UC Hastings Students Taking Questions Forum

[Lasers]

OH and can i have a cat in the tower?? thanks!

i think the rule is no pets unfortunately. well, i'm sure you can have a pet fish...or rock...but not any of the fun ones.

[ArtyIvy]

OH and can i have a cat in the tower?? thanks!

i think the rule is no pets unfortunately. well, i'm sure you can have a pet fish...or rock...but not any of the fun ones.

Kids, yes. Pets, no. (LinkRemoved) Would love to have a cat, it's good for your health (unless you're allergic).

[aliceydu]

What types of loans do most students take out? Federal or private?

[jarofsoup]

I am applying to transfer to Hastings b/c I miss the bay. How is the jobs situation looking. Are you still out pacing schools like SCU, USF, and SCU?

Still placing good in SF, Eastbay, and Silicon Valley?

[Lasers]

I am applying to transfer to Hastings b/c I miss the bay. How is the jobs situation looking. Are you still out pacing schools like SCU, USF, and SCU?

yes, of course. and still being outpaced by stanford and berk.

Still placing good in SF, Eastbay, and Silicon Valley?

relatively well, is what i would say. the bay area economy is still not in good shape (though there are indications it may be on its way to recovery) so "well" relative to everyone else isn't saying too much. i think it depends on what you want and what area you want to practice.

[ArtyIvy]

What types of loans do most students take out? Federal or private?

I can't answer from law school, but for grad school I had sub and unsub Staffords (sub are no longer available to grad students) and PLUS loans. If you can get a PLUS loan, on your own or with a co-signer, it's the way to go. You can consolidate after graduation and pay off with IBR.

I have friends from grad school who were unaware of PLUS loans and are dealing with merciless private loan collections agents. I find it much easier to work with the government. Although, for some reason, my existing govt loans got consolidated with Sallie Mae (operating with the DOE), which was a PITA to deal with. They consolidated loans while I was in school and were calling me to collect because my graduation date kept getting changed to a year earlier. Easier to deal with the DOE than a private bank that will sell your loan.

[kapital98]

I am having trouble deciding about Hastings. They offered me 10k in scholly. I'm also in at Davis and WL at USC. I prefer to work in San Francisco after law school, but it's not a must. I'm just not sure if I should gun it for USC or just send my deposit for Hastings. Is USC really that much better?

What kinds of things should you do as a 1L at Hastings besides studying really hard lol? How do you line up a summer internship? How does law review selection work?

Sorry for so many questions, TIA !

USC has better employment prospects, and getting a job is everyone's first priority.. so in that sense, it is better. You can always wait for the deposit deadline at Hastings, and a couple days beforehand if you still aren't accepted at USC, deposit here. If you're accepted, then I'd compare the different cost of attendance and see if it's really worth it to go to Hastings over USC. Most people would probably say to definitely go to USC over Hastings because of better job prospects.

A lot of people join clubs and stuff during 1L. I started out thinking I'd to the same, but I pretty much stopped going to meetings, etc. I just felt like it wasn't really worth my time and I wasn't super interested. I've never really been much a club person. I'm volunteering with a legal organization doing immigration-related research. I know a lot of people do other pro bono things to get some experience and to put it on the resume. Your main concentration though should be studying and getting good grades.

For summer internships I sent out 10 application to state judges on December 1st, and then when grades came out, I sent out around 30-35 more applications to federal judges, public interest orgs, some miscellaneous government positions (like city attorney and some other things) and maybe like three firms. It is really up to you to do your own research and figure out what you want to do. I applied to a bunch of random things but I don't have a set career goal. I recommend making an appointment with the career center as soon as you get here to polish your resume and cover letters. Getting a summer internship doesn't seem to be too hard, as long as you send TONS of applications. Some of my friends only applied to like 5 places and haven't heard back. My friends who applied to 20+ places all have summer gigs lined up. Out of my ~45 apps I got 6 interview requests. So you really have to just send out applications to everything that seems interesting and try to use your personal connections to get a job. This is pretty much the same at every school though and your 1L job process will likely be the same at most schools.

I'm not totally clear on LR. We are having our student panel on LR tomorrow, so I can report back with more info after that. I know that the top 5 people from every section automatically grade on (they still have to write for their application, but they are accepted), and besides that I believe it is a combination of your GPA and your writing sample.

Wait for USC. If you have an acceptance from USC you can negotiate for a larger merit aid scholarship from Hastings. Anyone who says you "must" go to USC is giving you bad advice. Weigh the pros/cons of each school. If USC is a better fit, which it may be depending on your preferences, choose USC.

According to the student panel on LR: There are roughly ten journals covering the standard topics of LR. The flagship journal accepts the top 3 people in each section and everyone else is selected based on a combination of grades and the write-on competition. The flagship journal sounds incredibly competitive but it shouldn't be too difficult to write-on to another journal (ex: Business, Poverty, Women's issues.)

One nice thing about Hastings compared to other schools: We have the #1 ranked moot court team. Having moot court, trial advocacy, or alternative dispute resolution on your resume is a perfect alternative to law review (it's all the same for employers.) Depending on your preferences, moot court may be much more enjoyable than LR.

Finding a summer internship is HARD. Even if you have decent grades it's still hard to find an internship. I applied to 5 different federal district court judges. Nothing. I gave each a callback. Nothing. I applied to 16 different public interest organization during a jobs fair. Nothing. It's not like there was something wrong with my applications. I went over everything with Career Services to make sure my applications shined. Tip: Go to Career Services early, have them review your resume and cover letter, and take mock interviews.

Fortunately, I already had a Public Defender's job lined up because of past networking. Otherwise I might still be hustling. I know people with decent grades and strong work experience that still don't have summer jobs. This isn't really an indication of Hastings' job placement. It's just a really tough market.

I can't see how it would be easier to find a summer job in the Bay Area from USC. Even during OCI it's still probably at a disadvantage.

[Lasers]

One nice thing about Hastings compared to other schools: We have the #1 ranked moot court team. Having moot court, trial advocacy, or alternative dispute resolution on your resume is a perfect alternative to law review (it's all the same for employers.) Depending on your preferences, moot court may be much more enjoyable than LR.

everything else i agree with except that.

LR > everything else pretty much. certainly the other stuff are very strong alternatives, but not quite perfect or the same for employers as LR is.

[ilovesf]

One nice thing about Hastings compared to other schools: We have the #1 ranked moot court team. Having moot court, trial advocacy, or alternative dispute resolution on your resume is a perfect alternative to law review (it's all the same for employers.) Depending on your preferences, moot court may be much more enjoyable than LR.

everything else i agree with except that.

LR > everything else pretty much. certainly the other stuff are very strong alternatives, but not quite perfect or the same for employers as LR is.

I concur.

[kapital98]

One nice thing about Hastings compared to other schools: We have the #1 ranked moot court team. Having moot court, trial advocacy, or alternative dispute resolution on your resume is a perfect alternative to law review (it's all the same for employers.) Depending on your preferences, moot court may be much more enjoyable than LR.

everything else i agree with except that.

LR > everything else pretty much. certainly the other stuff are very strong alternatives, but not quite perfect or the same for employers as LR is.

I respectfully dissent for two reasons. First, the books I've read on legal employment treat them equally. Second, it's TLS conventional wisdom (I'm pretty certain firm recruiters have talked about this on TLS.)

Competitive Moot Court requires excellent writing skills. For an employer at OCI that should be equal with law review. I may concede, possibly, it doesn't look as good as the flagship publication (but I remain doubtful about this too.)

[ilovesf]

I respectfully dissent for two reasons. First, the books I've read on legal employment treat them equally. Second, it's TLS conventional wisdom (I'm pretty certain firm recruiters have talked about this on TLS.)

Competitive Moot Court requires excellent writing skills. For an employer at OCI that should be equal with law review. I may concede, possibly, it doesn't look as good as the flagship publication (but I remain doubtful about this too.)

I talked to a lot of other students (some on MC) who said it definitely wasn't as good. At the OCI thing last week I asked a lot and they all said only do MC if you like it, but otherwise journal is much more important. LR is definitely > MC, but secondary journal might be just as good as MC. Also, I'm pretty sure it isn't conventional TLS wisdom that MC is just as good as LR. In fact I'm pretty sure there are some threads right now that say otherwise.

[Lasers]

One nice thing about Hastings compared to other schools: We have the #1 ranked moot court team. Having moot court, trial advocacy, or alternative dispute resolution on your resume is a perfect alternative to law review (it's all the same for employers.) Depending on your preferences, moot court may be much more enjoyable than LR.

everything else i agree with except that.

LR > everything else pretty much. certainly the other stuff are very strong alternatives, but not quite perfect or the same for employers as LR is.

I respectfully dissent for two reasons. First, the books I've read on legal employment treat them equally. Second, it's TLS conventional wisdom (I'm pretty certain firm recruiters have talked about this on TLS.)

Competitive Moot Court requires excellent writing skills. For an employer at OCI that should be equal with law review. I may concede, possibly, it doesn't look as good as the flagship publication (but I remain doubtful about this too.)

do a search brah. conventional (tls) wisdom is that law review >>> moot court, but that secondary journal is about equal to moot court.

anecdotally, i'd back up what ilovesf says; every single person i have talked to has said that law review is better to have on a resume than moot court.

[sienna.ann]

Can any 1Ls share there first semester schedule? Just curious to see how much of the week were typically in class

[kapital98]

do a search my fair lady. conventional (Whose house? KEN'S HOUSE.) wisdom is that law review >>> moot court, but that secondary journal is about equal to moot court.

anecdotally, i'd back up what ilovesf says; every single person i have talked to has said that law review is better to have on a resume than moot court.

I did a search and now I withdraw my dissent

Only a small minority of people think it's equivalent. Most think LR >> Moot Court. I was hoping this would go away without more people adding on... I should have done a search before dissenting.

Can any 1Ls share there first semester schedule? Just curious to see how much of the week were typically in class

Do you mean, can you skip classes with other people covering you? I wouldn't recommend it. Especially during first semester. If you need to skip a class people will let you see their notes. However, if you get into this habit you may miss important things your professors stresses (and this may not be in other people's notes.)

During your first semester you will have ~15 hours in class (14 credits + 10 minute breaks for 2 hours classes). The classes are not very time consuming. The homework and Legal Writing/Research is. Also, if you're unfamiliar with how to read a case, going to class may solve a lot of headaches and wasted time when doing homework.


P.S. Someone hacked TLS. Certain typed words come up different in a post.

[sienna.ann]

Oh I didn't mean can you skip wih others covering you, I meant can a 1L on tls share what there schedule was with me--days times etc?

[ilovesf]

No problem. I don't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure it was this for me. It is different for every section. Second semester you have an extra class, so you are a lot busier.
Monday: Torts 1:10-3:20
Tuesday: Property 9:40-11:50, Legal Writing: 3:20-5:30
Wednesday: Civ Pro 9:40-11:50, Torts 1:10-3:20
Thursday: Property 9:40-11:50
Friday: Civ Pro 9:40-11:50

[kapital98]

No problem. I don't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure it was this for me. It is different for every section. Second semester you have an extra class, so you are a lot busier.
Monday: Torts 1:10-3:20
Tuesday: Property 9:40-11:50, Legal Writing: 3:20-5:30
Wednesday: Civ Pro 9:40-11:50, Torts 1:10-3:20
Thursday: Property 9:40-11:50
Friday: Civ Pro 9:40-11:50

Same schedule except my Legal Writing course was on Monday from ~5-7pm.

[hiima3L]

I am applying to transfer to Hastings b/c I miss the bay. How is the jobs situation looking. Are you still out pacing schools like SCU, USF, and SCU?

Still placing good in SF, Eastbay, and Silicon Valley?

The Bay is one of the worst (if not the worst) legal job markets in the nation. I'm a 3L and know very few people with anything lined up, and they are the people in the very top of the class. Job placement is abysmal.

But if you're planning to transfer to UCH, I'm sure wherever you are won't be much better (this isn't meant to be demeaning--every transfer to UCH I've met comes from a much lower-ranked school), so best of luck.

[sweetxchelle]

Hey all,

I am new to this forum and had a few questions regarding the student life at UC Hastings. I was recently accepted and I am excited, but my only concern is safety. I come from a suburb 45 minutes south of Los Angeles. I have never been to San Francisco, and I keep hearing mix things from alumni and San Franciscans, regarding the tenderloin. I am planning on living at the tower and I was wondering how dangerous it is to walk to campus in the daytime. I know there are van services and escorts at night, since that is when it is most dangerous, but I have not heard much about how bad it is in the daytime. I have previously worked in downtown LA and D.C. so I am use to homeless people asking for money and their crazy ranting. But, how forward are the homeless people in SF? Are they more aggressive? I hear that they get all up in your face. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

[LockBox]

Hey all,

I am new to this forum and had a few questions regarding the student life at UC Hastings. I was recently accepted and I am excited, but my only concern is safety. I come from a suburb 45 minutes south of Los Angeles. I have never been to San Francisco, and I keep hearing mix things from alumni and San Franciscans, regarding the tenderloin. I am planning on living at the tower and I was wondering how dangerous it is to walk to campus in the daytime. I know there are van services and escorts at night, since that is when it is most dangerous, but I have not heard much about how bad it is in the daytime. I have previously worked in downtown LA and D.C. so I am use to homeless people asking for money and their crazy ranting. But, how forward are the homeless people in SF? Are they more aggressive? I hear that they get all up in your face. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

If anyone responds to this perhaps they can give me some insight into how necessary/unnecessary having a car is? I'm currently on the waitlist and considering selling my car if I get in/go to UCH. Good idea?

[ilovesf]

The tower is one block away, during the day you'll be fine. There are lots of homeless people, but they don't really bother you. You'll probably just see some crazy people talking to themselves, but that's it. There have been some incidents (like a student got mugged recently at 5pm or something a couple blocks away) but that doesn't happen very often. A lot of my friends live in the TL and walk to school every day, and nothing has happened to them.

The question about your car depends on where you're living in SF. I have a car, I live about a mile away from school. I decided to keep my car because I like the flexibility it gives me. During the summer I go to Napa a lot and the surrounding areas. I use it about once or twice a week normally. If you live in the tower, I'd probably sell it. Unless you live far out like in the sunset, you'll have to pay to register your car for a sticker to park it. It's pretty easy to do and I think it costs like $60 for half a year (you'll have to look that up though because I totally forget). A lot of my friends who moved here signed up with zipcar, which is a pretty good solution. There is a zipcar parking spot in the UCH parking lot so it's pretty accessible. Public transportation around SF/the bay area is pretty good too. I take the bus out a lot even though I have a car because I don't want to deal with parking or because I want to drink. So you really don't need a car in SF as a student, but it can be nice. All of my friends not from SF don't have a car, but now that I think about it, most of my friends that are from SF do have a car.

[sweetxchelle]

Thanks for the feedback.

[ilovesf]

Thanks for the feedback.

no problem, that's what this thread is for

[LockBox]

The tower is one block away, during the day you'll be fine. There are lots of homeless people, but they don't really bother you. You'll probably just see some crazy people talking to themselves, but that's it. There have been some incidents (like a student got mugged recently at 5pm or something a couple blocks away) but that doesn't happen very often. A lot of my friends live in the TL and walk to school every day, and nothing has happened to them.

The question about your car depends on where you're living in SF. I have a car, I live about a mile away from school. I decided to keep my car because I like the flexibility it gives me. During the summer I go to Napa a lot and the surrounding areas. I use it about once or twice a week normally. If you live in the tower, I'd probably sell it. Unless you live far out like in the sunset, you'll have to pay to register your car for a sticker to park it. It's pretty easy to do and I think it costs like $60 for half a year (you'll have to look that up though because I totally forget). A lot of my friends who moved here signed up with zipcar, which is a pretty good solution. There is a zipcar parking spot in the UCH parking lot so it's pretty accessible. Public transportation around SF/the bay area is pretty good too. I take the bus out a lot even though I have a car because I don't want to deal with parking or because I want to drink. So you really don't need a car in SF as a student, but it can be nice. All of my friends not from SF don't have a car, but now that I think about it, most of my friends that are from SF do have a car.

$60/half year sounds good....the UCH website says the parking garage is rate for cars is $200/month. I'm guessing students park elsewhere? All info is appreciated

[ilovesf]

The tower is one block away, during the day you'll be fine. There are lots of homeless people, but they don't really bother you. You'll probably just see some crazy people talking to themselves, but that's it. There have been some incidents (like a student got mugged recently at 5pm or something a couple blocks away) but that doesn't happen very often. A lot of my friends live in the TL and walk to school every day, and nothing has happened to them.

The question about your car depends on where you're living in SF. I have a car, I live about a mile away from school. I decided to keep my car because I like the flexibility it gives me. During the summer I go to Napa a lot and the surrounding areas. I use it about once or twice a week normally. If you live in the tower, I'd probably sell it. Unless you live far out like in the sunset, you'll have to pay to register your car for a sticker to park it. It's pretty easy to do and I think it costs like $60 for half a year (you'll have to look that up though because I totally forget). A lot of my friends who moved here signed up with zipcar, which is a pretty good solution. There is a zipcar parking spot in the UCH parking lot so it's pretty accessible. Public transportation around SF/the bay area is pretty good too. I take the bus out a lot even though I have a car because I don't want to deal with parking or because I want to drink. So you really don't need a car in SF as a student, but it can be nice. All of my friends not from SF don't have a car, but now that I think about it, most of my friends that are from SF do have a car.

$60/half year sounds good....the UCH website says the parking garage is rate for cars is $200/month. I'm guessing students park elsewhere? All info is appreciated

Sorry, I was a little lazy in answering the question the first time around, I'll try to be a little more clear now. The $60 is for parking on the street in your residential neighborhood. It turns out it is a tiny bit cheaper than that, it is $100/yr or $50 for the half year. You can find out info about that here: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/pperm/indxpkperm.htm Usually, if you are parking on an unmetered spot, there is a sign that says "2 hour parking unless you have a zone G permit" That means if you live in the area and register your car for a G sticker, you can park there forever and not get a ticket. Otherwise, you can get a ticket for leaving your car there for more than 2 hours during the day. This is independent of Hastings and city wide. This also does NOT apply to a meter spot.
I don't drive to school most days so I don't have a permit for the parking garage. For individual days it costs $8 a day for students. That's actually a really good deal for a garage in the middle of the city, it costs a lot more for people who aren't affiliated with the school. Students do usually park there, because aside from the garage, most of the area is metered parking, so you can only park there for like 2 hours then you have to go refill your meter. I have a couple of friends that drive to school, but most of my friends take public transportation or walk. The people who drive to school are definitely a minority. I usually only drive when it's raining really hard or when I have to move my car for street cleaning in the morning, but otherwise I don't do it.