Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions Forum

[alpa chino]

Kinda silly but is there a student lounge with a microwave? Was thinking about packing a lunch now and then rather than buying in the cafe and, contrary to my user name, warm food would be nice

Our cafe is also tragically overpriced for what you get, so you will save a lot of money if you do this. It's pretty common.

I think we might have a different caterer for the cafe next year though so maybe it will be better.

This cannot be emphasized enough. The Refectory (cafe) is not good food, and is very expensive for what you get (which is, again, not good food). Hopefully the new caterer will change things around. But, barring that, your best bet for nearby dining is Fuqua next door or the Bryan Center. Or you can bring your lunch. Because, if I haven't been clear, the Refectory is about five stars short of a five-star restaurant. Good brownies, though.

FWIW we 3L's got screwed because they're replacing the Refrectory with a new company starting next year. Class of 2017 will never know what it's like to eat a sandwich that tastes like a giant block of salt.

But yeah, Fuqua or Bryan center is TCR.

[Serett]

Any current students who can weigh in on how imperative it is that one's laptop runs Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate or 8.1 Pro for its OS as opposed to the normal Home/Home Premium versions, as the law school recommends? I'm tempted to disregard the requirement (as it's both novel to me, unlikely in my mind to be necessary for a law student's computer usage, more expensive, and unique when comparing Duke Law's requirements to a few peer schools), but I don't want to do so if Duke truly does something odd (e.g. uses an exam program that only functions properly in Pro, or legitimately runs its wifi in an enterprise-only mode). I would be surprised if a normal laptop is insufficient, but I figured it best to check before spurning Duke's advice.

The only thing your OS really matters for is electronic blue book, so as long as your OS works with that you're fine.

Good enough for me, thanks. I assumed that would be the answer, but their emphasis on Pro made me wary.

[greeksalad]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

[racrfish]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

Amazing. Awesome. Many people's favorite professor ever. But you do have to work hard for his class. What makes you ask?

[mephistopheles]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

ha, unless you're a lit gunner, avoid at all costs. for us transactional folk, taking the easy road with literally any other professor is the move.

[greeksalad]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

ha, unless you're a lit gunner, avoid at all costs. for us transactional folk, taking the easy road with literally any other professor is the move.

Yikes, unfortunately can't be helped.

[racrfish]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

ha, unless you're a lit gunner, avoid at all costs. for us transactional folk, taking the easy road with literally any other professor is the move.

Yikes, unfortunately can't be helped. I ask since he's teaching Civ Pro for us summer starters (in just a few weeks, ahhh!)

No seriously, you'll love him. He's fantastic. But yes it's a difficult class.

[kalcifer]

Duke 0L here, starting in the fall.
(1) What would you recommend doing to prepare for 1L year? Academic or otherwise.

1. I think the most valuable thing you can do going in to law school (or, at least, the most valuable thing I did) is to get a jump on the job search. Identify and research the firms in your target market(s). Reach out to alumni at those firms. Prepare your resume (Career Services publishes a pretty helpful guide); maybe write a stock cover letter or two. Doing a lot of this work now will pay off later. Otherwise, maybe read Getting to Maybe. And take some time to relax. That'll pay off later, too.

credited. also, don't bother reading E&E (or any substantive material) during the summer because 1) many teachers don't teach the same material (reading contracts E&E during summer only confused me because its focus was on black letter law and my professor's focus was exactly not that.) 2) only E&E worth reading would be Civ pro and reading that without having gone to the lecture or reading the CB will only make you want to quit while you can.

Relax and enjoy as much as you can before the school starts. See you at shooters

[gta]

How easy would it be to sublet a 1BR at Pinnacle Ridge over the summer? I'd rather do a 9-month lease and not worry about it, but at least for Pinnacle Ridge the cost different between a 9-month and 12-month lease is insane.

[mydasmarie]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

ha, unless you're a lit gunner, avoid at all costs. for us transactional folk, taking the easy road with literally any other professor is the move.

Yikes, unfortunately can't be helped. I ask since he's teaching Civ Pro for us summer starters (in just a few weeks, ahhh!)

I just saw that the schedule was up. Mentally preparing myself for the ride!

[Grizz15]

How easy would it be to sublet a 1BR at Pinnacle Ridge over the summer? I'd rather do a 9-month lease and not worry about it, but at least for Pinnacle Ridge the cost different between a 9-month and 12-month lease is insane.

PMing you

[SplitMyPants]

Any advice on getting used textbooks cheap and early? Will we have an idea of some of the books we'll need?

[Merylian]

Any advice on getting used textbooks cheap and early? Will we have an idea of some of the books we'll need?

Idk if it's been shared in your class facebook page yet, but there will be a googledoc of 2L's and 3L's who want to sell their 1L books to you. You wont really know what ones you need until you get your schedule with specific professors though, because they don't all use the same materials for the same subject.

The library always has reserve copies of the textbooks, too. So if you don't have all your books the first week, you can go there and make copies of the readings you need until you get your own.

[racrfish]

Any advice on getting used textbooks cheap and early? Will we have an idea of some of the books we'll need?

Idk if it's been shared in your class facebook page yet, but there will be a googledoc of 2L's and 3L's who want to sell their 1L books to you. You wont really know what ones you need until you get your schedule with specific professors though, because they don't all use the same materials for the same subject.

The library always has reserve copies of the textbooks, too. So if you don't have all your books the first week, you can go there and make copies of the readings you need until you get your own.

This, plus you won't find out your schedule and textbooks until the week before LEAD week. Which is kind of annoying. But it's easy to get books from the bookstore, amazon, or 2Ls in time for class.

[SplitMyPants]

Ok, great. Thanks for the input!

[first_doom]

Just out of curiosity... How often are there "Lunch Talks" at Duke? I've heard at some institutions you can basically count on a free lunch most days, and just wanted to see if that's true here. Thanks!

[prezidentv8]

Any thoughts on Sachs for Civ Pro?

Just chiming in as a grad to keep an eye on the thread, but while I'm at it, Sachs is a great dude.

[Merylian]

Just out of curiosity... How often are there "Lunch Talks" at Duke? I've heard at some institutions you can basically count on a free lunch most days, and just wanted to see if that's true here. Thanks!

You can count on free lunch pretty much every day if you want it. Usually more than one option.

[06102016]

..

[first_doom]

Just out of curiosity... How often are there "Lunch Talks" at Duke? I've heard at some institutions you can basically count on a free lunch most days, and just wanted to see if that's true here. Thanks!

You can count on free lunch pretty much every day if you want it. Usually more than one option.

Correct. Some of them are decent, too.

Wooo thanks, long live frugality. I'll definitely be taking advantage of that.

[greeksalad]

Speaking of free lunch and frugality, any chance of free coffee in the building? I've been spoiled at my office's unlimited supply.

[06102016]

..

[lawyerwannabe]

Speaking of free lunch and frugality, any chance of free coffee in the building? I've been spoiled at my office's unlimited supply.

There are sometimes random events in the law school where you can find coffee outside of certain classrooms that is free. I always tried to get in on that because paying for the coffee was painful considering its taste.

[prezidentv8]

Speaking of free lunch and frugality, any chance of free coffee in the building? I've been spoiled at my office's unlimited supply.

There are sometimes random events in the law school where you can find coffee outside of certain classrooms that is free. I always tried to get in on that because paying for the coffee was painful considering its taste.

I never really had a problem with the Refectory the way other people did when I was there, with the exception of the coffee. They would buy good stuff and then burn the ever loving crap out of it for some strange reason.

[06102016]

..