Is it Important to Have a Smartphone in Law School? Forum

[esq]

I've been a regular plan, flip phone, talk and text only cell phone guy as long as I can remember. From those of you that use smartphones, how important do you think it will be to have one during law school? I think I'm willing to spend the extra money on a cell phone plan if I know that the PDA and email functions are worth the investment.

P.S. Oh, and if anyone has a suggestion for a good cell phone company for UVA students, shout it out.

[MrPapagiorgio]

If by important you mean helpful, then yes. If by important you mean necessary, then no.

[esq]

I'm looking for answers to the degree of helpfulness, like how disadvantaged I would be compared to other law school students during a legal internship for example. If it would be a big disadvantage, I would want to invest in one.

[Bumi]

Oh, and if anyone has a suggestion for a good cell phone company for UVA students, shout it out.

I am not a UVa student, but I'm from the area so I can stand in until someone more experienced chimes in. I think you're asking "AT&T vs. Verizon vs. Sprint".

AT&T works in and around the law school, but Verizon is much more reliable if you go exploring outside town at all. For example, if you want to check out Wintergreen or Devil's Backbone brewery or Veritas winery, then AT&T isn't going to get you all the way there. Verizon will. So it depends on how reliable of coverage you want. My AT&T phone never works anywhere that extended family lives outside Charlottesville, but it's usually fine while I'm in town.

I don't know anything about Sprint.

[MrPapagiorgio]

Is having your e-mail come directly to you instead of having to pull out a computer and check it X times a day an advantage? Obviously. Is having the largest resource, the internet, at your fingertips an advantage? Obviously. I often go for days without having to actually check my e-mail, and it is a huge time-saver and is incredibly convenient.

If you're trying to justify to yourself the added cost of a smartphone, I don't have an answer for you. Personally, I have found it to be an invaluable tool. But could I live without it? Absolutely.

[Pizon]

If you didn't find it important before, you probably won't find it important now.

[stratocophic]

Not unless you DESPERATELY need to see rejection emails for your 1L summer job applications seconds after they're sent.

[dakatz]

Law school would probably be one of the places where a smartphone is completely unnecessary. College/law school campuses have computers everywhere, so email is never far away. And most students bring laptops around anyway. Though if you use your phone for some more advanced stuff then it can be useful. But by no means necessary, and really not all that important.

[acharyainc]

I have a blackberry and it is very important to me. I have average short-term memory (I assume) and so, often, I will forget a meeting or assignment here and there. With a blackberry, I have stopped forgetting important things like that.

I also have a pretty anal-retentive professor. Once he sends you an e-mail, he usually expects a response quickly. Hence, the smartphone is invaluable.

It also keeps everything organized in a nice, neat little device. Organization is an utterly overlooked facet to top-law-schools.com.

Its not absolutely necessary but it'll make you're life a whole lot easier.

[almightypush]

this is the setup i'm planning on using.

[tallboone]

everyone w/out a smartphone is below median.

[MrPapagiorgio]

everyone w/out a smartphone is below median.

*OPs ego nosedives*
*Spends 3 hours fretting about his insecurities*
*Goes out and drops $300 on a smartphone*

[Amy wineBerry]

I see people with flip phones...they don't seem to stress anymore than most from not having a smartphone. If anything, the students with smartphones could potentially be more distracted with the phone's awesomeness while in class.

I have a blackberry and it proved much more useful to me in undergrad. Now, I just watch the LED blink until its little heart is content. If having the functionalities of a smartphone in your pocket is important to you, then go for it. Even if you are ignoring the phone's email notification, the fact that you could check that email immediately from your phone if you wanted may be worth it. At least, that's been my rationale since making the jump to pdas/smartphones in 2007...and I've owned about 10 different ones to date. Granted, I'm into tech gadgets.

[Stanford4Me]

My roommate has one of the oldest phones ever. I rarely use my smartphone for anything law school related.

[aPosseAdEsse]

no necesitas.

[esq]

So it sounds like the biggest asset would be the organization from having your planner and your phone all in one. Thanks for the input guys - I especially like the string phone idea, do they come with a data plan?

And Bumi, I'm leaning towards cheaping out of the smartphone idea, and if I'm gonna cheap out I'm gonna do it big time. Any idea how T-mobile is in C'ville?

[HWS08]

I'm glad the OP posted this. I currently have a BlackBerry and it's a great tool, but it belongs to my employer so I'll have to go back to my plain old cell phone when I leave my job for law school. I didn't really want to have to buy a smartphone, and I'm glad to see that people think it's not necessary. I've been thinking about getting a netbook and I'd rather spend the money on that.

[patrickd139]

I wish I had my old four-function phone back about half of the time. Once people start holding you accountable for answering your email 24/7, you lose.

[solotee]

It's not important, but it's definitely helpful. I do my online stuff on the bus ride to school.

I track where my bus is on my smart phone, and when it'll reach my stop.

I read TLS success articles on my smartphone when I have an extra minute.

I listen to music on the smart phone when working out.

So...it's helpful and convenient.

[BarbellDreams]

You only need it in classes which have no laptop policies and you're really bored and need to look up March Madness scores.

[whymeohgodno]

If you didn't find it important before, you probably won't find it important now.

+1111111

I know some people who can't live without a smartphone. But some people have never used them and do fine.

[patrickd139]

You only need it in classes which have no laptop policies and you're really bored and need to look up March Madness scores.

And/or post on TLS

[jarofsoup]

I am not in law school yet, but I have found a smart phone or black berry extremely useful in employment related issues. You can look for jobs constantly and reply to emails promptly.

[thecilent]

I do not know how I would live without a smartphoneiphone or droid. Honestly do not know how I would live.

[too old for this sh*]

I see people with flip phones...they don't seem to stress anymore than most from not having a smartphone.

Not sure how many are on the current market but some of us that you see with flip phones have phones with Smart Phone capabilities...I still have an old Cingular clamshell that runs WinMobile5 and gets my email (and gives web access when I need to check a score). I don't like the touchscreen stuff nor do I want something that almost necessitates the insipid bluetooth devices.

I like not being uber-connected...