Northwestern 2012 Forum

[Elms]

Alright, I decided. Sent in my scholarship acceptance and candidate response form! See you guys in the fall, whoo!!!

[69sofine]

Alright, I decided. Sent in my scholarship acceptance and candidate response form! See you guys in the fall, whoo!!!

Awesome!

[ALilMusicFactry]

Section 8 = subsidized housing = DO NOT WANT.

Aw don't be so hard on the poors. I know several people living at LSP and they have never had a problem as far as I can tell.

The Streeter is ridiculously expensive, so unless you have some sort of funding plan outside of just the student loans you can't afford it.

Onterie, IMHO is the best option for 1Ls who want to live near campus. It is the closest, isn't outrageously priced (though "affordable" is not the word I would use), and is pretty nice. There are also some older buildings just north of campus that are significantly cheaper, but I don't know their names/addresses.

McClurg is an ok building but I know they had an insane sprinkler installation project recently - kicked people out of their apartments and got crud all over their stuff. Never warned new applicants about it before they signed leases, and never compensated people for the inconvenience. They also screwed a few people on security deposits. Don't know if the rent there is low enough to compared to the others to make it worth that.

Lincoln Park/Lakeview is a pretty good deal esp if you live near the express busses. The 66 bus drops off near campus and will take you to Ukranian Village and some other neighborhoods to the west, which are very inexpensive. Don't rent sight-unseen there though, as the safety of the area varies.

[aguyingeorgia]

All of your bases are belong to us!

[69sofine]

All of your bases are belong to us!

There won't be a duck for a 1000 miles during the winter.

[fergi85]

I am most likely going to live in the Lakeview area. Would it be better to live near the lake in order to take an express bus into school or near the Red Line. I am leaning towards the red line because it offers more access to transportation to other places than school on weekends. However, if you live near the lake, it's a long walk to the nearest El station. Any suggestions?

[69sofine]

I think I'm just going to live in Streeterville. It seems prudent for the first year. Just browsing on Craiglist it looks like you can find 1 bedrooms for around $1200. Could be worse.

[69sofine]

Since I'm basically the only person in this thread I thought this would be a good place to post this:

--LinkRemoved--

Looks like NU is doing a good job of helping 3L's that are struggling to find work.

[tome]

Decided today: I'm in!

I have always had a thing for Northwestern, and they were the only school that seemed to have a thing for me too, so it all worked out.

[tome]

I am most likely going to live in the Lakeview area. Would it be better to live near the lake in order to take an express bus into school or near the Red Line. I am leaning towards the red line because it offers more access to transportation to other places than school on weekends. However, if you live near the lake, it's a long walk to the nearest El station. Any suggestions?

I live in the South part of Lakeview atm near Clark and can recommend it. I am about a 5 min walk from the brown line in one direction and the express bus to Watertower in the other, and even closer to the Clark and Broadway buses. The rent here is OK too. I pay about $1 350 for a large two-story two-bedroom coach-house with my wife. But you could easily split the place between two roommates.

If you really want to be able to take the train to school, you could move about two blocks further South into Lincoln Park and be just as close to all that stuff except also be 5 mins from the Red line at Fullerton.

Best of all, when the weather is nice, you can just ride your bike on the bike trail pretty much door to door.

Hope this helps.

[Elms]

Decided today: I'm in!

I have always had a thing for Northwestern, and they were the only school that seemed to have a thing for me too, so it all worked out.

Yay!!!

[Elms]

I am most likely going to live in the Lakeview area. Would it be better to live near the lake in order to take an express bus into school or near the Red Line. I am leaning towards the red line because it offers more access to transportation to other places than school on weekends. However, if you live near the lake, it's a long walk to the nearest El station. Any suggestions?

I live in the South part of Lakeview atm near Clark and can recommend it. I am about a 5 min walk from the brown line in one direction and the express bus to Watertower in the other, and even closer to the Clark and Broadway buses. The rent here is OK too. I pay about $1 350 for a large two-story two-bedroom coach-house with my wife. But you could easily split the place between two roommates.

If you really want to be able to take the train to school, you could move about two blocks further South into Lincoln Park and be just as close to all that stuff except also be 5 mins from the Red line at Fullerton.

Best of all, when the weather is nice, you can just ride your bike on the bike trail pretty much door to door.

Hope this helps.

How long is the train ride to school? I'm so new to all this public transportation stuff. I live in North Texas where public transit is pretty much nonexistant! My husband and I are looking at the Lakeview and Lincoln Park areas.

[tome]

The actual ride on the red line is like 10 mins, max. The walk from the red line to campus is about 5 mins I guess (it is about 2 blocks to Michigan Ave, then another 2 blocks to NU.)

The Clark and Broadway buses can take forever during peak hour. It took me about 40 mins when I went to tour the school one morning, and ended up missing the class I was going to sit in on. The walk from the bus to NU is the same as the red line

The express bus is good, however. It goes through Lincoln Park and then on Lakeshore Dr., so no stopping, and drops you off on Michigan, so only a couple of blocks from school.

The bike path that goes along the lake is great too--very pleasant way to get downtown. That is how I plan to get to school when the weather is nice. It is probably about 20 mins for me door to door.

Also, my wife's cousin (cousin-in-law--is that even a relation?) is in grad school at NU, and her lab is in the building next door to the law school. She rides from way up North, and tells me there is a secure university bike-garage-thing where you can chain up your bike.

[enygma]

i'm not in yet... but shut up! does anyone live in wicker park? way too far for 1st year?

[tome]

Wicker Park/Bucktown are on the Blue Line, which means you would have to change trains in the loop. Way cheaper, though. Chicago is really a North-South city--everything East is lake and everything West is ass. I might move there in 2L, but I think it is worth it to live somewhere convenient and comfortable in 1L.

It is a pain to get to anywhere interesting other than downtown from the west neighborhoods, as all the public transportation heads downtown. Downtown is great, but there is a lot of cool stuff in Chicago outside in the various neighborhoods, and from talking to current students, most of the LS drinking etc. goes on in places like Old Town, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview/Wriggleyville.

[69sofine]

i'm not in yet... but shut up! does anyone live in wicker park? way too far for 1st year?

Hipster?

[ALilMusicFactry]

Wicker Park/Bucktown are on the Blue Line, which means you would have to change trains in the loop.

Wrong. If you transfer to the 66 eastbound at the Chicago blue line stop it drops you off at Fairbanks.

Chicago is really a North-South city--everything East is lake and everything West is ass.

Also wrong, unless you are talking about 10-15 years ago. There are nice places out west if you know where to look. Don't rent there without checking it out, of course - and stay away from the former Cabrini-Green area (just north of Chicago Ave starting about a mile west of the school and extending just past the North/South fork of the river).

[enygma]

i'm not in yet... but shut up! does anyone live in wicker park? way too far for 1st year?

Hipster?

nah, just all my friends from college live there. and they're not hipsters either.

[MMW]

Hi everyone,
I am a 1L at NU. Since anything is better than outlining right now, feel free to ask any questions.

[69sofine]

Hi everyone,
I am a 1L at NU. Since anything is better than outlining right now, feel free to ask any questions.

What type of work are you doing this summer?

[MMW]

i'm not in yet... but shut up! does anyone live in wicker park? way too far for 1st year?

Hipster?

nah, just all my friends from college live there. and they're not hipsters either.

I lived in winker park for two year around 2002. It used to be really cool area and incredibly cheep. I had this giant apartment and my share was around 350. Also, there were tons of cafes and back then you could smoke at your table. I tried to find a place there when I moved back to Chicago last August but the whole area has changed. Now it is considerably more expensive and most of the units are condos. They even sold the flat iron building with all the artist studios. My favorite cafe, filter, is now a bank. Most of the people I know moved to Ukrainian village just west/south of wicker park. In fact, Ukrainian village would probably be better for an NU student since you could just take the 66 bus straight to school. Taking the blue line would just be too much trouble since you would have to transfer either to the 66 or take it to the loop and transfer to the red line.

I currently live in lincoln park and would recommend the area.

Hi everyone,
I am a 1L at NU. Since anything is better than outlining right now, feel free to ask any questions.

What type of work are you doing this summer?

I am working for the clinic at school. Specifically, I am working for the children and family justice center.

[fergi85]

Do you live near a train station or an express bus in the lincoln park area? I am trying to figure out if I should live near the red line train station or an express bus in the lakeview area.

Also, I see you are working in a clinic this summer. Was that your #1 choice or was it very difficult to find a paid 1L summer associate job? What was the overall success of other 1Ls securing paid 1L summer associate jobs?

[Dick Whitman]

So the yuppies took Wicker Park from the hipsters in a bloody coup?

[gahhhhhhhhhh]

So the yuppies took Wicker Park from the hipsters in a bloody coup?

Yes, Mr. Whitman. Some people like to call it gentrification.

[MMW]

Do you live near a train station or an express bus in the lincoln park area? I am trying to figure out if I should live near the red line train station or an express bus in the lakeview area.

Also, I see you are working in a clinic this summer. Was that your #1 choice or was it very difficult to find a paid 1L summer associate job? What was the overall success of other 1Ls securing paid 1L summer associate jobs?

I live about two blocks from the Fullerton stop on the red line. I take it to the Chicago stop and walk about two blocks to school. On average my commute is about 30 minutes.

The clinic was on my top 5 list of jobs for the summer. Since I hope to work at a firm next summer, I figure this will be my last chance to do public interest work full time. That being said, I did interview with some small firms and companies that came to campus since they pay well and I had nothing to lose just interviewing.

I only know a few 1Ls that focused their job search heavily on firms and off the top of my head I can think of about 5 that either have a summer associate job or are working in a general counsel's office. I think about 20% of NU 1Ls last year had summer associate or corporate positions over the summer. I would be shocked if 5% have those jobs this year. I do not think that says anything negative about NU 1L job placement. The fact of the matter is that firms are just not hiring 1Ls this summer, which makes sense for two reasons. One, 1Ls don't have enough training or experience to do any real work for the firm and the firm can't bill out the 1Ls time since no client will pay for it. Thus, they lose money on 1Ls. 1Ls are generally only hired in hopes that they will talk about how great the firm is to their classmates in the fall. 1L summer associate positions are generally seen as advertising and "in these troubled times" firms don't have that much money to spend on such a questionable return. To be honest, I am shocked that firms ever hire 1Ls for the summer. Second, associates at firms hardly have any work to do themselves so why would they want to bring in more people for the summer.
All that being said, some firms and companies are hiring 1Ls and NU students seem to be doing relatively well at getting those jobs.

In terms of my own summer job hunt, I applied to about 20 public interest organizations and had 3 offers. However, talking to 2Ls about their 1L job hunt, things were much harder this summer. During every one of my interviews the interviewer mentioned that they received about 200 applications for 1 or 2 open spots. I heard of some organizations getting around 400 applications. The fact that I got an interview at about half of the places I applied shows how far the NU name can carry you. My personal theory for why there were so many applications this year (and this is just idle speculation) is that (1) with so few firm 1L jobs there were a lot more people competing for the public interest positions, and (2) a lot of the 2Ls from other schools were applying to these jobs (perhaps because they were unable to get firm jobs for their 2L summer but I have no evidence to back this up and I could just be imposing on others my interest in working for a firm my second summer).

Let me know if you have any more questions.
Here is an Above the Law post that seems like a good characterization of the current 1L job market: --LinkRemoved--