UVA Class of 2013 Forum

[Philo38]

Okay, I'm starting to get kind of worried that nobody is mentioning the Day's Inn.

Caution: April ASW Attendees stay away from the Day's Inn.

I'm surprised you say this, because my girfriend and I had a good experience at the Day's Inn actually. What happened?

Disclaimer: My experience may have been unusual. But...

They deleted my reservation by mistake, overbooked the hotel and stuck me in a smoking room when I am a non-smoker. (I think I walked out of that room with allergies!) The sink was stained. I was scared to walk on the floor barefoot and I found a HUGE bug in the room. It was scary!!!

I'd rather pay 3X the rate than have to relive that experience. /venting session

Jeez . . . we got lucky I guess, our room was clean and actually pretty nice.

[Muckduck]

did anyone go to the lunch time session on careers in academia? i missed it but it's my biggest question about uva; what exactly are your chances of getting into academia down the road?

I attended the legal academia section. He seemed to be pretty positive about it, but mostly talked about legal academia in general. He did mention that the recent trends favor UVA but obviously the reality is the reality, and Yale/Harvard dominate the market. You can pretty much figure out your chances on your own by looking at the available data. They are low.

That said, it does happen out of UVA, and it will continue to happen. UVA is a harder road to legal academia than Yale/Harvard, but it does seem that it would be harder to make the case that Penn, Chicago, Michigan, Cornell, etc. etc. offer a clear advantage over UVA in this regard.

Basically what he touched on was that the environment of legal academia is changing, that the traditional path (great grades, clerk, SCOTUS clerk) is becoming less a part of the picture, and that 1) published material and 2) graduate studies either in law or a cognate discipline (PhD, LLM) are becoming more important.

His basic advice was to write as much as you can but publish very little, maybe just a note and that is all (if anything). You want to have a bunch of material ready to publish, and to market yourself with, but you don't want to risk publishing sloppy work early in your career.

For what it is worth, the professor they had doing the discussion attended UVA. Not an accident I'm sure.

I think one has to agree with most of what agentzer0 says. However, keep in mind that not many people are entering law school with the express intent of going into academia afterward. Talking to law students and law professors, it has become pretty clear that many professors almost stumbled on it as they studied law and loved it enough to make a career out of studying and teaching it. If you are entering law school with academia as your goal from the get go, and if you get the grades and develop relationships with professors early on, I have to believe that you will be a step or two ahead of the competition.

Oh and by the way, although UVA doesn't seem to turn out the same quantity of professors as Harvard and Yale, the quality of professors graduating from UVA is really high. Just as UVA law school students are generally known to be gregarious, easy going, and hard working, so too are the professors who come out of UVA. Check out Bill Stuntz's blog. He is a HLS professor who graduated from UVA, and he is a rockstar.

[Muckduck]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&start=25

This guy is incredible to me. Is this type of preparation very useful? I have gotten the impression that it is not from most 1L's since tests are based on Professors' preferences/beliefs/interpretations/emphasis and not exactly what the textbook says. Seems like it would provide SOME benefit (maybe minimal, but potentially a lot?), but may lead to frustration and premature burnout in 1L year. What do you think?

[Cavalier]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&start=25

This guy is incredible to me. Is this type of preparation very useful? I have gotten the impression that it is not from most 1L's since tests are based on Professors' preferences/beliefs/interpretations/emphasis and not exactly what the textbook says. Seems like it would provide SOME benefit (maybe minimal, but potentially a lot?), but may lead to frustration and premature burnout in 1L year. What do you think?

You don't need to prepare as a 0L. Between the start of the semester and finals, you will have plenty of time to learn the law and learn how to write a good exam. I think the risk of burning out far outweighs any benefit that 0L preparation offers. The last thing you want to do is enter law school already hating the study of law.

I would, however, recommend reading Getting to Maybe, and looking at a couple sample exams, before school starts. Knowing what exactly a law school exam involves when you begin classes will help you read the material in a more useful way.

[Muckduck]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&start=25

This guy is incredible to me. Is this type of preparation very useful? I have gotten the impression that it is not from most 1L's since tests are based on Professors' preferences/beliefs/interpretations/emphasis and not exactly what the textbook says. Seems like it would provide SOME benefit (maybe minimal, but potentially a lot?), but may lead to frustration and premature burnout in 1L year. What do you think?

You don't need to prepare as a 0L. Between the start of the semester and finals, you will have plenty of time to learn the law and learn how to write a good exam. I think the risk of burning out far outweighs any benefit that 0L preparation offers. The last thing you want to do is enter law school already hating the study of law.

I would, however, recommend reading Getting to Maybe, and looking at a couple sample exams, before school starts. Knowing what exactly a law school exam involves when you begin classes will help you read the material in a more useful way.

TITCR. It sounds like differences between class preparation and exam preparation cause considerable stress at the end of semesters. Thus knowing what the test will look like helps one avoid the scramble at the end. That is all I think I will do this summer.

[Stringer Bell]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&start=25

This guy is incredible to me. Is this type of preparation very useful? I have gotten the impression that it is not from most 1L's since tests are based on Professors' preferences/beliefs/interpretations/emphasis and not exactly what the textbook says. Seems like it would provide SOME benefit (maybe minimal, but potentially a lot?), but may lead to frustration and premature burnout in 1L year. What do you think?

You don't need to prepare as a 0L. Between the start of the semester and finals, you will have plenty of time to learn the law and learn how to write a good exam. I think the risk of burning out far outweighs any benefit that 0L preparation offers. The last thing you want to do is enter law school already hating the study of law.

I would, however, recommend reading Getting to Maybe, and looking at a couple sample exams, before school starts. Knowing what exactly a law school exam involves when you begin classes will help you read the material in a more useful way.

I may sound like a complete noob with this question, but where can I come across sample law school exams?

[Muckduck]

The Law School library has them. I believe there are commercial outlines/texts with sample exam questions. I'm not going to worry about this until I am at UVA and know who my professors are going to be. Then I will go look up their old exams.

[badwithpseudonyms]

I may sound like a complete noob with this question, but where can I come across sample law school exams?

I'm glad I refreshed my browser before asking the same thing.

There are some sample questions/tests in GTM, I think. I own the book but haven't opened it yet. I suppose it would be most useful to look at old exams once you know who your professors are.

Muckduck, I like how you TITCR'ed Cavalier's response to a question you posed.

[Stringer Bell]

There are some sample questions/tests in GTM, I think. I own the book but haven't opened it yet. I suppose it would be most useful to look at old exams once you know who your professors are.

I just started last night. I'm only through the preface and the first page of chapter one.

Muckduck, I like how you TITCR'ed Cavalier's response to a question you posed.

I noticed this as well and found it equally amusing.

[Muckduck]

I may sound like a complete noob with this question, but where can I come across sample law school exams?

I'm glad I refreshed my browser before asking the same thing.

There are some sample questions/tests in GTM, I think. I own the book but haven't opened it yet. I suppose it would be most useful to look at old exams once you know who your professors are.

Muckduck, I like how you TITCR'ed Cavalier's response to a question you posed.

Haha. I was just asking what you guys thought about THAT guy's particular prep program. And I agreed strongly with Cavalier's suggestion to tone it down.

But yeah, anytime I can use this TLS acronym lingo that I am finally learning I will!

[badwithpseudonyms]

I just started last night. I'm only through the preface and the first page of chapter one.

I'll finish as soon as I get through Season 5 of The Wire. I watched the first three episodes of Season 5 last night. (I didn't have a chance to watch Disc 1 all weekend and was jonesing.)

Haha. I was just asking what you guys thought about THAT guy's particular prep program. And I agreed strongly with Cavalier's suggestion to tone it down.

But yeah, anytime I can use this TLS acronym lingo that I am finally learning I will!

I was just razzing you. (Thus the Razz face. ) I saw that thread and couldn't even bring myself to post in it for fear that it would grow and I'd have to see it in My Posts. I just hope that by "in the T30" he doesn't meant UVA.

[Muckduck]

Yeah I felt the same way. Is there a term (without expletives I mean since that would be too easy) to describe that guy? He is FAR beyond gunner...

[jdavid901]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&start=25

This guy is incredible to me. Is this type of preparation very useful? I have gotten the impression that it is not from most 1L's since tests are based on Professors' preferences/beliefs/interpretations/emphasis and not exactly what the textbook says. Seems like it would provide SOME benefit (maybe minimal, but potentially a lot?), but may lead to frustration and premature burnout in 1L year. What do you think?

You don't need to prepare as a 0L. Between the start of the semester and finals, you will have plenty of time to learn the law and learn how to write a good exam. I think the risk of burning out far outweighs any benefit that 0L preparation offers. The last thing you want to do is enter law school already hating the study of law.

I would, however, recommend reading Getting to Maybe, and looking at a couple sample exams, before school starts. Knowing what exactly a law school exam involves when you begin classes will help you read the material in a more useful way.

lol, does that mean it's inevitable? How depressing

[Cavalier]

For sample law school exams, just use Google. Obviously look for exams in torts, contracts, and other 1L subjects, for good examples (and not, say, administrative law). Or you can look at the ones on LawWeb through UVA's website, if you have access.

lol, does that mean it's inevitable? How depressing

Well, I don't think you'll permanently hate the law, but there are definitely periods where you just don't want to study it. I think staring the semester already burnt out would lead to a miserable experience.

[dailygrind]

So for those of you who are looking to RA for the summer, have you heard what summer life is going to be like in Charlottesville? Since the place more or less revolves around the University, is it going to be like walking through a graveyard all summer?

[Cavalier]

So for those of you who are looking to RA for the summer, have you heard what summer life is going to be like in Charlottesville? Since the place more or less revolves around the University, is it going to be like walking through a graveyard all summer?

I have no idea what to expect, except that I won't be paying double rent!

[dailygrind]

Haha, yeah that part sounds pretty sweet.

[virginiagirl55]

So for those of you who are looking to RA for the summer, have you heard what summer life is going to be like in Charlottesville? Since the place more or less revolves around the University, is it going to be like walking through a graveyard all summer?

nooo charlottesville is really fun in the summertime. a looot of undergrads stick around, and i would imagine a fair amount of grad students do as well.

[YCrevolution]

..

[lilspainishflea]

So for those of you who are looking to RA for the summer, have you heard what summer life is going to be like in Charlottesville? Since the place more or less revolves around the University, is it going to be like walking through a graveyard all summer?

I spoke with 3-4 2L and 3L's last weekend who said their summer RA gig was the best Summer they'd had. Get paid enough to live on and spend the rest of your time golfing or by the pool.

[dailygrind]

Not terribly good at golf, but what the hey, maybe I'll pick it up.

[YCrevolution]

..

[dailygrind]

Probably not this summer, unless you count the very beginning of August when I try to move in 2 weeks before orientation (fingers crossed, c'monnnnnnn open slot with good timing at the Jeffersonian!). I'm guessing the odds are decent that I'll be there next summer though.

[billyez]

Folks were wondering if I knew how to play golf or softball when I went up there. But alas, I've always been a homebody. As much as I liked the place, it's pretty obvious that it's a far cry from great commuter school I went to for undergrad in terms of culture.

[Stringer Bell]

I'll finish as soon as I get through Season 5 of The Wire. I watched the first three episodes of Season 5 last night. (I didn't have a chance to watch Disc 1 all weekend and was jonesing.)

Attaboy