Vanderbilt 1L Taking Questions Forum

[lovelaw27]

I have been informed by Vanderbilt that as part of the transfer application process I need to do an interview with an admissions counselor. I can do it by phone or in person, but I think doing it by phone probably looks bad. Can anyone talk about what the interview is like? Do I need to wear a suit? Thanks.

[drylo]

I have been informed by Vanderbilt that as part of the transfer application process I need to do an interview with an admissions counselor. I can do it by phone or in person, but I think doing it by phone probably looks bad. Can anyone talk about what the interview is like? Do I need to wear a suit? Thanks.

You do not need to wear a suit. I don't know what the interview will be like exactly, but the admissions folks will be nice people to talk to. Wear slacks and dress shirt or something, but you don't need to wear a suit.

[gogators]

I have been informed by Vanderbilt that as part of the transfer application process I need to do an interview with an admissions counselor. I can do it by phone or in person, but I think doing it by phone probably looks bad. Can anyone talk about what the interview is like? Do I need to wear a suit? Thanks.

You do not need to wear a suit. I don't know what the interview will be like exactly, but the admissions folks will be nice people to talk to. Wear slacks and dress shirt or something, but you don't need to wear a suit.

This is best. Just go business casual.

[fingersxd]

I have been informed by Vanderbilt that as part of the transfer application process I need to do an interview with an admissions counselor. I can do it by phone or in person, but I think doing it by phone probably looks bad. Can anyone talk about what the interview is like? Do I need to wear a suit? Thanks.

You do not need to wear a suit. I don't know what the interview will be like exactly, but the admissions folks will be nice people to talk to. Wear slacks and dress shirt or something, but you don't need to wear a suit.

This is best. Just go business casual.

I know Vandy offers optional interviews for incoming 0L's and business casual seemed to be the way to go. Speaking with others, I got the distinct impression that a suit was overkill. It is school after all, not a job. I don't see why this wouldn't also be the case for potential transfer students.

[fingersxd]

Not sure if anyone is in a similar situation, but I have an SO whose job/career opportunities are factoring (somewhat) heavily in my school decision. Have any Vandy students/grads been able to get any sort of job search assistance for an SO?

[Learningthelaw]

I was wondering if anyone knows if the semesters are usually broken down similarly every year in terms of what classes 1L's take first v. second semester. Vandy lists the 1L curriculum and obviously LRW is taken both semesters, but are certain courses always first semester and others second, and are both sections taking the same group of classes in the same semester? I know the class of 2014 will be broken into 3 sections, not sure if this would cause anything to change. Thanks

[gogators]

Not sure if anyone is in a similar situation, but I have an SO whose job/career opportunities are factoring (somewhat) heavily in my school decision. Have any Vandy students/grads been able to get any sort of job search assistance for an SO?

I didn't receive any help although admittedly I didn't ask. I haven't heard of any help for others with SO though either.

[gogators]

I was wondering if anyone knows if the semesters are usually broken down similarly every year in terms of what classes 1L's take first v. second semester. Vandy lists the 1L curriculum and obviously LRW is taken both semesters, but are certain courses always first semester and others second, and are both sections taking the same group of classes in the same semester? I know the class of 2014 will be broken into 3 sections, not sure if this would cause anything to change. Thanks

There really isn't a true rhyme or reason, however it does seem like Civ Pro gets taught in the first semester a lot and con law I in the second semester. This really isn't a truism though and certainly everything will be in flux now that they are switching to 3 sections instead of 2.

[WayBryson]

I have a couple of questions about outdoor recreation in and around Nashville. I grew up on West Coast and have very little knowledge about the geography of the south.

Is there anywhere in the region where I can snowboard, or should I just leave my board at home and wait for Christmas in Oregon?

How about hiking and camping?

Finally, my dad is a huge fan of bass fishing, like he has every issue of "Bass Master Magazine" from the past three years neatly stacked in a wicker basket near the toilet. He is also a huge fan of outlaw country music, which explains the origins of my name (My middle name is "Memphis," and I'll let you hazard a guess as to what "Way" is short for). Anyway, my dad started planning a trip to come visit the moment that I told him I was attending Vanderbilt. So, any and all recommendations for places where I can rent my dad a boat and let him go about the serious business of catching fish, drinking beer, and rocking out to Willie Nelson is much appreciated.

[Magnolia]

I have a couple of questions about outdoor recreation in and around Nashville. I grew up on West Coast and have very little knowledge about the geography of the south.

Is there anywhere in the region where I can snowboard, or should I just leave my board at home and wait for Christmas in Oregon?

How about hiking and camping?

Finally, my dad is a huge fan of bass fishing, like he has every issue of "Bass Master Magazine" from the past three years neatly stacked in a wicker basket near the toilet. He is also a huge fan of outlaw country music, which explains the origins of my name (My middle name is "Memphis," and I'll let you hazard a guess as to what "Way" is short for). Anyway, my dad started planning a trip to come visit the moment that I told him I was attending Vanderbilt. So, any and all recommendations for places where I can rent my dad a boat and let him go about the serious business of catching fish, drinking beer, and rocking out to Willie Nelson is much appreciated.

Can I be friends with your dad?

[WayBryson]

I have a couple of questions about outdoor recreation in and around Nashville. I grew up on West Coast and have very little knowledge about the geography of the south.

Is there anywhere in the region where I can snowboard, or should I just leave my board at home and wait for Christmas in Oregon?

How about hiking and camping?

Finally, my dad is a huge fan of bass fishing, like he has every issue of "Bass Master Magazine" from the past three years neatly stacked in a wicker basket near the toilet. He is also a huge fan of outlaw country music, which explains the origins of my name (My middle name is "Memphis," and I'll let you hazard a guess as to what "Way" is short for). Anyway, my dad started planning a trip to come visit the moment that I told him I was attending Vanderbilt. So, any and all recommendations for places where I can rent my dad a boat and let him go about the serious business of catching fish, drinking beer, and rocking out to Willie Nelson is much appreciated.

Can I be friends with your dad?

I'll bring him out to Bar Review

[Magnolia]

I have a couple of questions about outdoor recreation in and around Nashville. I grew up on West Coast and have very little knowledge about the geography of the south.

Is there anywhere in the region where I can snowboard, or should I just leave my board at home and wait for Christmas in Oregon?

How about hiking and camping?

Finally, my dad is a huge fan of bass fishing, like he has every issue of "Bass Master Magazine" from the past three years neatly stacked in a wicker basket near the toilet. He is also a huge fan of outlaw country music, which explains the origins of my name (My middle name is "Memphis," and I'll let you hazard a guess as to what "Way" is short for). Anyway, my dad started planning a trip to come visit the moment that I told him I was attending Vanderbilt. So, any and all recommendations for places where I can rent my dad a boat and let him go about the serious business of catching fish, drinking beer, and rocking out to Willie Nelson is much appreciated.

Can I be friends with your dad?

I'll bring him out to Bar Review

Excellent.

[cn12duke]

How does printing on campus work? Is a laser printer a worthy investment?

Don't buy a printer. You get plenty of free printing in the library. Plus, anything westlaw or lexis prints for free.

While a printer is not necessary, laser printers are quite cheap these days (toners too, provided that you buy them at a discount online site). If you don't live that close to campus, it might be worth the convenience to get one.

Mostly, I just registered on this site and wanted to bump the Vandy forum to the top of the list

[fingersxd]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

[pleasetryagain]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

lol.. graded.. unfortunately... only 2 credits/semester though

[fingersxd]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

lol.. graded.. unfortunately... only 2 credits/semester though

btw, what is Vandy's curve like?

[pleasetryagain]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

lol.. graded.. unfortunately... only 2 credits/semester though

btw, what is Vandy's curve like?

honestly not sure. the no rank thing makes it hard to figure but most have settled on median being ~3.15-.17. Deans list cutoff is like 3.5xx.

[fingersxd]

Deans list is top 10%, right?

[jenesaislaw]

Deans list is top 10%, right?

20%, Order of the Coif is top 10% and only after graduation.

[gogators]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

lol.. graded.. unfortunately... only 2 credits/semester though

btw, what is Vandy's curve like?

B+.

[Grizz]

Is LRW graded or ungraded?

lol.. graded.. unfortunately... only 2 credits/semester though

btw, what is Vandy's curve like?

B+.

Classes are curved to a B+, but median for the 1L class is certainly not a 3.3.

[jenesaislaw]

Classes are curved to a B+, but median for the 1L class is certainly not a 3.3.

TITCR. I think the mean GPA based on perfectly following the curve (and an A+ in each class) is about 3.23. That's probably a better estimate for the median.

[Grizz]

Classes are curved to a B+, but median for the 1L class is certainly not a 3.3.

TITCR. I think the mean GPA based on perfectly following the curve (and an A+ in each class) is about 3.23. That's probably a better estimate for the median.

honestly not sure. the no rank thing makes it hard to figure but most have settled on median being ~3.15-.17. Deans list cutoff is like 3.5xx.

This is what I have heard based on that the median student will have the equivalent of 4 Bs and 4 B+s whereabouts. Slightly more than half get B+ and above (1L classes). So a 3.15ish.

[fingersxd]

Classes are curved to a B+, but median for the 1L class is certainly not a 3.3.

TITCR. I think the mean GPA based on perfectly following the curve (and an A+ in each class) is about 3.23. That's probably a better estimate for the median.

honestly not sure. the no rank thing makes it hard to figure but most have settled on median being ~3.15-.17. Deans list cutoff is like 3.5xx.

This is what I have heard based on that the median student will have the equivalent of 4 Bs and 4 B+s whereabouts. Slightly more than half get B+ and above (1L classes). So a 3.15ish.

So what would the approx gpa cutoff be for dean's list (20%tile)?
Also, it seems like Vandy's curve is a bit stricter than many other schools I've seen. Are there any feelings that this may hurt in the OCI/interview process when firms are comparing across schools? Or is it largely irrelevant?

[jenesaislaw]

Rad, you also have to keep in mind that there are 9 classes, not 8, and that 5 classes are 4 hours, 2 are 3 hours, and 2 are 2 hours. Since you can't get a B/B+, the assumption for class 9 for the median student should be a B+ since the exact median student in each class is a B+. Ignoring the hour distributions, this would be 3.167.

I might be wrong that the hour distributions should go into altering the 3.167 guess, though.

Still, I think together our guesses are far superior to the 3.3 guess based on the median student per class.

So what would the approx gpa cutoff be for dean's list (20%tile)?
Also, it seems like Vandy's curve is a bit stricter than many other schools I've seen. Are there any feelings that this may hurt in the OCI/interview process when firms are comparing across schools? Or is it largely irrelevant?

The 1L Dean's list cutoff is usually somewhere between 3.5-3.6 I think. It goes up for 2L and 3L.

I think our stricter curve hurts us in some places. I'd bet it depends on who you're competing with. It probably hurts where there are a lot of people from similarly-ranked schools (think Michigan, Cornell, NW, Duke, GULC, UCLA, Texas, USC), but if you're looking at Alabama and Georgia for instance, it probably helps because our curve is set higher than every in-state school (or at least the same, as is the case with Emory). A person looking at resumes should know the difference between school curves, but they don't always, so it's going to be against our favor compared to schools that are looser. Against the AL/GA schools, the same with us in the looser curved place in the thought.

I know there have been complaints from our clerkship people that we're at a disadvantage compared to UT for clerkships.