Yale Law School Class of 2012 Forum

[iagolives]

shuchong, I am always interested in hearing people's impressions of Accepted Student Days, so please share!

Welcome constellationx! Keep the thread alive... April 23-25 is so far away.

Lol, not to those of us still waiting on the "other" (i.e. the waiting room) Yale thread. But yes, please post about the Monday program. I'd be very interested to see what you think!

[heartbreaker]

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[abenn07]

Hi! I'm joining this group. Got the call yesterday evening. Are most of you set on Yale by now?

Congratulations to you and all the other recent admits!

I am actually leaning toward HLS; I fell in love with the school and with Cambridge and Boston during the ASW. I am doing my best to keep an open mind for the YLS program in April, though. Anyone else not favoring Yale?

[jubileeez]

Hi! I'm joining this group. Got the call yesterday evening. Are most of you set on Yale by now?

congrats, constellationx! i hope you'll join us.

ill be mailing in my deposit tomorrow. and yeah, heartbreaker, it certainly does feel great to be decided!! has anyone looked into housing yet?

[heartbreaker]

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[alexb240]

P.S. I walk to the grocery store and back every weekend. It's relatively easy to do so.

P.P.S. rabbit is the best tour guide ever.

[jubileeez]

I've started to look into studios and 1 bedrooms. I think I decided to go ahead and live by myself, at least for the first year. I figure that I'll be spending so much time at school and in meetings throughout the day, that it would be nice to come home and not be distracted.

that's a good point. im torn between living by myself and getting a roommate, because i'm an only child and used to having space and time to myself, but at the same time, im also not one who would just go out and party, so i feel that it might be nice to have someone around to get me to be less of a hermit, lol. a current student told me about an apartment building where 40% of yls students live, so im thinking a studio/1bdr there might be the best compromise.

[alexb240]

I have a studio in that very building. A goodly number of students live here (40% strikes me as high, but not as extremely so), which makes socializing quite easy. It's a little expensive (in my humble (and impoverished) opinion), but you are paying for location and convenience.

[Anonymous0L]

I've decided to live with other students, I figured I don't really want to be alone in new haven.

[constellationx]

Thanks for the congrats! I'll see you all at the ASW!

[rabbit9198]

P.P.S. rabbit is the best tour guide ever.

Why thank you! And to think, such praise when you haven't even heard my corny tour jokes!

[alexb240]

I'll have to join the tour sometime. I still can't navigate the law school (or New Haven, for that matter).

[masterpinky0509]

I have a studio in that very building. A goodly number of students live here (40% strikes me as high, but not as extremely so), which makes socializing quite easy. It's a little expensive (in my humble (and impoverished) opinion), but you are paying for location and convenience.

Hey, what building is this?

A friend and I just committed last week, so we started looking for 2-bedroom apartments close to the law school.

[KP429]

I believe it's the New Haven Towers, but I could be wrong. It's downtown and 3-4 blocks from the law school. I'm thinking of getting a 2BR/BA there if possible. I wonder if many are available...

[dueprocess14]

Alex and Rabbit, do you think there's a risk of things filling up before the ASW? I have an awful feeling I'll still be making up my mind until then but want to know if I should start looking at housing anyway... Thanks!

[alexb240]

I live in Madison Tower, which is one of the buildings owned by New Haven Towers Associates.

I found my place over ASW, so you needn't worry about locking something up before then. I would suggest, however, doing your research (and arranging tours/meetings) so that you can sign for a place while you're here (that's what I did, anyway).

P.S. rabbit, what gangs did you bid on?

[Severa]

Hi all, I just received notice of my acceptance and just now sent in both my FAFSA and need access...will this seriously hurt my chances of getting at least some aid (i really need it...which theyll see if they actually look at my parents income and my lack thereof).

Also, I was wondering if anyone know if there has ever been a yalie answering questions on this site (or any other for that matter). Finally, can anyone make any recommendations about where to live--ie. is off campus really worth it? and, conversely, is on-campus any kind of advantage, if so, which are the better residence halls?

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate your help!

[rabbit9198]

Alex and Rabbit, do you think there's a risk of things filling up before the ASW? I have an awful feeling I'll still be making up my mind until then but want to know if I should start looking at housing anyway... Thanks!

Alex's advice is good if you already know you're going to be coming to YLS, and especially if you're not going to be able to make another trip to New Haven to pick out housing. BUT, if you a) haven't chosen yet or b) might be coming back at some later point, there's no "ZOMG you have to find housing during the ASW!" panic to worry about. I didn't pick a place till late May, and I did it through the YLS 2011 Facebook group. Other people played the odds and didn't pick a place till July/August...they had a different (smaller) pool of places to choose from, but some of them got good deals (though not in the main, big Towers buildings as much as in smaller buildings in other areas). There is *definitely* no need to pick housing before the ASW.

P.S. rabbit, what gangs did you bid on?

I'm a proud supporter of the High Street Hoodlums. You?

Hi all, I just received notice of my acceptance and just now sent in both my FAFSA and need access...will this seriously hurt my chances of getting at least some aid (i really need it...which theyll see if they actually look at my parents income and my lack thereof).

Also, I was wondering if anyone know if there has ever been a yalie answering questions on this site (or any other for that matter). Finally, can anyone make any recommendations about where to live--ie. is off campus really worth it? and, conversely, is on-campus any kind of advantage, if so, which are the better residence halls?

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate your help!

Congratulations!

Quick answers (because I haven't yet started tonight's homework reading yet):
* Most likely, you'll still get financial aid. Pat Barnes is a sweetheart.
* Alex and I are both current 1Ls, and there are a few other current YLS students floating around here, too.
* There currently isn't really on-campus housing available; while a couple people live in Yale-owned dorms & apartments (shared with other grad students), almost everyone lives off-campus.

[KP429]

Hi all, I just received notice of my acceptance and just now sent in both my FAFSA and need access...will this seriously hurt my chances of getting at least some aid (i really need it...which theyll see if they actually look at my parents income and my lack thereof).

Also, I was wondering if anyone know if there has ever been a yalie answering questions on this site (or any other for that matter). Finally, can anyone make any recommendations about where to live--ie. is off campus really worth it? and, conversely, is on-campus any kind of advantage, if so, which are the better residence halls?

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate your help!

Congratulations, Severa!

As I just learned, Yale caps need-based finaid at 30k so you'll likely be paying, at a minimum, 35k. That said, you will likely qualify for the 30k judging from the tone of your post. Will money be a huge factor for you?

[Severa]

Hi all, I just received notice of my acceptance and just now sent in both my FAFSA and need access...will this seriously hurt my chances of getting at least some aid (i really need it...which theyll see if they actually look at my parents income and my lack thereof).

Also, I was wondering if anyone know if there has ever been a yalie answering questions on this site (or any other for that matter). Finally, can anyone make any recommendations about where to live--ie. is off campus really worth it? and, conversely, is on-campus any kind of advantage, if so, which are the better residence halls?

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate your help!

Congratulations, Severa!

As I just learned, Yale caps need-based finaid at 30k so you'll likely be paying, at a minimum, 35k. That said, you will likely qualify for the 30k judging from the tone of your post. Will money be a huge factor for you?

Thanks so much! As for money, tts definitely a factor--I'd be a fool not to take it into consideration, especially with how expensive New Haven can get. I really had no idea that housing would be so costly.

That said, I am really worried that I might not even qualify for the 30k "cap" because of the lag in my application... any advice?
Also, I just saw Alex's 1L post and feel slightly (ok very) dumb in having asked whether there had been any yalie posters taking q's...ah well, live and learn....

[dueprocess14]

Hey Severa, congrats! I would be seriously surprised if your need-based offer would be affected by when you submitted. The only risk I foresee you running is having to wait until close to the deadline to hear back. However, since Pat Barnes is divine (and because Yale has so few admits in general), my guess is you'll get it in about two weeks. I think at this point she's probably processed (and in some cases re-processed) most everyone who has been admitted already. Also! Once you get your offer, if you get a better need-based offer from another school, be sure to bring it back to her. Several people, myself included, got better offers by doing this (usually it's Stanford that offers better aid).

And thanks for the housing info, 1Ls! Any reason why people tend to avoid living in university-owned housing? Is it more expensive/crappier/farther away??

[Cartwright4]

Hey guys, quick question for the current Yale law students:

In your anecdotal experience and what you've heard, does financial aid get less generous for 2L and 3L than for 1L? How heavily are summer earnings made during law school summers, particularly at a firm, deducted from your financial aid?

I'm asking because Yale gave me a pretty generous first-year financial aid package, but I want to get a feel for how this might change over the other two years.

[Cartwright4]

Oh, and btw, if you want to see an outrageously unbalanced article about (former) Dean Koh in the NYPost, here goes:


http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302009/po ... 161961.htm

[OperaAttorney]

Oh, and btw, if you want to see an outrageously unbalanced article about (former) Dean Koh in the NYPost, here goes:


http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302009/po ... 161961.htm

Meghan Clyne, the author, is just silly .

[rabbit9198]

Hey guys, quick question for the current Yale law students:

In your anecdotal experience and what you've heard, does financial aid get less generous for 2L and 3L than for 1L? How heavily are summer earnings made during law school summers, particularly at a firm, deducted from your financial aid?

I'm asking because Yale gave me a pretty generous first-year financial aid package, but I want to get a feel for how this might change over the other two years.

I haven't gotten my award for next year yet (our deadline to submit tax info isn't till April 15th), but from what I've heard, not much changes in later years.

Summer earnings at Yale are "penalized" more so than at some other schools (notably, Stanford, which I think takes 57% of your earnings). Here, anything above $6,000 is seen as "available" for paying for school.