Northeastern University School of Law Forum

[ubuntu]

hey guys

i did my undergrad at northeastern and love the school. while i can't speak a lot to the law school itself, i know boston and the northeastern area very well, and can answer any questions you might have. feel free to pm me

[linquest]

Another current 2L chiming in. (FuzzyDunlop-which rotation are you on?):

Note that participating co-op employers are not obligated to hire anyone, but I personally don't think it's difficult to get a co-op outside of Boston. There are a ton of actively participating employers out-of-state. You also have the option of developing a co-op wherever you want, even abroad. ALL of my co-ops have been out of MA/New England.

How difficult is it to obtain a JD in one state and pass the bar in another?

People do it all the time. I think that at just about every accredited law school, you'll find a good number of people that are planning on taking the bar in the adjacent state, if not further afield. For example, a ton of students at U-AZ will take CA, Quinnipac students will take NY, etc. The majority of law students in DC (and clearly there are tons there!) take the bar elsewhere since you can waive into the DC bar from any other state.

Specific to NUSL--NY/CT/CA (in that order, I think) are probably the most common bar exams to take aside from MA. I was told there are more NUSL grads practicing in Alaska than any other school (state doesn't have it's own law school). Most of the grads I personally know that took more than 1 bar exam at a time (crazy!) ended up passing both bars.

[fuzzydunlop]

Another current 2L chiming in. (FuzzyDunlop-which rotation are you on?)

I'm on the fall-spring rotation (or whichever rotation it is that's on co-op right now, I can't remember which one's named which at this point).

[ForensicAnthro21]

What is the social life like at Northeastern?

[linquest]

I don't think the social life here is that much different than any other law school... you won't have much time to socialize with people outside! There are tons of options of places to go out around town though.

Purely personal observation/opinion, but there seems to be less dating within the school than at other law schools I know about. First year, I was in a group project of 14 people. Only one of us was not married or in a long-term relationship. I don't think that's necessarily typical, but I thought that was pretty funny

[lil]

I have a few questions for current students about housing: if you're at school for 3 months and then somewhere else for the Co-Op for 3 months and then back at school, is it especially difficult to find a living situation that will accommodate that schedule? Do students on opposing cycles usually share an apartment?

[amyk]

So far I'm loving everything about this school except the lack of grades. I guess it means less stress to worry about, but when you go to firms with evals instead of a GPA how does that play into the field? Anyone with experience?

Seriously, the co-op program is really enticing.

[bostonbee]

I am a current 2L, so I just finished my first year at NUSL and I'm currently in classes and have just accepted a job in Boston for my first co-op starting in September.

As for housing, I live in the graduate housing, which is done quarter to quarter, so if I co-op out of state I can leave without having Boston rent to pay while I'm somewhere else. The grad housing is decently nice and considering the area is pretty cheap (I pay around $800 a month which includes utilities, pretty much the best you'll get considering how amazing the location is).

I know there are people who sign a lease together and switch off rotations. So, a person working in the fall will sign with someone who's in school at that time. There is a thing called WeBoard where people can communicate and advertise and find places to live.

As for finding jobs... I know NUSL provides a "Dear Employer" letter when you apply to jobs that explains the grading system to them. I don't know how much this helps, but people seem to find jobs and even if you're on the fall/spring rotation, you can still get summer associate jobs and switch rotations to do that. Also, the good thing about evals that people aren't saying (and trust me, I was super worried about it too) is you get a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses. They have the official evals and the unofficial comments so you really get an idea of what you need to focus on. I also think they give your employer an idea too. My eval for my writing course said I was "very good and with more repitition will be an excellent writer." My interviewer (who later offered me a position) LOVED this. He immediately focused on it and was very happy that he had so much detail into my current ability and my potential.

As for social life, every other week people get together at a thing called "Bar Review" run by the student bar association. It's not a study session, but a social gathering at a local bar where you can meet upper levels and other people in your year/rotation. Also, the school is perfectly located, only a 15 minute walk to the bars on Boylston which are nice and a 10 minute walk to Fenway Park and the bars on Lansdowne.

I love living here and while NUSL wasn't my first choice of law schools, it's actually quite nice and I'm really excited about co-op. Oh, and I'm not a crazy liberal activist. I want to work for a firm when I get out of here and while sometimes in Constitutional Law it's annoying when people go on tangents, I think you'd get that at any school.

As for a law journal -- We're getting one! People are working on one right now and while it may not be up, running and official for a couple years, there is progress on that front, and if you come here, you can be a part of creating one!

Hope this helps.

[1981be]

If you want to stick around Boston, Northeastern trumps Suffolk anyday in terms of big law prospects.

[1981be]

...

[fuzzydunlop]

Some students net close to $100k through their co-ops.

Just so nobody rushes to Northeastern with their hopes up, I feel obliged to say that that is the exception, not the norm. Some co-ops don't pay at all, including the judicial internships. I think most students end up taking an unpaid internship for their first co-op, but some get lucky (or have an exceptional resume) and find a paying one (I got lucky and found a hidden gem that paid $17/hr). If you want to do public interest, you should expect not to make much money on co-op, most of those are unpaid. The school does provide a certain amount of funding for students that go out on unpaid co-ops. I never applied for that though, so I couldn't really tell you how much.

Most of the ones that do pay are a little more modest than that, too. So far I've had one that paid $17/hr and one that paid $15/hr. Both were state government jobs. Many, I think most actually, state gov. co-ops don't pay at all, so I got a little lucky with that. Firm co-ops tend to pay a little better. My guess is that most of the high-paying co-ops are summer associate positions, but I don't have any experience with that, I'm on the other rotation. Firms on this rotation seem to pay somewhere between $700-1000/week, on average. I didn't do any math to arrive at that number, I'm just remembering it from experience. At least one firm I applied to paid $2500/week, but most aren't quite that high, $1,000/week is closer to the high end of the average. Still not bad, though.

Anyway yeah, co-op is a nice way to make a little money while you're in school, but don't expect it to pay your tuition or anything; unless you have a great resume and take nothing but high-end firm co-ops, you're probably only going to get a modest amount of money from your co-ops (probably still more than you'd make taking summer jobs at another law school though).

I still think that the co-op program is the best part of Northeastern and I really think other schools should do it (and perhaps forgo one or two of the upper years...). You graduate with a guaranteed year of legal work experience, and four different employers under your belt (possibly a judge, if you choose to do that). My hope of hopes is that that goes a long way when you send out your resumes.

Or maybe firms still just care about whether or not you were on law review. I don't know. One more year and I get to find out, though!

[bostonbound]

Just an update and some info.

I went to Northeastern Law never intending to practice in the public interest sector. I hoped to work at a large Boston firm from day one. The co-op system was amazing in helping me gain some fantastic contacts (fed. judges, DAs, etc.) in the New England legal community and I did very well during on campus recruiting for "Big Law" jobs. Though NUSL is a strong public interest school, employers in every area really appreciate students with experience and some knowledge of "real life" legal practice. Overall, law school is what you make of it. If you have a goal, crush first year, and learn how to distiguish yourself, you'll be all set.

I agree that making $100k on co-op is very much the exception rather than the rule, but I have been able to earn between $1000/wk - $3100/wk on three of my four co-ops (my first was an unpaid judicial clerkship).

The grades - Trust me, everyone in Boston and most of New England understands NUSL's system. While profs use "buzzwords" rather than traditional letters, they often write an entire page about your exam, writing skills, participation, etc. NUSL has co-op employers in nearly every state and 100+ countries, and everyone gets the system. It can be a pain for employers to have to read pages of evaluations, but I have found most employers appreciate the additional info.

Lastly, the Law Review. NUSL now has a Law Journal (http://www.nulj.org) for 2L's/3L's. The school knows that while many of its students go into public interest, a significant amount go into private practice, and we all need opportunities to distinguish ourselves. The school is working to create more opportunities, and the Journal is one of them.

Hope this helps. Good luck!!

[boston101]

Def. Northeastern over Suffolk!! The co-op seems really cool and the people are somewhat laid-back.

One addition, I wouldn't necessarily list Northeastern as lower than BU or BC for prospects of big law, or lower in terms of an education. BU & BC have bigger names, but if you want to stick around Boston, I'm not convinced at all that Northeastern students don't have just as good of a shot at employment opportunities. Additionally, law school doesn't teach you anything about practice...working does. Northeastern students work full-time during co-op, and therefore get some solid real world experience. I know of several kids who passed up BU or BC for Northeastern. That doesn't mean everyone should by any means...but they don't regret it.

Now that's just insane. And that stats should convince you,as well as talking to students. Northeastern students have experience which is good and might make them better equipped to deal with their post-grad job, BUT the BU and BC names are huge in Boston and its legal arena, and that really does go a long way. Very very few people will pass up BU and BC, especially since they are almost always much more generous than Northeastern.

[TIMLAW4151]

I thought I would bump this in case any of the previous posters who are at NU law are still around.

Regarding the narrative grades, how smooth is the process of transferring to a different law school? I believe the recent trend is to assign more specific terms like "honors, high honors" to upper level courses, but that obviously wouldn't apply to someone transferring with 1L grades. I've heard local law schools (local, as in new england in general) have no major problems assessing them, as they are familiar with Northeastern's grading system, or at least have been exposed to it.

Also, a more specific question if anyone has experience: is it extremely difficult to pay off the loans by going into public interest at NU? I'm not asking about the salary potential going into social/public interest from a lower ranked school (I'm well aware it's not that much so spare me the "T25 or bust" argument), but I was just interested to know anyone's personal experience. Is it that horrible having the loans over your head? How long does it take to pay off?

[Zannie1986]

I'm going to try and revive this thread and ask a Q..so there is a high rate of students that end up in the non profit world. does the school have a good reputation among the nonprofits or is it just that a lot of 'alternative' (ie non big law) students come here to begin with, so, that's just where those students end up gravitating towards, do you know what i mean: is it a matter of a valuable candidate or more convenience that the nonprofit would choose this student over, say, a harvard student (probably an unlikely scenario I just made up).