Michigan 1Ls/2Ls/3Ls taking questions Forum

[bestwishes]

As far as I'm aware, data regarding our grading scheme is not intended to be publicized. That said, I do not feel hard done by our curve, and understand it to be in line with those at other T-14 schools.

Gotcha. Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear it is in line with the rest of T14

[ChervonaKatya]

I read that Michigan has made their hard curve easier in recent years. Can anyone share what the grading curve is now?

I'm a 1L, so I don't know how much it compares to the past, but our current curve is a B+ (3.33). I think it used to be B or B- and I feel like some friends at other schools have a A- (3.67) curve, but I could have imagined this. Firms tend to be aware that GPAs vary though, since it's often alums who do the interviewing, if that helps.

[airwrecka]

This is a pretty specific housing question, but does anyone have experience with the Briar Cove apartments? I've just done some preliminary apartment-searching in Ann Arbor, and I'm really excited about the idea of Briar Cove (on paper at least). I have a husband and a dog, so living on campus/super close to campus isn't exactly what I'm looking for. We could easily afford the rent at this place, and it looks like a great place to have a dog. Wondering if it's too far from campus, though, or if there are any horror stories I should know about!

[pipipipi]

Thank you everyone for doing this! This thread has been super helpful and made me love Michigan even more!

I was admitted to the summer start program but am concerned about attending by late May because I have a long list of waitlists...The decision process for any T14+UCLA+UT will mostly be based on scholarship I will be receiving.

Currently I received none from Michigan and haven't started negotiating yet. If I decide to enroll in the summer program, I basically will have to forget about my WLs, many may even give me some scholarship in the end. NW, UT, and UVA for example, I heard, also give considerable FA for students off the waitlist.

If I go to Michigan eventually, I would definitely prefer summer start, which is why i am reluctant to request a switch to the fall program. But it all comes to money and very likely I won't get off any waitlists.

Any suggestions?

Also, had anyone used the summer start early commitment as a leverage to negotiate for scholarship? Say if I commit to attending if I got X scholarship, and that I will literally withdraw from all my WL because I have already started the program by the time I hear back. Thanks!!!!

[Fiddlesticks]

Thank you everyone for doing this! This thread has been super helpful and made me love Michigan even more!

I was admitted to the summer start program but am concerned about attending by late May because I have a long list of waitlists...The decision process for any T14+UCLA+UT will mostly be based on scholarship I will be receiving.

Currently I received none from Michigan and haven't started negotiating yet. If I decide to enroll in the summer program, I basically will have to forget about my WLs, many may even give me some scholarship in the end. NW, UT, and UVA for example, I heard, also give considerable FA for students off the waitlist.

If I go to Michigan eventually, I would definitely prefer summer start, which is why i am reluctant to request a switch to the fall program. But it all comes to money and very likely I won't get off any waitlists.

Any suggestions?

Also, had anyone used the summer start early commitment as a leverage to negotiate for scholarship? Say if I commit to attending if I got X scholarship, and that I will literally withdraw from all my WL because I have already started the program by the time I hear back. Thanks!!!!

When are the seat deposits for all of these schools? I would wait until after at least 1 seat deposit to worry about making any decisions. You still have at least a month that you can hang tight. You aren't in any rush.

[pipipipi]

Thank you everyone for doing this! This thread has been super helpful and made me love Michigan even more!

I was admitted to the summer start program but am concerned about attending by late May because I have a long list of waitlists...The decision process for any T14+UCLA+UT will mostly be based on scholarship I will be receiving.


When are the seat deposits for all of these schools? I would wait until after at least 1 seat deposit to worry about making any decisions. You still have at least a month that you can hang tight. You aren't in any rush.

Seat deposit is due at Michigan April 40th, and about 2~4 weeks later than my other school deposits. The thing is, most of my wl schools won't start reevaluate waitlists until May or late April, and many people don't get off waitlists until July or something. By the time they render results, I will already been starting classes at Michigan, probably with little scholarship in hand.

[deuceindc]

Thank you everyone for doing this! This thread has been super helpful and made me love Michigan even more!

I was admitted to the summer start program but am concerned about attending by late May because I have a long list of waitlists...The decision process for any T14+UCLA+UT will mostly be based on scholarship I will be receiving.

Currently I received none from Michigan and haven't started negotiating yet. If I decide to enroll in the summer program, I basically will have to forget about my WLs, many may even give me some scholarship in the end. NW, UT, and UVA for example, I heard, also give considerable FA for students off the waitlist.

If I go to Michigan eventually, I would definitely prefer summer start, which is why i am reluctant to request a switch to the fall program. But it all comes to money and very likely I won't get off any waitlists.

Any suggestions?

Also, had anyone used the summer start early commitment as a leverage to negotiate for scholarship? Say if I commit to attending if I got X scholarship, and that I will literally withdraw from all my WL because I have already started the program by the time I hear back. Thanks!!!!

I also played the WL game, and FWIW, Mich gave me nearly as much as NU and way more than UVA (all off the WL, mind you). I'd call the other schools you're considering, explain the situation, and ask if they'd ballpark your aid package. Mich and UVA both gave me their merit aid figures in advance.

[pipipipi]

I also played the WL game, and FWIW, Mich gave me nearly as much as NU and way more than UVA (all off the WL, mind you). I'd call the other schools you're considering, explain the situation, and ask if they'd ballpark your aid package. Mich and UVA both gave me their merit aid figures in advance.

Thank you so much deuceindc! I am very confused about how I shall inform my wl schools about my Mich acceptance, would you mind if I PM you for details? Thanks again for sharing this!

[brinicolec]

This is going to be a weird and specific question, so if anyone can help me out, I would really appreciate you.

Were any of you contemplating between a school in a big city and Michigan (in Ann Arbor, which I qualify as a large college town) and thinking you wanted to be in a big city but ultimately decided to go to Michigan anyway? If so, please PM me because I have questions and need guidance lol.

[GoLandcrabs]

How does Michigan place in Chicago?

Does it place in Chicago? I'm struggling to figure out what feeder market UMich has, and whether or not it's just a kind of general Big Law placement institution.

[deuceindc]

How does Michigan place in Chicago? Does it place in Chicago?

Yeah, Mich places just fine into Chicago. LST has 11.8% of the c/o 2015 going there, which seems about right. Off the top of my head, I can name a dozen classmates heading there - some on purpose, some without prior ties.

I'm struggling to figure out what feeder market UMich has, and whether or not it's just a kind of general Big Law placement institution.

There isn't one feeder market. Geographic placement is almost entirely self-selection. NY, Chicago, SF, DC, and LA are the most popular choices. Most people bid NY firms as their failsafes, but I've heard that Detroit is a good safety net if you have ties.

[GoLandcrabs]

How does Michigan place in Chicago? Does it place in Chicago?

Yeah, Mich places just fine into Chicago. LST has 11.8% of the c/o 2015 going there, which seems about right. Off the top of my head, I can name a dozen classmates heading there - some on purpose, some without prior ties.

I'm struggling to figure out what feeder market UMich has, and whether or not it's just a kind of general Big Law placement institution.

There isn't one feeder market. Geographic placement is almost entirely self-selection. NY, Chicago, SF, DC, and LA are the most popular choices. Most people bid NY firms as their failsafes, but I've heard that Detroit is a good safety net if you have ties.

Would you say UMich is as or close to as competitive as NU in Chicago?

[brinicolec]

Any current students willing to share anything at the school you feel could be improved upon?

Edit: Also, are there apartments in walking distance from the LS that take pets? If so, can you list a few (or all) of them so I can kind of get an idea of what the housing looks like quality/cost-wise?

And one last question: I was reading a few pages back about Michigan's BL placement and some of it was sounding pretty doom and gloom, a "coin flip" at median, etc. etc. Can anyone speak on whether or not it seems like it has improved? Of course I want to be a rockstar in law school, but I'm not going to count on that so I'll just assume I'll be at median - and I'll definitely have quite a bit of debt to pay off - so a coin flip seems a little too chance-y.

[deuceindc]

How does Michigan place in Chicago? Does it place in Chicago?

Yeah, Mich places just fine into Chicago. LST has 11.8% of the c/o 2015 going there, which seems about right. Off the top of my head, I can name a dozen classmates heading there - some on purpose, some without prior ties.

I'm struggling to figure out what feeder market UMich has, and whether or not it's just a kind of general Big Law placement institution.

There isn't one feeder market. Geographic placement is almost entirely self-selection. NY, Chicago, SF, DC, and LA are the most popular choices. Most people bid NY firms as their failsafes, but I've heard that Detroit is a good safety net if you have ties.

Would you say UMich is as or close to as competitive as NU in Chicago?

I can't comment without seeing their placement data per firm and GPA. But everyone I know who wanted Chicago was able to get an offer there.

[Sarastro]

Edit: Also, are there apartments in walking distance from the LS that take pets? If so, can you list a few (or all) of them so I can kind of get an idea of what the housing looks like quality/cost-wise?

I was looking a few weeks ago. It looks like most of the pet-friendly complexes are about a 10-20 minute bike ride south of campus. There were some pet-friendly houses for rent closer to campus though if you don't mind having roommates, but since I do mind I didn't bother keeping track of them. They were also cheaper than the apartment complexes I was looking at (If I had to ballpark... 700-1000$? Compared to 1000+$ for Harbor House et al). There's a list somewhere put out by the university of complexes and renting companies that I just mass-googled.

I'll be looking around in person and taking tours next weekend at ASW, I'd be happy to give you my impressions if no one here responds sooner. Probably will be looking at the places a little outside walking distance, but depends on your definition I guess.

[brinicolec]

Edit: Also, are there apartments in walking distance from the LS that take pets? If so, can you list a few (or all) of them so I can kind of get an idea of what the housing looks like quality/cost-wise?

I was looking a few weeks ago. It looks like most of the pet-friendly complexes are about a 10-20 minute bike ride south of campus. There were some pet-friendly houses for rent closer to campus though if you don't mind having roommates, but since I do mind I didn't bother keeping track of them. They were also cheaper than the apartment complexes I was looking at (If I had to ballpark... 700-1000$? Compared to 1000+$ for Harbor House et al). There's a list somewhere put out by the university of complexes and renting companies that I just mass-googled.

I'll be looking around in person and taking tours next weekend at ASW, I'd be happy to give you my impressions if no one here responds sooner. Probably will be looking at the places a little outside walking distance, but depends on your definition I guess.

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

[Bob loblaw law blog]

Edit: Also, are there apartments in walking distance from the LS that take pets? If so, can you list a few (or all) of them so I can kind of get an idea of what the housing looks like quality/cost-wise?

I was looking a few weeks ago. It looks like most of the pet-friendly complexes are about a 10-20 minute bike ride south of campus. There were some pet-friendly houses for rent closer to campus though if you don't mind having roommates, but since I do mind I didn't bother keeping track of them. They were also cheaper than the apartment complexes I was looking at (If I had to ballpark... 700-1000$? Compared to 1000+$ for Harbor House et al). There's a list somewhere put out by the university of complexes and renting companies that I just mass-googled.

I'll be looking around in person and taking tours next weekend at ASW, I'd be happy to give you my impressions if no one here responds sooner. Probably will be looking at the places a little outside walking distance, but depends on your definition I guess.

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

College town's tend to have creative housing options, to say the least. When I was looking I saw some like you mentioned, but most were just poorly articulated ads for a room for rent in in a house full of other rooms for rent. If you can get a group together to grab all the rooms in the house that would be ideal, I don't think I'd wanna take a chance on possibly living with a group of totally random people in a house.

[brinicolec]

Edit: Also, are there apartments in walking distance from the LS that take pets? If so, can you list a few (or all) of them so I can kind of get an idea of what the housing looks like quality/cost-wise?

I was looking a few weeks ago. It looks like most of the pet-friendly complexes are about a 10-20 minute bike ride south of campus. There were some pet-friendly houses for rent closer to campus though if you don't mind having roommates, but since I do mind I didn't bother keeping track of them. They were also cheaper than the apartment complexes I was looking at (If I had to ballpark... 700-1000$? Compared to 1000+$ for Harbor House et al). There's a list somewhere put out by the university of complexes and renting companies that I just mass-googled.

I'll be looking around in person and taking tours next weekend at ASW, I'd be happy to give you my impressions if no one here responds sooner. Probably will be looking at the places a little outside walking distance, but depends on your definition I guess.

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

College town's tend to have creative housing options, to say the least. When I was looking I saw some like you mentioned, but most were just poorly articulated ads for a room for rent in in a house full of other rooms for rent. If you can get a group together to grab all the rooms in the house that would be ideal, I don't think I'd wanna take a chance on possibly living with a group of totally random people in a house.

It seems like one of very few housing options in walking distance that accept pets though. ANNOYING! Lol

[Sarastro]

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

It seems like one of very few housing options in walking distance that accept pets though. ANNOYING! Lol

Some of them seem like they are, with separate entrances and everything, but others were just offering a room in a house. Going strictly off the pictures online, some looked to be in pretty good condition and others.... not so much.

I've got a car, but would probably want to save money on parking if I could. Since you're asking about walking, I'll guess you don't have a car, but that's another thing that was a turn off looking at those houses: most only have street parking, which, as you get closer to campus, seems like it is essentially no parking at all. I'm going to try and see how feasible it would be to bike to class most days and just pay for parking if it's raining/snowing. Hopefully that'll be doable.

Maybe some current students could tell me if any of the above is remotely accurate?

[brinicolec]

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

It seems like one of very few housing options in walking distance that accept pets though. ANNOYING! Lol

Some of them seem like they are, with separate entrances and everything, but others were just offering a room in a house. Going strictly off the pictures online, some looked to be in pretty good condition and others.... not so much.

I've got a car, but would probably want to save money on parking if I could. Since you're asking about walking, I'll guess you don't have a car, but that's another thing that was a turn off looking at those houses: most only have street parking, which, as you get closer to campus, seems like it is essentially no parking at all. I'm going to try and see how feasible it would be to bike to class most days and just pay for parking if it's raining/snowing. Hopefully that'll be doable.

Maybe some current students could tell me if any of the above is remotely accurate?

Nah, I do have a car, I just don't plan on using it to get to/from campus. Mostly want it for grocery shopping/when I feel like I need to get tf out of Ann Arbor for a day or something lol. So I do need parking. I'm also weirdly a person that just likes being able to walk to class. Idk why. It's just my thing. I think it's because I don't have to rely on someone else to ensure I get there on time/if I'm late, it's my fault lol.

The thing you said about condition is something I noticed when I visited. I was actually kind of surprised by how many of the places (apartments and houses) near campus looked like they could use a little TLC. I mean, it's possible that they all had the money put into the insides and just didn't bother with a fresh coat of paint or something but... Idk

[dietcoke1]

visiting for ASW this week. any suggestions on where to watch the sweet 16 game to get the feel for UMich sports?

[deuceindc]

visiting for ASW this week. any suggestions on where to watch the sweet 16 game to get the feel for UMich sports?

I'll probably watch it in UpCo because the pre-auction party has free beer and starts at 6:30. They'll have the game on a projection screen, and you can duck into the auction during commercials, etc. As far as sports bars, I'd recommend Blue Lep or the Jug on South U. Every bar in Ann Arbor is going to be packed, so get there early.

[Vexed]

visiting for ASW this week. any suggestions on where to watch the sweet 16 game to get the feel for UMich sports?

def watch it at the auction - it normally gets rowdy all on its own, but the game should add another layer to it

[WaitersIsland]

I was confused about the houses. Some of them almost seem like they've been revamped into apartments or something lol

It seems like one of very few housing options in walking distance that accept pets though. ANNOYING! Lol

Some of them seem like they are, with separate entrances and everything, but others were just offering a room in a house. Going strictly off the pictures online, some looked to be in pretty good condition and others.... not so much.

I've got a car, but would probably want to save money on parking if I could. Since you're asking about walking, I'll guess you don't have a car, but that's another thing that was a turn off looking at those houses: most only have street parking, which, as you get closer to campus, seems like it is essentially no parking at all. I'm going to try and see how feasible it would be to bike to class most days and just pay for parking if it's raining/snowing. Hopefully that'll be doable.

Maybe some current students could tell me if any of the above is remotely accurate?

.

[EarlyDecision2020]

I recently visit Michigan and am really considering attending. Here's my burning question:

-LST has 36% of the 2015 class going into 500+ attorney firms, and roughly 10% going into federal clerkships
-This leaves roughly 54% of the class doing something else
-To be conservative, I would assume that everyone at Michigan that could have done BigLaw because their grades were good enough chose to do BigLaw. But, when talking with Michigan Law students, I've been told that students that could qualified for BigLaw via grades instead chose to do PI or something else. What percentage of the 2015 Michigan Law class actually could have done BigLaw but chose instead to do something else?