FIU (Florida International) 1L taking questions Forum

[tihsgod]

I understand where "hardworking" is coming from but one has to look at the big picture in order to see what is truly going on at FIU. Yes, it is a new school. Yes, they are trying to quickly bring up their reputation. Buy "kicking-out" about one quarter of the 1L's in order to guarantee a high FL bar pass rate is appalling. Most of the students who leave or are kicked-out after the first year arguable would have passed the bar exam. But all you have to do is look at the top 100 law schools and see there attrition rate. Almost all of the top 100 law schools have single digit attrition rates and most are even below 5%. My biggest concerns are what is really going on FIU. I chose to go to a top 100 law school in Florida and could not be happier. My friends that chose FIU seem miserable. In order for FIU to ever compete with UM/FSU/FU they have to stop playing around with their numbers. FIU is a pyramid school by design and is getting rid of a lot of potentially excellent lawyers. I am sure "hardworking" is proud of her own success and enjoys seeing her class thin away to around 75% at then end of the first year. Maybe her attitude is the reason why "hardworking" is not one of my fellow colleagues at top 100 law school in Florida. FIU does have a lot of potential but until they clean up their pyramid law school program and behave with great dignity.

If you do not believe me look at the number yourself at:
http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/rankings/attrition
or better yet look at:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... -ra-1.html

[trebor]

I received a $15k scholarship offer from Hofstra in NY but it will still cost $30k per year, accepted to UM but it is soooo expensive. I'm wait-listed at Chapman in LA. My GPA is a 3.5 from FSU with a 160 LSAT. Still feel the best deal is FIU. They are an up and coming law school run by a proven successful administrator. Waiting to see if I get a scholarship offer from FIU. Looking at the Brickell area to live since I am not Hispanic and do not speak Spanish. Anyone know how far the average drive time is to FIU from Brickell?

[Light]

I received a $15k scholarship offer from Hofstra in NY but it will still cost $30k per year, accepted to UM but it is soooo expensive. I'm wait-listed at Chapman in LA. My GPA is a 3.5 from FSU with a 160 LSAT. Still feel the best deal is FIU. They are an up and coming law school run by a proven successful administrator. Waiting to see if I get a scholarship offer from FIU. Looking at the Brickell area to live since I am not Hispanic and do not speak Spanish. Anyone know how far the average drive time is to FIU from Brickell?

Wait didn't you apply to FSU/UF? I'm also an FSU undergrad that just graduated.

[vv9891]

I understand where "hardworking" is coming from but one has to look at the big picture in order to see what is truly going on at FIU. Yes, it is a new school. Yes, they are trying to quickly bring up their reputation. Buy "kicking-out" about one quarter of the 1L's in order to guarantee a high FL bar pass rate is appalling. Most of the students who leave or are kicked-out after the first year arguable would have passed the bar exam. But all you have to do is look at the top 100 law schools and see there attrition rate. Almost all of the top 100 law schools have single digit attrition rates and most are even below 5%. My biggest concerns are what is really going on FIU. I chose to go to a top 100 law school in Florida and could not be happier. My friends that chose FIU seem miserable. In order for FIU to ever compete with UM/FSU/FU they have to stop playing around with their numbers. FIU is a pyramid school by design and is getting rid of a lot of potentially excellent lawyers. I am sure "hardworking" is proud of her own success and enjoys seeing her class thin away to around 75% at then end of the first year. Maybe her attitude is the reason why "hardworking" is not one of my fellow colleagues at top 100 law school in Florida. FIU does have a lot of potential but until they clean up their pyramid law school program and behave with great dignity.

If you do not believe me look at the number yourself at:
http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/rankings/attrition
or better yet look at:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... -ra-1.html

I just finished my first year at FIU. I agree with you completely. However, the numbers are a bit off; but then again those are numbers are from 2008 and 2009. I don't know the exact number, but I would estimate that our 1L class for the day section was about 120 students. We also have a night section with about 40 students so the 2010 entering 1L class was about 160. I don't know the numbers for the night section so I'll stick to the day. Of the approximately 120 of us that started, I would say about 10-18 have left. My estimation is based on those that I know that quit and that didn't make it at the end due to grades. My estimate doesn't include those that will transfer out because I don't know who transferred out yet. So I would say, before transfers, 10-15% attrition rate. Some of the people that didn't make it were friends of mine; I agree that they would have definitely become great lawyers if they made it through.

Besides the horrible pyramid system, my experience at FIU has been pretty good because my classmates are cool for the most part and most of the teachers 1L year are great. Final note, first semester was horrible! FIU really tries to weed out the weak.

[vv9891]

I received a $15k scholarship offer from Hofstra in NY but it will still cost $30k per year, accepted to UM but it is soooo expensive. I'm wait-listed at Chapman in LA. My GPA is a 3.5 from FSU with a 160 LSAT. Still feel the best deal is FIU. They are an up and coming law school run by a proven successful administrator. Waiting to see if I get a scholarship offer from FIU. Looking at the Brickell area to live since I am not Hispanic and do not speak Spanish. Anyone know how far the average drive time is to FIU from Brickell?

It really boils down to what time you attempt the drive. If you make the drive during rush-hour traffic (early morning or mid-afternoon) it can easily be a hour drive. If you make it before or after rush-hour traffic, 20-30 min.

[fabianruiz]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

[ResolutePear]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

We "Spanish" folk actively seek out those "English" people and do horrors to them at night. If Scarface is any indication of what goes on around Miami, you better be prepared!!!

Ah, crap. Look at me. I'm speaking English, AGAIN..

[ResolutePear]

I understand where "hardworking" is coming from but one has to look at the big picture in order to see what is truly going on at FIU. Yes, it is a new school. Yes, they are trying to quickly bring up their reputation. Buy "kicking-out" about one quarter of the 1L's in order to guarantee a high FL bar pass rate is appalling. Most of the students who leave or are kicked-out after the first year arguable would have passed the bar exam. But all you have to do is look at the top 100 law schools and see there attrition rate. Almost all of the top 100 law schools have single digit attrition rates and most are even below 5%. My biggest concerns are what is really going on FIU. I chose to go to a top 100 law school in Florida and could not be happier. My friends that chose FIU seem miserable. In order for FIU to ever compete with UM/FSU/FU they have to stop playing around with their numbers. FIU is a pyramid school by design and is getting rid of a lot of potentially excellent lawyers. I am sure "hardworking" is proud of her own success and enjoys seeing her class thin away to around 75% at then end of the first year. Maybe her attitude is the reason why "hardworking" is not one of my fellow colleagues at top 100 law school in Florida. FIU does have a lot of potential but until they clean up their pyramid law school program and behave with great dignity.

If you do not believe me look at the number yourself at:
http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/rankings/attrition
or better yet look at:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... -ra-1.html

25% isn't so bad for a cheap/low ranked school.

At the bottom 25% of a school with admission stats like they have.. you're are literally the worst of the worst. You have no place in law and I clap for any dean with the balls to do this.

[howlery]

On a lighter note: I have an intro to stats class in one of your lecture halls this semester. Is it me or do the little desky-parts of those chairs suck for holding laptops? Is that intentional? Hard to browse TLS/ATL during lectures.

[ResolutePear]

On a lighter note: I have an intro to stats class in one of your lecture halls this semester. Is it me or do the little desky-parts of those chairs suck for holding laptops? Is that intentional? Hard to browse TLS/ATL during lectures.

Which building are you talking about? Some of them are great - others suck.

[howlery]

.

[Naked Dude]

I would be interested if you could elaborate further on the entire spanish influence thing. I plan to visit the school soon, everything about it seems great. However, anytime I mention the city miami to anyone, I get that its expensive and that its really spanish. So I had a couple questions for ya.
1. Isn't the student body around 40% spanish?
2. What is tamiami? (its right near FIU on googlemaps, and just sounds spanish)
3. Is school in a spanish neighborhood?
4. To live in an english area, what would the drive be like one way?
5. Is FIU very giving with scholarships, despite their already low pricing?


From what I gather, theres a huge parking garage making the commute very stressfree. Also next door is the campus gym, which is awesome. I kinda sound racist or something with my prior questions, but the miami stereotype is there. I want to feel like I'm going to school in America and not in Latin America...thats all.

Thanks
-Bryan

Don't live in Tamiami if you don't speak Spanish. Don't live almost anywhere within a reasonable distance of the school if you don't (slight exaggeration). South Miami, Gables, Grove I think are what other people have alluded to, and I think those are pretty nice places to live depending on your budget. I would be pretty bored living in Pinecrest, to be honest. The Grove isn't as happening as it used to be a decade ago though. You will not enjoy the commute though, let me tell you that right now

If lots of spanish speakers bother you, you might want to avoid Miami though. Not criticizing you, just observing.

[Naked Dude]

Dont go to FIU law if you dont speak spanish. The Miami stereotypes are all correct. The student population is overwhelmingly hispanic (cuban mainly) and the city that surrounds it (Sweetwater) is probably one of the most highly populated cuban cities in Miami. So when you go to any of the local supermarkets, restaurants or shops, chances are you'll find someone that cant speak english very well.

I'm currently a Political Science undergrad and I lived on campus my first year so I'm very familiar with the demographics. I'm also hispanic, but I found it very irritating that people speak spanish first and english second.

The gym is cool though, Im there all the time. The only good thing about Miami is the nightlife, but to get downtown it takes about 20 minutes, to get to Coconut Grove it takes about 25 minutes and South Beach is about 30 minutes away. Approximately.

The most "American" place you can live would probably be Coconut Grove or Pinecrest. Those two places are pretty far from FIU though. The commute would be terrible since you'd probably have to take the 826, which between the constant construction and the moronic drivers (another negative about Miami) is a mission.

Hmm... I think that's all I have to say.

TITCR

[ResolutePear]

I would be interested if you could elaborate further on the entire spanish influence thing. I plan to visit the school soon, everything about it seems great. However, anytime I mention the city miami to anyone, I get that its expensive and that its really spanish. So I had a couple questions for ya.
1. Isn't the student body around 40% spanish?
2. What is tamiami? (its right near FIU on googlemaps, and just sounds spanish)
3. Is school in a spanish neighborhood?
4. To live in an english area, what would the drive be like one way?
5. Is FIU very giving with scholarships, despite their already low pricing?


From what I gather, theres a huge parking garage making the commute very stressfree. Also next door is the campus gym, which is awesome. I kinda sound racist or something with my prior questions, but the miami stereotype is there. I want to feel like I'm going to school in America and not in Latin America...thats all.

Thanks
-Bryan

Well there is a lot of spanish spoken but the phraseology makes it sound like it's full of Spaniards. It's not even all Cuban anymore, there are lots of pockets of Central and South Americans. Tons of Venezuelans these days. Most places you can get by without Spanish, but it never hurts to know it.

There is no "english" area. Hispanic people live all over. But yeah, there are places where you won't feel like you're in central america.

Tamiami is just a neighborhood, and I don't know if I would live there if I didn't speak a lick of Spanish. Somewhere you'd actually want to live, 20 minute drive from South Miami/Grove/Gables, etc if there's no traffic. Probably closer to 30 around the time you'd be going to the school. The commute wouldn't be bad at all in terms of time, but no normal person likes driving in Miami so there's that.

Well, if somebody who didn't know Spanish went to go live in.. say... Hialeah..

They wouldn't be able to buy groceries without knowing Spanish, much less order anything other than a "uno" from McDonalds.

Or so, that's the running joke.

[Naked Dude]

I would be interested if you could elaborate further on the entire spanish influence thing. I plan to visit the school soon, everything about it seems great. However, anytime I mention the city miami to anyone, I get that its expensive and that its really spanish. So I had a couple questions for ya.
1. Isn't the student body around 40% spanish?
2. What is tamiami? (its right near FIU on googlemaps, and just sounds spanish)
3. Is school in a spanish neighborhood?
4. To live in an english area, what would the drive be like one way?
5. Is FIU very giving with scholarships, despite their already low pricing?


From what I gather, theres a huge parking garage making the commute very stressfree. Also next door is the campus gym, which is awesome. I kinda sound racist or something with my prior questions, but the miami stereotype is there. I want to feel like I'm going to school in America and not in Latin America...thats all.

Thanks
-Bryan

Well there is a lot of spanish spoken but the phraseology makes it sound like it's full of Spaniards. It's not even all Cuban anymore, there are lots of pockets of Central and South Americans. Tons of Venezuelans these days. Most places you can get by without Spanish, but it never hurts to know it.

There is no "english" area. Hispanic people live all over. But yeah, there are places where you won't feel like you're in central america.

Tamiami is just a neighborhood, and I don't know if I would live there if I didn't speak a lick of Spanish. Somewhere you'd actually want to live, 20 minute drive from South Miami/Grove/Gables, etc if there's no traffic. Probably closer to 30 around the time you'd be going to the school. The commute wouldn't be bad at all in terms of time, but no normal person likes driving in Miami so there's that.

Well, if somebody who didn't know Spanish went to go live in.. say... Hialeah..

They wouldn't be able to buy groceries without knowing Spanish, much less order anything other than a "uno" from McDonalds.

Or so, that's the running joke.

That's definitely not a joke. One of my closest friend's girlfriend lives in Hialeah, and I find myself up there more often than I'd like. I honestly can't imagine how gringos get by there.

Incidentally that was the first place I saw that godforsaken Kokoriko place. I for the life of me don't understand why I see so many people in the one at Dadeland, I've gotten sick both times of eaten there.

Carry on...

[Naked Dude]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

Also, lots of us Cubans are white and learned English and Spanish concurrently and thus have no noticeable accent! We're right under your nose!

[ResolutePear]

I would be interested if you could elaborate further on the entire spanish influence thing. I plan to visit the school soon, everything about it seems great. However, anytime I mention the city miami to anyone, I get that its expensive and that its really spanish. So I had a couple questions for ya.
1. Isn't the student body around 40% spanish?
2. What is tamiami? (its right near FIU on googlemaps, and just sounds spanish)
3. Is school in a spanish neighborhood?
4. To live in an english area, what would the drive be like one way?
5. Is FIU very giving with scholarships, despite their already low pricing?


From what I gather, theres a huge parking garage making the commute very stressfree. Also next door is the campus gym, which is awesome. I kinda sound racist or something with my prior questions, but the miami stereotype is there. I want to feel like I'm going to school in America and not in Latin America...thats all.

Thanks
-Bryan

Well there is a lot of spanish spoken but the phraseology makes it sound like it's full of Spaniards. It's not even all Cuban anymore, there are lots of pockets of Central and South Americans. Tons of Venezuelans these days. Most places you can get by without Spanish, but it never hurts to know it.

There is no "english" area. Hispanic people live all over. But yeah, there are places where you won't feel like you're in central america.

Tamiami is just a neighborhood, and I don't know if I would live there if I didn't speak a lick of Spanish. Somewhere you'd actually want to live, 20 minute drive from South Miami/Grove/Gables, etc if there's no traffic. Probably closer to 30 around the time you'd be going to the school. The commute wouldn't be bad at all in terms of time, but no normal person likes driving in Miami so there's that.

Well, if somebody who didn't know Spanish went to go live in.. say... Hialeah..

They wouldn't be able to buy groceries without knowing Spanish, much less order anything other than a "uno" from McDonalds.

Or so, that's the running joke.

That's definitely not a joke. One of my closest friend's girlfriend lives in Hialeah, and I find myself up there more often than I'd like. I honestly can't imagine how gringos get by there.

Incidentally that was the first place I saw that godforsaken Kokoriko place. I for the life of me don't understand why I see so many people in the one at Dadeland, I've gotten sick both times of eaten there.

Carry on...

I've never ate, and never wanted to, eat at a KokoRiko.

I know spanish, so better food for cheaper prices can be found around local restaurants. Although not *much* better, Doral and the area around FIU has multiple "Latin Americas," most of which have breakfast specials. For less than 3 dollars, tax included, you can get Eggs, bacon, pancakes(on some weekdays), juice, and coffee with a side of toast. There's not much you can fuck up with that stuff, so that's a steal. I'd go elsewhere for the Lunch/Dinner though.

I'll take that over FIU's breakfast.

#frugal

[ResolutePear]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

Also, lots of us Cubans are white and learned English and Spanish concurrently and thus have no noticeable accent! We're right under your nose!

Speak for yourself. I have a "Miami"-accent as told to me by people in DC.

[Naked Dude]

Actually to bloviate some more I think I would live in the grove. I took a continuing ed class at UM with a UM law professor a year or two ago and he lives there and we had a great conversation about the neighborhood. I have a soft spot for it I guess. Not as fun as the beach can be, but fun in a low-key way. The retail there has gone to shit in the past decade/decade and a half or so, but they just remodeled the movie theatre there, you can get wine/beer, some decent restaurants and some decent bars. No great bars/clubs/lounges, but not as packed as the beach, and without most of the refuse that sunset and the dolphin mall can attract on weekends. Or maybe I'm just biased. You're not going to like the commute, but anywhere you'd actually want to live you wouldn't like the commute.

[howlery]

.

[Naked Dude]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

Also, lots of us Cubans are white and learned English and Spanish concurrently and thus have no noticeable accent! We're right under your nose!

Speak for yourself. I have a "Miami"-accent as told to me by people in DC.

I've been told I have a slight accent but nothing immediately recognizable, like say Pitbull. Honor graduate of the Miami-Dade public school system!

[ResolutePear]

People are getting pretty ridiculous with this "Spanish" thing. Wanting to live in Brickell and travel to school? You're making it seem as if FIU was in South Central LA surrounded by Mexican drug lords. The Cuban-American community in the area (and attending FIU) are primarily Middle to Upper-Middle class and a large majority speak English. I don't think this should discourage anyone from living right in Tamiami or Doral, where there are very nice homes and very friendly people. Just because they're "Spanish" they don't bite. You don't bite because you're "English" right?

Also, lots of us Cubans are white and learned English and Spanish concurrently and thus have no noticeable accent! We're right under your nose!

Speak for yourself. I have a "Miami"-accent as told to me by people in DC.

I've been told I have a slight accent but nothing immediately recognizable, like say Pitbull. Honor graduate of the Miami-Dade public school system!

Well, that's spot on. We should call it the Pitbull-Accent.

[Naked Dude]

Dont go to FIU law if you dont speak spanish. The Miami stereotypes are all correct. The student population is overwhelmingly hispanic (cuban mainly) and the city that surrounds it (Sweetwater) is probably one of the most highly populated cuban cities in Miami. So when you go to any of the local supermarkets, restaurants or shops, chances are you'll find someone that cant speak english very well.

I'm currently a Political Science undergrad and I lived on campus my first year so I'm very familiar with the demographics. I'm also hispanic, but I found it very irritating that people speak spanish first and english second.

The gym is cool though, Im there all the time. The only good thing about Miami is the nightlife, but to get downtown it takes about 20 minutes, to get to Coconut Grove it takes about 25 minutes and South Beach is about 30 minutes away. Approximately.

The most "American" place you can live would probably be Coconut Grove or Pinecrest. Those two places are pretty far from FIU though. The commute would be terrible since you'd probably have to take the 826, which between the constant construction and the moronic drivers (another negative about Miami) is a mission.

Hmm... I think that's all I have to say.

TITCR

I'm also a political science undergrad and would have to disagree, if only slightly. I've never encountered someone who spoke Spanish before English or anything like that. The population is overwhelmingly Latin, yes, but it is not Little Cuba/Spain/etc. A majority of the people I know/encounter speak English quite well. I actually live in Miami (not on campus) and would advise you to stay away from the Grove/Pinecrest unless you weren't really worried about money. Living near White people (I assume that is what is meant by an "American" area) isn't really worth the extra cash/commute, especially when you're entering a market thats pretty crummy right now.

Also parking sucks for everyone. The President has plans to add 20k more students without adding parking spaces to keep up (or hiring more professors, from what faculty tell me--though I can't speak for the LS). That Miami accent has annoyed me since I moved down here from up North, can't stand it !

You're probably right about living arrangements. Wistful recollections of growing up in the grove will not help anyone.

[Naked Dude]

We should call it the Pitbull-Accent.

Good god no

[ResolutePear]

Dont go to FIU law if you dont speak spanish. The Miami stereotypes are all correct. The student population is overwhelmingly hispanic (cuban mainly) and the city that surrounds it (Sweetwater) is probably one of the most highly populated cuban cities in Miami. So when you go to any of the local supermarkets, restaurants or shops, chances are you'll find someone that cant speak english very well.

I'm currently a Political Science undergrad and I lived on campus my first year so I'm very familiar with the demographics. I'm also hispanic, but I found it very irritating that people speak spanish first and english second.

The gym is cool though, Im there all the time. The only good thing about Miami is the nightlife, but to get downtown it takes about 20 minutes, to get to Coconut Grove it takes about 25 minutes and South Beach is about 30 minutes away. Approximately.

The most "American" place you can live would probably be Coconut Grove or Pinecrest. Those two places are pretty far from FIU though. The commute would be terrible since you'd probably have to take the 826, which between the constant construction and the moronic drivers (another negative about Miami) is a mission.

Hmm... I think that's all I have to say.

TITCR

I'm also a political science undergrad and would have to disagree, if only slightly. I've never encountered someone who spoke Spanish before English or anything like that. The population is overwhelmingly Latin, yes, but it is not Little Cuba/Spain/etc. A majority of the people I know/encounter speak English quite well. I actually live in Miami (not on campus) and would advise you to stay away from the Grove/Pinecrest unless you weren't really worried about money. Living near White people (I assume that is what is meant by an "American" area) isn't really worth the extra cash/commute, especially when you're entering a market thats pretty crummy right now.

Also parking sucks for everyone. The President has plans to add 20k more students without adding parking spaces to keep up (or hiring more professors, from what faculty tell me--though I can't speak for the LS). That Miami accent has annoyed me since I moved down here from up North, can't stand it !

I'm pretty sure they won't add too much to the LS, since they're walking a tight rope with the ABA as it is.(LOL, j/k)

Anyways:
Yeah, they do plan to increase the student body by a lot more. Sucks, but I'm not paying for school. I'll take that over going to UM and getting out owing 160k to the gov.

For FIU, the safest bet is the engineering college imo. Not as cool as Poli. Sci., but it doesn't have a shitton of people like Poli. Sci. has.. oh - and companies actually go OCI for engineering.