Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[ph14]

Yes.

[094320]

..

[malleus discentium]

One last question, which I admit is kind of childish, but I'm curious to know your answer: do you feel like you have fun there?

You can have as much or as little fun as you want. It's entirely within your control. And that's true whether you're at SLS or HLS.

This. Law school was a lot of fun. Even parts of 1L. Though especially after 1L.

550 people at HLS, so you'll find people interested in doing things you want to do.

My 2L year I usually went out to bars and party on Friday night with one group of friends, and then took it easy on the liver and played board games on Saturday night with another group of friends. I have a small group of friends who like both--but people like that are harder to find, though Harvard was large enough for it.

"Law, Science, and Technology program"
These programs aren't really like organized programs. But, there is plenty of opportunity here if that is what you're interested in. As mentioned, JOLT tends to draw a lot of people like that. The organization functions both as a journal and as an affinity group. You should feel free to go to their social events during 1L even if you don't feel like you have time to do the actual journal work.

Seriously? That sounds like pretty much my ideal weekend.

[speedtracer]

Thanks for your help everyone!

[roranoa]

Do lawyers from HLS secretly look down on their colleagues from other lesser schools?

C'mon, be honest.

[delusional]

Do lawyers from HLS secretly look down on their colleagues from other lesser schools?

C'mon, be honest.

Secretly? I'm not sure I understand the question.

[094320]

..

[malleus discentium]

Seriously? That sounds like pretty much my ideal weekend.

Apparently I should've just been advertising to TLS. Tbf I didn't look that hard. I found a few friends who were into that combo, and called it a day.

I think at orientation I'll just sit at a table with Monopoly and a shot of tequila and see who bites.

[PotenC]

Seriously? That sounds like pretty much my ideal weekend.

Apparently I should've just been advertising to TLS. Tbf I didn't look that hard. I found a few friends who were into that combo, and called it a day.

I think at orientation I'll just sit at a table with Monopoly and a shot of tequila and see who bites.

I've never played Monopoly; I've heard it ruins friendships.

[malleus discentium]

Seriously? That sounds like pretty much my ideal weekend.

Apparently I should've just been advertising to TLS. Tbf I didn't look that hard. I found a few friends who were into that combo, and called it a day.

I think at orientation I'll just sit at a table with Monopoly and a shot of tequila and see who bites.

I've never played Monopoly; I've heard it ruins friendships.

I guess you're just a Friday friend, then.

Speaking of, what is orientation like?

[094320]

..

[ph14]

Dunno, there was a hurricane during orientation my year so I skipped most of it in favor of staying in my cozy warm apartment.

Those were the days

[wert3813]

That sounds exciting and definitely eases some of my concerns. Thank you! I know transfers can't really do Law Review, but could I still do JOLT as a transfer?

Went to a big state school that won a national championship while I was there in bball/fball. I had more fun in ug than I did during 1L. But it was far closer than I imagined.

I know nothing about jolt and still feel remarkably comfortable answering this question in the affirmative. Maybe you are subciting predominantly in the beginning but nobody is going to not let you help in some capacity on a secondary journal. Just doesn't work that way.

with your grades, your desire to practice in Florida, and hopefully some decent money from uf, it's a tough decision, it's even tougher if you have an IP background because I would imagine you will easily have a good job. that said you have to weigh what many of us have which is if you will be okay with always wondering what your life would had been if you gone here.

In my phone sorry for brevity etc

[wert3813]

That sounds exciting and definitely eases some of my concerns. Thank you! I know transfers can't really do Law Review, but could I still do JOLT as a transfer?

Went to a big state school that won a national championship while I was there in bball/fball. I had more fun in ug than I did during 1L. But it was far closer than I imagined.

I know nothing about jolt and still feel remarkably comfortable answering this question in the affirmative. Maybe you are subciting predominantly in the beginning but nobody is going to not let you help in some capacity on a secondary journal. Just doesn't work that way.

with your grades, your desire to practice in Florida, and hopefully some decent money from uf, it's a tough decision, it's even tougher if you have an IP background because I would imagine you will easily have a good job. that said you have to weigh what many of us have which is if you will be okay with always wondering what your life would had been if you gone here.

In my phone sorry for brevity etc

wasn't on the last page. Awesome

[roranoa]

Do lawyers from HLS secretly look down on their colleagues from other lesser schools?

C'mon, be honest.

Secretly? I'm not sure I understand the question.

Strike out the "secretly" then.

[despina]

I think at orientation I'll just sit at a table with Monopoly and a shot of tequila and see who bites.

I like your style. I imagine you'll have more luck if you a bottle or at least a couple of shots to share, though.

[TripTrip]

This. Law school was a lot of fun. Even parts of 1L. Though especially after 1L.

550 people at HLS, so you'll find people interested in doing things you want to do.

My 2L year I usually went out to bars and party on Friday night with one group of friends, and then took it easy on the liver and played board games on Saturday night with another group of friends. I have a small group of friends who like both--but people like that are harder to find, though Harvard was large enough for it.

"Law, Science, and Technology program"
These programs aren't really like organized programs. But, there is plenty of opportunity here if that is what you're interested in. As mentioned, JOLT tends to draw a lot of people like that. The organization functions both as a journal and as an affinity group. You should feel free to go to their social events during 1L even if you don't feel like you have time to do the actual journal work.

Seriously? That sounds like pretty much my ideal weekend.

Agreed. Most of my Harvard friends like some combination of board games and booze. Sometimes at the same time. I though this was normal at HLS.

[AllTheLawz]

We must hang out in different crowds. I knew quite a few people who picked classes based on little more than having a good schedule (time-wise) and not needing to engage intellectually at all or even attend outside of 2-3 classes a term. Pretending to care about variations of the ineffectual socratic method while paying $75,000 a year is not what I wanted to do.

This. Perhaps it's just my learning style, but I found the way law school classes were taught to be the most disenchanting and disappointing aspect of law school. I don't blame HLS in particular--I have a friend at Stanford who I discussed this with who said it was the same experience. It's just legal teaching in general.

It manages to jive with some people (or maybe some are just really into class no matter what, I don't know).

There were some exceptions, though. The errant class here or there that broke from the mold was actually pretty good and engaging, but I never found that they were the ones that were "recommended" by others.

Gonna agree with these two. Tons of people pick classes mostly based on schedule and avoidance of "intellectual engagement" (or at least what passes for it in law school). After first semester of 2L year I pretty much called it a day on law school.

[newtothis]

does anyone know when HLR/BSA results come out?

[tomwatts]

From page 183:

The HLR website was recently updated to say the week of the 21st, so most likely that Monday if they follow the historical trend of Monday results

[jasper09]

I think at orientation I'll just sit at a table with Monopoly and a shot of tequila and see who bites.

I like your style. I imagine you'll have more luck if you a bottle or at least a couple of shots to share, though.

I like this. FWIW, I come with a handful of board games, a decently stocked bar, and a willingness to have folks over on occasion...and if someone can teach me how to play Agricopia (haven't bothered with that one yet, though I own it), that would be awesome.

[abcdefghi]

Out-of-town 0L student trying to book flights home to save money/get seats. I noticed that Thanksgiving falls very late this year, as it did last year-- 2 weeks before exams begin. It is a short and poorly timed break; do many students skip going home to hit the books? Trying to schedule around workload, how does a trip home on the October 13-14 break look? Not sure when to anticipate being the most and least busy.

Thanks much in advance for any answers! Sorry if this has already been addressed; I didn't see it looking through the thread.

[despina]

Don't skip the trip home! Seeing my family / friends and relaxing for a few days was exactly what I needed at that time of year. I just spent several hours on Sunday afternoon outlining, which was the first studying I did for exams. Your results may vary, of course, but I think people who do too much too early burn out by the time exams come around.

[ph14]

Out-of-town 0L student trying to book flights home to save money/get seats. I noticed that Thanksgiving falls very late this year, as it did last year-- 2 weeks before exams begin. It is a short and poorly timed break; do many students skip going home to hit the books? Trying to schedule around workload, how does a trip home on the October 13-14 break look? Not sure when to anticipate being the most and least busy.

Thanks much in advance for any answers! Sorry if this has already been addressed; I didn't see it looking through the thread.

You're going to have 4 exams during the fall. It's hard to tell as an 0L when you've never prepared nor taken a law school exam, but think about whether you would want the extra ~5 days of uninterrupted study time.

If I were doing law school again, I would not take take a big trip home during my 1L Thanksgiving break. Of course, that depends on you, your study habits, where you are from, how understanding your family is, etc.

The above is what worked for me, but it might not be for everyone.

[jrf12886]

Out-of-town 0L student trying to book flights home to save money/get seats. I noticed that Thanksgiving falls very late this year, as it did last year-- 2 weeks before exams begin. It is a short and poorly timed break; do many students skip going home to hit the books? Trying to schedule around workload, how does a trip home on the October 13-14 break look? Not sure when to anticipate being the most and least busy.

Thanks much in advance for any answers! Sorry if this has already been addressed; I didn't see it looking through the thread.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I wouldn't plan on a trip home until after exams. HLS semesters are shorter than most schools (because we have Winter term). So the schedule is pretty tight. Even if you do go home, you will be stressed and probably feel the urge to read/study while there. I'd suggest just staying and using that time to continue working, but maybe at a less hectic pace so you have time to relax or take a day trip somewhere. Breaks are also a good time to start working on your outlines if you haven't already. After exams, you won' have anything to do except relax and see family and it will be a much more enjoyable trip.