Northwestern AJD taking questions Forum

[mh7777]

Is joining a clinic possible for AJDs? I am definitely interested in clinic work, especially the Small Business Opportunity Clinic. Any insights?

[Dick Whitman]

The short answer is yes.

The SBOC requires a bit of a commitment to get into. We are allotted a certain number of points each year to bid on classes. Most classes go for a single point, but some classes can be quite expensive. This includes SBOC (you have to bid on clinics as well) and its prerequisite, entrepreneurship law. There are other ways, but as a general rule if you want to do SBOC your last year you had better bid heavily for entrepreneurship law your third semester. Both of those should get somewhat tougher to get into with the influx of AJDs.

[mh7777]

The short answer is yes.

The SBOC requires a bit of a commitment to get into. We are allotted a certain number of points each year to bid on classes. Most classes go for a single point, but some classes can be quite expensive. This includes SBOC (you have to bid on clinics as well) and its prerequisite, entrepreneurship law. There are other ways, but as a general rule if you want to do SBOC your last year you had better bid heavily for entrepreneurship law your third semester. Both of those should get somewhat tougher to get into with the influx of AJDs.

Thanks DW. Good to know it's doable, at least.

[Drew2010]

Joke?

[Drew2010]

For the approximate 1 month period where we will just be doing the LRW stuff online, about how much of a weekly time commitment would you say that is? Also, do you have any idea if there will be another AJD student panel at the upcoming April ASW? I was unfortunately unable to attend the Diverse admit/AJD weekend, but heard the AJD student panel was really helpful. Thanks yet again for answering all my questions, I truly appreciate it immensely.

[Sauer Grapes]

....

[Drew2010]

Anyone here starting in two weeks? How much of a time commitment was the online coursework?

Ya I'm starting in May.. the online coursework isn't much.. just some videos you need to watch

[Sauer Grapes]

....

[Drew2010]

the videos range in time, but I'm thinking about 12 hours total.. really not too bad at all, and some of them are really interesting, at least I found them to be

also, when are you moving to chicago? (I'm assuming based on our choosing a school thread you'll be coming here)

[Dick Whitman]

So, how has your first year gone?

Anyone here starting in two weeks? How much of a time commitment was the online coursework?

How much are the fees in addition to tuition?

I survived. With law school 60% down instead of 33% down, I can't complain.

[barrotmartin]

tag

[aparachl]

sorry for multiple posts but not sure which thread is actually active:

1) was there ever a change made to this no curve issue for AJD? If an AJD class now has 40 students, will it be curved?
2)have any of the AJD's that you know in their interviews said that they do not plan to practice law after the program? It seems that everyone talks about the fact that this would be fine but from what I saw online, the jobs taken by the class seemed to all be with legal firms. Having a business background already, I would look to do the MBA separately as part of executive program down the road and do not want to stay in law school for 3 years.
3) have you heard of anyone getting in without interviewing? I was not able to apply before the deadline.
4) in the summer semester, does the program intentionally cover less or require less work for AJD so that folks can realistically get through it? everyone says 1L is crazy to being with, so doing it in 4 months seems almost impossible without some stuff being cut out (more than just a few less elective classes)?

[eliekedourie]

sorry for multiple posts but not sure which thread is actually active:

1) was there ever a change made to this no curve issue for AJD? If an AJD class now has 40 students, will it be curved?
2)have any of the AJD's that you know in their interviews said that they do not plan to practice law after the program? It seems that everyone talks about the fact that this would be fine but from what I saw online, the jobs taken by the class seemed to all be with legal firms. Having a business background already, I would look to do the MBA separately as part of executive program down the road and do not want to stay in law school for 3 years.
3) have you heard of anyone getting in without interviewing? I was not able to apply before the deadline.
4) in the summer semester, does the program intentionally cover less or require less work for AJD so that folks can realistically get through it? everyone says 1L is crazy to being with, so doing it in 4 months seems almost impossible without some stuff being cut out (more than just a few less elective classes)?

Current AJD here.

1) They started to curve us after the first year. Even then, the "no curve" thing only applied to the summer semester. When we got spit into the general population the standard curve rules applied (classes w/41 or more are curved).
2) There have been a handful of AJDs that have gone into consulting. I don't know much about them, but you should be able to track them down/get put in touch with them if you decide to matriculate.
3) I don't know if anyone's been admitted w/o interviewing. I would ask admissions directly.
4) We skipped a few things in some of the classes, but it's not clear if we did so because of the AJD schedule. Most classes I've had have had to alter the schedule due to professor absences and/or various subjects taking more time than expected. It didn't seem like we missed out on anything too significant. Additionally, we don't cover a full 1L year over the summer. You still have to take Con Law, Crim, and Legal Writing 2 over the course of the subsequent year. As an AJD, you don't really do much more over the summer than you do any other semester—you pretty much have to take 17 credits for four semesters and 16 for one semester. It's not law school in 2 years—it's law school in five semesters (instead of six)—it just happens to take place within two calendar years.

[ArghItsBlarg]

They fixed that curve with a vengence; it's brutal in the summer semester. Five curved classes with 22-25 other people, using a curve designed for 41+. It's a testament to the AJD class that a good 80-90% still get jobs through OCI in spite of that curve.

[Jchance]

For those who have not heard, Northwestern suspends the "accelerated JD" program.

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/about/n ... cfm?ID=761