Yale Class of 2013 Forum

[BioEBear2010]

Tin, where would you recommend for a youngster like myself? Also, do most students join clubs/participate in IM sports/etc. during their first semester (if I end up in New Haven, I would definitely be interested in doing so).

[tinman]

Tin, where would you recommend for a youngster like myself? Also, do most students join clubs/participate in IM sports/etc. during their first semester (if I end up in New Haven, I would definitely be interested in doing so).

I live downtown, and I love it. The largest single landlord for the law school (and the med school) is the New Haven Towers, which consist of Crown Court, Crown Towers, and Madison Towers. There are certainly good deals to be found elsewhere (perhaps better deals if you are patient and persistent). But if you don't want to do a thorough search for apartments, I don't think you can go wrong with the Towers. A lot of people sign leases there during the admitted student weekend. One benefit I did expect is a lot of your classmates will be in the Towers, which is especially convenient because it means that many of the afterparties will be in one of the Towers. Crown Court is the cheapest (and that's where most of the 1L afterparties were this year), while Crown Towers is the most expensive. Madison is the largest. One benefit I did not expect is that you can always find people to walk home from any party back to the towers. People often take the free shuttles home from parties (for safety and convenience), but I always prefer walking. So, I think living in or near the Towers is a good call, though anywhere in the downtown would be fun. I would not recommend East Rock unless you don't mind taking the shuttle a lot (or you are bringing a car with you and don't drink when you socialize).

You can definitely participate in IMs during the fall semester. Your grades really don't matter at all, so you could spend all you time doing sports if you want. But I think most people choose not to. People spend most of there time studying and socializing. There are A LOT of social events in the fall, and I think it is good to spend most of your free time attending them. Yale is really special in that getting to know your classmates is more important than getting top grades your first semester (because, of course, you can only get passes). "Stand together, not on top of each other!" was the rallying cry of the class when first semester grades were abolished. This truly makes Yale unique: Stanford and Harvard recently adopted a fake fake grading system to compete with Yale. It will not work because they still have first semester grades (masquerading as book prizes, honors, low passes, etc). It's amazing that Yale doesn't need to do this because all their students will be able to get good jobs (both in the summers and after graduation). I hope it is always that way.

Anyway, back to your question ... I think a good percentage of the students will start doing some IM sports in the spring. And some did do IM sports in the fall, but as I suggested, there is so much going on it the fall you might find that you would rather spend your free time doing other things.

[BioEBear2010]

As always, thanks for the help Tin! Can't wait to visit

[rabbit9198]

Hey folks, I was recently admitted, and it's a no-brainer, so I will be seeing you all in the fall. This thread should be jumpin', let's get it started. I thought I would open it up with a discussion of housing. I personally have a wife, a daughter, and a lab, so it'll be a bit more complex for me, but I say we get some assessments of the various living options in gorgeous New Haven.

Another dog-friendly option is Chapel Lofts: --LinkRemoved-- I'm not sure you'd want a loft for three people, but some YLS students with dogs have been very happy with its relatively downtown location and pet-accepting policies.

Also, a number of dog owners have found that living in the Edgewood/Howe/Dwight/Lynwood area is a good option. There are some houses subdivided into apartments there, and landlords seem more accepting of pets than some of the high-rise landlords.

It should also be noted that East Rock is an EXPANSIVE neighborhood...so some parts of East Rock are walkable to the Law School in 10 minutes, while others are closer to 30 or 45 minutes away. If you're worried about being isolated from the law school social circle, it can be a good idea to live on the closer side (maybe that's obvious?). But like tinman said, if you want space for your family/dog, then being in East Rock (even on the closer edge) can be a better (and cheaper) option than staying downtown.

[rabbit9198]

Also, if you want to crawl TLS archives for housing discussions -

There's some housing discussion beginning here, for the class of 2011: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=500

And beginning here, for the class of 2012: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=600

[Pausanias]

Thanks for the tips, it looks like there are a lot of good options. Boy, the Yale acceptance is the only thing keeping me together after the Ravens folding last night...brutal, we cannot beat that team from Indianapolis.

[Pausanias]

Who else is interested in intramurals? I could get excited about rugby, flag football, tennis, and squash, although admittedly I'm not great at any of them. Does anyone know how the intramurals work? Also, it says somewhere on the website that Yale offers free instruction in a variety of sports, has anyone taken advantage of that? I would love some free tennis lessons.

[tinman]

Who else is interested in intramurals? I could get excited about rugby, flag football, tennis, and squash, although admittedly I'm not great at any of them. Does anyone know how the intramurals work? Also, it says somewhere on the website that Yale offers free instruction in a variety of sports, has anyone taken advantage of that? I would love some free tennis lessons.

It's always possible to organize IM teams through friends, but a lot of times people send things to the entire law school (we have a list for advertising all kinds of events: classes, lectures, humanitarian events, parties, and info about IMs). For example, one of our 1L classmates emailed the whole law school about Yale Grad Rugby http://www.yale.edu/gradrugby/ And then he personally encouraged his friends to join. I think a bunch of 1Ls will be trying it out starting next week. There is also a graduate squash league (for people of all levels) that some people play in.

[Pausanias]

I heard that bar review and other school-sponsored social activities have been scaled back due to the recession, is this true? Also, does the university have any plans to hire a tax professor any time soon? It seems to me that this is the time, while the other schools are swooning, to go out and poach as many rock-star professors as you can.

[tinman]

I heard that bar review and other school-sponsored social activities have been scaled back due to the recession, is this true? Also, does the university have any plans to hire a tax professor any time soon? It seems to me that this is the time, while the other schools are swooning, to go out and poach as many rock-star professors as you can.

I wasn't here last year, so perhaps Rabbit or another 2L would have more perspective. I don't think bar review has changed. I think the food at the BBQs and the Friday happy hours is a bit worse: If you are hoping for lobster or caviar, you may be disappointed by the burgers and hot dogs. But there is still a ton of free food available, not only at school-sponsored events but also at group-sponsored events. There are so many talks everyday that have food that it is overwhelming. And even if you miss the talks they usually put the extra food in the common areas. I have a friend who lived for a week on free Thai and Indian food from these various events.

Regarding the hiring of new professors, I hope the poach a few superstars as well. The usually make announcements in late spring, I think. They have been trying to hire a leading tax scholar, as far as I know. I am hoping they hire someone in health law. We shall see.

[rabbit9198]

I heard that bar review and other school-sponsored social activities have been scaled back due to the recession, is this true? Also, does the university have any plans to hire a tax professor any time soon? It seems to me that this is the time, while the other schools are swooning, to go out and poach as many rock-star professors as you can.

Yes, the Law School has taken an economic hit just like the rest of the University. One of the most visible ways we've seen that is in food for student events. Bar Review (and the umbrella of things the Students Rep organize) hasn't been all that different, but as tinman said, the Friday happy hours and biannual BBQs have changed: happy hours are now once a month vs. the former once a week and feature less sushi than they used to; the BBQ didn't have alcohol in the fall. Student groups have also been strongly encouraged to limit their food expenditures through various means. Like tinman said, though, there's still a lot of food available for free in the building - just not as much as we used to have. If you haven't already been here pre-recession, you probably wouldn't notice the scale back.

Regarding hiring, the school's general outlook has been described as "hire the best in whatever they do, don't 'plug holes' to fill supposed vacancies." In other words, they won't just hire the best tax person on the market if that person's scholarship isn't up to snuff. That said, Dean Post seems to have made it a huge priority to attract great professors and to use our comparative advantage during this time...and the faculty is obviously aware that there are some places (tax, health law, family law) where we could stand to have a full-time tenured professor rather than a string of visitors.

[Renaixença]

I hear YLS students often take exams from home, wearing only their underwear.

can anyone confirm?

[tinman]

I hear YLS students often take exams from home, wearing only their underwear.

can anyone confirm?

hahaha! Confirmed. I definitely took my 9 a.m. contracts final in my underwear only. It was glorious.

[Pausanias]

As I understand it, Yale championed the revolutionary strategy to invest the university endowment in high-risk assets. The point of the strategy was that big returns would be followed by large drops, but that this was when the strategy really kicked in. The unique position of a university enabled it to continue to invest in volatile assets even in a downturn, and in fact to clean up on discount rates when other business were unable and other universities were too risk-averse. This apparently was supposed to apply also to procuring faculty. Places like Harvard, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, etc., followed this strategy in the good times, but have pulled back in the downturn and haven't taken advantage of the whole point of this strategy, which was to clean up in the bad times. I hope that Yale in sticking to its original investment plans, especially in the law school's hiring.

[Pausanias]

I went to college in NYC, and since I've been away for five years, I have a deep yen for the big city. How easy is it to get into Manhattan, and how often to students realistically take trips? Are there organized excursions?

[rabbit9198]

I went to college in NYC, and since I've been away for five years, I have a deep yen for the big city. How easy is it to get into Manhattan, and how often to students realistically take trips? Are there organized excursions?

The Metro-North railroad runs from New Haven to Grand Central (schedule: http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm) for about $14 each way. It's about a 90 minute trip. The train station is accessible to students via a short cab ride (maybe $7-12, depending how far from the station you live) or Yale shuttles.

Some 2L and 3L students actually live in NYC (usually because a spouse or significant other lives/works there), coming into New Haven two or three days a week for class.

How often people go into the city really varies. Some people really crave a big city and all it has to offer: theatre, major league sports, etc. Others are happy with what's in New Haven and only go into New York occasionally. I'd say I probably make the trip a couple times a semester.

There aren't really organized excursions, except if a student group is taking its members to some event in the city, but groups of friends get together to go see a show or go celebrate someone's birthday, etc.

[Pausanias]

The last time I was at Yale I was giving a paper at a Classics conference right during the 2007 draft. The Ravens (my team) traded up to take Joe Flacco, and then Ray Rice in the second round. This year, the ASW will perfectly coincide with the draft. Anyone else pumped? Any expectations? Any Stanfordians hoping Toby breaks into the first? Any Calians hoping the same for Jahvid? Having personally gone to a number of schools with non-existent football programs, I do not have any alumnal allegiance, but my family comes from Alabama, so I'm a strong Tide fan, hoping that Mt. Cody, Arenas, and McClain all go high. It would be great to get a draft party going thursday night.

[BioEBear2010]

I want Toby and Jahvid to both make 1st round. I'm very curious to see where Tebow ends up, too.

[Jenno]

Hi Everyone. I'm still waiting and checking the mail every day for a letter. The wait is absolutely frustrating...

[joshikousei]

Some 2L and 3L students actually live in NYC (usually because a spouse or significant other lives/works there), coming into New Haven two or three days a week for class.

wow. i would consider that.

[Hoopster]

Ditto on the Metro-North train to NYC. It usually takes 90 minutes to an hour 45 minutes. I go see my friends in Manhattan some weekends then take the bus or NJ Transit home in NJ.

[Pausanias]

Some 2L and 3L students actually live in NYC (usually because a spouse or significant other lives/works there), coming into New Haven two or three days a week for class.

wow. i would consider that.

Honestly, it's not all that much more expensive than living in downtown New Haven.

[joshikousei]

Some 2L and 3L students actually live in NYC (usually because a spouse or significant other lives/works there), coming into New Haven two or three days a week for class.

wow. i would consider that.

Honestly, it's not all that much more expensive than living in downtown New Haven.

yeah - i know how much rent costs in both places. and it's not.

[Pausanias]

It is if you live in Washington Heights or the like, the places I would imagine most students living.

[kalessebo]

To answer a couple of questions (not that Rabbit and Tinman aren't basically covering everything):

The most popular IMs for the fall are softball and soccer. The law school had multiple teams in both sports - in soccer, for example, we had a co-ed team and a (edit) mostly male team. Each team played a game on Sundays, and some of us played on both teams. It's definitely not too much a time sink, but Tinman is right that it does take up time that could have been spent socializing. Though in reality, it ends up taking up time that could have been spent studying, since most people's priorities go socializing>everything else>studying, at least in practice. The grad squash league is also really fun no matter your skill level. I don't think there's football.

As for the draft, I'm a huge Toby fan, and I think he is a solid second rounder and will end up being a useful back in the league, but I don't see him being an every down back unless it turns out he was just running slowly to make it more fair in college. That being said, fingers crossed for late first round. Thursday night at last year's ASW was taken up by dinners at students' houses - awesome time, by the way, so definitely don't skip it. We had the NBA playoffs on, so I doubt that people will be particularly averse to having the draft on.