Michigan 2012 Forum

[dmreust]

Yeah. Thanks for that info. Somehow I don't get a lot of those messages because I was deferred from a year ago and have been left off of some mailing lists. Now I'm wondering if I've missed anything super important

Have you been sent anything regarding submitting forms for loan stuff?

[ndnlawdc]

Im still on the waitlist here but I got into SLS and HLS so ya boy aint really trippen...yield protection? lol

You got off the HLS waitlist? Please, please go there.

[legends159]

Im still on the waitlist here but I got into SLS and HLS so ya boy aint really trippen...yield protection? lol

You got off the HLS waitlist? Please, please go there.

+one million

Please don't come west

[tl]

Thanks scarlet for the heads-up about the Vault subscription. There is a TON of reading material on that site. Those career guides look especially interesting.

[nicoz]

So when are we supposed to start bashing UVA and Cal about this?? There isn't a whole lot going on in the forums these days with all our cycles/grades suspense over.
This time next year most of us probably won't even be posting anymore I would guess. Anyway, more silly rankings:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educatio ... l?PageNr=1

[FlightoftheEarls]

Wow, not bad. Great find!

[USC2009]

Okay, so this has been an awesome day. I picked up the new iPhone, it's amazing, all of that. But, on a completely unexpected note...

apparently the AOL Radio app (which is free, yay!) allows you to stream KROQ (my favorite LA station), meaning I can now listen to Loveline with Dr. Drew in Ann Arbor!!!

Yeah, it's very exciting news for me

[USC2009]

Does anyone know if Michigan has a cinema library or something? I used to rent movies from USC's library all the time, and I was hoping to continue that tradition...

[itzjulz]

Does anyone know if Michigan has a cinema library or something? I used to rent movies from USC's library all the time, and I was hoping to continue that tradition...

http://www.lib.umich.edu/aml/

this is right near the quad. yay, i can cancel my netflix =)

[USC2009]

Does anyone know if Michigan has a cinema library or something? I used to rent movies from USC's library all the time, and I was hoping to continue that tradition...

http://www.lib.umich.edu/aml/

this is right near the quad. yay, i can cancel my netflix =)

Well, I did a search on a few obscure titles (Fanny and Alexander, La Haine, Stalker, Diary of a Chambermaid, The Lodger) and all have positive results. Sweet!

[snotrocket]

http://www.lib.umich.edu/aml/

this is right near the quad. yay, i can cancel my netflix =)

Yep. And it's totally free.

[USC2009]

Has anyone here done the Michigan Payment Plan? Or is anyone planning on doing it for next year?

I'm trying to figure out if there's a catch to using it or if it's possible to strike a balance between this + taking out a loan.

[Lyceum>Academy]

financially challenged 0L here--would someone be kind enough to give me the dummies version of how to take out a loan? i've done the promissory notes for the stafford/perkins already. now i'm guessing i should do the gradplus?

thanks in advance

[nicoz]

financially challenged 0L here--would someone be kind enough to give me the dummies version of how to take out a loan? i've done the promissory notes for the stafford/perkins already. now i'm guessing i should do the gradplus
thanks in advance

--LinkRemoved--

For current students, when did your loans disburse last year?

[tl]

For current students, when did your loans disburse last year?

It was either the Thursday or Friday before classes started. It would be in your best interest to sign-up for direct deposit.

[snotrocket]

financially challenged 0L here--would someone be kind enough to give me the dummies version of how to take out a loan? i've done the promissory notes for the stafford/perkins already. now i'm guessing i should do the gradplus?

You have to do two things: (1) sign a Master Promissory Note; (2) fill out the form requesting the amount of money you want to take in Grad PLUS loans. The PDF documents that you got with your financial aid award will have links to do both. You have to print the form requesting the Grad PLUS amount and sign it, but you can scan and email it if you want. To figure out how much to borrow, just take the "total cost of attendance" number from the student budget, subtract $20,500, and ask for that.

Also, as a general point: Everyone should keep in mind when borrowing and budgeting for the year that you have at least an 8 in 10 chance of having no income your first summer, because only about 1 in 5 people will get funded public service positions or paying law firm gigs. It's also very important that you do legal work your first summer, to affirm that you are committed to actually working as a lawyer, or working in a particular practice area or geographic region when you graduate. You will very likely have to do that for free. So, plan accordingly.

[Alexandria]

Also, as a general point: Everyone should keep in mind when borrowing and budgeting for the year that you have at least an 8 in 10 chance of having no income your first summer, because only about 1 in 5 people will get funded public service positions or paying law firm gigs. It's also very important that you do actual legal work your first summer, to affirm that you are committed to actually working as a lawyer, or working in a particular practice area or geographic region when you graduate. You will very likely have to do that for free. So, plan accordingly.

Do you think that's really how it's been for your class? For mine (2010), a lot higher percentage than that got paid work, just not well-paid.

[awesomepossum]

I think it's better than that. When you put together SFF, the funding from student groups, other fellowships like the one for work with children and then people who work for firms (mostly in MI) I think it's not too bad. I definitely don't know what the numbers are but I would bet it's much better than 1/5.

[snotrocket]

Do you think that's really how it's been for your class? For mine (2010), a lot higher percentage than that got paid work, just not well-paid.

Everything I've heard says the total number that got paid law firm jobs was 20 or 30 at the most. Another 55 or so get funding from the school for public interest. There are some public interest fellowships for specific programs out there that fund a few others, and the clinics will pay a few people that hang around AA for the summer. The big thing this year though was that the percentage getting paid law firm jobs went WAY down. For 2010 people and earlier, I think this hovered around 1/3 of the class. For 2011, it was probably around 10%.

[snotrocket]

I think it's better than that. When you put together SFF, the funding from student groups, other fellowships like the one for work with children and then people who work for firms (mostly in MI) I think it's not too bad. I definitely don't know what the numbers are but I would bet it's much better than 1/5.

Do keep in mind too that if you're lucky enough to get paid for public interest, it will not be much. Getting $4,000 - 5,000 for three months is a whole lot better than nothing, but you're not going to get anywhere near the $20-30,000 for the summer that second-year summer associates at large law firms routinely draw. So you still need to plan to live on a modest budget, if you're lucky enough to get funded public interest work. My point though is that if you don't have a backup plan for getting through the summer without income, then you have a significant chance of being stuck in a miserable situation, or having to make a hard choice between doing the work you want to do and paying the rent or eating.

[awesomepossum]

I also know a lot of people who are working say 3 days for a judge and then working the other days for cash.

But agreed. it's certainly something to think about.

[tl]

Do keep in mind too that if you're lucky enough to get paid for public interest, it will not be much. Getting $4,000 - 5,000 for three months is a whole lot better than nothing, but you're not going to get anywhere near the $20-30,000 for the summer that second-year summer associates at large law firms routinely draw. So you still need to plan to live on a modest budget, if you're lucky enough to get funded public interest work. My point though is that if you don't have a backup plan for getting through the summer without income, then you have a significant chance of being stuck in a miserable situation, or having to make a hard choice between doing the work you want to do and paying the rent or eating.

0Ls: If you don't listen to any other advice on this board, listen to this. I'm stuck in a miserable situation, and it sucks.

[Lyceum>Academy]

financially challenged 0L here--would someone be kind enough to give me the dummies version of how to take out a loan? i've done the promissory notes for the stafford/perkins already. now i'm guessing i should do the gradplus?

You have to do two things: (1) sign a Master Promissory Note; (2) fill out the form requesting the amount of money you want to take in Grad PLUS loans. The PDF documents that you got with your financial aid award will have links to do both. You have to print the form requesting the Grad PLUS amount and sign it, but you can scan and email it if you want. To figure out how much to borrow, just take the "total cost of attendance" number from the student budget, subtract $20,500, and ask for that.

Also, as a general point: Everyone should keep in mind when borrowing and budgeting for the year that you have at least an 8 in 10 chance of having no income your first summer, because only about 1 in 5 people will get funded public service positions or paying law firm gigs. It's also very important that you do legal work your first summer, to affirm that you are committed to actually working as a lawyer, or working in a particular practice area or geographic region when you graduate. You will very likely have to do that for free. So, plan accordingly.

Thank you!

[awesomepossum]

Do keep in mind too that if you're lucky enough to get paid for public interest, it will not be much. Getting $4,000 - 5,000 for three months is a whole lot better than nothing, but you're not going to get anywhere near the $20-30,000 for the summer that second-year summer associates at large law firms routinely draw. So you still need to plan to live on a modest budget, if you're lucky enough to get funded public interest work. My point though is that if you don't have a backup plan for getting through the summer without income, then you have a significant chance of being stuck in a miserable situation, or having to make a hard choice between doing the work you want to do and paying the rent or eating.

0Ls: If you don't listen to any other advice on this board, listen to this. I'm stuck in a miserable situation, and it sucks.

tl...the thing is.....what are you not miserable about?

[joyce615]

a question for the 3Ls or 2Ls in the know. how does the school sort our firm rankings when we do bids for OCI? i read the paragraph on it in one of the EIW docs but i'm still puzzled. basically, i want to know below which ranking the chances of getting an interview drops significantly.