have been doing very well in terms of finding jobs for summer. Now for the 3Ls it's a totally different story, but by the time you are there you will have nothing to worry about.

grading is not arbitrary. maybe it's arbitrary within a decile or quartile of rank say top 1% to top 10%, but it is not arbitrary where you can flip a coin and either get top 1% or top 50%.

1. you have to work hard and know the material
2. you have to spot the issues (this should come naturally if you did 1)
3. you have to write about all the issues (this may be a function of typing speed)
4. you have to write it in a nonconclusory manner - this is key

i think #4 is what leads to the belief that grading is arbitrary because people know they know the black letter law but they don't know why they got a B on their exam

I never claimed it is entirely arbitrary - just somewhat. I'm mostly staying it is not completely indicative of how hard you study, which you seem to concede. Not writing too conclusory is important indeed, but you probably didn't learn that in class or from how much you studied.

i agree it's not necessarily a function of how hard you study. you're right it probably is something you learn outside of class. it may just be an inherent talent. arbitrary just isn't the right word. for example, if you look at an A exam and a B exam, you'll see the difference. heck, i looked at my A exam and the top A exam and the other was clearly better.

well, let me add to this thread.

i'm also a hastings 1l top 5%+ at the moment judging from past years. i don't live in the tower and i envy those that can get to class in 10 mins or run home for a shit. i take about 30 mins to get to class from leaving my house to getting to class. pro: have my own bathroom, full kitchen, living room and big bedroom. con: suffer on the social side since it's hard to hang around campus and get drunk then ride the bus home. i do most of my socializing during class, during lunch and sometimes after class, but not often especially as the semester goes on. cost is roughly the same.

i think the workload is exagerrated. this is essentially a full-time job, nothing more, nothing less.

What more can you tell us about life in the towers? I'm planning on living there, i really wonder how social everyone is.

i think people in the tower are very social. if that's important to you definitely do it. most law students aren't that bad either, actually.

I would really recommend living in the tower, at least for your first year. People are very social at Hastings, both inside the tower and out, but I think that living outside the tower could hamper your social life a bit. Most events are either on or around school and living so close serves as inspiration to put down the books and get out. Either way you are going to meet a ton of amazing people and have a fulfilling social life. My friends and I love it here. I have friends who got straight As and have zero intention of transferring because they like Hastings so much. Of course there are people who don't like it, but I'm sure you could put them in almost any environment and they would find a reason to complain.

I'm going to live at the tower, what's the best way to buy some furniture? I'm going to be moving there from the east coast so I won't have a car, or anything but clothes and random shit. Seems like its going to be a huge pain the ass. I guess Craiglist is the standard response, but if you have a better idea let me know.

is law school really grueling as people make it out to be? also, do you ever regret choosing UC H?

Borhas wrote:I'm going to live at the tower, what's the best way to buy some furniture? I'm going to be moving there from the east coast so I won't have a car, or anything but clothes and random shit. Seems like its going to be a huge pain the ass. I guess Craiglist is the standard response, but if you have a better idea let me know.

Yeah, that sounds like a pain in the ass. I know a lot of people from Southern California who were in the same boat. I would just use Craigslist and maybe rent a truck for a day to get a bed from IKEA or some place similar.

[1L]Hopeful wrote:is law school really grueling as people make it out to be? also, do you ever regret choosing UC H?

Honestly, I thought law school would be way worse. I think it depends a lot on your personality though. If you are intellectually curious, and you find the material interesting, clearly you are going to enjoy your time more than you would if you are here just to land a lucrative job. Most of my friends agree that however much we complain about the work load or other stresses from school, there is nothing else we rather be doing. I also have never once regretted my decision to come to Hastings and I can't think of anyone who has said they regret choosing Hastings. Many of us got into higher-ranked schools but chose Hastings because it is in SF, or because it made more sense financially to come here. I have met numerous kids who got into USC or other schools of the same caliber and do not regret coming here. I am getting a wonderful education, my classmates are bright and social, and I live in a world-class city. What more could I ask for?

Do you know what it's like for public interest minded folks? Is there a big community of PI peeps?

1) What was your UG institution, GPA and LSAT scores (for OP or any Hastings students)
2) Is BigLaw a non-option?
3) Are 3L's getting jobs or is the atmosphere dreary and depressing (only going off what I read from these boards, that many law school grads can't find jobbs)

To our 1L at Hastings:

Thanks for your time; are there any standard texts used in the first year there? I have an opportunity to pick up some from a reced grad of a different school.

Semi-related to the job market questions: Do Hastings students find themselves in the shadow of Berkeley and Stanford, either in reality or in their own heads? Or do you think Hastings serves its own niche?

chaka19 wrote:

Borhas wrote:I'm going to live at the tower, what's the best way to buy some furniture? I'm going to be moving there from the east coast so I won't have a car, or anything but clothes and random shit. Seems like its going to be a huge pain the ass. I guess Craiglist is the standard response, but if you have a better idea let me know.

Yeah, that sounds like a pain in the ass. I know a lot of people from Southern California who were in the same boat. I would just use Craigslist and maybe rent a truck for a day to get a bed from IKEA or some place similar.

damn I guess there just isn't some magic easy option I've been missing

have you heard about how UC H looks towards transfers? do you know any transfers? any input would be appreciated.

There's some pretty good used furniture stores oin the Mission..used to be one called Harringtons around valencia and 16-17th I believe. Decent stuff. Also a used furniture place on Battery street,and several in the Inner Richmond on Clement.