G.W. 1L Ready to take questions Forum

[Paichka]

Hello Pachika,
Just a question about commuting from outside of D.C.

I'm considering living outside of the city and commuting as that may save some $. Do you think there are students that commute by car (and get parking spots at the school? I understand its about ~850/semester.) My bigger question would be how to divide up the hours when you commute from the surrounding areas to the school. For example, would you still normally come to the school during the weekends to use the library? I did not commute in undergrad and it's just difficult for me to imagine the new lifestyle... Thanks in advance for all your help!

Well, I live REALLY far away (about 19 miles outside of the city) so I have to drive, or catch a ride from my dad, who works in Arlington, or from my husband, who works near the Pentagon. I usually just pay the $12 to park in the garage across from the law school on the days that I drive myself in, which works out to about twice per week. MOST people just live near a metro stop, and commute in that way, which is probably less hassle.

I never came in during the weekends to use the library -- there's really no reason to, unless you're in the middle of researching some paper. You can access heinonline and other resources online through the library website, so I can't imagine that you'd need to come into the library, unless you just liked studying there. I usually just locked myself in the office at my house, or, more commonly, took the weekends off to hang out with my husband/kids.

During the weeks, I'd usually arrive at school early, a few hours before my earliest class, and refresh my memory of the cases. In the afternoons, I'd sit for a few hours in the library and read the relevant sections of the supplements. (I always took outline-quality notes of my reading, which I would then expand on during class with points made by the professor). Two days per week I'd stay late -- until 10 or so, to read for the week, outline, read supplements, whatever I wanted. This strategy allowed me to take the weekends mostly off, at least until exam time.

[sparcarc]

Thanks Paichka for the helpful answer!

one more question that popped into my mind while looking at the webpage, if anyone could answer it that'd be great =D
On the webpage, it says that as an additional point of consideration, students need to keep in mind that macs have encountered many more problems during the exams than Windows OS-based machines, due to compatibility problems.

Can anyone tell me if they have seen this actually happen (or heard,) or as it was mentioned in this forum somewhere is the rate of mac vs. pc at GW about 50:50? Is it the notion around the school among the students that really, PC's should be used?

Much appreciated!

[sinemetu]

Thanks Paichka for the helpful answer!

one more question that popped into my mind while looking at the webpage, if anyone could answer it that'd be great =D
On the webpage, it says that as an additional point of consideration, students need to keep in mind that macs have encountered many more problems during the exams than Windows OS-based machines, due to compatibility problems.

Can anyone tell me if they have seen this actually happen (or heard,) or as it was mentioned in this forum somewhere is the rate of mac vs. pc at GW about 50:50? Is it the notion around the school among the students that really, PC's should be used?

Much appreciated!

In my experience both problems during exams and feelings that PCs should be used are very rare. None of my friends with macs had any issues. If you're a mac person, I would just recommend using a mac instead of getting used to a PC.

[schooner]

Paichka and others, did you guys use a study group? So it's possible to do well without being in one?

[dudders]

It's definitely possible to do well without them. People I know who tried to form more organized study groups during first semester kind of fell off during second semester, but I'm not sure if they made a judgment call about study groups, or they were just too busy to breathe with job search/mock trial/moot court/stupid LRW. I know people who only study alone in their apartments and they all did fine to great.

Some of it just depends on the ways you learn/review best, the type of test, the material, even the specific professor. There's not a checklist to tell where study groups are going to be key and where they'll be a waste of your time - for me (and my friends, it seemed like), decisions about forming/participating in study groups were pretty organic and pretty clear to each individual for each class. The classes we found hard or confusing or slacked off in seemed more likely to have a study group formed.

That said, I think any groups I participated in, with the exception of one class, were pretty informal for "study groups," including fluctuating attendance among my group of friends/study partners. We did tend to block out weekend days in advance of finals to all outline the same class so we could ask questions/clarifications as we went along. During finals crunch time, we'd review and discuss practice exams, pose questions to each other, etc. I've heard (only on TLS, not a GW) of people divvying up outline responsibilities, taking practice exam questions separately to professors - I haven't heard of anyone here doing that, and most of my professors will only answer generally questions, not critique a hypothetical past exam answer.

The one class I was in more of a formal study group for (we attacked Con Law HARD - like 40/hrs/wk for the month leading up to the final), certainly wasn't instrumental to my success, because I still got a B (my worst grade). To some degree, especially first semester, I think the main utility of study groups was keeping my on track with my preparation, and providing a de facto space to answer and address questions (rather than harassing people on gchat who aren't even working on that subject right now).

[mi-chan17]

Paichka and others, did you guys use a study group? So it's possible to do well without being in one?

I think Dudders is completely right in saying that it really depends on how you learn best. I wouldn't completely count out study groups unless you know, through experience, that they won't help you.

That being said, I didn't do study groups, and I did really well. So, yeah, it's possible to do well without being in one.

The exception to the "no study groups" stance I took being just before finals, when I would meet up with a group of people and go over practice exam answers. I think that getting together with a few people to do that is extremely beneficial, because it's one of the few ways to get feedback on your legal analysis pre-exam.

[justhockey31]

Do any of the GW law students play IM soccer? Does the school put a team together to play?

[sinemetu]

Paichka and others, did you guys use a study group? So it's possible to do well without being in one?

I think Dudders is completely right in saying that it really depends on how you learn best. I wouldn't completely count out study groups unless you know, through experience, that they won't help you.

That being said, I didn't do study groups, and I did really well. So, yeah, it's possible to do well without being in one.

The exception to the "no study groups" stance I took being just before finals, when I would meet up with a group of people and go over practice exam answers. I think that getting together with a few people to do that is extremely beneficial, because it's one of the few ways to get feedback on your legal analysis pre-exam.

Just wanted to echo this and add my own experience. I studied with a few other people and it was a real help to me. I would learn better as I tried to explain things or listen to counter-arguments as to how my friends would approach answering a problem. That being said, it is just a matter of personal preference. The main pitfall I would avoid is people wasting your time by not working while you're together or generally being unprepared. Along those same lines I would never divide up outlining a subject amongst several people. There's no way I would put my understanding of a particular area of a class in someone else's hands but, again, that's just my take.

Finally, I've found that study groups are pretty organic. If you're going to study with people just find a combination of personalities you are willing to be around and stress out with. Everyone gets stressed around finals but you don't want to be stuck with people who are just going to make it worse for you.

[dood]

PROTIP #86: if u have a study group, use the room reservation system.

[schooner]

Thanks everyone! You guys are awesome and I look forward to joining y'all soon.

[justhockey31]

I saw earlier in this thread about section 15...how do you opt in to that if you are a FT student? I hate early morning classes so the idea of later classes (coupled with the idea that is easier? still not sure y that is the case) seems ideal.

[Naked Dude]

I saw earlier in this thread about section 15...how do you opt in to that if you are a FT student? I hate early morning classes so the idea of later classes (coupled with the idea that is easier? still not sure y that is the case) seems ideal.

This. Also, has anyone heard anything at all from GW recently? It's been radio silence on my end. Apart from that one portal update and an email stating that I would get my Aston assignment soon.

[Naked Dude]

When do we get our tuition bills? I have yet to "accept" my student loan on the portal or do any sort of entrance counseling-waiting for some sort of email from GW on this? Or is there something I should have done already?

[FlanSolo]

When do we get our tuition bills? I have yet to "accept" my student loan on the portal or do any sort of entrance counseling-waiting for some sort of email from GW on this? Or is there something I should have done already?

Yeah, GW has been weirdly silent about this, but I went ahead and accepted, did the counseling, signed the promissory note etc, just because I don't want to leave it to chance. I'm not sure if you can do this if you haven't done all the other steps, but you can also go in and set up your eBill.

[dudders]

I saw earlier in this thread about section 15...how do you opt in to that if you are a FT student? I hate early morning classes so the idea of later classes (coupled with the idea that is easier? still not sure y that is the case) seems ideal.

Last year GW just emailed us on 7/15 asking for us to state our interest by 7/30.

[TheFutureLawyer]

When do we get our tuition bills? I have yet to "accept" my student loan on the portal or do any sort of entrance counseling-waiting for some sort of email from GW on this? Or is there something I should have done already?

Yeah, GW has been weirdly silent about this, but I went ahead and accepted, did the counseling, signed the promissory note etc, just because I don't want to leave it to chance. I'm not sure if you can do this if you haven't done all the other steps, but you can also go in and set up your eBill.

Yeah, so maybe they were being really timely with the deadline they told me, but in an email they told me to do all this by 7/1. I'd call or email to find out what the real deadlines are (though I'd think GW would send a mass email letting people know it's time).

[Naked Dude]

When do we get our tuition bills? I have yet to "accept" my student loan on the portal or do any sort of entrance counseling-waiting for some sort of email from GW on this? Or is there something I should have done already?

Yeah, GW has been weirdly silent about this, but I went ahead and accepted, did the counseling, signed the promissory note etc, just because I don't want to leave it to chance. I'm not sure if you can do this if you haven't done all the other steps, but you can also go in and set up your eBill.

Yeah, so maybe they were being really timely with the deadline they told me, but in an email they told me to do all this by 7/1. I'd call or email to find out what the real deadlines are (though I'd think GW would send a mass email letting people know it's time).

Huh. I haven't heard anything at all from financial aid since I got those two emails in March, so I hope the deadline wasn't two weeks ago. Might as well do it now...

And the direct deposit ebill thing, they don't actually debit any money from your account, that's just refunds right? Because I have like no money in them...

[schooner]

...

[Naked Dude]

I saw earlier in this thread about section 15...how do you opt in to that if you are a FT student? I hate early morning classes so the idea of later classes (coupled with the idea that is easier? still not sure y that is the case) seems ideal.

Last year GW just emailed us on 7/15 asking for us to state our interest by 7/30.

So Section 15 is the only section that students can choose (other than the evening PT section)? Any info on how the school assigns students to sections? (e.g., all the superstars into one section so some of them are sure to lose their schollys)

Are there any non-nontrads (i.e.....trads?) in Section 15? I wouldn't want to be the youngest/least experienced in a section.

[queenlizzie13]

When do we get our tuition bills? I have yet to "accept" my student loan on the portal or do any sort of entrance counseling-waiting for some sort of email from GW on this? Or is there something I should have done already?

Yeah, GW has been weirdly silent about this, but I went ahead and accepted, did the counseling, signed the promissory note etc, just because I don't want to leave it to chance. I'm not sure if you can do this if you haven't done all the other steps, but you can also go in and set up your eBill.

Yeah, so maybe they were being really timely with the deadline they told me, but in an email they told me to do all this by 7/1. I'd call or email to find out what the real deadlines are (though I'd think GW would send a mass email letting people know it's time).

Huh. I haven't heard anything at all from financial aid since I got those two emails in March,
so I hope the deadline wasn't two weeks ago. Might as well do it now...

And the direct deposit ebill thing, they don't actually debit any money from your account, that's just refunds right? Because I have like no money in them...

I think it's refunds and also you can set it up to pay from your debit account...I am not sure how they get the loans to you and credit them for tuition. Does anyone know this? Also when did they do this last year?

[mi-chan17]

Section 15 is the only "opt-in" section. This past year it seemed to be made up of people from all walks of life, and the people that I knew in Section 15 were K-JDers.

The other sections seemed to be assigned pretty randomly, to me; the talent/GPA/LSATs/gunners all seemed fairly evenly spread out. Like I said somewhere else on TLS, I don't think that section stacking went on, but I have no way of knowing that. I didn't really go around asking people of they came to GW with scholarship money.

[schooner]

...

[Naked Dude]

I just figured that Section 15 would cater primarily to an older crowd. Er, I don't mean that in a shitty way, just in terms of socializing... The class times are attractive to me, but I don't know if it's my demographic.

[schooner]

...

[Naked Dude]

I just figured that Section 15 would cater primarily to an older crowd. Er, I don't mean that in a shitty way, just in terms of socializing... The class times are attractive to me, but I don't know if it's my demographic.

I'm not sure the older students would be interested in socializing with immature naked dudes either. You know, the ones who would actually openly diss some of the current students in a thread where they're offering their help & advice.

That said, the geezers are more likely to be attracted to the early morning sections (if they had a choice), dontcha think?

I phrased that poorly ...I just meant, not that nontraditional or older students are boring, just that, I dunno, I figured married people or people with kids or years and years of work experience would be less inclined to hang out with a 22 year old. Not because I'm super cool, but because...I don't know. I'm not the type to discriminate against any age or walk of life, I just don't want to feel like the odd man out...